Podcast · Business

The Financial Coconut Podcast

by The Financial Coconut · English · Business

The Financial Coconut is Singapore’s First Finance Podcast Network. We are focused on covering insights, stories and frameworks around Retirement, Financial Wellness and Income anywhere. If you love what we do, join our email list to stay connected. Feel free to join our community Telegram group

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 43 min
Latest: 11 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

11 Oct 2026 · 41 minNew

How a Longkang Cleaner Built a Business Nearing S$3M a Year [W&S S2 E3 ft Shaik Nifael]

Most people try to make their jobs sound more impressive. Shaik Nifael does the opposite: "I clean longkangs for a living." He left school without the conventional qualifications his parents had hoped for and ended up doing the work he had been warned about growing up. At first, even Shaik was embarrassed by it. Then something shifted: engineers were listening to his advice, clients relied on him when buildings had problems, and he realised the job people looked down on was highly technical and hard to replace. That experience became the foundation for Jetters Incz. Along the way, Shaik took…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

7 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 11 min
SGX UCITS ETFs: What Singapore Investors Need to Know [Chills 287 ft MoneyOwl & SGX]
Would you buy an ETF just because it is cheaper, more tax-efficient and easier to access from Singapore? With new UCITS ETFs coming to SGX, that choice is about to become much more relevant for local investors. But convenience is only one part of the equation. In this episode of Chills with TFC, Reggie, Dawn, Chuin Ting Weber and Kang Wei Chin unpack what investors should actually look at before choosing an ETF: the index underneath it, withholding tax, brokerage costs, bid-ask spreads, liquidity and whether “passive” really means passive. They also get into a surprisingly important…
6 Oct 2026 · 49 min
How Two SG Founders Beat Korean Skincare Giants Without Big-Brand Money [TBS 64]
A customer watched her live stream for SIX months before buying anything. The reason? "You're not someone that fly by night." Dawn sits down with two homegrown Singapore care brand founders - to break down how small local players actually win in a market dominated by Korean giants and Western imports. It's not bigger ad budgets. It's not paid magazine awards (those are scams - they tell you why). It's the founder showing up, every day, on TikTok Shop, on Telegram, at Artbox booths, until the trust compounds into customers who buy 38 times instead of once. If you're building a brand in a…
4 Oct 2026 · 34 min
36 Hours in a Cell: The Arrest That Changed a 24-Year-Old's Career [W&S S2 E2]
At 24, Nicholas thought he was choosing between photography and film production . Then he spent 36 hours in a concrete cell . Lights on around the clock. Air-con blasting. Almost nothing except time to think. And one question kept coming back: “Is this all my life is worth?” The arrest didn’t instantly give him a new career. But it forced him to question the path he had spent years building. Then came another reality check: his four-year university degree cost about S$32,000 , while just two days in hospital came to S$43,000 . Seeing how his father’s financial planning helped him through…
30 Sep 2026 · 50 min
Cancer at 34: Could You Afford a Year Without Work? [Chills 286, Sponsored by Prudential]
Most of us plan for the hospital bill. But what happens if you cannot work for months… or even a year? Daniel was chasing FIRE. Then cancer forced him to stop working… but not in the way he had planned. At 34, Daniel found a lump after a 5km run. Nine days later, he was diagnosed with stage 2B Hodgkin lymphoma. Six months of chemotherapy followed: 12 sessions, 13kg lost and a treatment bill of over $300,000. His hospitalisation plan covered the treatment. His employer continued paying him for six months, while an early Critical Illness payout provided additional support. The bigger lesson?…
23 Sep 2026 · 40 min
Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Credit Card? [Chills 285, Sponsored by Trust Bank]
