1. Resource-based planning vs Goal-based planning

Common approach to financial planning is goal-based. Goal-based planning for children education and retirement require one to know what you want and identify any gap based on your existing resources to result in a recommendation plan. From our experience, most people find it difficult to conceptualise what or how much they want for the future. Rather it is more meaningful to know how much they can have in the future with what is now available.

As an example:

In goal-based retirement planning, you are asked 2 key questions:

–  when you would like to retire; and

–  how much you want in your retirement.

Depending on your answers, an analysis and recommendation plan is created. Disadvantages of this approach is that many people don’t know when they can retire, let alone how much they can or should have. Hence any resultant solution may not be most appropriate.

At MoneyOwl, we use resource-based planning. You are asked one key question:

–  when would you like to retire.

An analysis-cum-recommendation is developed based on the resources you have and the various retirement scenarios should you increase your savings or delay your retirement. In this way, you are likely to make better informed decisions and the resultant solution would be more in line with your current lifestyle and future needs.

2. Integration with national schemes

Our recommendations incorporate national schemes into your financial plan in a holistic and sophisticated way using our proprietary MoneyOwl CPF Analyser to project your CPF balances, considering your contributions, mortgage payments, as well as the complex rules and limits in the CPF system. This will provide you with an estimate of what your CPF LIFE payout will be with a high degree of accuracy.

3. Fit-for-purpose, low cost solution, bigger savings

Our recommendations are use cost-effective solutions, fit-for-purpose rather than expensive financial products. For insurance gaps, our recommendation typically uses low-cost term policy, and with up to 50% first-year basic commission rebate, it brings down your cost of insurance even lower. Our investment solution is based on time-tested principles of asset-allocation focus and market-based returns, implementing using low-cost instrument and the discipline of staying invested.

4. Conflict-free financial advice

Our advisers are fully salaried, conflict-free and competent. All of our Client Advisers are on the internationally-recognised AWP^CM/CFP® programme. Your Client Adviser will understand your priorities, ascertain your objectives, then guide and encourage you towards taking positive action to achieve your financial goals.