What people say after completing a programme — honestly, in their own words.

I signed up for the confidence programme not knowing quite what to expect. By week three I had actually sat down and gone through every account my husband and I hold — something we had been meaning to do for years. The workbook made that easier than I expected. Not everything became clear, but I now know specifically what I don't understand, which feels like genuine progress.

The annual reports programme is genuinely the most useful thing I have done with ten weeks in a long time. I had been holding shares in two Bursa-listed companies for over six years without ever properly reading their annual reports. The course walked me through a real report — not a made-up example — and the difference in how I now read them is substantial.

I appreciated that nobody tried to rush me. I took an extra three weeks on the middle section of the retirement programme because the allocation topic needed more time to settle. The coordinator simply extended my access without making a fuss. The planner sessions were the most valuable part — Farouk read my draft plan carefully and asked questions I hadn't thought to ask myself.

What I found most useful was the tone. I've attended financial seminars before and often felt that the presenter assumed I was either completely ignorant or already an expert. Here, the writing treated me as someone who is capable of understanding the material if it's explained clearly and at a manageable pace. That made a significant difference to how I engaged with it.

The fund fact sheet section in Programme 2 was genuinely revelatory. I had been reading the headline return figures on my unit trust statements and largely ignoring the expense ratio. After the fourth week I looked at what I was actually paying on two funds I'd held for years. I made some changes. That alone was worth the enrolment fee.

I'm 53 and I had not really addressed my retirement planning with any seriousness before this programme. The 18 weeks felt long when I enrolled, but looking back it was the right length — there was enough time to sit with the ideas between sessions, and enough structure to keep moving. The written portfolio plan I came away with is the first financial document I've produced for myself that I actually trust.