Both. The course will cover what scripture and the Catholic Church say about wealth, poverty, financial stewardship, etc. At the same time, it will cover the practical aspects of financial planning, insurance, investments, debt management, etc. in a way that is aligned to the Church’s teachings. These practical aspects will be applied to your personal circumstances through Excel Workbooks that are an integral part of the course.

There is a pre-course component where participants are expected to do some preparation, on their own, in the month before the first formal session (Session 1). The necessary materials will be sent to the participants.

This is followed by five formal sessions over approximately 6 weeks:

• Sessions 1 and 5 are big group sessions with presentations, and small group breakouts.
• Sessions 2, 3 and 4 are small group discussions. There is a 2-week break between Sessions 2 and 3.

A small group comprises 5-10 participants, with a facilitator.

Course materials, consisting Participant Guide, Resource Guide and Excel Workbooks, will be provided. The workbooks are for completion in between the formal sessions.

From the previous question, you can see that you need to:

• Attend five physical formal sessions. Each session would take about 2-3 hours.
• Spend time before the course and in between the five sessions to complete your Excel Workbooks and read the supplementary materials in the Resource Guide. There are altogether 9 Excel Workbooks, and each Workbook can take between half an hour to four hours to complete.

Unfortunately, no. It is to your benefit to attend and actively participate in every session as it would enable you to get the most out of this course.

We have limited places for the course. If you are unable to commit to attend every session or do not have the time to complete the Workbooks on a timely basis, we advise you to register for a future run of the course where the dates may be better suited for you.

We aim to hold this once or twice a year, depending on speakers’ and facilitators’ availability.

The course presenters are priests and lay Catholics with expertise and experience in the various aspects of Church teachings and financial management. The facilitators are volunteers with the Foundation who have a good knowledge of finance and money management, and desire to help Catholics steward their financial resources wisely.

This course is most suitable for working Catholics, whether you are an employee or are self-employed/freelancing. You will gain most of the course if you are between the ages of 25 – 60 years old. Couples who are married or are preparing for marriage may find it useful to attend the course together as a couple, so that they can order their finances jointly.

There are avenues and organisations that a financially distressed person could reach out to for services and support. This course provides education on sound financial management for Catholics. Depending upon your situation, this course could help put you on a better footing for you to embark on your journey towards ordering your finances. For example, we cover topics such as financial crisis and debt management. Do peruse the topics to determine if this course should be a priority for you.

Catholic Foundation created this course to fill what we believe is a gap in the understanding of how Catholics in Singapore should deal with our finances – in a way that is aligned to scripture and the Catholic Church.

Catholics with non-Catholic spouses are encouraged to attend this course together as a couple as money matters are a significant part of any marriage.

This course has a large practical component and uses the Singapore context in its materials. For example, CPF is covered extensively in the topics on insurance and retirement planning. You may still find the concepts and, of course, the Catholic Church’s teachings, relevant. Do peruse the topics to determine if you should register for the course.

No, there is no course fee to attend. There are, of course, costs incurred in the development and running of this course. If you wish, you can make a contribution to the Giving in Faith and Thankfulness (GIFT) programme, which supports the needs of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. You can learn more about GIFT here.