For years, the credit card debate had two camps: Team Miles or Team Cashback. Now, Trust Bank is adding a third contender, which is Stockback. This week on Chills with TFC, Reggie sits down with Dawn from SG Budget Babe, personal finance YouTuber Demi Zhuang and Johnathan Chua from The Daily Ketchup Podcast to compare how they reward their spending. Dawn reveals why becoming a mum pushed her from cashback to miles. Demi shares the surprisingly elaborate card strategy she uses while furnishing her new home. Johnathan knows firsthand how even a small oversight, like a forgotten S$17 Uber…
22 Sep 2026 · 31 min
The Biggest IP Mistake: Treating It Like a Checklist [TBS 63 ft IP for Growth Awards]
Three companies, three very different IP playbooks. A top-10 global dairy brand patents individual probiotic strains and prints the story on packaging to justify a premium. A food-traceability startup patents its core process but keeps its actual signature method a trade secret, refreshed yearly to catch counterfeits. A local kopi-brewing startup can't patent its process at all, so recipe, hardware tweaks and a registered trademark do the heavy lifting instead. Despite the size gap, the panel lands on the same warning: IP gets treated as a box to tick, filed and forgotten, instead of an…
20 Sep 2026 · 34 min
Real Reasons Fresh Grads Get Ghosted After 400 Applications [W&S S2 E1]
A 100% keyword match on a resume used to be the goal. Now it's often the reason it gets rejected before a human ever reads it. Career coach Samantha Ng joins co-hosts Adrian and Faith to break down why fresh grads are sending out hundreds of applications and hearing nothing back. The diagnosis isn't a weak resume, it's a hiring system that screens through AI before anyone sees the document, filters out "too perfect" applications as machine-generated, and fills most roles through internal referrals long before they ever reach a public job portal. Samantha, who works across local, regional,…
16 Sep 2026 · 45 min
Indonesian Professional Pursues Singapore Dream with a $2.5M FIRE number [Chills 284 ft Pandeka]
His first salary in Jakarta was S$150 a month. He saved 40% of it. Eleven years on in Singapore, he sits seven or eight years out from a S$2.5 million FIRE number, with two kids and a helper. Meet Deka, the Indonesian professional who built 630,000 subscribers in eighteen months teaching the thing his banker friends in Jakarta had never heard of: index investing. No gurus, no hot tips, no McLaren on the feed. Just a fixed split of every payday, half of every bonus into IBKR the day it lands, and a household that runs on one salary. Deka breaks down how he outsaves his childless Singaporean…
9 Sep 2026 · 58 min
NDR 2026 Experts Take: More Money, More Leave, But Will Singaporeans Have Kids? [Chills 283]
Singapore's National Day Rally 2026 changed how family support works. In the past, families got a bigger payout for each additional child, more money for the second child, even more for the third. That system is gone. Every child now receives the same flat support each year, no matter their birth order. Our guests explained why this matters more than the dollar amount itself: incentive-based payouts push people toward having more kids, while flat, universal support signals something different, that the government backs parenting itself, not a specific birth count. The change does not fix…
8 Sep 2026 · 32 min
Why Singapore SMEs Should Invest in Sabah, According to Its New Investment Chief [TBS 62, Sponsored by STTOS]
Every Singapore business that outgrows Singapore looks north. Most stop at Johor. It's close, it's familiar, and anything further feels like a different order of decision. Sabah is three hours away and does not make the shortlist. Closing that gap is now Kevin George Ukang's job. Five months into running Invest Sabah, after sixteen years inside a regional development authority, his pitch to Singapore SMEs is narrower than you'd expect: tourism, logistics and food processing, with cold chain the loudest gap of the three. Hotels in Kundasang sell out while travellers are still looking for…
2 Sep 2026 · 50 min
Are SGX Companies well governed and truly undervalued? [Chills 282]
Everyone says Singapore stocks are going cheap. So one guest pulled the Bloomberg numbers before walking into the studio: small caps here trade at 13 times earnings on average. Hong Kong? About four. Malaysia, 11. Her verdict: not undervalued. "Fairly priced." Meet Lawrence Loh, the NUS professor who has scored SGX-listed companies on governance for over a decade, and Hwee Li Ong, the SAC Capital CEO who takes companies to market. No sell-side spin, no vague optimism, no box-ticking. Just data, hard questions, and the odd coconut analogy. In this Chills with TFC, they break down why large…
