Should working adults receive monthly trust fund payouts? Victor Ow, Timothy Zee, Loh May-Han and Bernard Cheong share their opinions on the great debate.  

Victor Ow
Wealth lubricates living the good life, but Victor, chairman and chief executive of Clydesbuilt Group, believes in balancing it out with philanthropic efforts, which he says is telling of one’s personal values.

Parents want the best for their children, and bestowing them with monthly trust fund payouts stems from this. Also, with many of the younger generation now struggling to buy a house, if they’re fortunate to have this financial advantage, why shouldn’t they make use of it?
Yes, these individuals should value what they have and I respect those who do good with the sum they receive regularly, not for the sake of publicity but out of genuine concern for the causes they’re supporting. But it isn’t justifiable to criticise those who don’t. While they may be financially self-sufficient or have chosen to spend on supercars, they’re still entitled to the money.

And who’s to judge? It’s similar to the government handing out growth dividends to adult Singaporeans; they don’t discriminate against the wealthy despite their net worths because they’re also citizens and are thus entitled to the payout. Hence, I’d say live and let live.


Timothy Zee
Concurring with Warren Buffet once again, Timothy, a managing director with Singapore-based alternative investment management firm PAG Asia Capital, says “Love is the greatest advantage a parent can give”.

Monthly payouts to adults are tantamount to an allowance given to children. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I became a man, I put away childish things.” As children become adults, it’s time to cut the umbilical cord, stop providing an allowance and empower them early with a strong sense of accomplishment, self-worth and satisfaction of earning their own dime. I like the values of Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; namely, the virtue of hard work and being frugal with money. A monthly stipend can act as a disincentive to work or to persevere when the going gets tough. 

Nonetheless, I’d provide my children with an education, a home and perhaps seed capital for a start-up, provided there is a sound business plan. As the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffet, famously said, the right amount is “enough money so they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing”. 


Loh May-Han
An anaesthesiologist with a passion for travelling, fashion and gourmet cuisine, May-Han is an independent woman who believes in working hard to play hard.

NO. A family trust fund is usually set up to provide some degree of financial security for the subsequent generation. The naysayers of trust funds tend to maintain that these financial supports do not impart the next generation with the correct work and life values. This may lead the individual to develop a crutch mentality and eventually lead to a decline in work industriousness, life tenacity and financial frugality.  I believe working adults should not receive monthly payouts as they should be able to earn their own keep and not rely on trust funds for their daily sustenance. Furthermore, such hard-earned daddy's monies should not be used to finance frivolous personal wants that are not within one's earning means. I believe most would agree with the old adage of spending within the limits of one's earning abilities. Certainly there can be exceptions, and I would agree that in unexpected and catastrophic circumstances, and it should be appropriately worded, the individual can expect to be adequately provided for.  


Bernard Cheong
A medical doctor, watch connoisseur and founding partner of Lifeline Medical Group, Bernard believes that having options greatly improves one’s path in life.

YES. My belief is that the trust fund moves the surviving, co-relating and communicating members of a bloodline. In what I call the chessboard of life, this "bloodline" uses the money to move a piece to a better position. It is always a good move to develop a chess piece (family adult), whether you position it forward or backward. When a trust fund makes a big difference to a member’s  options in life, it’s like moving a piece forward, and when the money is donated to worthy causes to improve the options in society, it’s like moving the piece backwards. What’s important is that whether you move forward or backward, the money is strategically used to improve options. Problems arise when a trust fund is set up for the wrong reason, such as to narrow-mindedly allow for financial upward movement. I believe that circumstance and funds simply expand the number of options in a trustee’s life. They do not necessarily make things better. Choices do.

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