Redefine Your Path
Embrace the Switch

Two decades ago, as a former CPA with a strong accounting background, I was always wired with formulas and probabilities. While I had a stable income, I was keenly interested in an alternate career that could elevate my earnings.

With a good head in numbers, I went on to complete the insurance exams that enabled me to sign on as an insurance agent, what is now known as a financial planner. While the initial career change was challenging when cold calls and prospecting did not bring in enough conversions, I was determined to persevere. Twenty years later and now a father of two school-going children, I am seasoned and able to identify the segments for growth opportunity in portable medical products, corporate solutions and general insurance. I am greatly satisfied with what I could bring home today and am glad I made the move.

In the next five years, I am sure Singapore will continue to thrive as a regional economic hub while the unrest in the Middle East may ring in more trading and political uncertainty. What I can control today is to continue to upgrade myself and start other useful hobbies such as learning Chinese tea art. I believe this will help me slow down and calm myself during social and business engagements.

I am better known as YP, and have been a Chartered Financial Consultant in the financial services industry for twelve years. Today, I measure success not only by results, but by the kind of life those results help me build. In this work, I found deep peace of mind in helping families move forward with clarity, and that satisfaction is matched by the quality time I can spend with my family.

From the initial self-doubt to making momentous success, I believe that the decision for my career change was worth it—I was able to secure higher income than the previous job, while also gained the flexibility needed to be present for the people I love.

Before the career shift, I felt trapped in monotonous work, exhausting daily travel, and low income that made major life decisions like getting married and buying a house—feel impossible. I was worried about needing ten to fifteen years to reach even a decent $4,000 monthly salary, assuming promotions came quickly for a non-degree holder. It was not a reckless decision but one big move that was made with heart-felt convictions when I switched. Fast forward to today, I never regretted switching into financial services because I left my past worries behind.

Through positive thinking, I was able to mingle confidently, express myself clearly, and build trust with the people who eventually became my clients. I could share my rewards with the woman I married and we could revel in a honeymoon trip.

Looking ahead, I expect more AI skills to be necessary in the next few years, and that financial consultants will need to be equipped with the latest technology to stay relevant.

What happens if you became a casualty to corporate restructuring or retrenchment? How do you get back up after a fall?

I am no stranger to employment crisis. Over twenty-two years ago, I lost a stable senior management job to the Asian Financial Crisis in 2001 and found myself jobless and aimless.

By some strange stroke of fate, I became recruited into the insurance sector, unlearned from the corporate career to become a risky business owner. In addition to income uncertainty, there was a social stigma around insurance sales which made the initial cold calling or sales effort very challenging.

Over time, my positive mindset and perseverance in the face of adversity started to turn a corner when I gained new clients and referrals. My wife was supportive of my career change and inspired me to keep the hopes high. Giving yourself a chance to do new things is important, because some things just become more difficult when you become an older person.

Today, in my late 50s, I specialize in personal financial planning, business insurance for corporations and health insurance. I am glad I made the mid-career change when I was younger and could have the time and opportunity to re-market myself. The financial industry will continue to be a beneficiary to technology and new AI tools, hence I consider it very important for all practitioners to receive continuing education and upskilling for successful adoption of these new tools.

I can now cook a meal at home for my family, relish a blissful quality of life, and have a renewed perspective in personal enjoyment which this financial services career offers me. This is a deeper sense of self-worth which gratifies me.

Coming from a secretarial background did not do anything to allay my fears of meeting people to pitch a sale.

However, having the discipline and habits of a 9-to-5 work culture was helpful in preparing me when I pivoted to insurance sales. I made the bold transformation 30 years ago through a blind advertisement for insurance services recruitment and never looked back since. I am now happy and satisfied with my professional status and value the ability to enjoy personal down time with my family.

Working very hard to learn business knowledge, and bracing myself to confront many aspects of the life insurance business was probably one of the most challenging moment in my career switch path. While my social network was quite small then, I was determined to overcome the shortcomings by getting involved in business network and improving her prospecting methods.

My lifetime MDRT award in the financial planning career is a clear testament that discipline, attitude and best efforts always work together for good, and the starting points do not really matter. I aim to continue to upgrade myself in order to remain competent when standing beside the younger new consultants who are joining the industry.

