Financial Adviser Serving South Morang
We provide retirement-focused financial advice for South Morang households, covering superannuation, retirement planning, investments, cash flow and personal insurance.
Our office is at The Watermans in Bundoora, serving South Morang and the surrounding Plenty Valley corridor. 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 South Morang clients
Retirement planning is different from the financial decisions you make while you are working.
For South Morang households approaching retirement, we help bring together your superannuation, investments, spending, insurance and potential Age Pension entitlement into one plan.
- Retirement-focused adviceWe specialise in helping people in their fifties and sixties move from building wealth to living on it.
- Based in Bundoora, serving South MorangOur office is at The Watermans in Bundoora. We work with clients in South Morang and across the wider Plenty Valley corridor.
- Clear, evidence-based adviceWe explain the reasoning behind our recommendations, model different scenarios and show you the numbers before you make major decisions.
What retirement looks like as life changes
South Morang grew rapidly from the late 1990s onwards, with many families buying homes and building their financial lives in the area.
The suburb spread out either side of Plenty Road and around what became the Plenty Valley shopping centre, with the train line extended to South Morang in 2012 and on to Mernda in 2018.
For households who bought during those earlier growth years, retirement may now be approaching. Mortgages may be reduced or paid off, children may have become independent, and the focus can begin to shift from building wealth to deciding how to live on it.
That creates a different financial question.
How much can you afford to spend? When should you stop working? How should your super be invested? What happens if markets fall early in retirement? And how might the Age Pension fit into the picture?
For many people, it is the first time they have had to answer these questions.
South Morang recorded a population of 24,989 at the 2021 Census. Suburb population and age data is published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and by the City of Whittlesea community profile.
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.
What South Morang 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 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 want to stop at sixty-two but I don’t know if we can afford it.
We answer that with a number, not a reassurance — modelled against a poor first few years, not just an average one.
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Most of what we have is the house. Where does that leave the Age Pension?
Better calculated than assumed. We work it out from your actual position, early, because it usually shapes everything else. Thresholds are published by Services Australia.
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Our super is in whatever the fund put us in. I’ve never chosen anything.
A default option is built for an average member, not for you. We reset it against when you actually need the money.
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I think I’m paying for insurance I no longer need.
Quite possibly. We check it against what still needs protecting now, and whether it belongs inside super or outside it.
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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 South Morang
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.
South Morang is a short drive from our Bundoora office — and if that is inconvenient, we will come to you.
Areas we serve near South Morang
South Morang sits in the middle of the Plenty Valley corridor. We work across it, and south toward the Bundoora office.
You do not have to travel to us
Wherever you are along the corridor, 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 South Morang 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 South Morang?
No. Our office is at The Watermans, Level 2, 1/3 Janefield Drive, Bundoora — a short drive down Plenty Road. We work with South Morang households regularly, and 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 South Morang, by secure video, or at the office — whichever suits you. Most South Morang clients start with a home visit or a video call.
We bought in South Morang when the estates were going up. Is it too late to plan for retirement?
Rarely. The important question is not when you bought, but where you are now — your age, superannuation, investments, debt, spending and intended retirement date.
The earlier you understand your position, the more options you generally have.
Does our South Morang home count toward the Age Pension?
Your principal residence is generally exempt from the assets test regardless of its value. It can still affect the overall outcome, because homeowners and non-homeowners are assessed against different thresholds.
Where the home represents most of a household’s wealth, the broader retirement position can look quite different from holding the same value in financial assets. Current thresholds are published by Services Australia.
Do you work with people in Mernda, Doreen, Wollert and Whittlesea?
Yes, along with Mill Park, Epping, Lalor and Thomastown. South Morang is simply the centre of that stretch.
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.
When can I access my superannuation?
Access depends on your preservation age and whether a condition of release has been met. For many people reaching preservation age, retirement is one of the relevant conditions.
Age Pension age is separate and is currently 67.
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.