Last March, I was sitting in an air-conditioned food court in town, waiting for my old investments lecturer.
When he walked in—same pressed shirt, same office handbag, same everything from 15 years ago—I looked down at my gym shorts and T-shirt and suddenly felt underdressed.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. He was supposedly retired. I’d left corporate in 2021 and dressed like a retiree ever since. Yet here he was, looking ready for a board meeting.
“Still can’t hang up the laser pointer eh?” I joked.
“Actually, I’m still teaching. Got a class later today.”
But here’s where it gets interesting.
He wasn’t teaching investments anymore. He was teaching the licensing course that gig economy workers need to take.
My investments professor—the guy who taught me about P/E ratios and cash flow analysis—was now teaching something entirely different.
“Why?” I asked.
He paused for a while. Then laughed—bitter and short.
“Lost quite a bit in the bond market.”
Now hold on.
This is the man who drilled into us that bonds aren’t automatically “safer” than stocks. Who showed us how to read financial statements. Who made us calculate risk ratios until our eyes bled.
“Which bonds?” I pushed.
“Hyflux. Six figures.”
The food court suddenly felt colder.
For those outside Singapore, Hyflux was our “safe” water company that offered 6% bonds when banks paid nothing. Retirees loved it. Then it collapsed, wiping out SG$900 million from 34,000 investors.
But here’s what haunts me: He KNEW better.
“If you’d looked at the cash flow statement…” I started.
“I know.” He cut me off. “But I was near retirement. Wanted something ‘stable.’ My relationship manager at the bank said it was safe. That 6% looked good when everything else paid peanuts.”
There it was.
My investments professor—who taught us never to trust anyone else’s analysis—had outsourced his thinking to a bank salesperson.
He’d invested on borrowed conviction.
The classic mistake: He reached for yield and lost his capital.
This happens more than you think.
Smart people abandon everything they know when fear or greed kicks in. They stop analyzing. Start trusting. Let someone else—who may not have their interests at heart—make their biggest financial decisions.
You can’t outsource financial literacy. Not to relationship managers pushing products. Not to “experts” who abandon their own principles. Not even to friends or colleagues who’re always eager to dish out hot stock tips.
You need to build your own conviction. Understand what you own. Know why you own it.
Don’t Let This Happen to You
My lecturer’s story is a cautionary tale, but it doesn’t have to be yours.
Every week, I share real insights on analyzing stocks, avoiding costly mistakes, and building wealth the steady compounding way
Join my free Steady Compounding newsletter and you’ll get:
- My honest take on markets
- First notification when I run investing bootcamps
- Exclusive early-bird pricing and bonuses only for subscribers
- Lessons from my 15+ years of wins and losses
In fact, I’m launching my Steady Compounding Investing Bootcamp this Black Friday (November 28th). Newsletter subscribers will get first access and special bonuses not available to the public.