What Participants Say
The following are drawn from written feedback collected after programme completion and from conversations with participants during follow-up contact. Names and professional details are shared with permission.
← Back to HomeRajendran Nair
Retired engineer · Petaling Jaya
I attended the Investing Programme after retiring from thirty-two years in civil engineering. I had money in EPF and some unit trusts that I had put in without fully understanding what I owned. The fourteen weeks were demanding, particularly the fixed-income section, but by the end I understood what I had bought and why some of it was not well-suited to where I was. Worth every session.
Substantive Investing Programme · April 2025
Cheong Wei Ling
Senior HR manager · Kuala Lumpur
The Late-Career Planning Course came at a useful moment. I was considering moving to a consultancy arrangement in about two years and had not done the arithmetic properly. The second session on EPF timing in particular changed how I was thinking about the transition. The pace was right — I did not feel like the class was aimed at someone twenty years younger than me.
Late-Career Planning Course · March 2025
Mazlina Zainuddin
Business owner · Shah Alam
I attended the Evening Lecture on EPF withdrawal timing as a test to see if Permata Studies was worth a longer commitment. The lecturer did not oversimplify things. The written summary that arrived beforehand was useful — I read it on the train and arrived with actual questions, which is not my usual experience of public lectures. I enrolled in the Investing Programme the following month.
Evening Lecture · February 2025
Tan Kah Seng
Pharmacist · Klang
I appreciated that the lecturer on the decumulation evening was prepared to say what she did not know as clearly as what she did. That is unusual. The topic is one where overconfidence is common in financial education circles, so it was refreshing to be told plainly where the evidence is thin and where one genuinely has to make a judgment call with incomplete information.
Evening Lecture · January 2025
Norizan Abu Bakar
Former bank officer · Ampang
I spent twenty-two years in banking and thought I knew enough about fixed-income products not to need a course on them. I was wrong in a specific and useful way — I understood the products I sold, not the considerations relevant to owning them in a personal portfolio at my stage of life. Sessions nine and ten in the Investing Programme were the most useful six hours of financial education I have had.
Substantive Investing Programme · April 2025
Prakash Gopal
Accountant · Subang Jaya
I found the Late-Career Planning Course through a colleague who had attended the previous intake. My concern was whether, as an accountant, I would find it too elementary. The answer was no. The coverage of business wind-down and the financial arithmetic around owner-managed business transitions was detailed and applicable. My colleague's recommendation was accurate.
Late-Career Planning Course · March 2025
Three accounts of how participants described their situation before attending and what changed in their thinking afterward.
Substantive Investing Programme · 14 weeks
Sixty-one years old, due to retire in eighteen months. Had accumulated EPF savings and three unit trust products purchased over fifteen years based on advice from a family friend. Was not confident about what the unit trusts actually contained or whether they were appropriate for someone moving from earning to drawing.
A working understanding of how the unit trust products were constructed, what their charges were, and why two of the three held a risk profile unsuited to the post-retirement phase. The programme also covered EPF Account 1 investment options and the question of when to engage a licensed financial planner to construct a withdrawal sequence.
Redeemed two of the three unit trust positions and moved the proceeds into instruments he could now evaluate properly. Engaged a licensed planner for the EPF withdrawal sequence with a clear sense of what questions to ask and how to assess the advice received. Described the programme as "the most useful fourteen evenings I have spent since my professional training."
Late-Career Planning Course · 6 sessions
Fifty-six years old, had operated a small trading business for nineteen years. Planning to wind down over two years. Knew the business finances well but had not separated them from her personal finances in a systematic way. EPF contributions had been irregular due to the self-employment structure.
A session-by-session framework for separating business and personal financial positions, calculating income replacement requirements, and understanding what EPF voluntary contribution options remained open to her. The business wind-down session was directly applicable to her situation, covering both the financial and administrative dimensions of closing a private company.
Completed a twelve-month voluntary EPF contribution before the wind-down to improve her position. Separated business and personal cash flow on paper before the formal wind-down, which she described as "the thing I should have done three years ago." Rated the Saturday morning format as ideal for someone still running a business during the week.
Evening Lecture series, then Investing Programme
Fifty-three years old, twenty-nine years in federal government service. Pension entitlement secured but uncertain whether the pension alone would cover household expenses from retirement age. Had savings in Amanah Saham products and cash deposits but no systematic understanding of investing beyond those.
Three consecutive lectures — on housing decisions, decumulation, and EPF withdrawal timing — gave him enough context to identify that the Investing Programme, rather than the Late-Career Course, addressed his main area of uncertainty. The pre-session written summaries were described as unusually useful for arriving at a public lecture with context already established.
Enrolled in the following Investing Programme intake. After completing it, described having a clearer understanding of what Amanah Saham products are designed to do and what they are not designed to do — and how to think about the additional capital he expected to accumulate before retirement. "I now have a framework for making decisions, which is what I needed."
14
Years running
1,200+
Participants
4.7
Avg. satisfaction (5.0)
68%
Return for a second programme
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