Financial Adviser Serving Clifton Hill
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Clifton Hill households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, north of Clifton Hill. 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 Clifton Hill clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Clifton Hill 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 Clifton HillOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty-five minutes' drive north of Clifton Hill. We meet clients at home or by secure video across Clifton Hill, Fitzroy North, Collingwood and Northcote.
- 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.
Clifton Hill: professionals, terraces and an active next chapter
Clifton Hill is a suburb of professionals. More than six in ten adults have a university degree, against three in ten across Victoria, and almost half of working residents are professionals. More than usual work in hospitals, universities and law.
Incomes are high: almost half of households earn more than $3,000 a week. Half of homes are terraces or townhouses, and almost half of families are couples without children.
People here are also very active in the community. One in five adults volunteers, against about 13% statewide.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If you plan to keep working, just less
Many professionals want to ease into retirement — consulting, board roles, or part-time clinical or teaching work. From 60, a transition to retirement pension lets you draw some super while you keep working. Moneysmart explains it on its getting your super page.
You can generally keep adding to super until 75. Between 67 and 74, you need to meet a work test to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions. The rules are on the ATO site.
We plan the income, tax and super side of your next chapter, so earning a little does not cost you more than it should.
What Clifton Hill 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'd like to consult two days a week after I leave. How does that affect my super?
It can work well. We look at how the consulting income is taxed, whether to keep contributing, and how much to draw from super alongside it.
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Can I keep putting money into super after 67?
Generally, yes, until 75. Claiming a tax deduction between 67 and 74 needs a work test. The rules are on the ATO site.
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We both earn well. Are we using our super caps?
Often not fully. If your balance is under $500,000, you may also be able to use unused cap amounts from earlier years. The rules are on the ATO site.
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I want to volunteer more. Can we afford for me to stop paid work?
We work out what stopping earlier would cost, and what it would take to make it work, so you can decide with the numbers.
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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 Clifton Hill
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.
Clifton Hill is about twenty-five minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Clifton Hill
Clifton Hill sits in the City of Yarra, 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 Clifton Hill 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 Clifton Hill?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — north of Clifton Hill, 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 Clifton Hill, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
Can I work part-time and draw on my super?
Often, yes. From 60, a transition to retirement pension lets you draw some of your super while you keep working. Moneysmart explains it on its getting your super page.
We check whether it actually leaves you better off, after tax.
Can I keep contributing to super after 67?
Generally, yes, until 75. Between 67 and 74 you need to meet a work test if you want to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions. The rules are on the ATO site.
We plan contributions around the work you actually expect to do.
Are we making the most of our yearly super caps?
Many high earners are not. Before-tax contributions have a yearly cap, and if your balance is under $500,000 you may be able to use unused amounts from up to five earlier years. The rules are on the ATO site.
We check your records first, so you don't go over the cap.
If I consult after I retire, how is that income taxed?
Consulting income is taxed as ordinary income. For most people over 60, payments from a super pension are tax free, so the total tax on the mix can be low.
We plan how much to earn and how much to draw, so the two work together.
Should we sell the terrace and move?
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, and whether any of it can go into super. Downsizer contribution rules are on the ATO site.
Does our Clifton Hill 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 Fitzroy North, Northcote, Collingwood and Abbotsford?
Yes, along with Fairfield, Alphington, Thornbury and Bundoora.
Fitzroy North, Northcote and Thornbury 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.