jimmy.zhengjw

27/08/2026

Many people I’ve met still think financial planning means:

Insurance + savings + investments.

Those are tools.

They’re not the plan.

After 16 years, I prefer looking at the entire financial picture through B.L.E.S.S.

B — Budget
Where should your next dollar actually go: cash, property, investments, business or elsewhere?

L — Life Insurance
Not “how much more should I buy?” but what risks actually need transferring and what can I eventually self-insure?

E — Eliminate Debt
Not simply “clear everything”. What’s the right balance between interest cost, liquidity, opportunity cost and peace of mind?

S — Save & Invest
Not just owning funds. Are your assets, returns and risks actually progressing towards your goals?

S — Stewardship
Not just wills and nominations. How does everything you’ve built eventually pass on and how does the next generation manage it well?

That’s the difference between buying financial products and actually having a financial plan.

Over the next few Thursdays, I’ll unpack each one.

26/08/2026

A high salary should give you more freedom.

But sometimes, it does the exact opposite.

Over 16 years, I’ve met many professionals who did everything “right”.

They studied hard.
Built good careers.
Climbed the corporate ladder.
And eventually earned incomes their younger selves would have dreamed of.
Yet strangely, some felt less free than before.

Here are 3 signs your salary might be becoming a trap:

1. Every pay raise creates another permanent expense.

Better car.
Bigger home.
More expensive holidays.
Higher expectations.
Nothing wrong with enjoying what you’ve earned.
But if every increase in income permanently increases the amount you need to earn…
you’re upgrading your lifestyle without necessarily upgrading your freedom.

2. You can’t afford to earn less anymore.

This one becomes uncomfortable in your 40s and 50s.
You’ve accumulated experience, seniority and a salary to match.
But if restructuring happens or you simply want a change, the next employer may not value your experience at exactly the same price.
Suddenly taking a 20–30% pay cut feels impossible.
Not because the new salary is objectively low.
But because your entire life has been built around the old one.

3. Your salary grew faster than your assets did.

This is probably the biggest one.
If you’ve earned well for 10, 15 or 20 years, some of those years should eventually be working for you.
Investments.
Businesses.
Income-producing assets.
Capital that compounds without requiring another promotion.
Because your salary belongs to you after you earn it.
Your assets can earn without you.
The goal isn’t to stop enjoying money.

And it certainly isn’t to quit your job tomorrow.

It’s to gradually reach a position where losing a job becomes an inconvenience…
not a financial emergency.
Maybe that’s a better definition of wealth:

Not how much your job pays you.

But how little your life eventually depends on it.

26/08/2026

Simon has aged quite a bit for this episode… and apparently collected a few wives along the way. 😂

Which brings us to the final S in our BLESS framework — Steward for the Next Generation.

Building wealth is one thing. Making sure it goes to the right people, in the right way, is another.

Will. CPF nominations. Insurance nominations. Estate distribution. And most importantly, having the conversations while you still can.

Because “my family will know what to do” is not an estate plan.

And if you really have wives all over the world like Simon… bro, you definitely need one. 😂

Budget & Buffer
Life Insurance & Protection
Eliminate Debts Smartly
Save & Invest Strategically
Steward for the Next Generation

That completes our Finance Bros BLESS framework.

Financial planning isn’t only about building enough for yourself. It’s also about making sure what you’ve built is passed on intentionally.

24/08/2026

3 signs you might have outgrown your career even when everything looks perfectly fine.

1. You’re no longer learning. You’re just getting better at repeating.

You’re competent.
People trust you.
You know how to solve the problems.
And that’s precisely why it can become comfortable.

There’s a difference between 16 years of experience and repeating the same year 16 times.

If nothing challenges you anymore, maybe the question isn’t whether you’re successful.

It’s whether you’re still growing.

2. The promotion doesn’t excite you like it used to.

This one is interesting.
You spent years climbing towards the next title.
Then one day you look at the person two levels above you and realise:
“I’m not sure I actually want their life.”
That’s worth paying attention to.

Because climbing faster doesn’t help much if the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

3. You keep wondering what else you’re capable of.

Not because you hate Monday.
Not because your boss is terrible.
Not because you’re failing.

Actually, life might be pretty comfortable.

But there’s this annoying little question that keeps coming back:

“Is this it?”
I think we dismiss that question too easily.
16 years ago, I explored a completely different career.

I didn’t have certainty.

I certainly didn’t know how the next 16 years would turn out.

I just knew I wanted to find out what else I could become.

Sometimes a career change isn’t running away from something bad.

It’s running towards a version of yourself you haven’t met yet.

