Financial Adviser Serving Lalor
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Lalor households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, a short drive east of Lalor. 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 Lalor clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Lalor 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 LalorOur office is at The Watermans, about ten minutes' drive from Lalor. We work with clients across Lalor.
- 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.
Lalor: paid-off homes, many languages, hard-working families
Lalor is a suburb of family homes. Almost nine in ten are separate houses, and nearly four in ten are owned outright, against about a third across Victoria.
Seven in ten households speak a language other than English at home, against three in ten statewide. Arabic, Macedonian, Vietnamese, Italian and Greek are the most common. Many older residents were born in Italy, North Macedonia or Greece.
Many people here work with their hands. Labourers, machinery operators and drivers make up a bigger share than across Victoria. More residents are in their seventies and eighties too.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If your work is hard on your body
Not everyone in a physical job can keep going until 67, when the Age Pension starts. The years in between often have to run on super and savings. You can generally reach your super from 60 once you retire. The rules are on the ATO site.
If you worked in Italy, Greece or North Macedonia before moving here, you may be able to get a pension from there as well. Australia has social security agreements with these countries. Details are on the Services Australia site.
A pension from overseas generally counts as income for the Age Pension, so we plan the two together.
You are welcome to bring a son or daughter to the meeting to help with language or paperwork.
What Lalor 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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My back won't let me work until 67. Can we manage until the pension starts?
Often, yes, with a plan. We work out how far your super and savings stretch from the day you stop, and what the Age Pension adds once you reach 67.
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The house is paid off but our super is small. Is that enough?
A paid-off home helps a lot. We show what your super, savings and the Age Pension add up to each year, so you know what you can spend.
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I worked in Italy before I came here. Can I get a pension from there too?
You may. Australia has agreements with Italy, Greece, North Macedonia and other countries. We check how an overseas pension fits with your Age Pension. Details are on the Services Australia site.
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My parents' English isn't strong. Can I come to the meeting with them?
Yes. Family are welcome. We explain everything in plain English and put it in writing, so you can go over it together at home.
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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 Lalor
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.
Lalor is about ten minutes from our Bundoora office
Areas we serve near Lalor
Lalor 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 Lalor 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 Lalor?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — a short drive east of Lalor, 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 Lalor, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
I do physical work and may need to stop before 67. What are my options?
The Age Pension generally starts at 67. Before then, you can usually draw on your super from 60 once you retire, and on any savings. The rules are on the ATO site.
We work out how long your money lasts from the day you stop, and what changes when the Age Pension starts.
When can I get the Age Pension?
You generally need to be 67 and meet the residence rules, the income test and the assets test. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
We check where you stand and when it is worth applying.
I get a pension from overseas. Does it affect my Age Pension?
It can. A pension from another country generally counts as income under the Age Pension income test. The income test is explained on the Services Australia site.
We include it in your plan, so you can see what you get from both.
Can family members come to the meeting?
Yes. Many clients bring a son, daughter or partner, especially when English is not their first language. We explain things in plain English and give you everything in writing.
Our Lalor home is paid off. Does it 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.
Can we give money to our children without losing pension?
Up to a limit. 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. Details are on the Services Australia site.
We check what any gift does to your pension before money moves.
Do you work with people in Thomastown, Epping, Mill Park and Reservoir?
Yes, along with Kingsbury, South Morang, Wollert and Bundoora.
Mill Park, Reservoir, Kingsbury and South Morang each have their own page.
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.
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.