Anyone has experience with Providend?

loldol

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Hi guys, I'm trying to figure out if Providend is worth it (I think they charge a $2,000 fee upfront but they don't take commission for insurance, so I'll probably save there).

After being burnt by insurance agents, I don't want to deal with anyone that charges commission. Also don't want to pay commission to fund managers/relationship managers.

I have a friend who says that going with Providend was the best decision for his financial life ever but he has lots of $$$.

So... anyone has been advised by them?
 

blurpandasg2014

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Isn't Providend now MoneyOwl?

Providend is the main arm that provides fee only advice. Moneyowl is a platform that belongs to Providend (side arm) . It does not provide comprehensive advice to clients... Just the basic stuff in return 50% comm back
 

s0crates

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I thought of using them 3 years ago but I found that they are too expensive.

I think moneyowl is good enough though, they rebate a part of the commission for insurance products

Hi guys, I'm trying to figure out if Providend is worth it (I think they charge a $2,000 fee upfront but they don't take commission for insurance, so I'll probably save there).

After being burnt by insurance agents, I don't want to deal with anyone that charges commission. Also don't want to pay commission to fund managers/relationship managers.

I have a friend who says that going with Providend was the best decision for his financial life ever but he has lots of $$$.

So... anyone has been advised by them?
 

BlueRobin

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Hi guys, I'm trying to figure out if Providend is worth it (I think they charge a $2,000 fee upfront but they don't take commission for insurance, so I'll probably save there).

After being burnt by insurance agents, I don't want to deal with anyone that charges commission. Also don't want to pay commission to fund managers/relationship managers.

I have a friend who says that going with Providend was the best decision for his financial life ever but he has lots of $$$.

So... anyone has been advised by them?

What sort of services are you looking for them to provide?

I've spoken to them before on retirement planning and had them took a look at my finances but in the end I didn't engage them. The $2,000 you mentioned is one off but for my case, there is a recurring annual fees based on AUM and this fees could range from (if I recall correctly) 0.5% to more than 1%.
 

moejoseph

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What sort of services are you looking for them to provide?

I've spoken to them before on retirement planning and had them took a look at my finances but in the end I didn't engage them. The $2,000 you mentioned is one off but for my case, there is a recurring annual fees based on AUM and this fees could range from (if I recall correctly) 0.5% to more than 1%.

Yes. And everytime u want to do a policy review, u need to pay as well.

The $2000 upfront fee could be higher than some of the commission of an insurance policy bought through agents. Unless u are buying a policy with very high premium, it is not worth it.

But then again, u still need to compare the premium if no commission is really being charged. Based on a quote received by a friend, his premium is about the same than if he is to get it anywhere. And insurers nowadays have got frequent promotions to get u to sign up with them, offering some sort of "rebates".
 

limster

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The bottom line is that not everyone is able to DIY and self-invest.

Simple maths question like this they cannot calculate and want people to calculate for them:
  • Commission is 0.08%. How much worth of stock must I buy such that comm = $10.

If an investor is unable to calculate the above, maybe a fee-based advisory is suitable for him. Certainly better than commission based agents. While some are ethical, some of those that depend on commissions will try to mislead you in order to push unsuitable products like ILP, for example, by telling you that ILP no estate tax but investing in stocks got estate tax. =:p
 

Okenba

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The bottom line is that not everyone is able to DIY and self-invest.

Simple maths question like this they cannot calculate and want people to calculate for them:
  • Commission is 0.08%. How much worth of stock must I buy such that comm = $10.

If an investor is unable to calculate the above, maybe a fee-based advisory is suitable for him. Certainly better than commission based agents. While some are ethical, some of those that depend on commissions will try to mislead you in order to push unsuitable products like ILP, for example, by telling you that ILP no estate tax but investing in stocks got estate tax. =:p

Happy to calculate that for anyone for half price. $1000 can liao.
 

boliao123

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Went there went after starting work in 2012, was quoted 1000+ (cant rmb exact) as a fee. Not unreasonable actually, since they are in the business of advisory (cant say the same for commissioned agents).

