Participant Reflections
What People Say About Reading With Cordiel
Reflections from adults who have worked through our reading programmes — in their own words, without prompting.
Back to Home6+
Years Running
480+
Programme Participants
4.7
Average Cohort Rating
94%
Completion Rate
From Our Cohorts
Participant Reviews
Tan Li-Mei
Tampines, Singapore
I came to the Retirement Vocabulary Reading Circle knowing almost nothing about CPF Life. By the fourth session I felt I could at least follow what my husband and I read in the CPF statements without getting lost. The glossary is sitting on my desk now — I refer back to it fairly often.
Retirement Vocabulary Reading Circle · April 2025
Ramesh Subramaniam
Bishan, Singapore
The weekend workshop covered a lot in two days. I had expected it to feel rushed, but the pace was actually quite considered — we spent real time on the drawdown section, which was the part I had most questions about. Good that the reader is yours to keep. I have gone back to certain pages a few times since.
Long-Term Planning Reading Workshop · March 2025
Chen Yong-Hui
Buona Vista, Singapore
I have been to finance seminars before where the talk about education slides quickly into what product you should look at. That did not happen here at all. Every session stayed clearly in the vocabulary and reading space. I appreciated the honesty about what Cordiel does and does not do.
Budget Conversations Reading Series · April 2025
Patricia Lim
Clementi, Singapore
My sister and I enrolled in the Budget Conversations series together. It was a useful thing to do before we had to start talking about our parents' care arrangements. The scenario cards made the discussion sessions feel less abstract — you were working through something specific, not just talking generally.
Budget Conversations Reading Series · May 2025
Arjun Krishnaswamy
Novena, Singapore
The reading circle format takes a little getting used to if you are expecting a more lecture-style format. But once I was in the rhythm of it — reading in advance, then discussing — I found it stayed with me much better. The facilitator was good at slowing things down when the group needed it.
Retirement Vocabulary Reading Circle · April 2025
Wong Nai-Lin
Serangoon, Singapore
I did not know what SRS was properly until this reading circle. I thought I did, but the glossary chapter on it made me realise I had been muddling it with something else. That kind of vocabulary clarification is exactly what I needed before speaking to anyone about longer-term plans. Would come back for another programme.
Retirement Vocabulary Reading Circle · May 2025
Participant Journeys
In More Detail
Starting Point
Linda, 54, a secondary school teacher in Queenstown, had a CPF annual statement she had not opened in three years. She knew the terms inside were important but felt she did not have the language to read them with any confidence.
What She Did
She enrolled in the Retirement Vocabulary Reading Circle, working through six sessions on CPF Life, SRS, drawdown vocabulary, and household income mapping. She read the glossary chapter each week before attending.
Where She Ended Up
By the final session, Linda had read her CPF statement end-to-end and circled the questions she wanted to bring to a qualified professional. She said she felt, for the first time, that she was going into that meeting on more even footing.
"I had been putting that conversation off for years. The circle gave me enough language to stop dreading it."
Linda K. — Retirement Vocabulary Reading Circle, February–March 2025
Starting Point
David, 47, a senior engineer in Jurong, and his wife had been avoiding a conversation about what would happen to their household finances if one of them needed to take a career break. The topic felt large and unstructured.
What They Did
They attended the Budget Conversations Reading Series together, working through four evening sessions on the language of mid-life household financial discussions — including the session on restructuring after an income change, which was directly relevant to their situation.
Where They Ended Up
After the series, David described the conversation as having become "smaller and more specific" — they had a shared vocabulary for it now, and the scenario cards had helped them practice speaking about it without the conversation becoming emotional or unproductive.
"It made a conversation we had been avoiding feel like something we could actually have."
David T. — Budget Conversations Reading Series, January 2025
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Phone
+65 6473 2980Address
30 Cecil Street, #19-08
Prudential Tower, S 049712
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Sat: 9am–1pm
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