26 Aug 2026 · 37 min
Why Fixed Income May Matter More In Today’s Market [Chills 281, Sponsored by Aberdeen]
Most investors love talking about equities. But in a world of higher interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, tariff risks, AI disruption, and shaky market narratives, fixed income may be more interesting than many people realise. Natalie Tan , Head of Wholesale for Southeast Asia, and Nathaniel Wilson , Fixed Income Investment Specialist at Aberdeen Investments, break down how bonds, credit strategies, investment grade, high yield, emerging market debt, frontier bonds, and short-duration fixed income actually fit into a portfolio. Not as “boring stuff for retirees”, but as tools that can…
19 Aug 2026 · 51 min
Burnout Doctor broke Bond to pursue Barista FIRE [Chills 280]
Burnout stories are common. What is rare is someone who actually steps off the “helicopter track” and rebuilds life from scratch. Dr Faith Nadine Choo, The Side Quest Doctor, did exactly that. After clocking 70 to 80 hours weekly and surviving 30‑hour hospital calls, she realised she was running on empty. Her turning point came during a palliative posting, watching a patient her age face terminal illness. That moment forced her to confront what she was truly chasing. Dr Faith eventually broke her medical bond, paid a six‑figure penalty, and redesigned her life around freedom, health and…
12 Aug 2026 · 41 min
How A Singapore Tennis Coach Built A Million-Dollar Portfolio [Chills 279 ft SGWealthJourney]
A millionaire tennis coach sounds like a flex… until you hear the grind behind it. Meet Jun Chong, a tennis coach who started the sport "too late" at 13, who runs Jun Tennis Academy in Singapore, and who today is a self-made millionaire investor behind SGWealthJourney. Explore his story on the early gains that made him cocky, the all-in earnings gambles that almost wiped him out, and the painful pivot to a calmer, emotion-aware investing approach. This conversation is a reminder that wealth is not built from one perfect strategy. It comes from work, skin in the game, painful feedback, and…
11 Aug 2026 · 20 min
Manhattan Fish Market’s New Franchise Model Explained [TBS 61 ft Manhattan Fish Market]
Manhattan Fish Market is setting its sights on a comeback by returning to what made the brand memorable in the first place: familiar flavours, accessible seafood and a distinctly Malaysian identity. At Franchise International Malaysia 2026, CEO Deric Yeo and COO Sheikh Imran Iskandar shared how the home-grown halal seafood chain is rediscovering its original DNA while adapting to changing consumer habits. That means bringing back much-loved recipes, introducing Malaysian-inspired flavours and expanding through smaller kiosk and shop-in-shop formats designed for delivery, convenience and…
E278 · 5 Aug 2026 · 43 min
How Can AI Make You a Better Investor? [Chills 278 ft Tree of Prosperity, Steady Compounding]
Many retail investors chase tips, trends and rumours, yet overlook the one thing that consistently improves results: better thinking. We break down how AI‑style reasoning helps investors ask sharper questions, reduce emotional bias and build clearer decision frameworks. Learn: - Practical habits such as defining investment objectives, stress‑testing assumptions - Understand how data guides long‑term choices. - Gain a grounded look at how structured thinking supports confidence, especially in volatile markets. This is a useful watch for anyone who wants to improve discipline, avoid common…
4 Aug 2026 · 41 min
Can You Make Money From an Anytime Fitness Franchise? [TBS 60 ft Anytime Fitness]
From one gym in 2017 to 16 clubs today, Jaya’s Anytime Fitness journey shows what disciplined reinvestment can achieve. Instead of taking profits out, he channelled earnings from each successful outlet into the next. That steady approach helped him scale across the Klang Valley while continuing to run other businesses. Meanwhile, Anytime Fitness Malaysia has grown from just 17 gyms in 2017 to around 130 in 2026, with even faster expansion planned. Why Malaysia? Lower rental, construction and operating costs make the market attractive, while demand for accessible fitness, personal training…
