Financial Adviser Serving Craigieburn
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Craigieburn households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, south-east of Craigieburn. 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 Craigieburn clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Craigieburn 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 CraigieburnOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty-five minutes' drive south-east of Craigieburn. We meet clients at home or by secure video across Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park, Mickleham and Greenvale.
- 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.
Craigieburn: big households and first homes
Craigieburn is a young, fast-growing family suburb. The median age is 32, and six in ten families are couples with children at home.
Households are large, averaging 3.3 people against 2.5 across Victoria. Only about one in seven households is a person living alone.
More than half of homes have a mortgage, well above the state share. Only about one in seven is owned outright.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If your child asks you to go guarantor
Many parents want to help their children into a first home. One common way is to guarantee part of their loan using equity in your own home.
It can help them avoid lenders mortgage insurance, but it puts your home on the line if they cannot repay. Moneysmart explains the risks of going guarantor.
We look at what you could afford to lose, how the guarantee affects your own borrowing and retirement, and whether another way of helping would suit you better.
What Craigieburn households worry about
These come up again and again at this stage. None of them require you to have anything sorted out beforehand.
-
My son wants me to go guarantor on his first home. Should I?
Only once you know the worst case. If he cannot repay, the lender can come to you for the guaranteed amount. Moneysmart sets out the risks.
-
Can I limit how much I'm responsible for?
Often, yes. Many guarantees can be capped at a fixed amount rather than the whole loan. We check what you are agreeing to, and a solicitor should review the documents.
-
We still have our own mortgage. Can we afford to help?
We look at your own repayments, super and retirement timing first. Helping only works if it does not push your own plans back years.
-
Would it be better to give them money instead?
Sometimes. A gift is gone, but your home is not at risk. If you may claim the Age Pension within five years, gifting limits apply. Services Australia sets out the limits.
-
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.
-
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 Craigieburn
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.
Craigieburn is about twenty-five minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Craigieburn
Craigieburn sits in the City of Hume, north-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 Craigieburn 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 Craigieburn?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — south-east of Craigieburn, 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 Craigieburn, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
What does it mean to go guarantor on a home loan?
You agree to repay some or all of someone else's loan if they cannot. The guarantee is usually secured against your own home. Moneysmart explains how it works.
What are the risks for parents?
If your child cannot keep up repayments, the lender can ask you to pay the guaranteed amount. If you cannot, your home may be at risk. A guarantee can also limit how much you can borrow yourself.
Can a guarantee be limited to part of the loan?
Often, yes. Moneysmart suggests guaranteeing a fixed amount, so you know the most you could have to pay. Its guide has more detail. Always have a solicitor review the documents before you sign.
How do we get released from the guarantee later?
Usually once your child has paid down enough of the loan, or the property has risen enough in value, they can ask the lender to remove the guarantee. It is worth agreeing on a target from the start.
Are there other ways to help our children buy a home?
Yes — a cash gift, a family loan with a written agreement, or helping them save. Each has different risks and Age Pension effects. Services Australia sets out the gifting limits.
We still have our own mortgage. Should we focus on that first?
Often, yes. Clearing your own debt before retirement gives you more choices. We look at both together, so helping your children doesn't set back your own plans.
Do you work with people in Roxburgh Park, Mickleham, Greenvale and Wollert?
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.