Mortgage or Super?

Are you better off reducing your mortgage or contributing to super?

A lot of people ask this question. Unfortunately, as with many wealth management decisions there is no straight forward answer. The appropriate choice depends on a number of issues, some of which we address in this article.

The obvious starting point is to look at the numbers. Assume you have 15 years until you can access your superannuation benefits free of tax. You have a mortgage that is costing you 7.0% a year (after tax) and a small amount of super. Over the next 15 years, you expect to have at least $13,375[1] a year of surplus cash flow.
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Investment Gobbledegook …

There are no orphan shares …

A lot of what passes as serious investment commentary is simply “gobbledegook” i.e. nonsense or drivel. It defies share market realities and is at odds with the philosophy that markets work.

Yet, unfortunately, some of the people and organisations generally regarded as finance experts are the main proponents of this gobbledegook. Let’s consider a couple of examples.

In a recent article in the “Sydney Morning Herald”, a private client adviser of a major stock broker explained why the share market had fallen for the past three days, after a period of strong gains, as follows:

“I think it comes down to a bit of profit-taking. I guess the market is acknowledging we’ve had it pretty good for the last couple of months and it’s time to take a breather.”
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