As the blog comes to a screeching (permanent?) halt, I'd like to reflect on the articles which resonated with you the most.
Well, we did it.
Money Maverick is one year old.
And there's a small chance that it might not get older than that.
I started this blog because I've always had a voice online. I went into this knowing full well that I might be even less liked than before.
My clients have realized that an online source can mean anything. They realize they are not in the majority and they were never meant to be.
Thank goodness for that.
The results in the short term are something they experience joy with, and the results in the long term...at the very least, they know that they can trust and believe in me.
I plan on rebranding - largely due to beautiful designs, but...
Next week is the last article I will write for September, and there's a small chance I might not want to write anything at all.
I am grateful for all the readership up to this point - positive, negative or otherwise. I hope I will keep writing, but in the meantime - I think you will like these articles, if you haven't read them already.
These are the ones which have generated the most response on the blog.
Coming in at Number 5 - about a year back, Budget Babe wrote a very compelling Open Letter against the Financial Consultants – particularly stemmed from a semi-viral picture.
Some were good points, while some really needed to be addressed from the perspective of consultants like myself because advice taken skin deep tends to have poor results for everyone.
I covered some of the things that people might not even know your Financial Consultant can do for you.
Some of this is more applicable for consultants who work for Financial Advisories (they can offer more platforms).
And naturally, all of it is applicable to me – but ultimately it’s really about letting people know that your Consultant can do a lot more than you thought, and the consumer is entitled to demand that level of service if you’re already an existing client.
Even with how prevalent online is today, most people tend to relegate Financial Consultants as Insurance Agents – not just only insurance agents, but only LIFE insurance agents, which is a huge mistake.
There are many areas of general and business insurance where you ideally want a consultant on complex packages for your home, your car, your business.
I’m especially grateful to an uncle client of mine who helped me realize that this would be a great topic – he didn’t know that he could consult me on these things, and I had completely neglected to point out that I could!
Probably the article I’ve enjoyed writing most-to-date, this was inspired by my sister, my brother-in-law and of course, my cute niece.
I rarely think highly of my writing, but this is probably a high-quality article - it's got feels, decent research and it's easy to understand.
The title is...well, it tells you every reason why you should read it!
Dollarsandsense is also kind enough (and enjoys this enough) to throw this out every now and then.
Most of you know me as an Investment Specialist and Critical Illness Specialist. I have decent knowledge of Education plans and Retirement plans, but I’ve always leaned towards my specialty.
As a result, it was odd for some clients to see an article title that suggested very much like contrary to what I had advised them already. Additionally – I am not a parent, and it was hard to write such an article simply and from the point of view of trying to provide for a child.
I was also a little hurt and considered that the fact that my advice (to invest) had not been taken by my closest relatives suggested incompetence in my field.
Of course, I was being oversensitive at the time – I thought long and hard about it.
Thankfully, this article is the result.
I wrote this during reservist, which meant that timings were mixed and tricky for me to even produce this article during the pockets of free time I had (or not being obsessed with Smash Bros).
This was easily one of the most concise, yet fact based and simple-to-understand articles I’ve ever written.
Thank you to the ones who inspired this, as well as Hariz for your help, and Vinod.
This was the first article I wanted to write.
I've actually learnt to be more objective about the STI ETF, the more that I've convinced people to diversify my way instead.
Sure, you could beat it's returns with your eyes closed, or with a savings plan, or the fact that it's massively concentrated in Financials is so worrying because each of the Bank Blue Chip Stocks fell over 60% during the Great Financial Crisis...
But lack of Forex risk, convenience, a ton of information about it constantly and just investing in something that you use tends to provide intrinsic comfort. To each their own, I guess - but I'd rather make serious money or help beginners 'break-in' with something a lot less risky for the same yields or higher.
And this is still Number 1. Somehow.
The article is really about how we perceive income.
Sometimes we think that someone who makes a lot of money is enviable.
As it turns out, something has got to give - and you might even be way better off.
It's a bit of count-your-blessings backed by financial-number-and-logic kind of article.
I think this article is special to me because it was inspired by clients as well as my time as a teacher - back in the day when I wasn't so money-obsessed and this wasn't my life and I wasn't arguing with every person who was saying something horrendously and detrimentally wrong if that advice was followed...
...it was a good time.
I never intended for this to be a hit, and I still have no idea why it was popular. It's not an original concept.
But I guess it's because it's something that is also close to my heart.
Over the year, I've sometimes let slip exactly how much I make.
But anyone who pays attention to my Facebook knows that my relative income is not high. And it's not like I don't enjoy my work - sometimes I even enjoy the privilege of being able to work on something on a weekend, but...
...I would honestly trade my 10k for a 6k in a heartbeat, for promise of a family and a future.
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Next week, Wednesday - will be the last article on this version of the blog. I will be on hiatus till October at the very least, if not longer.
In the meantime, to manage my time better - I have to be selective about who I want to work with for the rest of my life.
If you're impressed by my work, or you want to test me - drop me a message.
I am looking for a good client, as you are looking for a good Financial Consultant.
Money Maverick
Money Maverick is a Licensed Financial Consultant with MAS, who specializes in Investments and Critical Illness Insurance.
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The views on his blog are strictly of his own opinion and have no affiliation to any of the companies he works with.
Sources: 1) Hardwarezone, Budget Babe