ask paul

We are in our early 50s, with two teens still living at home, and we have been paying down our mortgage while topping up our offset account as quickly as possible. We have about $80,000 to go until we no longer pay interest. However, given interest ... More

Q. We plan to retire at age 60 using rental income and super-allocated pensions. We own three investment property rentals in joint names that were purchased in the 1990s - so their capital gains are four times the original purchase price. Is it better ... More

Q. My partner passed away 18 months ago and left us a large amount of money. I am 48 and have three kids: a 23-year-old son and two daughters aged 21 and 14. We have a home loan ($371,000), on which I have placed a large sum of money ($250,000), leaving ... More

Q. My sister and I are about to inherit around US$250,000 each from an aunt. We are both on the aged pension. What is the best way to have these funds sent to us, and how will it affect our pensions? - Linda Wow, that is a nice bonus at this stage in ... More

Q. I am 71 and have $100,000 in a term deposit. With interest rates so low I need to find an alternative to this. Is there anything you can suggest? - Margaret The problem here, Margaret, is risk. $100,000 is a lot of money and I do understand that ... More

Q. Hi Paul, we are mid-to-late 60s, have our mortgage down to zero balance (but kept the loan account open). We are adding the maximum salary sacrifice to our super (up to $25,000), but I am reluctant to add more to super (eggs in one basket). We have ... More

I am in the process of divorcing my wife and have moved to Thailand while my wife plans to remain in Australia. At age 70, optimising pension payments is critical for me. We have about $400,000 each in superannuation and the sale of our house should ... More

My husband and I (in our early 30s) have recently moved from the NSW central west to the mid north coast after deciding that we did not want to purchase a house and commit to living in Dubbo for the long term. We currently have $50,000 in the bank ... More

We have nothing to complain about. Now in retirement, we are in our mid-50s, (mostly) debt free, own our home, have $48,000 in shares, another $23,000 in managed funds and $22,000 with a peer-to-peer lender across one-month and three-year and five-year ... More

Q. I'm 32 and my wife Annabel is 28. We have recently sold our first home due to my moving for work. We plan to rent in our new location and we will have around $150,000 cash in savings. I currently have a Vanguard fund with around $10,000 invested ... More