Financial Adviser Serving Viewbank
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Viewbank households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, a short drive north of Viewbank. 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 Viewbank clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Viewbank 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 ViewbankOur office is at The Watermans, about fifteen minutes' drive from Viewbank. We work with clients across Viewbank.
- 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.
Viewbank: big family homes, and what comes next
Viewbank is a suburb of large family homes. Nine in ten homes are separate houses, and more than four in ten have four or more bedrooms, against about a third across Victoria.
It is also settled. Almost half of homes are owned outright, and more than half of families are couples with children. Residents in their seventies and early eighties make up a bigger share than across Victoria.
For many owners here, the question is not only how to fund retirement. It is also how what you have built will pass to the next generation.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
Planning what you leave behind (H3)
Your super does not automatically form part of your estate. It is paid according to your fund’s rules and any beneficiary nomination you have made — which may be years out of date. Moneysmart explains how it works on its who gets your super page.
Adult children who were not financially dependent on you are not dependants for tax purposes, so part of the super they receive can be taxed. Details are on the ATO site.
We check your nominations, model how your money would pass on, and work alongside your solicitor, who prepares the will.
What Viewbank 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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Our super nominations are years old. Do they still say what we want?
Often they don't. Nominations can lapse, and life changes since you made them. We check each one and show you what would actually happen today.
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We want to leave the house to the kids. Is that the best way?
It may be — but tax, the Age Pension and each child's situation all matter. We show the options so you can talk them through with your family and your solicitor.
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We'd like to help the grandchildren now, not just in the will.
You can — but gifts above set limits can count against your Age Pension for five years. We show what different amounts would mean before money moves. The limits are on the Services Australia site.
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One of us looks after all the money. What happens if something happens to them?
We make sure you both understand the plan, and that the right documents — such as an enduring power of attorney — are in place with your solicitor.
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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 Viewbank
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.
Viewbank is about fifteen minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Viewbank
Viewbank sits in the City of Banyule, between Rosanna and Lower Plenty. 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 Viewbank 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 Viewbank?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — a short drive north of Viewbank, about fifteen 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 Viewbank, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
What happens to our super when we die?
It does not automatically go into your estate. It is paid according to your fund's rules and any beneficiary nomination you have made. Some nominations bind the fund; others are only a guide. Moneysmart explains the types on its who gets your super page.
We check your nominations and make sure they match what you want.
Is super taxed when it is left to adult children?
It can be. Adult children who were not financially dependent on you are not dependants for tax purposes, so part of what they receive can be taxed. Details are on the ATO site.
There are ways to plan for this while you are alive. We show you the options.
Should we help the grandchildren now, or leave it in the will?
Both can work. Helping now lets you see the benefit, but gifts above $10,000 a financial year, or $30,000 over five financial years, can count against your Age Pension for five years.
We model both approaches so you can choose with the numbers in front of you. Current rules are on the Services Australia site.
We own our Viewbank 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, what the Age Pension might add, and how it all passes on.
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.
Does our Viewbank 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 Rosanna, Yallambie, Lower Plenty and Heidelberg?
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.