Financial Adviser Serving Northcote
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for Northcote households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, north of Northcote. 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 Northcote clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For Northcote 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 NorthcoteOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, about twenty minutes' drive north of Northcote. We work with clients across Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield and Preston.
- 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.
Northcote: professionals, big mortgages and long-time families
Northcote is home to many professionals. At the 2021 Census, more than four in ten working residents were professionals, against one in four statewide, and more than half of adults have a university degree. More than usual work at universities and in state government.
Homes cost a lot here. Median mortgage repayments were $2,400 a month, against $1,859 across Victoria, and people aged 45 to 54 make up a bigger share than statewide.
There is also a long-standing Greek community. Greek is spoken at home at about four times the Victorian rate.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
If you will still have a mortgage in your fifties
Many people here bought later, and the mortgage may not be finished when they want to stop work. Some plan to use super to clear it. That can work, but it can leave less to live on later.
If you work at a university, you may be in UniSuper’s Defined Benefit Division, which works very differently from an ordinary super account. Details are on the UniSuper site.
We plan the mortgage, your super and your retirement date together.
What Northcote 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'll still have a mortgage when we want to retire. Should we use super to pay it off?
Sometimes that is the right move. But it can leave less to live on and change your Age Pension. We compare it with the other options before you decide.
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I work at a university. Should I stay in the UniSuper defined benefit?
It depends on your age, salary and years of service. We go through your statement and the options before you change anything. Details are on the UniSuper site.
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We earn well but don't feel ahead. Why?
Big repayments leave less to save. We show where your money goes and what to change first.
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Mum and Dad have owned their house here for decades. How do we help them plan?
We can meet with them and you together. We look at their Age Pension, their home and their wishes, and explain it plainly.
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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 Northcote
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.
Northcote is about twenty minutes from our Bundoora office.
Areas we serve near Northcote
Northcote sits in the City of Darebin, 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 Northcote 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 Northcote?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — north of Northcote, 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 Northcote, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you.
Should we use our super to pay off the mortgage when we retire?
It can make sense, but it is not automatic. Clearing the loan cuts your costs, but it can leave less to live on and can change your Age Pension.
We compare clearing it, keeping a smaller loan and working a little longer, using your own numbers.
What is UniSuper's Defined Benefit Division?
It is a UniSuper option for eligible university staff. Part of your benefit is worked out by a formula based on your salary, years of membership and contributions, rather than only on investment returns. Details are on the UniSuper site.
The choices you make at retirement can be hard to undo, so it is worth getting advice first.
I work in state government. What kind of super do I have?
It depends on when you started. Some long-serving Victorian public servants are in an older defined benefit scheme. Most newer staff are in an ordinary accumulation fund.
Your latest statement will show which one you have. We go through it with you.
Can you help our parents plan too?
Yes. Many clients bring a parent along, or we meet the parents with the family. We explain things in plain English and give everyone the same information in writing.
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 Northcote 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 Thornbury, Fairfield, Alphington and Preston?
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.