Financial Adviser Serving Lower Plenty
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Lower Plenty households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, a short drive north-west of Lower Plenty. 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 Lower Plenty clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Lower Plenty 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 Lower PlentyOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about fifteen minutes' drive north-west of Lower Plenty. We work with clients across Lower Plenty, Viewbank, Montmorency and Eltham.
- 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.
Lower Plenty: settled homes and the later years
Lower Plenty is an older, settled suburb. The median age is 45, against 38 across Victoria, and more than one in five residents is 65 or older, against about one in six statewide.
More than four in ten homes are owned outright, and four in ten have four or more bedrooms. Incomes are high, and one in five working residents is a manager.
More residents care for someone who is ill or older, and more volunteer, than across Victoria.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
Planning for the later years
Many people want to stay at home as long as they can. Government-funded help at home is available through the Support at Home program, and you pay a contribution based on your income and assets. Details are on the Department of Health site.
If you or your partner move into an aged care home, the fees come from a means assessment. The home you leave may be partly counted, or not counted at all if your partner still lives there. The rules are on the My Aged Care site.
We plan for these years early, while you still have choices.
What Lower Plenty households worry about
These come up again and again at this stage. None of them require you to have anything sorted out beforehand.
-
We want to stay in our home as long as we can. Can we afford help at home?
Usually there is a way. Help at home is government-funded, and what you pay depends on your income and assets. We work out what it might cost you. Details are on the Department of Health site.
-
If one of us goes into aged care, what happens to the house?
It depends on who still lives there. If your partner stays, the home is generally not counted in the aged care means test. The rules are on the My Aged Care site.
-
The house is too big now, but we love the garden. Should we move?
That is your call, and it is not only about money. We show what each choice does to your income, your Age Pension and what you leave behind.
-
We're already retired. Is it worth getting advice now?
Yes. How much you draw, from which account, and how you plan for care later all still matter. We start from where you are now.
-
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 Lower Plenty
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.
Lower Plenty is about fifteen minutes from our Bundoora office
Areas we serve near Lower Plenty
Lower Plenty sits in the City of Banyule, south-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 Lower Plenty 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 Lower Plenty?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — a short drive north-west of Lower Plenty, about fifteen 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 Lower Plenty, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
How do we pay for help at home?
Government-funded help at home comes through the Support at Home program. You pay a contribution, and the rate depends on your income, assets and pension status. Details are on the Department of Health site.
We include the likely cost in your plan, so it is not a surprise later.
How are aged care home fees worked out?
Through a means assessment of your income and assets. It sets what you may pay toward your care and your accommodation. The rules are on the My Aged Care site.
We look at how to pay, and what it does to your Age Pension and to the partner who stays at home.
Does our home count if one of us moves into aged care?
Not if a protected person, such as your partner, still lives there. If no one does, only part of its value is generally counted. The rules are on the My Aged Care site.
Whether to keep or sell the home is a big decision, so it is worth modelling first.
We're already retired. Is it too late for advice?
No. How much you draw, from which account, and how that affects your tax and Age Pension still matter — and so does planning for care later.
We start from where you are now.
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 Age Pension, and whether any of it can go into super. Downsizer contribution rules are on the ATO site.
Does our Lower Plenty 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 Viewbank, Montmorency, Eltham and Templestowe?
Yes, along with Yallambie, Rosanna, Heidelberg and Bundoora.
Viewbank, Montmorency, Yallambie, Rosanna and Heidelberg 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.