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● Did you know that POSB was actually established by the British government back in 1877 to encourage savings? Since then, POSB has grown with Singapore through many crises such as the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, SARS in 2003 and the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. But thanks to great planning and foresight by our forefathers, Singapore has managed to work through those tough times. Likewise, it is important for us as individuals to plan for our future! Luckily for us, we had the privilege of having Nelson Neo give us an overview of financial planning at the Seedly Personal Finance Festival 2024. For those who don’t know, he is also the perfect man for the job as the Head of Financial Planning Advisory & Head of POSB! So without further ado, here are all the key takeaways from Nelson’s sharing about . When faced with uncertainty, it’s best to focus on what you already know! In other words, being equipped with the knowledge of what is going on now to prepare for the future. According to Nelson, one should be aware of current affairs such as economic crises, trade tensions, rate hikes and inflation that will directly or indirectly impact our personal finances. For example, those who have a home loan would have been paying a lot more on their monthly instalments as interest rates went up a couple years ago. For homeowners, knowing about what was going on globally would have easily saved them thousands of dollars by . Additionally, it is important to be aware of current trends such as the fact that Singapore is becoming a “support-age” nation. By 2030, it is estimated that one in four Singaporeans will be 65 years old and above. We will thus need to plan for longer life expectancies, not only for ourselves but also for us to be able to support our aged parents who might not have sufficient medical coverage or savings. Lastly, we also need to be aware of changes in systems such as that of , which will directly impact our retirement planning and retirement income. When it comes to facing an uncertain (financial) future, we all know that it is impossible to predict what exactly will happen. Therefore, a better perspective is to focus on what you can control. According to Nelson, there are four key aspects of financial planning that everyone should know. The first would be savings, which form the base of financial resiliency. Nelson recommends at least to cover non-medical emergencies such as a sudden loss of income and replacing important appliances. For Nelson, he looks to have at least 12 months’ worth of emergency funds, which is also very in line with what we share here on Seedly: With emergency funds covering non-medical emergencies, medical emergencies should then be covered by insurance, the second aspect of financial planning. While insurance forms a good financial safety net for medical emergencies, Nelson also reminds us that there are times when we need to pay in cash before tapping into medical insurance claims. While Nelson did not go too in-depth about insurance, I was reminded of when I first started caring about insurance and found out about what sort of insurance I needed thanks to the Seedly community. So if you haven’t got down to planning insurance yet, here’s a great guide for you! The third aspect is to have a proper and financial plan for yourself and your family. While having an excel spreadsheet is great, there are plenty of helpful tools these days that can help you budget and stay on track with your financial goals. Since most Singaporeans do have a DBS or POSB account and most likely have the digibank app installed, you can easily start budgeting and planning your finances under the “Plan” tab. Lastly, it is critical to have good . Nelson emphasises managing spending, and avoiding excessive borrowing and high-interest debt to improve cash flow. In other words, you should aim to have more money coming in than money going out so you can pay your debts and still have some spare to save! Before ending his talk, Nelson also offered a tip when it comes to navigating financials and life choices. He urged the audience to make a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA), which is a legal document that we could file to safeguard our interest if we are unable to make the decision. This could help prevent family disputes over money and legal issues further on in life. All in all, Nelson Neo has given us a great framework when it comes to navigating an uncertain financial future. For those who have been with Seedly over the years, you would have noticed that it is quite similar to the . But for those who are new to personal finance, these are some really insightful tips that I hope you’ll remember!