QUESTION:

What is the best way to invest $800,000 for my mother so that she can still get the advantages of the pension and minimise tax. She's now in her early nineties.

ANSWER:

You should be taking advice, because the cut-off point under the asset test for a single non home owner is $871,000. If your mother has assets in excess of this, she will not qualify. If she is close to the limit there are strategies such as making a gift of $10,000, buying a funeral bond, and spending money on home improvements and travelling that may bring her under the limit.