Financial Adviser Serving Thomastown
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Thomastown households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, a short drive east of Thomastown. We can meet you at home, by secure video, or at our Bundoora office. Your first consultation is free.
- Retirement-focused advice
- Home, secure video or office appointments
- First consultation free
- No obligation
How we help Thomastown clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Thomastown households approaching retirement, we bring your superannuation, investments, spending, insurance and potential Age Pension entitlement into a single plan — and show you what it actually supports.
- Retirement-focused adviceWe specialise in helping people in their fifties and sixties move from building wealth to living on it.
- Based in Bundoora, serving ThomastownOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about ten minutes' drive east of Thomastown. We work with clients across Thomastown, Lalor, Reservoir and Epping.
- Clear, evidence-based adviceWe explain the reasoning behind our recommendations, model different scenarios and show you the numbers before you make major decisions.
What changes when you retire
Three things reverse at retirement. None are obvious while you are still earning.
Almost all the financial advice you meet across a working life is about building up: contribute regularly, stay invested, ignore the noise. It is sound advice, and it stops being enough the day you start drawing money out.
Markets falling early on
While you are contributing, a fall can even help — you buy in at lower prices.
Once you are withdrawing, money taken out during a downturn never participates in the recovery.
The tax position changes
Through your working life the concessions are on the way in.
In retirement the focus shifts toward how income is generated and how withdrawals are structured.
Your assets get counted
Everything you hold becomes relevant to what the government will and will not pay you.
The family home is generally exempt, though homeowners and non-homeowners face different thresholds.
Thomastown: long-time owners and the Age Pension
Thomastown is a suburb of long-time homeowners. More than four in ten homes are owned outright, against about a third across Victoria, and most are separate houses.
Residents are older than average. People aged 65 to 84 make up nearly one in five residents, against about one in seven statewide. Seven in ten households speak a language other than English at home, and many families have Italian, Macedonian or Greek roots.
Many people here worked in trades, labouring and driving. Incomes are lower than average, so the Age Pension matters a great deal.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
Getting the Age Pension right
If you get the Age Pension and still do some paid work, the Work Bonus means less of your wages count against your pension. Details are on the Services Australia site.
Money in the bank, shares and super is assessed by deeming. Centrelink assumes it earns a set rate, whatever it actually earns. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
How your money is held can change your pension. We check your position and explain it in plain English. Family are welcome at the meeting.
What Thomastown households worry about
These come up again and again at this stage. None of them require you to have anything sorted out beforehand.
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I'm on the pension and still do a few shifts a week. Will I lose my pension?
Not necessarily. The Work Bonus means less of your wages count against your pension. We check how it works for you. Details are on the Services Australia site.
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We have some money in the bank. Does it cut our pension?
It can, through the income test and the assets test. Centrelink uses deeming to work out income from savings. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
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Centrelink sent us a letter we don't understand.
Bring it in. We go through it with you, explain what it means, and what, if anything, you need to do.
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Mum has gone into aged care and Dad is still at home. What happens to the house?
While Dad lives there, the home is generally not counted in Mum's aged care means test. The rules are on the My Aged Care site.
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I have super in three or four places and no idea which is any good.
We check the fees, performance, holdings and insurance in each one, and only combine them where it genuinely helps. Find every account in your name through myGov.
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I don't know who to trust. Everyone seems to be selling something.
Fair. What you can check: our licence on the ASIC register, a fee in writing before any work begins, and no product recommended in a first meeting.
What we do
What we advise on
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for people in their fifties and sixties across Melbourne, covering superannuation, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
The practice is built around one transition — the shift from building wealth to living on it. That is a different problem from the one you have been solving for thirty years, and it is the only problem we work on.
Superannuation & retirement planning
What you hold, what it costs, and whether it supports the retirement you have in mind
Investment Advice
Portfolios built from your withdrawal timetable rather than a risk questionnaire
Life Insurance Advice
What still needs protecting now, and whether cover belongs inside super or outside it
Cash flow & budgeting
What you actually spend, which is what every retirement projection rests on
Hear From Our Clients
"My husband and I have been with Plan My Wealth since our retirement and have found all those we have had dealings with to be professional and friendly. They make us feel welcome and take the time to explain what we see as complex processes to make it easy to understand and follow. Great team."
