Participant Voices
What people say
after a session with us.
These are accounts from people who attended our workshops, quarterly series, and annual retreat. We have not edited them for length or tone.
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Years of sessions in Johor Bahru
340+
Participants across all formats
4.6/5
Average session rating
89%
Who said they felt clearer after attending
Participant Accounts
In their own words
Johor Bahru · EPF Workshop
I have been contributing to EPF for eighteen years and had never properly read my statement. The workshop went column by column — slowly, with time to ask questions. I came away knowing what each number meant for the first time. The printed guide they gave out has been useful since.
April 2025
Johor Bahru · Quarterly Series
I subscribed for the year after attending one session. The reading they chose for Q1 was a Malaysian government primer I had seen mentioned but never actually read. Having someone facilitate the discussion made it more useful than reading it alone would have been. I appreciate that they stick to what is in the text — no one tells you what to do.
March 2025
Kluang · Annual Retreat
The retreat was a full day well spent. Three sessions with discussion in between, and a proper lunch at the venue. The closing exercise — writing a reflection note — felt a little uncomfortable at first but I found it useful. I would have liked slightly more time on one of the texts, but overall it was the most focused day I have spent on the subject.
January 2025
Johor Bahru · EPF Workshop
Clear and straightforward. The facilitator explained the portal sections I had always skipped past. I came in sceptical about whether a half-day session would be worth the fee, and left feeling it was. It is not a seminar where someone sells you something at the end. Just a room, a screen, and an explanation.
April 2025
Johor Bahru · Quarterly Series
I have been a subscriber for two years. What I value most is the reading in advance — it forces me to actually read the material before arriving, which I probably would not do otherwise. The discussion then makes things that seemed dry in print become easier to think about. A recurring session four times a year is the right pace for me.
February 2025
Johor Bahru · Annual Retreat
I attend most years now. The off-site venue makes a real difference — you are not in your office, not near your usual distractions. The small group size (there were eight of us this year) means conversations stay focused. I came back from last year's retreat with a much better sense of what questions I should be asking my financial planner separately.
January 2025
Session Journeys
How participants describe the experience
Before the workshop
Eighteen years of statements, unread
Participant worked for a Johor Bahru logistics firm for nearly two decades and had received an EPF statement every year. She had never worked through one completely — the columns were unfamiliar and the portal had always felt confusing to navigate.
During the session
One afternoon, column by column
She attended the EPF Statement Reading Workshop. The facilitator walked through each section of the statement on the projected screen. She had her own statement open on her phone and could follow along in real time. She asked three questions during the session — all of which were answered without being redirected elsewhere.
After attending
A document that now makes sense
She reported that she was able to check her statement independently the following month, confirm a discrepancy she had not previously noticed, and contact EPF directly to clarify. She described the workshop as the most useful single afternoon she had spent on the topic.
"I just needed someone to sit next to me and explain it. Stoneground did that, in a room with other people who had the same questions."
Before the series
Reading about retirement alone
A secondary school teacher in Johor Bahru had read several books on household planning independently but found it difficult to sustain engagement. He wanted a structure that would keep him returning to the material across the year rather than picking it up and putting it down.
During the series
Four afternoons across a year
He subscribed to the Quarterly Reading and Discussion Series. The rhythm of four sessions — one per quarter, with reading circulated in advance — gave him the structure he was looking for. The group was small enough that he contributed to discussions rather than listening passively.
After completing a year
A working vocabulary for the topic
By the end of his subscription year, he described having a working vocabulary for retirement preparation that he had previously lacked — not from being told what to do, but from reading and discussing across four different texts over twelve months. He renewed for the following year.
"The quarterly rhythm suited me. I would not have maintained the reading discipline without it."
Before the retreat
Four years from retirement, uncertain
A participant in her mid-fifties was four years from her expected retirement date. She had attended the EPF workshop two years prior and had kept up with her statement since then, but wanted to spend more sustained time on the broader question of what retirement would involve.
During the retreat
A full day away from usual surroundings
She attended the Annual Reading Retreat. The three reading sessions and facilitated discussions ran from morning to mid-afternoon. Meals were included. She found the off-site setting useful — she was not interrupted, and the small group of nine people kept discussions from becoming abstract.
After the retreat
Clearer questions for the next step
She described leaving the retreat with a clearer set of questions to bring to her own licensed financial planner — questions she felt more confident asking because of the day's reading and discussion. She noted the closing reflection note as something she returned to a month later.
"It is not advice. It is preparation. That is a different and more useful thing at this stage."
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Sat: 9am–1pm
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