Financial Adviser Serving Brunswick
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Brunswick households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, north-east of Brunswick. 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 Brunswick clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Brunswick 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 BrunswickOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty-five minutes' drive north-east of Brunswick. We meet clients at home or by secure video across Brunswick, Brunswick East, Brunswick West and Coburg.
- 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.
Brunswick: long-time owners and a renting generation
Brunswick is young and renting. The median age is 34, almost three in ten residents are aged 25 to 34, and almost half of homes are rented, against under three in ten across Victoria.
It is a suburb of professionals. More than half of adults have a university degree, and more than usual work at universities, in hospitals and in state government. More than half of families are couples without children.
Long-time families remain too. Greek and Italian are the most common languages other than English, and almost a quarter of homes are owned outright.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If you’re helping the next generation, or you are it
If you are renting and saving for a first home, the First Home Super Saver scheme lets you save part of a deposit inside super, using voluntary contributions. The rules are on the ATO site.
If you are a parent thinking of helping a child buy, gifts above Centrelink’s limits can count against your Age Pension for five years. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
We can look at both sides of the family together, if you want, so helping one generation does not hurt the other.
What Brunswick 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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We earn well but rent. Should we save for a house or for retirement?
Often both, in the right order. We compare buying, renting and investing with your own numbers, so you can see what each choice leads to.
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Can I use my super to save for a first home?
Partly. The First Home Super Saver scheme lets you save some of a deposit through voluntary super contributions. The rules are on the ATO site.
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Our parents own their house outright. Should they help us buy now?
Maybe — but it can affect their own retirement and their Age Pension. Gifts above Centrelink's limits count for five years. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
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We're in our thirties with no kids. Is now the time to start?
Yes. This is when your super has the longest to grow. A few changes now do more than big changes later.
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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 Brunswick
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.
Brunswick is about twenty-five minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Brunswick
Brunswick sits in the City of Merri-bek, south-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 Brunswick 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 Brunswick?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — north-east of Brunswick, about twenty-five 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 Brunswick, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
What is the First Home Super Saver scheme?
It lets first home buyers make voluntary contributions to super and later withdraw them, with earnings, for a home deposit. There are limits on how much you can release. The rules are on the ATO site.
We check whether it suits your income and timing before you start.
Should we buy a home or keep renting and invest?
It depends on prices, your income, how long you will stay and how long you will work. Renting long term usually means you need more saved for retirement.
We compare both with your own numbers.
Can our parents help us buy without hurting their pension?
Often, yes — but the way they 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 their asset for five years. Loans are treated differently. The rules are on the Services Australia site.
We can model it with them, so everyone can see the effect before money moves.
Is it too early to think about retirement in our thirties?
No. The fund, the fees and the investment option you choose now have decades to compound.
We focus on the few changes that make the biggest difference.
Does it matter for the Age Pension that we don't own a home?
Yes, when you get there. Non-homeowners are assessed against a higher asset limit than homeowners. Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
We build that into your plan from the start.
Does our parents' Brunswick home count toward their Age Pension?
While they live in it, the home is generally exempt from the assets test. If they sell, the money usually counts.
Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
Do you work with people in Coburg, Brunswick East, Brunswick West and Fitzroy North?
Yes, along with Carlton North, Princes Hill, Northcote and Bundoora.
Coburg, Fitzroy North and Northcote 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.