Ask vs answer: the human edge AI can't replicate

Would you let AI manage your money the way it manages your inbox? Turns out, most of us won't — 76 per cent use AI to crunch the numbers, but only 8 per cent trust it to make the final call. Correspondent Howie Lim sits down with Ishan Sarkar, head of wealth and premier solutions at HSBC Singapore,…

Strategy over sentiment: why the old property playbook no longer works

Is your dream home a financial trap? Singapore's cooling measures and shifting interest rates have upended the old playbook—Build-to-Orders (BTOs), resale flats, and executive condos (ECs) no longer play by the rules you think you know. Howie Lim and Eugene Lim, president of the Singapore Estate Ag…

The $70,000 question: how to master your family's new financial tailwind

Singapore just pledged nearly S$70,000 per child over 16 years — but is that windfall building your family's future, or quietly funding lifestyle creep? Correspondent Howie Lim sits down with SingSaver's Ayush Goyal to dissect how to split, invest, and protect this new child credit stream — from em…

The raise paradox: why earning more never feels like enough

You just got a raise. So why does your bank account still feel broke? It’s the lifestyle creep — the sneaky force turning your bigger paycheck into the same old savings. From $8 lattes to subscription traps to the psychology behind "keeping up with the Tans," find out why more income rarely equals …

Singapore stocks aren't boring anymore — here's the proof

Your parents' "boring" Singapore dividend stocks only portfolio just had an upgrade nobody told you about. While everyone's obsessing over US tech, Singapore's equity market has quietly doubled its research coverage, attracted real institutional capital, and uncovered small-cap opportunities most i…

Behind the institutional veil: what your bank doesn't want you to know about asset allocation

If you think your bank’s “diversified” portfolio is built for your future, think again. In this episode of Money Hacks, we pull back the curtain on the institutional world with Arki Finance founder David Ng. We’re dissecting the "product-first" myths, exposing why your “tick-box” diversification mi…

The mass affluent trap: too rich for retail, too small for private banking

Your cash isn't safe just because it's sitting still — it's quietly losing to inflation while you wait for "the right time" to invest. Howie Lim gets StashAway's chief investment officer (CIO) Stephanie Leung to explain why the mass affluent get the worst of both worlds, why gold just earned a perm…

Market noise vs real signal: are you investing or just guessing?

We obsess over what to buy, but when it’s time to sell—or hold—we often freeze. Market volatility shouldn't trigger a panic-induced sell-off, yet emotion frequently overrides strategy. In this episode of Money Hacks, Howie Lim, Ritesh Ganeriwal, and Kenneth Chan dissect the crucial "portfolio check…

Artificial sycophant or financial genius? When to trust AI

Speed is everything in investing—but is it actually the enemy of wealth? We’re conditioned to trust human advisors, but what if your portfolio manager, tax expert, and risk officer was a cold, calculating AI? Howie Lim speaks with 8FIGURES founder Andrew Izyumov to ask: can AI truly cure emotional…

Loss of income, not identity: navigating the psychology of retrenchment

Retrenchment isn't just a career setback; it's a financial and psychological earthquake. Howie Lim speaks with clinical psychologist Dr Annabelle Chow about navigating the initial shock. What is the single biggest financial mistake most make in the first 48 hours and how to stop panic from driving …