Borrowing capacity answers one question: what a bank might lend you today. Affordability answers a different one: what your life can comfortably carry over time. Confusing the two is how people end up asset-rich but lifestyle-poor. From a modelling perspective, borrowing capacity is calculated using benchmark expenses, buffers, and lending assumptions. It’s conservative — but…

Most people think surplus is whatever remains after a month of spending. That assumption is the root cause of many poor investment decisions. Surplus isn’t accidental. It’s structural. When surplus is treated as a by-product, it fluctuates with bonuses, lifestyle creep, and optimism. When it’s designed into a financial structure, it becomes predictable — and…