"Highly recommend Manny, he was very knowledgeable and took time to explain everything so I could understand, he made me feel like a valued client rather than just a number."
"Working with Manny has been an excellent experience. He's professional, friendly, and takes the time to make complex financial matters easy to understand. His guidance has given me real confidence in managing my finances. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to take control of their financial future."
Financial advice for Thomastown
If you are approaching retirement and are unsure whether your current arrangements will provide the retirement you want, the first step is understanding where you stand. No cost. No obligation. Just an honest conversation about your position and whether advice could be useful.
Thomastown is about ten minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Thomastown
Thomastown sits in the City of Whittlesea, just west of our Bundoora office. We work across it and every suburb around it.
You do not have to travel to us
Wherever you are in Melbourne's north, we can meet three ways.
At your home
We can come to you. For many people approaching retirement it is the simplest option, particularly when the paperwork is already there.
By secure video
Everything runs through cloud-based systems, so a video meeting covers the same planning and modelling as an in-person one.
At the Bundoora office
The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, with parking on site. There if you want it, never required.
Not seeing your suburb? See every area we serve.
Questions answered
Frequently
Asked Questions
Questions Thomastown households ask most often, and a few about how we work. If yours is not here, ask us — the answer usually takes a minute.
Are you actually based in Thomastown?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — a short drive east of Thomastown, about ten minutes away. We can meet at your home, by secure video, or at the office.
We would rather say that plainly than imply otherwise.
Do I have to travel to your Bundoora office?
No. We can meet at your home in Thomastown, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
Can I work and still get the Age Pension?
Often, yes. The Work Bonus means less of your wages count under the income test, so you can keep more of your pension. Details are on the Services Australia site.
We work out how much you can earn before your pension starts to drop.
What is deeming?
It is how Centrelink works out income from your savings, shares and super. It assumes they earn a set rate, whatever they actually earn. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
Where you hold your money can change the result, so it is worth checking.
How much can we own and still get a part pension?
It depends on whether you are single or a couple, and whether you own your home. The limits change during the year. Current figures are on the Services Australia site.
We check where you sit and what would change your pension.
Do we need to tell Centrelink when things change?
Yes. Changes to your income, assets or living arrangements can change your pension, and Services Australia sets time limits for telling them.
We help you work out what needs reporting, so you are not paid too much or too little.
Should we downsize from the family home?
That is two questions — whether the move suits you, and whether it improves your financial position. They do not always agree.
Financially, the things to weigh are what the sale would net after costs, where the proceeds would sit, what that does to your Age Pension, and whether any of it can go into super. Downsizer contribution rules are on the ATO site.
Does our Thomastown home count toward the Age Pension?
While you live in it, your home is generally exempt from the assets test. It can still affect the overall outcome, because homeowners and non-homeowners are assessed against different thresholds.
Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
Do you work with people in Lalor, Reservoir, Epping and Fawkner?
What happens after I get in touch?
We will get back to you within one business day to arrange a time. The first meeting runs about an hour and can take place at your home, at the office, or by video.
If advice would be useful, we send you a written scope and a fixed fee afterwards. Nothing to sign on the day.
What does financial advice cost?
The first meeting is free and carries no obligation. If advice would be useful, we send you a written scope of work and a fixed fee afterwards, and you decide whether to proceed.
Fees are set by the complexity of the work rather than the size of your balance. Our fee arrangements are set out in our Financial Services Guide.
I have several old super accounts. Should I combine them?
Not automatically. Combining accounts can remove duplicate fees and simplify your finances, but closing an account can also cancel insurance held inside it.
We assess each fund first and check the insurance before recommending whether anything should move. You can see every account in your name through myGov.
How do I confirm an adviser is properly licensed?
Search the ASIC Financial Advisers Register by name or authorised representative number. It shows qualifications, licensee and advice history, and it is free to use.
Manny Tran's authorised representative number is 423115.