What People Say After Taking the Courses

The Situation

A 47-year-old property manager had been purchasing T-Bills on occasion but was not clear on how they differed from Singapore Savings Bonds or why the auction process worked as it did. She wanted to understand the instruments she already owned.

What She Did

She enrolled in Course 1 and completed it over seven weeks, slightly behind the suggested pace, because she found herself re-reading certain sections. She used the bond math worksheet to work through the yield calculations on her actual T-Bill purchases.

The Outcome

She reported that her next conversation with her bank's relationship manager was notably more productive — she knew what questions to ask and understood the answers. She subsequently enrolled in Course 2.

The Situation

A couple in their late fifties — one a former teacher, one a sales director — were two years from retirement and uncertain how their CPF LIFE payouts, existing SSB holdings, and a small SGS ladder they had started would fit together as household income.

What They Did

They completed Course 3 together, reading each week's material separately and then discussing it. They used the household income-source map to lay out all their anticipated income streams and the ladder planning worksheet to think through reinvestment timing.

The Outcome

They arrived at their next meeting with their licensed financial planner having completed most of the groundwork they had previously expected the planner to walk them through. The meeting was shorter and more focused on their specific decisions.

The Situation

A 52-year-old IT manager held a Singapore-domiciled bond fund through his employer's savings programme. He had never properly read the fund's factsheet and was uncertain what "modified duration" and "yield to worst" meant in the context of his holding.

What He Did

He enrolled in Course 2. The sections on bond fund factsheets, yield measures, and interest-rate sensitivity were directly relevant to his situation. He worked through the credit-rating reference table alongside his fund's most recent quarterly report.

The Outcome

He described feeling, for the first time, that the factsheet was something he could read rather than something he had to accept. He noted that the term-sheet checklist helped him review a separate corporate bond prospectus his adviser had shared with him.