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Every morning
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Finance consultant; plain-English corporate and personal finance concepts, investing, and planning.
Are you trying to grow your $5M to $10M? Or are you trying to make sure it still exists when your grandchildren are adults? Those are two completely different strategies. And most families never have the conversation about which one they're actually pursuing.
Next time your financial consultant recommends a fund, try asking this: what is the structural reason this should keep performing? If the answer is "it's done well," that's a description of the past. And past performance, as every disclaimer in the...
If you're Singaporean and you hold more than US$60,000 in US stocks, ETFs, or US-listed funds, your family could face a 40% estate tax bill when you die. On $500K in US holdings, that's roughly US$176,000. Most people in Singapore holding...
If you invest $10,000 today, how much of that actually gets invested after all charges? If the answer isn't close to $10,000, you should understand why. One client found out she'd been paying a 2% upfront sales charge every time she...
Most people think the big decision in investing is which fund to choose. Where to put the money. Which strategy is best. I get it, because that's where all the energy goes at the start. But after doing this for years,...
You open a savings account labelled "Education Fund." You start contributing every month. You feel responsible. Meanwhile, there's an investment plan you set up years ago. Quietly compounding. Already on track to hit $200,000 by the time your child turns 18. Nobody...
A client told me something last month that I've been thinking about ever since. He said, "Ben, we put in the money. And then what? We just sit here and hope?" He wasn't angry. He was genuinely confused. Like there should be...
"If I buy property in Singapore and I already own something in KL, how does that affect what happens to both if something happens to me?" That question told me everything about where this client was at.
$40,000 bonus. Client sitting across from me asking where to invest it. I pulled out a calculator, punched in the numbers, turned the screen toward him, and said "honestly, it's not worth it. Leave it in the bank." He looked at me...
A millionaire walked into her bank to renew a fixed deposit. Simple transaction. In and out. But the relationship manager had other plans. "Before we process that renewal, let me show you something better."
If you saw the BlackRock headline this week and your first thought was "should I be worried about my own investments," you're not the only one. But the thing you're worried about probably isn't what you think it is.
She had $1.2 million in cash. Three years. Waiting for the "right time" to invest. She thought cash was safe. Zero risk. She didn't realise she was already taking the biggest risk of all.
March 2020. COVID panic. Markets collapsed overnight. Two clients. Same portfolio. Same allocation. Same advisor. What they did next created a gap worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It will probably never close.
The morning markets crashed on Liberation Day, my phone didn't stop. By 9am, I'd received 14 messages from clients. Every single one asked the same question: 'Should I sell?'
A client moved to me after 6 years with a private bank. He didn't leave because of poor performance. He left because he finally saw the full fee statement. His relationship manager had never shown him the total annual cost in dollars.
Most investors know they pay fees. Annual charges. Management costs. Platform fees. Almost nobody knows what those fees actually cost them over 20 years. The number is usually the most shocking thing I show new clients.
Most people think their advisor's job is to make trades. Buy this. Sell that. Rotate sectors. Time entries. That's level one. And it's the least valuable thing a financial consultant can do.
You’re earning the wrong type of income, and your salary is the proof. Two people earning $200K. Same income, completely different financial realities. There is a distinction between capital income and labor income reveals why the wealth gap isn’t about how much...
You own $3 million in US stocks. You live in Singapore. You pass away. Two versions of what happens next.
Most people think diversification means owning lots of different funds. A client came to me with 17 funds across 4 fund houses. "My advisor said this was maximum diversification." When I showed him what he actually owned underneath, something broke.
I've been a financial consultant to millionaires in Singapore and across Southeast Asia for nearly a decade. Here's what I've learned: the most painful financial conversations happen after someone passes away. The ones that could have been prevented by a single...
A client showed me her previous advisor's quarterly report. 47 trades in three months. She thought that meant he was working hard for her. When I looked at her actual returns over 5 years, something didn't add up.
Early in my career, I recommended a hedge fund to five clients. Impressive track record. Global brand everyone would recognise. 28% annual returns for three years. I felt like I'd found something special. I was wrong.
There’s a formula that explains wealth inequality, and it has nothing to do with how hard you work. French economist Thomas Piketty studied 200 years of data across 20 countries and found that returns on capital almost always exceed economic growth. We...
Most people diversify across stocks and bonds. But ultra-high-net-worth families diversify across something most people never consider, countries, generations, and legal systems. Let me explain…
Hey there, I’m Ben 👋🏻 I’m a financial consultant to millionaires in Singapore and across Southeast Asia. In 2026, I’m building a team of financial consultants. If you’re a client: you’ll see how we think about money. If you’re a consultant: you’ll see the...
