What people carried home from the reading circle.
Accounts from participants across our three programmes, written in their own words about what changed — and what did not — after working through the reading with us.
Back to Home280+
Participants since 2021
4.8
Average cohort rating
38
Cohorts completed
91%
Would attend again
Accounts from the reading circles
Catherine Lim
Bishan, Singapore · CPF Reading Group
"I have been receiving CPF statements for twenty years and, truthfully, I had been filing them without really reading them. Four weeks with the reading group changed that. By the third session I was finally clear on how the Ordinary and Special accounts are structured and why the allocation split matters. I would not describe this as a dramatic transformation — more like a long-standing uncertainty quietly resolved."
April 2025
Raymond Tan
Tampines, Singapore · Empty Nest Workshop
"Both children left within six months of each other. My wife and I had been talking about revising our household budget but kept putting it off — the whole exercise felt more loaded than it should. The three-evening workshop gave us a structured occasion to actually read through the relevant material together, which we would not have done on our own. The ledger templates were practical and the discussion with the other participants was more useful than I expected."
April 2025
Siti Khatijah
Bedok, Singapore · Sandwich Generation Circle
"Managing my parents' paperwork while keeping track of my own household — and having a daughter who just started working — the circle was exactly the right format. Six weeks was enough time to read through all the relevant material at a pace that did not feel rushed. I particularly found the session on family conversation vocabulary useful; it gave me language for discussions that I had been avoiding."
May 2025
James Ng
Ang Mo Kio, Singapore · CPF Reading Group
"The glossary cards are something I still refer to. I appreciated that the programme made no attempt to tell me what to do with my CPF — that would have been outside its remit, and they were clear about that from the beginning. What it did do was help me understand what I was reading, which is what I came for. The group of twelve was manageable; enough perspectives without feeling like a seminar."
March 2025
Patricia Ong
Toa Payoh, Singapore · Empty Nest Workshop
"I came alone — my husband was not interested — and found the sessions perfectly structured for individual attendance. The other participants in my cohort were at similar stages of life and the conversation was genuinely useful rather than theoretical. The follow-up reflection circle, which I attended about a month later, was a good addition; I had questions by then that I had not thought to ask during the three main sessions."
May 2025
Arjun Kumar
Queenstown, Singapore · Sandwich Generation Circle
"My father's Lasting Power of Attorney was something I had been meaning to read properly for two years. The session on intergenerational document organisation finally gave me the occasion — and the vocabulary — to do so. I will note that the fee is modest for six sessions and the quality of the materials. The reading binder is thorough and the conversation cards have been used in actual family discussions since."
April 2025
Longer accounts from programme participants
Before the programme
Unfamiliar vocabulary in every statement
A 54-year-old participant from Serangoon had been contributing to CPF for over two decades but found the annual statement opaque. The Retirement Account section, in particular, felt like a different document from the rest.
Through the reading group
Working through the text, week by week
Over four weekly sessions, the cohort read the relevant CPF documentation together. By the second session, the participant had a clear picture of how the four-account structure operates. By the fourth, she brought her own statement to read in the group.
After the programme
Confident enough to ask the right questions
Three months later, she attended a CPF service centre appointment with a prepared list of questions, and reported that the conversation was the most productive she had had in years.
"I did not need someone to manage my CPF for me. I needed to be able to read the document myself. That is what the reading group gave me." — Grace, CPF Reading Group participant
Before the programme
A household budget built for a family of five
A 58-year-old couple from Pasir Ris had maintained the same broad household budget structure for fifteen years. With their youngest now working in Kuala Lumpur, the budget felt unwieldy — categories that no longer applied, and real costs that had no category at all.
Through the workshop
Reading the ledger templates together
Both attended all three sessions of the empty-nest workshop. The ledger templates gave them a shared structure to map their current expenditure, and the cohort discussion surfaced several categories — healthcare provisions, for instance — that their previous budget had not accounted for.
After the programme
A clearer picture of where the household stands
They did not emerge with a financial plan — that was not what the workshop offered. But they had a clearer, mapped view of their household finances and the language to discuss the next steps with their bank and, later, a financial planner.
"Three evenings. Two printed workbooks. One budget that finally makes sense for the household we actually have now." — Raymond T., Empty Nest Workshop participant
Reach Veritane
- Telephone+65 9384 7610
- Email[email protected]
- Address14 Robinson Road, #08-01A
Far East Finance Building
Singapore 048545 - Reading Hours
Tue–Thu: 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
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