Insights on investing, insurance and planning
Short, practical reads for the questions people bring most often: how to weigh a big decision, how the different ways of investing work, what has changed in insurance, how to pass things on, and what to look for in a professional. Each topic is a short path: start with the first piece, and every article ends with where to go deeper.
Decisions and planning
How to weigh options, then commit with fewer regrets.
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Start here How to compare financial plans side by side: the FDM method
List what matters, weigh it honestly, score each option. A method for choosing between plans that keeps you in charge of the trade-offs.
27 August 2021
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Then read Three questions before you commit to a long-term financial plan
Buyer remorse is real, and it grows with the sums involved. Three questions that reduce it before you sign.
3 April 2022
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Then read SRS in Singapore: how it works, and how to think about it
A voluntary scheme with a tax incentive on the way in and conditions on the way out. What the rules say, how SRS compares with a CPF cash top-up, and what to decide before investing the money.
28 October 2026
Investing
From what to hold, to what it needs to earn, to how much to risk, to who makes the call.
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Start here Asset classes: one view, many ways to hold it
Sorting investments into asset classes is a useful start. What matters more is how each instrument behaves, and which one fits you.
8 August 2018
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Then read Setting a required rate of return: the building-block approach
Before asking what an investment might earn, decide what it would need to earn to be worth its risks. A planning method from the CFA curriculum.
16 August 2018
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Then read Hero or zero: outcome bias and bet size
A good result does not prove a good decision. Why bet size, not bravado, is what keeps a portfolio in the game.
15 October 2025
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Then read Discretionary or Proposal-Acceptance Arrangement: who makes the final call?
The real difference between having a portfolio managed within a mandate and approving each trade yourself, and the trade-offs that come with each.
14 January 2023
Protection
How insurance has changed and what to look for.
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Read Life insurance in Singapore since 2001: what has changed
From thumbprint pads and rate books to standardised definitions and life-event options. What has changed since 2001, and what it means for your cover.
20 January 2025
Working with a professional
Trust, checking who you deal with, and where AI fits.
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Start here Trust, time and the emotional bank account
Every working relationship runs an account of trust. What credits it, what debits it, and why it shapes the service you get.
15 August 2020
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Then read How to check someone on the MAS Register of Representatives
A short check to make before you share your money or your personal details with anyone: where the register is, how to search it, how to read the result, and what it leaves out.
28 October 2026
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Then read AI and financial planning: what to hand over, and what to keep
AI can crunch the numbers and read the fine print. It cannot carry the responsibility, or read a family. Where the line falls.
18 July 2025
Legacy
Wills, trusts and passing things on.
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Read Will, trust, CPF nomination and LPA: what each one does
Four documents that people often lump together under "estate planning". Each does a different job, and none of them covers for the others.
28 October 2026
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