Financial Adviser Serving Reservoir
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Reservoir households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about ten minutes east along Plenty Road. We can meet you at home, by secure video, or at the office. Your first consultation is free.
- Retirement-focused advice
- Home, secure video or office appointments
- First consultation free
- No obligation
How we help Reservoir clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Reservoir 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 ReservoirOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about ten minutes east along Plenty Road. We work with clients across Reservoir, Preston and Melbourne's inner north.
- 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.
When super started late
Most retirement advice assumes forty years of steady contributions. Plenty of people do not have that, and it is not their fault.
Compulsory superannuation only began on 1 July 1992, when the Superannuation Guarantee came into effect. Anyone already halfway through their working life by then started late, whatever they did.
It also started small. The rate began at 3% of wages and only reached 12% in 2025. So even someone who worked the whole period from 1992 spent years with very little going in.
Then there are the interruptions. Years part-time. Years out to raise children or care for a parent. A stretch self-employed with nothing going in at all. A redundancy in your fifties that never quite turned back into full-time work.
None of that shows up in a super calculator. All of it shows up in the balance.
So the question here is not usually “should we sell the house and put the money in super.” It is simpler and harder. What does the money we do have actually pay for, and what fills the gap?
Usually the answer has several parts. What your balance realistically produces. What the Age Pension adds, and from when. Whether working two more years changes the picture materially or barely at all.
Sometimes the answer is better than people expect. Sometimes it is worse, and it is better to know at fifty-eight than at sixty-six. Either way it is a calculation, not a guess.
The Superannuation Guarantee took effect on 1 July 1992 under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992.
What Reservoir households worry about
These come up again and again at this stage. None of them require you to have anything sorted out beforehand.
-
I started super late and I don't think there's enough.
Possibly. Possibly not. We work out what your balance and the Age Pension together actually produce, before you decide anything.
-
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.
-
I took years off work. Can I still catch up?
Sometimes, and there are rules built for exactly this situation. Whether they suit you depends on your balance and your income now.
-
Will I get the Age Pension, and how much?
We calculate it properly rather than guessing, so you know what it adds and from when. Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
-
Our super is in whatever the fund put us in. I've never chosen anything.
A default option is built for an average member, not for you. We reset it against when you actually need the money.
-
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 Reservoir
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.
Reservoir is about ten minutes from our Bundoora office — and if that is inconvenient, we will come to you.
Areas we serve near Reservoir
Reservoir sits at the heart of Darebin, between the inner north and the northern suburbs. We work across it, and east toward the Bundoora office.
We also work with clients in Lalor, Thomastown, Kingsbury, Macleod and Bundoora.
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 Reservoir 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 Reservoir?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — about ten minutes east along Plenty Road. We work with Reservoir households regularly, and 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 Reservoir, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you. Many Reservoir clients start with a home visit.
I only started paying into super properly in the 1990s. Is it too late to do anything?
Almost never too late to do something useful, though what helps depends on how close you are.
Compulsory super only began in 1992, so anyone who was already partway through their working life started behind. It is a very common position and it does not mean there are no options.
What we look at is what your current balance realistically produces, what the Age Pension adds and from when, whether extra contributions in the years you have left would meaningfully change the outcome, and whether working a little longer does more than contributing more. The answer is sometimes better than people fear and sometimes worse, but it is always a calculation rather than a guess.
I worked part-time for years, or took time out. Can I catch up?
Sometimes. There are contribution rules designed for people whose contributions were interrupted, and they can allow you to put in more than the usual annual limit in a later year.
Whether they help you depends on your balance, your income now, and how many years you have left. It is worth checking rather than assuming, and worth doing before rather than after you stop working.
Will I get the Age Pension?
That depends on your assets and income, and on whether you own your home. The thresholds are different for homeowners and non-homeowners.
It is worth calculating properly rather than treating as a fallback, because it changes what your own savings need to cover. Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
Do you work with people in Preston, Thornbury and Coburg?
Yes, along with Lalor, Thomastown, Kingsbury, Macleod and Bundoora. Reservoir sits in the middle of that stretch.
We also advise clients across Melbourne and Australia-wide by secure video.
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.
When can I access my superannuation?
Access depends on your preservation age and whether a condition of release has been met. For many people reaching preservation age, retirement is one of the relevant conditions.
Age Pension age is separate and is currently 67.
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.