Sound financial planning is important to help us fulfil our aspirations in life, especially as we want to live well, for longer. Our employees and Financial Consultants share how they are getting financially Ready for 100. Let’s hear from Vivian Loy, our Senior Brand Executive, who uses digital apps like Pulse to grow her wealth and fulfil her dreams of buying a house and travelling the world.

1) Tell us more about yourself.

I love travelling and cooking. Food and travel programmes are my favourite shows on video streaming apps.

2) How can financial planning help you to achieve your current life goals?

I want to travel to as many countries as possible. When the COVID-19 situation improves, I hope to travel with my parents to Japan, a country they have always wanted to visit. Another short-term goal is to own a home. I am currently living in a rental home and from a financing perspective, owning a place will cost me less in the long run as paying rental will cost the same or more than a mortgage payment.

To me, a financial plan is like a dashboard – it provides a glimpse of your wealth and guides you to take the best possible steps in managing your finances. Financial planning makes me more aware of my money habits which naturally makes me question my spending and saving. Understanding and acknowledging my financial gaps also helps me to figure out which areas I should cut back on or put more savings in.

There’s a saying by author, Orrin Woodward, “You can have a Master’s degree in making money, but you will still wind up broke if you have a PhD in spending it.” Having a sense of awareness and the discipline to manage one’s finances is the key to good financial planning.

3) What are some small milestones/steps that you have taken to help you achieve your financial goals?

I save an average of 30 to 40 per cent of my monthly income and spend mainly on necessities like groceries, health insurance, rental, phone bills etc. For starters, I believe that saving is the easiest method to accumulate wealth. It is also important to have the discipline of not overspending and setting aside a reserve fund to use in times of need.

I have started to invest with a robo-advisor, which is easy for a novice in investment. With inflation and low interest rates, chances are your money will decrease in value year-on-year if you don’t do anything about it. Therefore, investing helps me to grow my money or at least beat inflation in the long run.

4) Will you use an app for financial planning?

Why not? When selecting a financial planning platform, I value its user-friendliness. For example, I look out for dashboards to get an overview of my financial status for monitoring purposes, goal-setting function to help me identify gaps, and 24-hour chatbot service to answer my questions any time. Most of the time, I prefer to use an app as long as it gives me the information that I need. If I cannot find the information or need more detailed explanations, that is when I will turn to a financial consultant.

Start on your financial planning journey with Pulse today. Click here for more information on its features.

This article is for your information only and does not consider your specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you seek advice from a Prudential Financial Consultant before making a commitment to purchase a policy. Information is correct as at 1/12/2021.