Financial Adviser Serving Doreen
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Doreen households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, south-west of Doreen. 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 Doreen clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Doreen 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 DoreenOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty minutes' drive south-west of Doreen. We work with clients across Doreen, Mernda, South Morang and Plenty.
- 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.
Doreen: new estates, big homes and busy tradies
Doreen is a suburb of new estates. Almost every home is a separate house, two in three have four or more bedrooms, and almost six in ten have a mortgage, against about a third across Victoria.
Families are young and busy. The median age is 33, more than half of families are couples with children, and almost three in four adults are in the workforce.
Trades are a big part of local work. Technicians and trades workers make up a larger share than across Victoria.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If you’re a tradie or work for yourself
If you are a sole trader, no one is paying super for you. You may be able to claim a tax deduction for contributions you make yourself. The rules are on the ATO site.
If you work with your hands, an injury can stop your income. Income protection for self-employed people works differently, because it is based on what your business pays you. We check what you have.
We plan your super, insurance and mortgage together.
What Doreen 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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I'm a sole trader. Do I have to pay my own super?
Not by law — but if you don't, you may retire with very little. You may be able to claim a tax deduction for what you put in. The rules are on the ATO site.
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If I get injured, who pays the mortgage?
That is what income protection is for. We check whether you have it, how much it pays, how long it lasts, and whether it fits how you are paid.
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We're flat out with kids and a mortgage. Is retirement planning a luxury?
No. A few changes now — the right fund, the right insurance, a small regular top-up — do more than big changes later.
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I work for myself and my partner is on wages. How do we even out our super?
There are ways. Contribution splitting lets one of you move part of your contributions to the other. The rules are on the ATO site.
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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 Doreen
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.
Doreen is about twenty minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Doreen
Doreen sits on the edge of the City of Whittlesea and the Shire of Nillumbik, north-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 Doreen 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 Doreen?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — south-west of Doreen, 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 Doreen, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
I'm a sole trader. How do I build my super?
You may be able to claim a tax deduction for contributions you make yourself. They count towards your yearly concessional cap, and you need to give your fund a notice before you claim. The rules are on the ATO site.
We work out how much is worth putting in each year, alongside your accountant.
How does income protection work if I'm self-employed?
It pays part of your income if illness or injury stops you working. For self-employed people, the benefit is usually based on the income your business pays you, so your records matter when you claim.
We check what you have, and whether it would actually cover your bills.
Can my partner and I even out our super?
Often, yes. Contribution splitting lets you move up to 85% of a year's before-tax contributions to your partner's super. The rules are on the ATO site.
We check whether it suits your ages and plans.
Is it worth having a plan in our thirties and forties?
Yes. This is when your super has the longest to grow, and when the right insurance matters most.
We focus on the few changes that make the biggest difference.
Should we downsize one day?
Maybe, once the kids leave. That is two questions — whether the move suits you, and whether it improves your financial position.
Selling to downsize may let you put some of the proceeds into super from age 55, subject to the rules. Downsizer contribution rules are on the ATO site.
Does our Doreen home count toward the Age Pension?
When you get there, your home is generally exempt from the assets test while you live in it. Homeowners and non-homeowners are assessed against different thresholds.
Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
Do you work with people in Mernda, South Morang, Plenty and Yarrambat?
Yes, along with Mill Park, Diamond Creek, Whittlesea and Bundoora.
Mernda, South Morang, Plenty and Mill Park 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.