Senior health card receivers rethinking assets
Insurance bonds are getting back into the game as investors look for superannuation alternatives, according to Austock.
With recent changes to the account based pension seniors are now looking at other assets they hold especially if they are close to receiving the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).
The age based pension is now deemed for income and single seniors wanting to receive the card need have an annual income of less than $51,500, and $82,400 for couples combined.
Austock's head of independent financial advisers product and relationships, Richard Atkinson, said insurance bonds do not generate assessable income and do not count towards the threshold for receiving the card, and that they are gaining popularity.
"We have had a record year this year and a swing towards insurance bonds. We are starting to see a trend towards it, and as an alternative to super," Atkinson said.
Atkinson noted that financial planners had forgotten about them and have recently started using them for estate planning, to take advantage of the low tax rate, and the fact that there is now a wider range of investment options.
"We are now seeing 50 to 60 new applicants for insurance bonds a month. The number of bonds has how tripled," he said.
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