Financial Adviser Serving Coburg
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Coburg households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, east of Coburg. 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 Coburg clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Coburg 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 CoburgOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty minutes' drive east of Coburg. We work with clients across Coburg, Brunswick, Pascoe Vale and Preston.
- 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.
Coburg: old families, new families, many languages
Coburg has deep roots. More than one in three households speak a language other than English at home. Italian, Greek and Arabic are each spoken at three to five times the Victorian rate, and many older residents were born in Italy, Greece or Lebanon.
Alongside them, younger professionals have moved in. More than a third of working residents are professionals, and more than usual work at universities and in state government.
A quarter of homes are semi-detached houses, terraces or townhouses, almost twice the Victorian rate. Mortgage repayments are above the state average.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
Planning across generations, and around your values
Many families here plan for two generations at once: parents who own their home outright, and children still paying off theirs. Helping one can affect the other. Centrelink’s gifting rules are on the Services Australia site.
Some people also want their super invested in line with their values or faith. Many funds offer ethical, sustainable or faith-based options, and they differ a lot. We compare them with you.
You are welcome to bring family to the meeting. We explain everything in plain English and put it in writing.
What Coburg 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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Mum and Dad own their house outright and live on the pension. Should they sell?
Not necessarily. While they live in it, the home is generally not counted for the Age Pension. If they sell, the money can be. We look at it with them first.
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Can we help our kids into a home without hurting our own retirement?
Often, yes — but how you help matters. Gifts above Centrelink's limits can count against your pension for five years. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
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I want my super invested in line with my faith. Is that possible?
Often, yes. Many funds offer ethical or faith-based options. We check what each one actually invests in, and what it costs, before you switch.
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We bought late. Will we still be paying the mortgage when we retire?
Maybe. We work out when it is likely to be paid off and what that means for when you can stop work.
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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 Coburg
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.
Coburg is about twenty minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Coburg
Coburg sits in the City of Merri-bek, 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 Coburg 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 Coburg?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — east of Coburg, about twenty 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 Coburg, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
Can my super be invested in line with my values or faith?
Often, yes. Many funds offer ethical, sustainable or faith-based options. They screen investments in different ways, and fees and returns vary.
We look at what each option actually holds, so you can choose with the facts in front of you.
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. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
We check what any help does to your pension and your own retirement before money moves.
Our parents want to sell the family home. What happens to their pension?
While they live in it, the home is generally not counted in the assets test. Once it is sold, the money usually is, and it can reduce their Age Pension. Current thresholds are on the Services Australia site.
We model the sale with them before they sign anything.
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.
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 Coburg 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 Brunswick, Pascoe Vale, Preston and Northcote?
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.