Financial Adviser Serving Ivanhoe East
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Ivanhoe East households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, a short drive north of Ivanhoe East. 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 Ivanhoe East clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Ivanhoe East 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 Ivanhoe EastOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty minutes' drive north of Ivanhoe East. We work with clients across Ivanhoe East, Ivanhoe, Eaglemont and Heidelberg.
- 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.
Ivanhoe East: senior careers, family homes and the step down
Ivanhoe East is a high-income suburb. At the 2021 Census, the median household earned about $2,980 a week, against $1,759 across Victoria, and half of households earned more than $3,000. More than one in five working residents is a manager, and more than usual work in law.
People aged 50 to 64 make up almost a quarter of residents, against under one in five statewide. More than four in ten homes are owned outright, and more than four in ten have four or more bedrooms.
Residents also give a lot of time. More care for someone who is ill or older, and more volunteer, than across Victoria.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If one of you has much more super than the other
There is a lifetime limit on how much super can move into a tax-free retirement pension, called the transfer balance cap. When most of a couple’s super is in one name, that partner can reach it sooner. Details are on the ATO site.
Contribution splitting lets you move up to 85% of your before-tax contributions to your partner’s super each year, which can even things out over time. The rules are on the ATO site.
We plan both balances together, along with when each of you steps down from work.
What Ivanhoe East 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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Most of our super is in my name. Does that matter?
It can. It affects how much can go into a tax-free pension, and who can draw what, and when. Contribution splitting can help even it out. The rules are on the ATO site.
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I'm thinking of stepping down from a senior role. What should I sort out first?
Your final pay and leave, any termination payment, insurance through work, and the timing of contributions. We map it out before you resign.
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We could probably retire now. Should we?
Having enough is only part of it. We show how long your money lasts under different plans, so you can choose when to stop with confidence.
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Mum needs more care each year. How do we fit that around work?
We look at the time and money it may take, and what it means for when each of you can stop.
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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 Ivanhoe East
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.
Ivanhoe East is about twenty minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Ivanhoe East
Ivanhoe East sits in the City of Banyule, south 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 Ivanhoe East 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 Ivanhoe East?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — north of Ivanhoe East, 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 Ivanhoe East, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
What is the transfer balance cap?
It is a lifetime limit on how much super you can move into retirement-phase pension accounts, where earnings are tax free. Each person has their own cap. Details are on the ATO site.
We plan how much goes into a pension, and what stays in an accumulation account, for each of you.
What is contribution splitting?
It lets you ask your fund to move up to 85% of a year's before-tax contributions into your partner's super. Over time it can even out your balances. The rules are on the ATO site.
We check whether it suits your ages and plans before you apply.
I'm leaving a senior role. What should I check first?
Your final pay, leave, any termination payment and how it is taxed, insurance you hold through work, and whether to make contributions before you go.
Some of these choices are hard to undo, so it is worth planning them before you resign.
How do we know when we have enough to retire?
We work out what you want to spend each year, what your super, investments and any Age Pension can pay, and how long that lasts — including in poor market years.
You get a number, not a reassurance.
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 tax and any Age Pension, and whether any of it can go into super. Downsizer contribution rules are on the ATO site.
Does our Ivanhoe East 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 Ivanhoe, Eaglemont, Heidelberg and Alphington?
Yes, along with Rosanna, Viewbank, Bulleen and Bundoora.
Ivanhoe, Heidelberg, Rosanna and Viewbank 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.