Decided not to go for it since my needs back then werent too complicated and very much coverable with SAF group term insurance.
 

Value.Matrix

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Hi guys, I'm trying to figure out if Providend is worth it (I think they charge a $2,000 fee upfront but they don't take commission for insurance, so I'll probably save there).

After being burnt by insurance agents, I don't want to deal with anyone that charges commission. Also don't want to pay commission to fund managers/relationship managers.

I have a friend who says that going with Providend was the best decision for his financial life ever but he has lots of $$$.

So... anyone has been advised by them?

Sit down with MoneyOwl if you are buying low cost insurance. They have 50% commission rebate. For them, they are salaried advisors.

Sit down with providend if you are a high networth. Its more complex with the tax and estate planning required.

Much better than relying on individuals with blind spots (including me).
 

loldol

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thanks everyone!

What sort of services are you looking for them to provide?

I've spoken to them before on retirement planning and had them took a look at my finances but in the end I didn't engage them. The $2,000 you mentioned is one off but for my case, there is a recurring annual fees based on AUM and this fees could range from (if I recall correctly) 0.5% to more than 1%.

Mostly insurance. But seems like MoneyOwl might be a better option if I'm not sure if the $1,000/$2,000 is worth it. I don't really care about the rebate on the commission - I just don't like the conflict of interest (i.e. insurance agents get a cut of whatever they recommend, so I don't know if the agent really is recommending something that's best for me) but seems like this is the way the industry is set up in Sg.

I was sort of thinking of checking in with Providend about investments too, but might just as well DIY it if all I want to do is buy ETFs (gonna read the Shiny Things thread for this). Do you think Providend has similar offerings as MoneyOwl? Seems as though the fee structure might be the same as other robo advisors - my finances aren't complex so judging from your comments, doesn't seem as though it'll be worth it.

Just realised that MoneyOwl has some $500 rebate (ending 11 Feb) for comprehensive financial planning so I'll be trying that out - it's a bit irritating cos I have to leave my contact details and the advisor will contact me with the promo code, can't just get the promo code directly from the website. Will update if I actually go through with this.
 
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dhabit

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What sort of services are you looking for them to provide?

I've spoken to them before on retirement planning and had them took a look at my finances but in the end I didn't engage them. The $2,000 you mentioned is one off but for my case, there is a recurring annual fees based on AUM and this fees could range from (if I recall correctly) 0.5% to more than 1%.

Would you be open to sharing why you didn't engage them? I'm also looking at them and grateful for feedback, thanks!
 

focus1974

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no need this type of financial planner one lah.

If u want to save.. just buy term, hospitalisation and mortgage insurance.
the rest you just invest into the stock market or properties.
 

WindBoi

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Isn't Providend now MoneyOwl?
Just some clarification here. MoneyOwl is a joint venture between NTUC Enterprises and Providend. Technically, you can view them as two different entities. Two different sets of employees as well.
 

WindBoi

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The bottom line is that not everyone is able to DIY and self-invest.

Simple maths question like this they cannot calculate and want people to calculate for them:
  • Commission is 0.08%. How much worth of stock must I buy such that comm = $10.

If an investor is unable to calculate the above, maybe a fee-based advisory is suitable for him. Certainly better than commission based agents. While some are ethical, some of those that depend on commissions will try to mislead you in order to push unsuitable products like ILP, for example, by telling you that ILP no estate tax but investing in stocks got estate tax. =:p
Wah @limster , this is a good example that I never thought of it this way but you illustrated it very well.

I think there is a few groups of people but mainly folks who really wish to delegate the financial aspect of their lives to professionals and secondly, possibly the folks that have some struggle working these out.
 

WindBoi

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thanks everyone!



Mostly insurance. But seems like MoneyOwl might be a better option if I'm not sure if the $1,000/$2,000 is worth it. I don't really care about the rebate on the commission - I just don't like the conflict of interest (i.e. insurance agents get a cut of whatever they recommend, so I don't know if the agent really is recommending something that's best for me) but seems like this is the way the industry is set up in Sg.

