WealthBox is a tool for lifelong financial planning which allows you to manage and update your wealth data and construct or modify your financial plans. Because it is online, you can access it at any time and make changes as often as you like.

Think of it like a navigational tool, a global positioning system that helps you get to the destination you want.

2.

What is the difference between Life Planning, Financial Planning and Wealth Planning?

A:

People tend to get confused with these terms because they are loosely used most of the time, often inconsistently, even among professionals within the industry.

Life planning is whatever you plan as your life goals. This will definitely include your financial goals since most major life goals require funds to achieve them. But life planning can also encompass non-financial goals, such as spiritual pursuits.

Financial planning is simply an all-encompassing term for the process by which you plan your financial goals and how to achieve them. It would typically comprise risk planning, wealth planning, tax planning and estate planning.

Wealth planning is the part of financial planning that involves planning for wealth accumulation and diversification.

3.

Do I need investment knowledge to do financial planning?

A:

You do not need any extensive investment knowledge to do financial planning using WealthBox but if you really want to come up with a good and effective financial plan, you would need to have a sound knowledge about the investment world.

You would need to know, for example, what choices are available with regard to investments and the features, including liquidity, yield and risk characteristics of each. You would also need to know what are the various investment strategies and techniques that can be applied and what the likely future financial outcome from each alternative will be.

If in doubt, consult a financial planner who is experienced in helping others formulate financial plans. The improvement in financial outcome from using a specialist could well justify the cost.

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4.

What are the building blocks to make the financial plan in WealthBox?

A:

There are 3 building blocks, namely:

5:

What are the benefits of financial planning?

A:

It is like this. Would you prefer to drive to an unknown place without any map, navigational aids or guidance on direction? Is it not better to have a route clearly marked out and some assistance on navigation and alternative routes should there be problems along the way?

This is what financial planning is about. It helps you define what you want to achieve, get what you have organised, look at the various alternatives and what impact each may have on the future and come up with a clear cut roadmap for implementation. That way, you will not get lost but, instead, have a better chance of reaching your destination.

Financial planning provides direction and an overview, rather than just looking at each financial decision in isolation. For example, allocating funds for a particular purpose could delay your achievement for another purpose significantly. By viewing each financial decision in relation to the whole, you can consider see the impact on your life goals, take corrective action and adapt more easily to achieve them.

6.

Do I need independent advice?

A:

The scope of financial planning is very wide. It is hard to keep track of all that is going on in the financial and investment world. Just look at the growing number of new investment instruments available in the marketplace, and their increasing complexity. Unless you are really well versed, it is likely that there are aspects in financial planning where you will need help from specialists.

Consider seeking advice from an independent financial planner. An independent financial planner is one who is not tied to any particular brand of financial product or service and is therefore in a position to help you choose the best product or service that is within your budget.

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7.

What is meant when one chooses various risk protection, financial and investment structures and strategies to suit his/her risk profile?

A:

There are many product offerings in the marketplace that you can choose from in terms of features such as creditworthiness, tenor, structure, mode of payment etc. and there are many strategies and techniques you can apply.

Do you want to take specific insurance or combine it with investing? Do you want to invest in your own stock picks or through a unit trust fund? Should you leverage on (i.e. borrow against) your investment? And so on.

What you decide reflects your attitude to risk. So the choices for your financial planning must be along the lines of what you are comfortable with.

8.

How can a financial planner help?

A:

It is a complex financial world out there and growing increasingly sophisticated. Unless you are familiar with all aspects of financial planning, it is always good to get expert opinion.

A properly qualified financial planner is able to help you through the entire financial planning process which involves assessing your position, helping you set goals, presenting you alternatives and the recommended financial plan, helping to implement what you accept as the plan and monitoring progress from time to time.

In coming up with the plan, he would take into account your goals, your risk appetite for investments, your earnings capacity, spending and savings habits, risk protection concerns and looking at tax issues as well as estate distribution wishes.

9.

When is the best time to do financial planning?

A:

Anytime is a good time but It is best when you start doing financial planning at the responsibility stage of your life journey, i.e. while you are young, with no heavy financial commitments and able to take more risks.

