Financial Adviser Serving Watsonia North
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Watsonia North households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, just west of Watsonia North. 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 Watsonia North clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Watsonia North 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 Watsonia NorthOur office is at The Watermans, about ten minutes' drive from Watsonia North. We work with clients across Watsonia 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.
Watsonia North: the first years of retirement
Watsonia North is a suburb of houses. Almost every home is a separate house, most have three or more bedrooms, and few are rented.
Many owners here have paid off the house. Almost half of homes are owned outright, against about a third across Victoria. In about a quarter of couple households, both partners have already stopped work — also above the Victorian rate. And more residents than average give unpaid care to someone who is older or unwell.
Once you have stopped work, the question changes. It is no longer how much to save. It is how much you can safely spend.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
Drawing an income from what you have
Once your super moves into a retirement income stream, you must draw at least a set amount each year, based on your age. The rates are on the ATO site.
The Age Pension counts most savings and investments using deeming — set rates of income, not what you actually earn. Details are on the Services Australia site.
How much you draw, from which account, and in what order affects your tax, your Age Pension and how long your money lasts. We model it year by year, so you can spend with confidence instead of guessing.
What Watsonia North 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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We've both stopped work. How much can we actually spend each year?
We answer that with a number for your household — tested against a poor run of markets, not just an average one — so you know what is safe to spend.
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Markets fell and our super dropped. Should we change anything?
Not automatically. A fall matters more once you are drawing an income, but reacting in a hurry can lock in the loss. We check your plan against it before anything changes.
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I look after my partner or a parent. How does that affect our money?
Caring can change your income, your time and the support you can get. We build it into your plan, so the numbers reflect the life you are actually living.
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The house is too big now, but we don't want to leave the area.
Watsonia North has almost no units or townhouses, so downsizing often means moving suburb. We model what each option would actually leave you with before you decide.
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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 Watsonia North
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.
Watsonia North is about ten minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Watsonia North
Watsonia North sits in the City of Banyule, just east 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 Watsonia North 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 Watsonia North?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — just west of Watsonia North, about ten minutes' drive 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 Watsonia North, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
We have already retired. Is it too late for advice?
No. The first years of retirement are when many of the biggest decisions are made — how much to draw, from which account, and how that affects your tax and Age Pension.
Getting those right early can make your money last longer. We start from where you are now.
How much do we have to draw from our super pension?
There is a minimum each year, set as a percentage of your balance based on your age. The current rates are on the ATO site.
The minimum is not always the right amount. We work out what you can safely draw, and in what order, across all your accounts.
We own our Watsonia North home outright. Is there anything left to plan?
Usually more than people expect. A paid-off home answers one question and opens several others — how much you can afford to spend, how your super should be invested now, and what the Age Pension might add.
The earlier you understand your position, the more options you generally have.
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.
Can we help our children buy a home without hurting our pension?
Often, yes — but the way you help matters. Centrelink allows gifts of up to $10,000 a financial year and $30,000 over five financial years. Anything above that can be counted as your asset for five years. Loans are treated differently from gifts.
We check what any help does to your pension and your own retirement before money moves. Current rules are on the Services Australia site.
Does our Watsonia North home count toward the Age Pension?
While you live in it, your home is generally exempt from the assets test regardless of its value. 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 Watsonia, Greensborough, Bundoora and Briar Hill?
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.