Q&A

Now that Michele has retired and cashed in her super, her next big question is ...

Decide where you will live and what lifestyle you want

QI am a 63-year-old female, with no partner or children, and I recently gave up my position as a registered nurse due to Covid-19. I officially retired and took all my superannuation and paid off my mortgage and credit loans. Was this the right or wrong decision? As I’m a worrier, it’s a relief not to have debt and to now have ownership of both properties. I have $70,000 left to invest and use wisely. 

My assets are a home in Sydney worth $1.5 million and a $400,000 rural property in northern NSW that doesn’t give an income. Should I renovate my Sydney home, rent it out and live a modest life in rural NSW, or invest my $70,000 elsewhere?

Goodness, Michele, you have made some really big decisions in a short period of time. I have to say that I would have preferred to answer your question about leaving money in super before you took it out! You will get varying opinions here, but the technical answer in my opinion is that super would probably have delivered better returns than the interest on your home mortgage. A decent super fund has averaged around 7% to 9% a year over the past few decades, and your mortgage was likely to have been around 3%. So, personally, I would have left that money in super. Your credit loans were, I suspect, above 7% to 9%, so using super to pay