29 Jul 2026 · 42 min
From Broke Founder to $4M in 10 Years: FIREPath Lion's Comeback Story [Chills 277]
He failed his startup. Lay awake at night convinced he'd ruined his financial future. Ten years later, he's sitting on a $4 million portfolio. Meet FIREPath Lion , the pseudonymous Singaporean blogger who shares everything most personal finance creators won't: his exact salary, every bonus, every investment, every number on the way to FIRE. No gurus, no day-trading, no genius stock picks. Just Bogleheads-style passive investing, aggressive saving, and a brutal honesty about what failure taught him. FIREPath Lion breaks down how he climbed back from broke, why he believes the 4% rule changed…
E59 · 28 Jul 2026 · 32 min
Is Your Franchise Actually Illegal? [TBS 59 ft Damien Yeo]
Franchising can be one of the fastest ways to grow a business, but it can also become one of the costliest mistakes if you overlook the legal requirements. In this episode of The Financial Coconut Business Show, franchise lawyer and registered franchise consultant Damien Yeo unpacks the legal framework behind Malaysia's Franchise Act 1998 and explains why many businesses unknowingly cross the line from licensing into franchising. Simply calling your business a "licence" does not mean the law will see it that way. Damien breaks down the four legal elements that define a franchise, why…
22 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
The Smarter Way To Build Wealth While Working Full-Time [Chills 276, Sponsored by Webull]
Most people want to get rich faster. But what if the smarter move, especially in your 20s and 30s, is not squeezing every dollar out of a tiny portfolio? For busy professionals, wealth accumulation may start with something less sexy but far more powerful: growing your income, managing your spending, and consistently investing the difference. Chris How (semi-retired, founder of retireby50.me ), Chris Chong (45K-sub FIRE YouTuber, ex-accountant), and Chris Ng (engineer-turned-CFA) break down what has aged badly in the investing world, from crypto hype to thematic funds, blind loyalty to jobs,…
15 Jul 2026 · 37 min
Globally Diversified Funds Are Too Concentrated For The New World [Chills 275, Sponsored by Amundi]
Your “global” portfolio might not be as global as you think. Many investors buy a world index believing they are diversified across the planet. But if a large chunk of that exposure is still concentrated in the US, and especially in US tech, are you really spreading your risk? Reggie flew to Paris for the Amundi World Investment Forum and sat with Guy Stear, Head of Developed Markets Strategy, Amundi Investment Institute, to unpack what comes next. The hot take from one of Europe's largest asset managers: the next leg of AI won't be electrical engineering in Silicon Valley - it'll be the…
12 Jul 2026 · 8 min
Wise & Shine Returns With A New Gen Z Voice
Wise and Shine is coming back, and this time, we are looking for a new voice. The career landscape has changed. It is no longer just about climbing the ladder, asking for a higher salary, or figuring out how to survive middle management. Gen Zs are entering a workplace shaped by AI, higher expectations, tougher competition, and new definitions of success. That is why Wise and Shine is opening the door for a Gen Z co-host who can speak honestly about what work feels like today. We are looking for someone who is curious, articulate, opinionated, and passionate about career conversations.…
8 Jul 2026 · 47 min
Can SGX consistently be a great investment market? [Chills 274 ft Louis Chua & Jamus Lim]
Why are more Singaporeans investing overseas instead of at home? In this episode of Chills with TFC, Reggie sits down with Louis and Jameis to unpack what it would really take to make Singapore’s stock market more vibrant again. The conversation goes beyond returns. It looks at the deeper issues behind the SGX, from company fundamentals and corporate governance, to liquidity, retail participation, and whether stronger local capital support could help create a healthier market. Singapore has built itself into a trusted global financial centre. But when younger investors think about equities…
1 Jul 2026 · 56 min
Where can you live better? Paris vs Singapore [Chills 273, Sponsored by WeBull]
