Ask Paul: Should I tip $20k into super or buy more CSL?

Can adding $20k to super beat buying more CSL while its share price is down?

Reader question

Hi Paul,

I recently turned 75 so I have a short window in which to add to my super.

I have $139,000 in super and will add another $300,000 when I sell my house, I guess that will be in the next two to three years.

My question is that I have $20,000 and would like to know whether I should add this to super or buy more CSL shares, which I believe will rise again.

Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you. - Judie

Paul's response

We'd better start with one of my money stories, Judie. My dad was a doctor in the NSW country town of Griffith. As a doctor, he understood the value of blood plasma.

Back then Griffith also had a CSIRO centre, so when CSL was floated on the stock exchange out of the CSIRO, he bought $2000 of them. Money was never a big deal for Dad. He worked as a GP until he was 81, owned a modest home in Griffith and a basic car.

His big expense for the week was his Rotary Club dinner at a local club on a Tuesday night, but investment interested him and he enjoyed his share portfolio, which passed to me and my sister after our parents passed away.

This included the CSL shares. After various share splits, we had quite a few, each with a cost base of less than $1 a share.

I appreciate CSL has fallen dramatically from its peak of around $330 a share to about $180 a share today, but I share your positive view of the company. So do most analysts - and it has an average price target of $230. But I won't be buying any more.

I already hold my dad's shares (which we would like to pass to our children). I believe in diversification, and I am already 'overweight' CSL shares.

CSL is about 5% of our market and more than 5% of my share portfolio, so I have enough regardless of the price! Whether you put your $20,000 into super or CSL is very dependent upon this. You may be happy to hold a high percentage in CSL, which is fine, as long as you understand the risks in focusing on a single share or small group of shares.

A bonus of super is that you get automatic diversification and, over the longer term, pretty predictable returns.

In particular, with $300,000 from the sale of your house going into super, I am relaxed about the decision you make regarding adding $20,000 to CSL or super.

As you can see, I have an emotional attachment to CSL but given its significant price drop and the quality of the company, investing more into it is not likely to be a bad decision.

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