Do not stop once you start to do financial planning if you want to achieve your financial goals ultimately. Even after you think you have achieved your financial goals, monitoring your financial status, and adjusting your investment structure or spending pattern from time to time, is beneficial to you.

10.

Is WealthBox's way of analysing investment risk profiles and the classification of the different approaches to financial planning definitive or are there other ways?

A:

Yes, there are other ways to analyse risk profiles or arrange the way one approaches financial planning but the ones that were incorporated in WealthBox's analytical tools were devised by experienced practitioners.

There is no definite one that is the ‘right' way. Just like there are many ways to cut a cake. Even though cutting vertically may be the most common way, the cake can still be cut into any number of pieces.

Financial planning involves estimation and individual judgement when it comes to evaluation of investment risks. That is why no particular way of classification or analysis can be definitive and that is why it is always best to tap on the experience and knowledge of a professional financial planner.

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11.

What are the key features of WealthBox?

A:

WealthBox is an unique financial planning software.

It is divided into two main parts - one part, called the Wealth Garden, takes the user on a guided tour of the whole financial planning process.

Wealth Garden covers a comprehensive range of areas in financial planning, not found in other similar software tools - from purpose to process to strategies and techniques, from risk planning to tax planning, from goal setting to investment to business continuity and from risk profiling to diversification to estate distribution.

Together with that, there is a glossary with a full range of definitions explained in layman terms covering various financial subjects, from banking to legal to trust. Even contemporary words that are used in the financial world that you want to know about but never got round to asking. Words such as Green Shoe Option, D & O insurance, Bed and Breakfast, Range Accumulation Notes, etc. Along with the glossary is an investment instruments map that helps you understand the classes and types of investments available to an investor.

In addition, sprinkled throughout are tips, quotes and Qs & As (questions and answers) that are designed to help you improve your understanding of financial planning or, if you are a financial planner, help you to provide more value added service to your clientele.

The other part, which is the WealthBox proper, is the analytical tool that does various analyses and provides results, based on the data provided by the user, which are essential for the user in financial planning.

Essentially, WealthBox takes the User through a data gathering session that includes personal financial information, business financial information (where applicable), asset identification and risk classification. The User is also taken through a goal-setting process and a series of questions to determine his/her risk profile.

From the data gathered, WealthBox will perform various analyses and projections that are then produced in the form of various reports. The reports are comprehensive and include:

This software is unique in the following ways:

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12.

How much time do I need to get a complete overview with this software?

A:

It depends on your level of understanding of the financial planning process. Normally, getting a complete overview of WealthBox would take 1 - 2 hours.

13.

Can I have free trial on WealthBox without obligation in advance?

A:

Yes, you can. Just go to the homepage and click on the Free Trial button.

14.

How to subscribe to WealthBox?

A:

Go to Our Services > WealthBox Subscription.

15.

What happens, when questions do arise in the planning process?

A:

Give us a call or drop us an email.

16.

What are the minimum system requirements I need for WealthBox?

A:

i.	Any Windows personal computer with minimum of 16MB memory
ii.	Internet browser Firefox 1.0.4 or Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher
iii.	Broadband recommended for smooth access or at least a 56K modem, subject to the quality provided by the local Internet Service Providers
iv.	For Internet Explorer users, enable ActiveX to take advantage of the functionalities (ActiveX refers to a program run by the browser to perform certain tasks on your computer)
v.	Enable cookies in your browser to enable WealthBox works properly. (Cookies are small pieces of information that a web site writes to your computer to track information.)
vi.	Adobe Flash Player is needed to view some of the system functions. If you do not have a Flash Player pre-installed, you can download a copy at Adobe Web Site
vii.	Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view some of the system functions. If you do not have a Adobe Acrobat Reader pre-installed, you can download a copy at Adobe Web Site

17.

How secure is WealthBox?

A:

We understand that clients' information is highly confidential. WealthBox is designed with multi-layered security technology and measures. It is important for us to share with you some of these security deployments so that you can be assured of confidentiality.

While we continue to improve ourselves in the area, we would encourage you to avoid risks by not recording your password in writing, not disclosing your password to third party, logging off your account when not in use, being alert to the phishing scams via emails as well as securing your terminal with relevant utilities such as anti virus software. Contact us if you notice any irregular activities in your account.

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