If you’re at that stage, don’t resign tomorrow. 😂

Explore.
Talk to people.
Ask uncomfortable questions.
See what’s actually out there.

And if financial advisory is one of the tracks you’ve quietly wondered about, I’m always happy to tell you what these 16 years have really been like.

The good parts and the ugly ones.
No sales pitch.
Just a conversation.

21/08/2026

My wife has asked me this many times over the years:

“Why does your client appointment take so long?”

Fair question. 😂

The honest answer?

After 16 years, some of my clients have become really good friends.

So what starts as:

“Let’s do your annual review.”

Eventually becomes:

“How are the kids?”

“How’s business?”

“Eh, you remember that thing we talked about last year?”

Then somehow…

“Hungry or not?”

And suddenly we’re having dinner. 😂

The financial review might take an hour.

The catching up might take another two.

But technically…

I’M STILL WITH THE CLIENT.

So I’m still working, right dar? 👀😂

Jokes aside, this is probably one of the things I appreciate most about this career.

I’ve had the privilege of growing older alongside many of the people I first met as clients.

We’ve gone through marriages.

Children.

Career changes.

Businesses.

Good years.

Difficult ones.

And somewhere between all those financial reviews…

some client relationships quietly became friendships.

So yes.

My appointments can take quite long.

But I’m definitely working.

Mostly. 😂

20/08/2026

One of the greatest privileges of spending 16 years in this career is something I didn’t understand when I first started.

You get to grow up with your clients.

Some people I first met when they were single.

Then one day we were talking about marriage.

A few years later, children.

And suddenly the financial conversation wasn’t about “me” anymore.

It was about “us.”

I’ve watched other clients enter the final stretch of their careers.

The conversations slowly changed from accumulation and ambition…

to retirement, freedom and what they wanted the next chapter of life to look like.

And I’ve met business owners when their companies were still young.

We talked about uncertainty, cash flow and protecting what they were building.

Years later, some of those businesses became sizeable companies and the conversations changed again.

Different seasons.

Different worries.

Different dreams.

Different financial decisions.

That’s probably what I’ve enjoyed most about this career.

I didn’t just watch their portfolios grow.

I got to watch their lives grow.

And somewhere along the way, I grew up too.

From a young advisor trying to figure things out…

to a husband, a father, and hopefully someone who understands life a little better than when he started.

To the clients who’ve allowed me to walk alongside them through these different chapters:

Thank you for the trust.

It’s something I’ve never taken lightly.

Here’s to whatever chapter comes next. ❤️

18/08/2026

17/08/2026

BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULLLLL! ⚔️

Okay… maybe not.

Some days I feel less like He-Man and more like his very tired, slightly older cousin who needs coffee before saving Eternia.

But I’ve realised something.

Whenever life gets heavy, whenever work gets frustrating, or whenever I start wondering why I’m pushing myself so hard…

I reach for my “sword”.

My family. ❤️

They’re my reset button.

My reminder that there’s a bigger reason behind the work, the training, the long days and all the things I’m still trying to build.

They don’t magically make the difficult days disappear.

But somehow, being around them makes me want to level up again.

Be a better husband.

A better dad.

A better version of myself.

Maybe that’s what family has become for me.

Not just the people I come home to.

They’re the people who give me the power to go back out there again.

So yes…

I HAVE THE POWER! ⚔️

Just apparently, the power comes with school schedules, family outings and someone asking me what’s for dinner, where’s my shirt, hair clip, toothbrush, 臭臭 and endless things… 😂

Wouldn’t trade it for anything.

17/08/2026

Spent some time at the AIA Ultimate Fitness Fest at NUS Temasek Hall with the students recently.

Yes, we were there for fitness.

But I found myself watching something else.

How people show up when things get uncomfortable.

Some jumped straight in.

Some hesitated, then tried.

Some encouraged the person beside them.

Some were competitive.

And some simply refused to quit. 😂

After years of building teams, I’ve realised these little things tell you quite a lot about a person.

Because you don’t necessarily need the strongest person on your team.

You want people who are willing to grow.

People who are coachable.

People who can push themselves.

People who lift others while they’re doing it.

And people willing to try something they’re not completely ready for yet.

Funny enough, that’s also how many careers begin.

You don’t start with all the skills.

You don’t start completely confident.

You certainly don’t have everything figured out.

You start by showing up.

The rest can be built.

Really enjoyed meeting the students at NUS and seeing the energy they brought to the Ultimate Fitness Fest.

We came looking for people interested in fitness.

Maybe along the way, we’ll also meet a few future leaders. 💪

And if you’re currently wondering what you might want to build after university…

keep exploring.

Sometimes the opportunity you eventually choose isn’t the one you originally came looking for.