QUESTION:
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I am 50, married with two kids aged 7 and 4. I have worked most of my life in low-paid creative work, but along with that lots of other ‘support jobs’ of course- a great life but not financially sound!
I started full-time teaching at 40. Wife is full-time mum. Super sits now at $130,000.
Last year I luckily received an inheritance of $750,000. We recently bought a nice three-bedroom flat in a good area outright for $650,000 (with great state schools for future education), paid off some small debts, bought a new secondhand car and have a nest egg left over of $50,000.
We decided to rent out the flat for about three years as we are happy where we live. We will split the income to minimise tax.
So, could you recommend any strategies for increasing our retirement prospects. I am not familiar with wealth creation techniques at all, and would appreciate some general advice.
ANSWER:
It’s great that you’ve had such a windfall, and that you’ve been smart enough to handle it well. Unless you have a need for the money, you should think about putting it into super.
Experience has shown that lump sums when left in the bank tend to be slowly but surely frittered away.
It seems to me you are in a very good place in your life right now but it would be worthwhile talking to an adviser to try to formulate some retirement goals and to ensure that your current superannuation is invested in the type of assets that will help you reach those goals.