Financial Services Consultant
Story
“Insurance? I won’t be dying anytime soon LOL, why would I need it?” “Insurance agents are just scammers trying to earn comms from us!”
For my friends who know me, they would describe me as the planner, organiser and solution maker.
Since birth, I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that was above average in SES and my only worry was whether I could complete my homework in time so that I could play my video games.
Things took a turn when I was 10. My mom had a stroke and all I remember was the rush to the hospital, the medical bills, and the image of my mom laying on the hospital bed. In order to cope with these new sets of financial burdens, my dad had to sell off our property and downgraded our house. He worked doubly hard to ensure my family would still be afloat and be able to live comfortably.
As if adding salt to the wound, my mom had aphasia as a result of the stroke, and she couldn’t return to work beyond her recovery, and my family income was split in half.
I hoped and prayed everyday for her speedy recovery.
She never did. And I felt helpless for a very long time. As I grew older, I realised that insurance wasn’t only for death, but also for such cases of critical illness (not very smart of me).
After discovering the industry and working with my family to review their insurance portfolios, I realised that they were severely under covered and worse, mis-sold multiple products that they didn’t need and weren’t a good fit for them. Due to many complications between, I’ve also discovered that my parents also lost 6 figure digits in their retirement sum due to the work of their previous advisors. I already felt indignant and unhappy, imagine how they felt when they found out too.
Thankfully, with my help, I was able to help them plan holistically and utilise whichever tools I had to aid them in alleviating the burden of retirement funding.
Perhaps it was because of their poor experiences in the past, or the financial losses that they received, that resulted in me (and many others, probably) having a negative stigma against financial advisors. I do not blame people for having such views, but I do blame the black sheep advisors out there. Indeed, there many advisors out there who are out to purely sell and earn commissions from us, and they have ruined financial planning for the common man.
Financial advisors have a strong responsibility and could make or break personal finances for anybody out there. And I have made it my duty and mission to make sure it is done right, and to ensure that my peers and future juniors also follow in the path of holistically planning for people. Only then could we achieve my grand goal of eliminating the poor stigma and normalising financial planning in Singapore.
Together, we can break stigmas and stereotypes, and prove the worldview wrong. Are you ready to journey with me to make history?
Bryan Wong Jia Hao
Financial Services Consultant
Story
“Insurance? I won’t be dying anytime soon LOL, why would I need it?” “Insurance agents are just scammers trying to earn comms from us!”
For my friends who know me, they would describe me as the planner, organiser and solution maker.
Since birth, I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that was above average in SES and my only worry was whether I could complete my homework in time so that I could play my video games.
Things took a turn when I was 10. My mom had a stroke and all I remember was the rush to the hospital, the medical bills, and the image of my mom laying on the hospital bed. In order to cope with these new sets of financial burdens, my dad had to sell off our property and downgraded our house. He worked doubly hard to ensure my family would still be afloat and be able to live comfortably.
As if adding salt to the wound, my mom had aphasia as a result of the stroke, and she couldn’t return to work beyond her recovery, and my family income was split in half.
I hoped and prayed everyday for her speedy recovery.
She never did. And I felt helpless for a very long time. As I grew older, I realised that insurance wasn’t only for death, but also for such cases of critical illness (not very smart of me).
After discovering the industry and working with my family to review their insurance portfolios, I realised that they were severely under covered and worse, mis-sold multiple products that they didn’t need and weren’t a good fit for them. Due to many complications between, I’ve also discovered that my parents also lost 6 figure digits in their retirement sum due to the work of their previous advisors. I already felt indignant and unhappy, imagine how they felt when they found out too.
Thankfully, with my help, I was able to help them plan holistically and utilise whichever tools I had to aid them in alleviating the burden of retirement funding.
Perhaps it was because of their poor experiences in the past, or the financial losses that they received, that resulted in me (and many others, probably) having a negative stigma against financial advisors. I do not blame people for having such views, but I do blame the black sheep advisors out there. Indeed, there many advisors out there who are out to purely sell and earn commissions from us, and they have ruined financial planning for the common man.
Financial advisors have a strong responsibility and could make or break personal finances for anybody out there. And I have made it my duty and mission to make sure it is done right, and to ensure that my peers and future juniors also follow in the path of holistically planning for people. Only then could we achieve my grand goal of eliminating the poor stigma and normalising financial planning in Singapore.
Together, we can break stigmas and stereotypes, and prove the worldview wrong. Are you ready to journey with me to make history?