Would you move back to Singapore if your salary doubled? For some Singaporeans living in Paris, the answer is not as obvious as we think. Yes, France comes with higher taxes, strikes, smaller apartments, language barriers, and a very different pace of life. But the trade-off is also real: stronger healthcare coverage, more holidays, cheaper schooling, employee benefits, unemployment support, and a lifestyle where money is not always the only scoreboard. This conversation goes beyond the usual “Paris is romantic” fantasy. It looks at what life actually feels like when you compare salary,…
24 Jun 2026 · 50 min
Can Feng Shui Help You Engineer Wealth? [Chills 272, Sponsored by Imperial Harvest]
We spend a lot of time talking about wealth strategies, career moves, investing, business, and personal growth. But what if some outcomes are shaped not just by effort, but also by timing, environment, and the patterns we keep repeating? Dawn, SG BudgetBabe and Anthony sit down with Grandmaster David from Imperial Harvest to explore a different lens on success: Ba Zi, Imperial Feng Shui, luck cycles, AI, decision-making, and whether people can shift their outcomes when they feel stuck. We discuss why some people seem talented but still face repeated roadblocks, whether AI can replace…
17 Jun 2026 · 45 min
The Jobless Club: How They Are Building Their Way Out of Corporate Rat Race [Chills 271 ft Jobless Club]
Three Singaporean software engineers. One target: $30,000 monthly recurring revenue. One end goal: retire in Chiang Mai. Meet the Jobless Club — Sean, Joseph, and Jonas — a trio of full-time engineers spending their nights and weekends building side businesses that could free them from the corporate grind. Their bet against the lone-wolf indie hacker model? Three founders are more sustainable than one. They've already turned a knife sharpening side hustle into S$16K in revenue, killed off projects that didn't pay (a Be Real-style Telegram bot, an NUS matching tool), and built a quarterly…
10 Jun 2026 · 47 min
Climbing Out of Poverty in Singapore (And Why So Few Actually Do) [Chills 270]
Singapore loves the story of social mobility. But behind the headlines, there's a quieter story: poverty is often an entrenched social class, and very few people actually climb out of it. Syainda Abdul was one of them. At 17 she was changing diapers. Married into an abusive relationship. Living in rental flats. Surviving on $900/month ComCare aid with $1,200 in expenses, and using $20 of that aid to buy a Canva subscription so she could cold-call companies and hustle freelance design gigs. Today? She works at a global bank. She's part of the middle class. And she's running another race.…
9 Jun 2026 · 42 min
Building a Fast Growing Character IP in Singapore! Here are the potholes [TBS 58 ft VICPA]
Creators, freelancers, and micro-business owners often only think about contracts, IP rights, payment terms, and legal recourse after something goes wrong. But by then, it may already be messy. In this live TFC Business Show session, recorded live at Whiskdom Cafe, we unpack what creators need to know to protect their work and get paid properly. We discuss what happens when a stockist does not pay, why contracts matter, what creators should look out for before signing agreements, how IP ownership works, when trademark registration becomes important, and how AI may affect copyright…
3 Jun 2026 · 45 min
The Truth About the Asian Middle Class Life (And Why It Looks So Different Here) [Chills 269]
Two helpers. Two drivers. Two cars. That was middle class life back home for our guests in KL, Jakarta, and Hong Kong. So why on earth did they choose to leave it behind for a 4-room HDB and the MRT? Sit down with Shen, Music Programme Director, Mickey Salim, and Theros, Founder, Yinvest.co to unpack the viral IG post comparing middle class life across ASEAN. They get into the painful trade-offs: cheap drivers and lower living costs back home vs reliable healthcare, public transport, and shorter commutes here. They dig into the unspoken comparison Tetris with neighbours and church friends,…

About The Financial Coconut Podcast

The Financial Coconut Podcast is a English business podcast from The Financial Coconut. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: The Financial Coconut
Language: English
Category: Business
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 43 min
Latest episode: 11 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1487004505

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