Formerly an accountant, I consider myself to have a good head in numbers. The job I had helped me earn a decent income for more than a decade.

But there came a point when I was unwilling to settle for just being “good”. Finally, I plunged at an opportunity to make a career switch, putting an end to my accounting life to take on the role of a financial planner as the next professional leap.

That move marked a major shift of having to learn new financial skills and using wealth planning tools to advise a very challenging target audience, each with his or her own sets of financial priorities and agenda to tackle. My hard work and resilience paid off, as I eventually built a strong base of customers and earned multiple awards—becoming a top leader in private wealth creation and corporate risk management.

With the ongoing rampant growth in technology and innovation, and customers now having greater accessibility to financial planning information and greater online choices, I see an essential need to maintain top form as a financial services consultant. Through my continuous skills upgrading and greater adoption of social media outreach, I am confident to thrive, and would encourage anyone to also take this great leap into the financial services industry.

It has been eleven years for me in the industry of financial services. I am familiar with sales, and have always enjoyed meeting people and doing sales. More than a decade into the financial services industry, I learned that the real win isn’t just about closing a deal, but more about building strong relationships, understanding what clients need, and earning their trust in the process.

Looking at the present, I feel I am in a good and stable place professionally—this genuinely makes me happy. As a Financial Services Consultant, I love the flexibility this role gives me—being able to manage my time while still working with different clients keeps

things exciting for me.

I think my bubbly personality helped me get there, among other things. I am positive, outspoken, and enjoy making conversations comfortable and candid. I am also hardworking and persistent—once I started something, I see it through and give it my best.

One of my proudest moments was closing a difficult case where I had to build strong trust with a client. That situation reminded me that persistency and sincerity make a difference in creating impact.

If anyone is considering a midcareer change, my advice is: be open to meeting people and stepping out of your comfort zone. Upgrading yourself, staying adaptable and agile—are key to thriving professionally.

When I made up my mind to enter the life insurance industry since 2004, I knew it would be a bold move and I was not going to look back.

Backed by self discipline and a personal goal-getting spirit, I was determined to craft out a positive career milestone for myself. By turning the initial doubts into success dreams, I stayed on in the financial services industry and focused on advancing my career.

Today, I have become a seasoned consultant with drive and courage, knowing what is good for personal goals and work towards it; knowing what is good for my customers and help them achieve their financial planning objectives and wealth creation plans.

Confident and never looking back, I continue to lead a growing team of financial services consultants today along with my husband, who—like me, are also enjoying the fruits of our midcareer change.

Since 1995, I have transitioned into the life and general insurance sector and till today, I am still standing as an accomplished and steady financial services leader.

I had taken a leap of faith with a new career transformation thirty years ago. Looking back at myself as a Home Team Officer back then, I have certainly come a very long way to achieving personal and career success. Being comfortable in the past job did not give me the level of happiness I have today. Today, when my customers receive their insurance claims payout, their gratitude towards me become my greatest achievement.

For a person who is typically shy and afraid to speak in public, I have made positive transitions to overcome my shortcomings through continual practice and desire for self improvement. With a positive mentality, I not only overcame barriers, but also enabled myself to pursue greater learning opportunities.

As the industry continues to become more sophisticated and there comes a time for even more stringent governance by the regulators, I aim to enrich myself continuously and never stopping to do the right thing for every customer.

At 57, I am still genuinely happy about my work in the financial services industry for over two decades.

I did not start here because it was glamorous. I had known many people who had spent their savings on illness treatments instead of protecting themselves first. I remember thinking: insurance isn’t optional—it’s a must. That belief became my turning point.

When I used to run a business, it had come with cashflow and manpower challenges. When I transitioned into financial services work, it came with the opportunities to build, adapt, and continuous learning.

Presently, I focus on helping my team and followers succeed together. I encourage them to follow a right modelling, make the right changes, and earn what they are truly capable of earning. My greatest achievement comes from knowing that a client or another consultant appreciated my help.

I am ready for the next chapter, financially and holistically. My goal is to create an individual sales system for every consultant, so that everyone can thrive together, and give back to society through volunteering. For me, I care about becoming more human through the help I give to others.

