I could hardly imagine myself as a financial advisor, sharing my knowledge and inspiring others to kick start their financial journey.

When I reflect, to myself I realise how important all these key things I have learn in this career has taught me. When I was a kid I never understood why when our parents always say “save money” and “money is hard to earned” or even “study hard if not you have no job”.

Always thought to myself that jobs just like any part time job is easy to enquire, started working as an ice cream salesman going from door to door selling a block of ice cream just so I could earn some pocket money for myself unlike the other kids who might have gotten their phone and computer to play. I was behind everyone and I only had my phone when I was 15, a simple Nokia phone. I only got my first laptop when I was in Polytechnic. I always wondered, how did everyone get everything they wanted but not me?

I realised it was the lack of financial planning in my family, no one ever taught us that you can grow money through investments or saving plans and not in your banks. No one knew how to properly save money such that you have enough for your future like your kids’ education. Even for me now, I’m currently studying in university while working as a financial advisor.

There were many times when money was an issue in the family, and the solution for the breadwinner of the family was alcohol. However, instead of fixing the problem, it made an even bigger mess such that many things were broken. How I got into this career was through meeting my mentor who was my financial advisor at the time, and he guided me and answered many questions that I have even when I was only 20 and serving the army.

Through this, it showed how much I was lacking in my own understanding and knowledge of financial planning. I decided to embark on this career to ensure the people around me are well prepared for themselves in their financial journey because I realised through talking to many of my friends and peers that they all shared the same common thing, which is that they lack the understanding of financial planning and not knowing how to go about it. I will continue to reach my hands out to as many people as possible and kick start their journey.