You will run a full review of your system and set your actions for the next year.
You have built every layer of the system over the last eight modules. Some layers are finished, some are under way, and a few may still be plans on paper. This project is the first full pass over all of it in one sitting, and it is the routine you will repeat every year from now on.
Set aside an hour, somewhere you will not be interrupted. Most of the time goes on gathering figures, so the better your files from earlier lessons, the faster this goes.
Run a review of every layer of your system, update your two statements, and leave with no more than five actions for the year, each with a date, and next year's review in your calendar.
You need your review checklist from lesson 9.1, your net worth sheet and cash flow statement from lessons 1.3 and 1.4, and the outputs of the other modules: your spending plan, emergency fund details, insurance map, CPF summary, debt list, investing line, housing and retirement draft, and estate action plan. Have your banking apps, cpf.gov.sg and your insurers' apps ready to open.
Step 1: go through the checklist layer by layer. For each of the nine layers, answer your checks and mark the layer done, partly done or not started, the same marks you used in lesson 1.1. Write one line beside each saying what you found. Do not fix anything yet. If you stop to sort out every problem as you find it, you will run out of time halfway down the list.
Step 2: update your statements. Fill in this year's net worth sheet on the same date as last year, and build a fresh three-month cash flow statement. Split the change in net worth into what you saved, what went into CPF and what markets did, as in lesson 9.2, and write one sentence on what drove it.
Step 3: list everything that needs doing. Go back through your notes from steps 1 and 2 and write down every problem and every unfinished item. Most people's list runs well past five on the first review.
Step 4: choose five at most. Pick the actions that protect the most, and let the order of the layers guide you. A missing nomination or a hospital cover gap usually comes before raising your investing amount. Give each action a specific first step and a date by which it will be done. Anything you leave off goes on a list for next year's review, so nothing is lost.
Step 5: book next year's review. Put it in your calendar for the same date next year, as an appointment, before you close the spreadsheet. Note in the event where your files are kept.
Here is Wei Ling's first review, on 1 March, with details made up for the example.
Her layer check finds cash flow, buffer, CPF and debt in good shape: her card balance is gone and her emergency fund is at target. Protection is partly done, because her insurance nominations are still unclear. Investing is partly done, because she is still deciding on a monthly amount after the wedding. Housing and retirement are drafts. Estate is partly done: her CPF nomination is made, but there is no will or LPA yet.
Her statements show net worth up S$25,800, of which S$11,200 came from her own saving, S$14,000 from CPF and S$600 from markets.
Her list of things to do runs to nine items. She picks five:
Sign her will with a lawyer by 30 April. Get both insurers' nomination forms back and submitted by 31 March. Have her LPA certified and submitted by 31 May. Redo the housing draft with Jun after they set the wedding budget, by 30 June. Set her monthly investing amount and start date by 31 July, after the housing draft.
The other four items, including a CPF top-up she is curious about and a new budget for travel, go on next year's list. She books 1 March next year in her calendar, with a note saying her files are in one folder on her laptop.
A finished review has five parts. Every layer carries a mark and a line of notes. Your net worth sheet and cash flow statement are updated, with a sentence explaining the change. You have no more than five actions, each with a first step and a date. The items you did not choose are on a list for next year. And next year's review is in your calendar.
It will not all be green, and it does not need to be. What makes the system work is that you look at it every year, fix the things that matter most, and come back.
This is also the last piece of your final project: the dated actions sit on your one-page system summary beside the status of each layer. Open your checklist from lesson 9.1 and start at the bottom of the stack, with cash flow.
Complete the review, write your five actions with dates, and book next year's review date in your calendar.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).