An investment in a funeral bond such as Sureplan Gold, subject to an upper limit, is treated as an Exempt Asset for pension purposes. As the name implies, an Exempt Asset is not assessed as an asset by Centrelink. This is mainly because that, after the first 30 day cooling off period, you cannot make withdrawals and your funds must be retained to help meet your funeral expenses.
The good news is that the upper limit threshold has just been increased from $14,000 to $15,000. The effect on their fortnightly pension amount can be significant for those pensioners who only receive a part pension because of their assets This is because a part-pensioner couple can each invest $15,000 in Sureplan Gold and have their combined assessable assets reduced by $30,000. This will increase their pension by $2,340 annually or $90 per fortnight.
For those who are investment/return conscious, the $2,340 pension increase effectively represents a return of 7.8% on their investment of $30,000.