Interest rates have risen, and they are all biting. Is this a problem? It depends on your perspective.

If you are a homeowner, then yes, it will have a direct impact: Your mortgage payments will rise. Again, is this a problem?

If you bought your home some time ago when rates were higher and have not borrowed more, it is probably not a problem. You have been enjoying significantly cheaper money than you anticipated. Additionally, you have possibly paid back more principal than you normally would have, and you are now in a better position.

Have you got it insured correctly? Martin Hawes article here, raises a particually direct point about your house insurance if it is in a family trust.

As Martin outlines in his article, 'underinsurance also ought to be a worry for trustees of family trusts and other trusts.

Trustees are obligated to look after (and properly insure) the assets of a trust, and if they do not, the beneficiaries can demand that trustees make good any losses. This means that if we had simply accepted the default amount from the insurance company ($693,000) and the house burnt down and cost $1.1 million to rebuild, the trustees could be liable for over $400,000. This should have trustees thinking hard.