Super and retirement advice for members of industry, government and corporate funds.
We specialise in the schemes most advisers rarely see — including closed defined benefit funds like PSS, CSS, MilitarySuper and ESSSuper. If the statement’s been sitting unread, or you keep moving your retirement date, start with what’s actually on your mind. The first half hour is free.
Where do I start?
You don’t need to know the name of the service. Pick the question closest to what you’re working through.
Find your fund
Pick your fund to see how its options and rules work. If yours isn’t listed, get in touch and we’ll tell you whether we can take it on.
These benefits are usually worked out from salary and years of service. Some choices are hard — or impossible — to undo later.
Most of these are accumulation accounts. People usually ask about contributions, investment choices, when to retire and how to draw an income.
State schemes and industry funds, each with their own rules and history.
These accounts often started through an adviser or an employer. A review can look at what you pay, what you get, and whether it still fits.
What can you help me with?
Bring the decision that’s actually bothering you. We’ll tell you if it’s work we take on.
Retirement. How much you can spend, how long it should last, and what to sort out in the years before you finish work.
Super and defined benefits. Industry, government and corporate schemes — contributions, pension timing, and the decisions each scheme’s rules actually allow.
Personal insurance. Life, TPD and income protection: whether you still need it at this stage, and whether you’re paying too much inside super.
Wealth outside super. Investing, tax structure, and making the last working years count.
Property and lending. Home and investment lending, refinancing, downsizing, and a plan to get the debt down before you retire.
We’re not owned by a bank, super fund or insurer.
Guideway Wealth specialises in industry, government and corporate super funds. If you’re happy with the one you’re in, there’s often no reason to move — and we’ll say so.
If you’re not sure it stacks up
We can benchmark it against five leading comparable funds so you know exactly where it stands.
Then you’ll know
If it holds up, you’re fine. If it doesn’t, we can help you weigh a move and handle it properly — insurance, timing and tax included.
We don’t own a product
Keeping what you have, changing a setting, or looking elsewhere are all on the table. Missing statements are fine; with your permission we can help gather what the advice needs.
From our Google reviews
A client’s account of their experience, shared from Google with its original attribution.
“Nareena and the team at guideways financial are a dream to deal with . Always prompt on responding to any query and I have found their advice and guidance to be clear , concise and instrumental in helping me achieve my financial goals”
What happens next
Booking a chat isn’t a commitment to paid advice.
- 1. Book a free half hour
- Pick a time that suits. Video, phone, or in person in Melbourne.
- 2. We listen
- You talk. We’ll say honestly if and how we can help.
- 3. You decide
- There’s no obligation. If you go further, you’ll know any fees before work starts.
What people ask before they book
The money questions first, because they are the ones people are too polite to ask on the phone.
What does financial advice cost?
The first conversation costs nothing and takes about half an hour. After that, if you want to go further, you get a written proposal with a fixed quote, and no advice work starts until you have accepted it. We don’t publish one website price because a single focused decision and a full retirement plan are genuinely different jobs — the quote is set by the complexity of your situation and the time the work takes. ASIC’s Moneysmart says the same thing about how advice fees vary, and that an adviser must explain fees before you agree. How we agree the work and the fee.
Am I committing to anything by booking the first chat?
No. There is no fee for it and nothing to sign at the end of it. You tell us what is on your mind, we tell you honestly whether it is work we take on and how we would go about it, and then you decide. Plenty of people have that conversation and don’t come back, which is a perfectly good outcome.
Do I have to be in Melbourne?
No. Our office is at Level 3, 91 William Street in the Melbourne CBD and you are very welcome in it, but most of the people we advise never come. We work by video and phone right across Australia, and for this kind of advice it works just as well. Meeting us in Melbourne, or from anywhere else.
Will you tell me to change super funds?
Only if changing is genuinely better for you. We start from the fund you already have. If you are happy with it and nothing needs deciding, there is often no reason to move — and we will say so. If you are not sure it still stacks up, we can benchmark it against five leading comparable funds so you can see where it actually sits. Sometimes the useful answer is to change one setting inside the account you already hold.
What makes defined benefit advice different?
A defined benefit is worked out by a scheme formula — usually salary, service and a factor the scheme sets — rather than by a balance that rises and falls with markets. Several of these schemes are closed, most have elections with real closing dates, and some of those elections cannot be reversed once they take effect. A CSS member weighing 54/11 is working to a deadline set by their own birthday. That is unusual work, and it is a lot of what we do. What a defined benefit is, and the decisions it forces.
My fund already offers advice. Why would I come to you?
Sometimes you wouldn’t, and we will tell you that. Advice provided through your fund is generally limited to your account inside that fund, which is exactly right for a question about that account. It is less useful when the decision involves a second super account, a partner’s position, money outside super, a mortgage, the Age Pension, or a choice between staying and leaving. That is the point at which people usually call us.
What should I bring to the first conversation?
The decision that is actually bothering you, and any recent statement if it is easy to find. That is genuinely enough. If you can’t put your hands on the paperwork, come anyway — your adviser will tell you what would help and why, and with your permission we can help gather what the advice needs.
Is Guideway owned by a bank, a super fund or an insurer?
No, and we don’t manufacture a financial product of any kind. Advice is provided under Australian Financial Services Licence and Australian Credit Licence 420367, held by Guideway Financial Services Pty Ltd. Ask us for a Financial Services Guide at any time.
Do you only advise on super?
No. Super and retirement are where most people find us, but the advice usually has to take in more than that to be worth having — personal insurance and whether you still need it at this stage, investments outside super, tax structure, and home or investment lending, including getting the debt down before you finish work. Guideway holds a credit licence as well as a financial services licence, so lending sits under the same roof.
My fund isn’t in your list. Can you still help?
Probably. The fund pages cover the schemes we see most often, not the limit of what we advise on. Tell us the name that appears on your statement and we will say in the first half hour whether it is work we can take on, and if it is not, we will say that too.
Ready to talk?
You’ll speak with Nareena Aracas or one of her team. Come with the fund you’re in or the decision you’re circling. The half hour is free.
About our adviser team
Nareena Aracas leads the Guideway Wealth advice practice. A broader team of advisers works with her.
- Nareena AracasSenior Financial Planner · Authorised Representative no. 398311
- Scott NanfroSenior Financial Planner in the broader adviser team · Authorised Representative no. 1255832
Meet selected advisers from the broader Guideway Wealth team.
Authorised Representatives of Guideway Financial Services Pty Ltd ABN 46 156 498 538, AFSL & ACL 420367. Ask us for a Financial Services Guide at any time.