What participants say about the programmes

THE SITUATION

A participant in her mid-forties had been managing the household finances for over twenty years but had never sat down to produce a complete picture of inflows and outflows. She had a rough sense that things were broadly fine but found it difficult to answer questions like how much the household spent on utilities in a year, or what the annual insurance bill actually was.

THROUGH THE PROGRAMME

Over four weeks she worked through the charting exercises, pulling together bank statements, standing orders, and receipts. The process made the seasonal costs visible — school fees, car maintenance, Hari Raya spending — that were real but easy to forget when thinking about monthly averages. The facilitator helped her categorise items that were ambiguous.

WHAT CHANGED

She left with a written household money picture and three specific areas she wanted to review further. The biggest adjustment was to insurance policies she had not revisited in eight years. Having a document made it easier to have a direct conversation with a licensed adviser about what coverage was still appropriate.

"I'd been running things without a map. Now I have one."

THE SITUATION

A participant in his late forties had contributed to EPF for over twenty years but had never looked at his statement with any real attention. He was aware of the three-account structure in a general way but did not understand how dividend calculations worked, what the difference between Account One and Account Two meant in practice, or how to evaluate whether his savings were pacing adequately against his plans.

THROUGH THE PROGRAMME

The nine-week programme gave him the framework to understand EPF as a portfolio anchor rather than just a deduction line on his payslip. By module five he was able to read the annual dividend declaration in context. The unit trust modules helped him understand what he had already put into two funds his employer had recommended without his full understanding.

WHAT CHANGED

He came away with clarity on his EPF position, a better understanding of the two unit trusts he held, and the ability to read cost disclosures. He subsequently moved one of the funds to a lower-cost option — a decision he made with a licensed adviser, but which he could now assess himself rather than accepting on recommendation alone.

"I understood the words on the statement before. Now I understand what they mean."