I was sort of thinking of checking in with Providend about investments too, but might just as well DIY it if all I want to do is buy ETFs (gonna read the Shiny Things thread for this). Do you think Providend has similar offerings as MoneyOwl? Seems as though the fee structure might be the same as other robo advisors - my finances aren't complex so judging from your comments, doesn't seem as though it'll be worth it.

Just realised that MoneyOwl has some $500 rebate (ending 11 Feb) for comprehensive financial planning so I'll be trying that out - it's a bit irritating cos I have to leave my contact details and the advisor will contact me with the promo code, can't just get the promo code directly from the website. Will update if I actually go through with this.
I think for your need, MoneyOwl would be most suitable. Less so for Providend. This is because MoneyOwl focus is on providing suitable insurance for most of the people as well as investment portfolios for most of us.

Providend tends to be more suitable for people who needs a dedicated wealth adviser who needs the services on a recurring basis.
 

kickass22

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The bottom line is that not everyone is able to DIY and self-invest.

Simple maths question like this they cannot calculate and want people to calculate for them:
  • Commission is 0.08%. How much worth of stock must I buy such that comm = $10.

If an investor is unable to calculate the above, maybe a fee-based advisory is suitable for him. Certainly better than commission based agents. While some are ethical, some of those that depend on commissions will try to mislead you in order to push unsuitable products like ILP, for example, by telling you that ILP no estate tax but investing in stocks got estate tax. =:p
Actually, don't even need to know how to calculate this ( but you can still find out easily). There are so many calculators out there that can help you with it. ;)
 

WindBoi

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Actually, don't even need to know how to calculate this ( but you can still find out easily). There are so many calculators out there that can help you with it. ;)
Sometimes it is not whether the calculators out there.

It is whether you know that you need to find a calculator at all.

For example, there are a lot of loan amortization calculators out there. But what I realize is that.. many friends still are bewildered about how to determine and get a profile of their principal and interest paydown.

In a way, some of us may not see things from a certain angle until someone else frames things for us in a certain way.

Perhaps I can share an example.

The traditional way of financial planning is to ask someone how much you need to spend in retirement. When do you need to retire. How long you will be retiring for.

With these parameters, they work out how much you need.

Usually, it is likely to be a very big sum of money that you have to come to terms with to get to where you are.

There are different ways to help the situation.

An easy way is to explain to people: A lot depends on the nature of your expenses. Your expenses during retirement will look very different from your expenses today.

What you can do is go through how you will live your life in retirement and then we assign a cost to it.

The amount you need in retirement is better optimized and therefore the sum you need to build up to is reduced.

Now if you ask me, this should be rather intuitive (looking at your retirement spending as a line item and cost it accordingly)

But many do not realize that is the way to optimize retirement expenses.

The value of forums like HWZ money mind and others like Seedly is to raise awareness that this is a way to frame things.

But even after this, some people will think: "Is it really that way? Do professionals such as a certified advisers optimize my retirement differently? Do they have more sophistication?"

And this is a reason why despite them hearing this is the way to plan, they still go and find a financial planner.

It is to validate whether what they know is the real truth or is there something better.

We see a variation of this example played out sometimes in legal, medical advice.
 

BlueRobin

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In my line of work, a phrase often being coined is "you don't know what you don't know"

Many people simply don't know enough about financial planning and they find re-assuring to get someone they perceived to be an insider in the field to help them navigate through the process and hopefully getting the outcome they wanted.

One or 2 things might happened. The person they perceived to be an expert may turns out not to be so and their future ruined or they are successful and live happily ever after.

I think seeking help is good, whether doing it in a formal setting like via advisory firm such as Providend or through self learning or coming to MM. I personally benefited from MM, especially in matters relating to CPF. There are also many discussions that went over my head and I wasn't able to comprehend and it only serves to further strengthen "I don't know what I don't know"
 
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