When we formed Ascenta Wealth in April 2021, we set out to provide British expats, international professionals, and globally mobile families with expert financial planning tailored around their unique circumstances.
As part of our mission to help clients navigate the complex world of wealth creation and avoid expensive mistakes, every month we share newsletters with three topical articles.
Five years on, take a look back at five of the most popular articles.
September 2022 – 3 common scams in Singapore and how you can protect yourself from them
Following the Covid pandemic, Singapore experienced a significant rise in fraud. Reports at the time revealed that Singaporeans had lost roughly $278 million to scammers in the first half of 2022 – almost double the amount recorded in the first half of 2021.
Scams that were rife at the time (and continue to thrive today) include:
- Phishing or smishing, where fraudsters send out generic messages to a number of victims by email or SMS and pretend to be a trusted organisation
- Impersonation scams, for example, a message from someone claiming to be a family member, saying they’re using a different number because they’ve lost or damaged their phone. If you respond, the scammer will then ask you to transfer money to an account, supposedly so they can replace their phone.
- Investment fraud, when fraudsters try to persuade you to invest in a seemingly legitimate scheme offering attractive but often unrealistically high rates of return.
Sadly, while financial fraudsters found fruitful victims during and following Covid, the scams are ongoing today and criminals are using increasingly sophisticated tactics.
As such, the advice we gave then remains just as relevant today.
If you’re unsure about the legitimacy of an investment, please get in touch. We’ll help you understand whether an approach is genuine – and, if it is, how it may fit into your financial plan.
Read the full article: 3 common scams in Singapore and how you can protect yourself from them
October 2023 – 2 top-rated articles worth revisiting
The October 2023 newsletter was well-received, with two articles claiming equal attention.
5 common retirement planning regrets and how you can avoid them
Citing a report saying that 32% of UK retirees would make different financial choices for their retirement, this article received a lot of attention.
In summary, financial planning mistakes to avoid include:
- Reviewing your investment portfolio too infrequently – Instead, check in with your investments semi-regularly; doing so could help ensure that your portfolio continues to have the opportunity to generate the returns you need.
- Forgetting to account for inflation – Cashflow forecasting can be a useful tool to give you a realistic understanding of how predicted investment performance and assumed inflation could affect your finances over time.
- Withdrawing too much from your pension in your early retirement – As tempting as it may be to raid your pension pot early, it’s important to balance spending priorities with potential later-life needs.
- Not factoring in the cost of later-life care – A perfect segue from above, by 2030, estimates suggest that 100,000 seniors in Singapore will require help with at least one daily activity. Factoring this into your retirement plan early could help ensure you have funds set aside for this possible expense.
- Retiring without consulting a financial planner – with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and tools at our disposal, we can help you to achieve the goals you’ve set and avoid these and other potentially costly mistakes.
Read the full article: 5 common retirement planning regrets and how you can avoid them
Should your adult children join your financial planning meetings?
As with many Ascenta articles, in October 2023 we encouraged readers to think about the future. This time, we did so by supporting the next generation to build and protect their wealth, while also preserving family assets.
From teaching adult children budget basics to ensuring they remain informed about their potential inheritance and the benefits of forming a lasting relationship with a trusted financial planner, the article led to numerous calls and conversations.
If you think your adult children could benefit from meeting us – either alongside you or independently – we’d love to hear from you.
Read the full article: Should your adult children join your financial planning meetings?
October 2024 – Addressing the billion-dollar question: How much money do you need to be happy?
While multiple studies have attempted to answer this question, the findings have been conflicting.
In 2010, researchers found that money did improve happiness – but income beyond $75,000 a year didn’t appear to have a material impact on happiness.
Just over a decade later, in 2021, another study found that happiness did appear to improve with higher earnings, and there was no suggestion that an upper limit altered levels of happiness.
You may have your own theories, or indeed first-hand experience of the truth of the matter.
We stand firm in the belief that creating a happy life starts by understanding what makes you happy, which is why every client conversation starts with understanding what matters to you.
Read the full article: How much money do you need to be happy, and how can your financial planner help?
March 2025 – Taking these 4 practical steps today could help you achieve your desired retirement lifestyle
A large part of our work is to help clients ensure they are prepared to enjoy a financially secure future.
In a nutshell, practical steps you could take to ensure you’re prepared to enjoy your hard-earned retirement include:
- Know what you’re aiming for – whether you have grand ambitions to travel the world or modest hopes to spend time with friends and family, having a vision of how you’ll spend your retirement years can help you calculate how much you need.
- Understand how much you’ll need – this largely depends on your lifestyle ambitions, but if you’ve paid off your mortgage, you may find that your outgoings are significantly less than you’ve been used to during your career.
- Review what you already have – your pension, together with other assets, will all help you to fund your ideal retirement. These could include property income, social security, and savings and investments.
- Set a retirement date so you know your time frame – Cashflow planning can be helpful when plotting your expected retirement date as it can alert you of any potential shortfall in your projected income.
Read the full article: Taking these 4 practical steps today could help you achieve your desired retirement lifestyle
Spread the word and let us know what you’d like to read about
As ever, please feel free to share any of the articles you feel would be interesting for others.
With articles tailored to your needs and interests each month, if there’s anything you’d like to read about in future editions, we’d love to hear from you.
