Chee Xiu Bin

I believe that we should all have private hospital coverage as long as we can afford it, especially after my own recent trips to government and private hospital. The quality of care and the efficiency are on different levels. You wouldn't want to wait for 2 months to see a specialist when you are in extreme discomfort or pain.

Fewer people on private hospital IPs; more older people giving up their plans altogether There was a 5% drop in the proportion of people who had the highest Integrated Shield Plan tier. Read more at straitstimes.com.

There was a time, not too long ago, when this tin was the most conventional and safest way to save your hard-earned money. Saving in bank was unconventional and regarded as unsafe (because you can't see your money), but if you were a "risk taker", it was a smart thing to do because you will be rewarded with interest.

Few decades later, saving in bank became the most conventional and safest way to save your hard-earned money. Saving in investment products like unit trust and ETFs became the new unconventional way to save, but if you were a "risk taker", it was a smart thing to do because the market performance would have yield you great returns.

Today, saving in investment products is the norm and saving in bank is considered unwise (did you know there are more money being invested than saved in savings account globally?).

Are you already saving your money in investments (the new norm) or are you still stuck in the old-school way of saving in bank?

Many people dream of early retirement, but they failed to plan for it. It's not just about having a lot of money; in this case, $2.5m USD was not even enough. It requires a lot of careful calculations, strategies in place, and stress-testing your portfolio while you are drawing down from it.

Always speak to a Certified Financial Planner to help you do all the calculations and risk assessment before knowing what would be a realistic early retirement age and lifestyle.

I retired in my 30s with a net worth of $2.5 million over a decade ago. Now, I'm going back to work at 46. Sam Dogen retired 12 years ago from his job at Credit Suisse. Now, with two children in school, he's looking to go back to work.

Did an annual review with one my my investors on the exact 1 year anniversary of her investment, we recapped on how her investment grew, net off charges.

33.64% in 1 year. Not too bad. In the same time frame, S&P500 grew 26.14%, Dow Jones grew 18.06%, and NASDAQ grew 30.40%.

Price is what you pay, but value is what you get. I'm glad that I have been able to consistently deliver value to my investors year after year in my career thus far.

I have attended countless awards nights in my career, but I gotta say this one is the best one till date.

This is the first one with my new principal firm Manulife Financial Advisers, and my success achieved here would not have been possible without the training and support system of Aspire Alliance Singapore, the leadership of Branch Director Mike Tang, and the camaraderie of my team, Philip Ho, Calvin Yeo, Gary Chan, and Giselle Lee.

Grateful for another podium finish 🙏 It means more lives protected, more wealth enhanced, and more individual educated.

𝗧𝗟;𝗗𝗥: 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗳𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.

I don’t always share about insurance, but doesn’t mean it is not important. In fact, it is more important than stuff like your investments, as it forms the solid foundation for your overall finances.

Those around me would know that I have been suffering from stiff neck since November 2023. Initially it felt like just another episode of normally stiff neck from bad sleeping posture, but something felt amiss when the stiffness persisted for weeks. So, I consulted various TCMs, but none of them could relieve the stiffness for good. I consulted various GPs, and all I was given was muscle relaxant and some anti-inflammatory gel to apply. I went to chiropractor, chiropractor said that my spine is crooked which resulted in my stiff neck, and end up causing me to have slipped disc instead.

By this time (around late February 2024), my condition had worsened to the extent that I had trouble sitting up from bed every morning, and I had to roll myself down the bed to get out of bed. I couldn’t brush my teeth well as the brushing motion inadvertently moves my neck. I couldn’t wash my head properly too for the same reason.

I went to a government hospital, and the X-ray shows nothing conclusive, so they referred me to an Orthopaedic with an appointment date more than 2 months later even though I am already struggling with daily living activities. I had no choice but to go to seek treatment at a private hospital. MRI shows that I had slipped disc, but still nothing conclusive about my neck. I was given strong dosage of painkiller to ease my pain while I go for physiotherapy. The MRI scans etc costed me more than $5k.

After a month of frequent physio sessions, the improvement was insignificant, and I had to seek alternative treatment. I was introduced to a pain management specialist, which helped me eased the pain and stiffness that I was feeling, so that I can do my physio sessions effectively to treat my problem. And this little treatment costed more than $21k! A sum that I would definitely think thrice before I would agree to it.

