What’s better? Tipping money into super or paying off a mortgage?

 
Better questions. Who would you rather sleep with? Ladies, Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey? Lads, Jennifer Love Hewitt or Heather Locklear?

If you’re straight, perhaps you answered a screaming “BOTH!”. If you’re gay or bi, you might have answered two, possibly more.

If you’re a Gen Xer and answered one or less … then we simply ain’t on the same page when it comes to what’s hot. Seriously concerned for you.

And that’s the thing about this mortgage versus super question. Both options are sexy. Dead sexy.

Paying wads extra into your mortgage is awesome – own it outright sooner. Reducing tax by contributing to super, while building yourself an awesome retirement? Hard to beat.

A tough balancing act for Gen Xers. It’s literally like scales. So, here’s a rough plan.

Previous generations – those buggers to the right – were able to get into their 50s and shovel money into super. Literally, at $100,000-plus a year.

Xers can’t do that. We’re restricted to $30k. So, the answer is we need to do a bit of both.

Pay a little extra off the mortgage. Every. Single. Month.

But we also need to start putting something extra into super. Now.

Xers, from your late 30s, roughly, do both. Get ahead on your mortgage by all means. But start putting in a little extra to super as well.

Super is the ugly cousin (Molly Ringwald), I know. But even if you only put in an extra $3000 or $5000 a year now, you will thank me for it in years to come.

Bruce Brammall is the principal adviser with Bruce Brammall Financial (www.brucebrammall.com.au) and author of Mortgages Made Easy.