The recent fire incident which happened in Hong Kong that had taken over 150 lives in November 2025 reminded me yet again, about the unpredictability of life. I am also reminded of my own fortune—having received great counsel and mentoring advice from a Secondary School friend who guided in my career switch to become a successful Financial Services Consultant today.

At a low point of my career history, I encountered a stroke of misfortune which saw my unforeseen departure from the company I had worked for. Overcoming setback and accepting reality allowed myself to amass courage and mental agility to eventually come back stronger. Through embracing new skills and knowledge in financial services, I was able to adopt a positive approach toward tech-driven AI assistance in our modern business processes. Financial services consulting work to me becomes more meaningful as I become a consistent and reliable advisor to clients whose financial literacy I guided them on.

The progress in my work is insufficient if I am not equally gaining happiness level in my personal space. I could now better manage my time with family and friends, and set goals for my body fitness and leisure choices.

The career switch I made gave me a stronger sense of focus to strive for a deeper purpose and greater sense of achievement in my life.

After fifteen years as a financial planner since graduation, I have now grown a portfolio of companies on corporate planning for employee benefits solutions in addition to general insurance and family financial protections.

As a fresh graduate back then, I started in the industry with energy and curious enthusiasm to push personal boundaries around my work. I do admit that I did have the usual fear and doubts about the ability to stay within the range of my salary goal in a volatile industry.

What contributed to my success was diligence and a keen sense of adaptability. I was able to harness opportunities to use various resources such as partnership platforms, general insurance and employee benefits leads to advance my network. Even friends who once shunned me have eventually sought my expertise and became customers.

I strongly feel that having the right attitude, motivation and personal agility is key to thriving in the financial industry. My advice to others seeking to pivot is to be brave to come out of your comfort zone and seek advice from good mentors. And during this time, I wish for greater world peace.

Persistency and consistency are the key attributes that helped me settle into a very successful financial planning profession.

Even while studying, I was curious and keen to learn new skills for small salary. And it is this positive attitude that helped me honed my skills at different industries with opportunities to widen my perception and adaptability. My enthusiasm eventually led me to a promising financial planning career till today.

I recalled that with only a small network of friends at the start of my working life meant I had to polish my pitching skills with every customer—braving through cold calls and participating in roadshows. With persistency, I secured new clients who in turn referred other clients.

For more than a decade, in addition to life insurance and retirement planning, I feel a sense of purpose whenever I am consulted on family estate planning and investment solutions. As an extension of my expertise, I also give advice on Will-Making and Lasting Power of Attorney—matters that are increasingly gaining more importance these days. I also hope to become CFA certified in the not too distant future.

I am consistent in setting daily routines which includes fervor exercising to keep my body fit, so that I am in the best shape of health to stand as a role model of leadership. I keep myself abreast of international news especially the Tariffs’ conundrum on lawmakers and its impact on the world’s economy so that I am attuned to customers’ investment and business spending priorities. By focussing on my self discipline and business strategies, I hope to surpass myself and hang up my gloves around 45 years old; and use my testimony to inspire others.

The stars were strangely aligning when I graduated and joined the life insurance industry back in 2009.

Being young and fresh always has the advantage of looking at new things through new and clean lens. Of course, I was confronted with personal challenges with lack of family encouragement or peer support, but I chose to stay on to continue working to increase my marketability and pitching skills. I was very fortunate that I had a great mentor, Joseph, who guided my early steps.

Having become mommy three times in my life, I learnt how to deal with overcoming obstacles and crises back-to-back or all at the same time. Standing beside me the whole time is my mom and hubby who supported me at home and at work, thereby contributing to my success and happiness.

After bagging several awards in over fifteen years of financial planning career, I understood the priorities of both family planning and the A-Zs of financial protection for families. I continue to focus on insurance for couples and those with young children, from endowment to retirement planning—in the same vein as I could relate to this demographic in a real and personal way. The fact that I did not have to switch my career is the isthmus evidence that this was and still is the right profession for me even as my roles today have continued to evolve to become ever more demanding. While Science and artificial intelligence will always be one step ahead of us even in the most complex form of financial advisory work, it is the empathy, personal connection and the sensibility of a human reassurance that will forever stay relevant.