WOW STORY OF THE DAY: He Set a USD 1 Million Goal at 30, Quit His Corporate Job, and Hit the Target by 35

Chris Chong, founder of HoneyMoneySG and a former Chartered Accountant from Nanyang Technological University, launched his YouTube channel in November 2021, quit his corporate job in January 2023, achieved his publicly declared USD 1 million investment portfolio goal by age 35 as confirmed on December 31, 2025, built a 50,000-plus follower community across platforms, a 20,000-plus Telegram community, and 10 million-plus total views, becoming one of Singapore's most trusted personal finance voices.

NTU, a Chartered Accountant, a Finance Blog Rabbit Hole, and a YouTube Channel That Changed Everything

Chris Chong grew up interested in personal finance from an early age. Since 2013, he had been an avid reader of Singapore's original finance blogging community, following OG creators like DollarsAndSense, A Singaporean Stock Investor, SgBudgetBabe, Investment Moats, and Seedly, absorbing the philosophy and strategies of the people who were democratising financial education in Singapore before social media made it mainstream.

He pursued a Bachelor of Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Singapore, developing the technical foundation in financial analysis, tax, and accounting that would later make his content uniquely credible among Singapore's crowded personal finance space.

In November 2021, he launched HoneyMoneySG as a YouTube channel dedicated to sharing personal finance knowledge with Singaporeans who deserved better financial education than what the traditional system provided. The content covered CPF optimisation, credit card strategies, ETF investing, HDB and property guidance, dollar-cost averaging versus lump-sum investing, and the real strategies behind building financial independence.

"I was always interested in personal finance," Chris says. "I also have a finance background in terms of education, work experience, and professional qualification as a Chartered Accountant, so it was natural for me to be interested in numbers and money."

A USD 1 Million Goal Made Public, Achieved by 35, and the Decision to Go All In

The boldest creative and personal decision Chris made was to pursue his USD 1 million investment goal by age 35 publicly, setting the target in November 2021 and sharing every strategy, every milestone, and every portfolio decision with his growing community. That transparency, extraordinarily rare in Singapore's traditionally conservative financial culture, built a level of trust that no marketing budget could have created.

He set the goal. He documented the journey. And on December 31, 2025, he confirmed on his official website that he had achieved it, sharing the number, the timeline, the portfolio breakdown, and what changed after he got there. That moment transformed him from a creator documenting a journey into proof that the strategies he had been teaching genuinely worked.

The community that grew around that transparency is extraordinary. His Telegram community has attracted over 20,000 Singaporeans actively discussing personal finance, credit cards, CPF, retirement planning, and money-saving strategies. His 50,000-plus followers across YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms have watched over 10 million total views across his content. His TikTok handle @honeymoneysg extends his reach to younger audiences. Brand partnerships with companies including Syfe, for which he created an exclusive SG60 promotional campaign, confirm the commercial credibility of his audience.

In January 2023, Chris quit his corporate job when YouTube income reached 80 to 90 percent of his full-time employment salary.

"When the YouTube income was close to 80 to 90 percent of my full-time employment income, it was when the switch happened," he says.

He subsequently founded Hive Media in 2023 to formalise and scale his content operations, taking on corporate projects with a mission to improve the financial well-being of Singaporean and international communities.

He also launched SoloBizSG, a companion platform focused specifically on helping solopreneurs build their own independent businesses, extending the HoneyMoneySG philosophy beyond personal finance into professional independence.

By December 2025, he was posting about his 2026 credit card strategy, confirming that even having achieved the million-dollar milestone, the content creation and financial education mission continues without pause.

Scale and Real-World Impact

Parameter	Details
Founder & Practitioner	Chris Chong (Chartered Accountant, NTU Bachelor of Accountancy)
Platforms & Brands	HoneyMoneySG, SoloBizSG, Hive Media (Founded 2023)
Launch Date	November 2021
Primary Financial Milestone	USD 1 Million Investment Portfolio reached by age 35 (Confirmed Dec 31, 2025)
Corporate Transition	Resigned corporate role in Jan 2023 (YouTube income hit 80%–90% of full-time salary)
Audience Reach	50,000+ followers across social platforms | 10 Million+ cumulative views
Community Infrastructure	20,000+ members in official Telegram group | TikTok: @honeymoneysg
Commercial Partnerships	Syfe (Exclusive SG60 Promotional Campaign) and corporate projects
Core Educational Topics	CPF optimisation, credit card strategies, ETFs, HDB/property, DCA vs. Lump Sum, FIRE
Media Features	CNA, Lianhe Zaobao, TODAY

The Most Trusted Finance Creators Are the Ones Who Put Their Own Money Where Their Mouth Is

The sharpest lesson from Chris Chong's journey is this: in a world where financial advice is everywhere and genuine financial accountability is rare, the most trusted voices are the ones who share their real numbers, their real strategies, and their real portfolio alongside every piece of content they create.

Chris Chong did not become one of Singapore's most trusted personal finance creators by having the most polished videos or the biggest production budget. He built trust by being transparent about his own USD 1 million goal, his own investment decisions, his own income transition from corporate to creator, and his own calculation of when it made financial sense to leave his career.

He set the goal publicly at 30. He documented every step. He quit when the numbers told him to. He achieved the million by 35. And then he kept creating.

"I built the wealth," his website says. "Let me help yours grow."

He started reading finance blogs in 2013. He started creating them in 2021. He quit his job in 2023. He hit USD 1 million by December 2025. And Singapore is financially smarter for every step of that journey.

Sources

• HoneyMoneySG Official Website

• Ko-fi Profile

• DollarsAndSense.sg

• Hashmeta

• LGT Singapore

• TikTok

• MoneySmart Singapore Blog