I had been meaning to sort out my household finances for years but kept postponing it. The first course gave me a clear framework. I left with an actual document showing my position — not just notes from a presentation. Very different from the investment seminars I had been to previously.
The equities and bonds course covered things I thought I already understood, but the workbook exercises made clear how many assumptions I had been making about my portfolio. The SGX-specific content was exactly what was missing from things I had read online. A few sessions felt dense, but worth working through carefully.
Course 3 is the most thorough treatment of CPF LIFE I have encountered anywhere. I had read the CPF website multiple times but never understood the trade-offs between plan options the way the instructor explained them. I now have a retirement plan document that my husband can also follow, which was one of my main concerns going in.
I completed all three courses over eighteen months. Each one built naturally on the previous. By the time I finished Course 3, I had a clear picture of my household finances, my portfolio, and my retirement income position. The group discussions were genuinely useful — other participants raised questions I would not have thought to ask.
I came to Course 1 after inheriting some money and realising I had no organised view of my household finances at all. The balance sheet exercise in week two was humbling but very useful. The instructor was patient with questions that were probably more basic than those of most participants, and never made me feel out of place.
The SRS section in Course 3 was something I had tried to understand on my own without success. The explanation of the withdrawal sequencing at retirement, and how it interacts with CPF LIFE payouts, made it clear in a way that the official materials had not. Well worth the course fee for that topic alone.
A 48-year-old participant working in the healthcare sector had no organised record of household assets, had not looked at her CPF statement in two years, and was uncertain whether her savings rate was adequate for her age. She had attended two investment seminars but found the product-led framing unhelpful for her situation.
Over the six weeks of Course 1, she worked through the household balance sheet, cash flow analysis, and CPF overview sections of the workbook. The instructor addressed specific questions about HDB flat equity and whether it should be included in a net worth calculation — a topic the seminar content had not touched.
She completed the course with a personal summary document covering her balance sheet, monthly cash flow, CPF account overview, and a broad retirement timeline sketch. She enrolled in Course 3 six months later. "I finally had a clear starting point to work from," she wrote in her post-course feedback.
A 53-year-old who had been investing independently on the SGX for nine years found that his portfolio had grown into an unsorted collection of positions accumulated across different periods, with no clear allocation rationale. He knew the individual instruments but had no framework for viewing the portfolio as a whole.
He completed Course 1 to establish a household financial baseline, then moved to Course 2 in the following cohort. The portfolio construction sessions gave him a framework for categorising his holdings, calculating effective allocation, and identifying positions that were redundant or inconsistent with his time horizon.
After Course 2, he had a written portfolio reference workbook with documented allocation targets and rebalancing notes. He reduced his total number of holdings by consolidating redundant positions, and now reviews the workbook annually. "The fee analysis session alone changed how I look at what I own," he noted.
A couple in their late fifties, both approaching retirement within eight years, had no shared financial record. One managed the investments; the other handled the household accounts. Neither had a clear picture of the combined position, and they had not made a CPF LIFE election decision despite the deadline approaching.
One spouse completed all three courses over two years, while the other attended selected sessions of Course 3. The household documentation emphasis in Course 3 — specifically the module on writing a retirement plan that a family member can follow — directly addressed their situation.
They now have a joint household retirement plan document covering CPF LIFE election choices, SRS withdrawal schedule, healthcare coverage, and a household income projection for the first decade of retirement. Both spouses can read and update it. Their post-course feedback described the documentation module as the most practically useful element of any financial course they had attended.
We are happy to discuss your situation before you commit to anything.