However, I have no regrets going for this minor surgery, as it totally rid the pain off me, and I can do my physio exercises without restrictions.

After more than 5 months of pain and struggles, I am finally feeling better, and this is all thanks to having the right insurance. The right insurance gave me the option to go for whatever treatment necessary to treat my problem. Insurance, to many, is a cost, a waste of money, because they *fortunately* have not come across the situation where they need it. But trust me, one day sooner or later, you WILL need it. It’s just a matter of whether you already have it in place or not when the time comes. If you already have it, good for you! If you haven’t, good luck to you!

Blessed to be recognised as one of the top 10% asset manager globally once again.

I'm always looking out to groom more individuals to be on this journey together with me. DM me if you happen to know some one keen on exploring a career in the financial services sector.

If I told you at the start of 2020 that your money will grow by 54% in 4 years time, would you have invested with me?

Nope, you probably won't, because market was at an all-time high back then, and Covid-19 was just starting to make waves around the world. You probably would have rather kept your money inside your bank.

However, look what happened to the market 4 years later? Up by 54% despite all the bad things happening (Covid-19, wars, inflation etc). I'm not speaking on hindsight, because that's just how the market works. Market will definitely drop some day, but market will definitely bounce back much higher, breaking new highs on the way.

We are now at the start of a new bull run. Do you wish to sit out of it again?

The UEFA Champions League is back in action!

For the football lovers out there, while watching the games, do you see the resemblance of football with financial management?

𝟭 𝗼𝗳 𝟭𝟬

During my 10th year celebration dinner last year, I launched Project 10 Million, and I'm glad that my clients were receptive towards it. Today, I met up with the first participant to help him kickstart the project. I explained to him his tailored solutions, and here we go on a 10-year journey! Let's make dreams happen!

Everybody wants to enjoy high growth on their hard-earned money, but nobody is willing to accept short-term volatility. If you want to see the rainbow, you must first weather through the rain.

𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟰 𝗼𝗳 𝟱𝟮: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆?

Are you still hesitating on when to invest? Or are you still trying to catch the "best" time? Or are you simply procrastinating?

Let's not waste more time and start to do what you need to do to grow your money for 2024!

I have been telling some of my "conservative" clients that in the past 5 years, there were so many sh*t happening, but stock market is still huat like nobody's business. We don't need a crystal ball to know that stock market will only go up and up over long term. All the bad news are just ripples in an ocean in the grand scheme of things.

As we welcome 2024, take some time to look at your finances so as to make sure you start 2024 on the right foot.

A good backward testing, showing the effect of perfect market timing, dollar-cost-averaging, worst market timing, and totally not investing at all.

As you can see, investing at the worst time in every year for 20 years straight is still much better off than not investing at all. So there is really no reason for you not to invest out of fear of losing money.

Does Market Timing Work? We ran the numbers on market timing. Our findings? There's a high cost to waiting for the best entry point.

Now that you have forecasted how 2024 is going to be like for you, you are now well-positioned to set your goals for 2024. What would you like to achieve in 2024?

It's time to forecast how 2024 is going to be like for you, so that you can prepare adequately for it.

Take a look at the investments you did this year. Have they gone as planned? If yes, great work! If no, what went wrong? Find that out and avoid them for 2024.

Other than contributing into your SRS to relief your tax, you should consider doing this too!

It's been a week since you protected yourself using insurance. Have you made sure that the insurance payout goes to the right person if something were to really happen?

Are you well-positioned to retire in time?

Why pay more when you can pay less? Especially when we are talking about taxes!

"Always have a plan B" they always say. The same is true for financial planning. Always ensure that you have a plan B to fall back on when thing goes wrong.

After settling your debts, it's time to grow your wealth in a safe and systematic manner!

Other than high-interest debts such as credit card and personal loan, you need to next review your mortgage loan.

After protecting yourself, what's the next thing you should do before 2023 closes?

US Fed announced that they will continue to hold rates steady as we close 2023. On top of that, they are expecting 3 rate cuts (yes, you read it right, *cut*) in 2024. That's perhaps the best Christmas gift from the Fed to investors!

Fed holds rates steady, indicates three cuts coming in 2024 The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its key interest rate steady for the third straight time and set the table for multiple cuts to come in 2024 and beyond.