Primary Vs Secondary Housing Market

Anything developed or introduced by human-being in this world has its own pro and contra in applying it. Similarly goes for buying houses; what are available in market for us to venture? YES!! Either new project by developers or sub-sale in secondary market would be the choices to choose when buying a house.

What would be the benefits and/or risks buying new house from developers? How about secondary market? Is there any benefits buying houses from secondary market? How we as a buyer can benefit from these two options? WHAT??!! Benefits from both market? YES! How about risks? Only for new projects? NO. Both have their own risks and obviously can be reduced or mitigate so that we are safe when do the transactions.

Generally for new projects there will be potentially two (2) risks where the completion of the project could be big doubt and the supply – demand curve is not really matured. These two (2) could be the nightmares for the purchaser and they are really hoping these will not happen. However, all the risks can be mitigate by applying some check on the developer background and survey on the supply – demand curve.

What would be the benefits for the new project or primary market? There are so many promotions are being offered by developers to attract more purchasers. There are discount or rebate being promoted where there is no requirement on down-payment and there is a case even getting cashback once the project is completed. Furthermore, there’ll will be waive for the legal fees with discount for maintenance fees (for apartment and condominium) for at least a year.

Secondary market or sub-sale houses are mainly very subjective because on how good the lawyer we hired to do the transaction. If the appointed lawyer is well-known on the transaction then we are safer side or else some nightmares will come soon. We will discuss further on this secondary in upcoming article on “Secondary Market”.

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) – Part 3

We have discussed about the impact on the profit rate charged by banks is normally lower for higher loan amount and vice versa. Before we further, let us see what are available withdrawal types for housing loan so that nothing is missed out in our discussion here.

•          Withdrawal to reduce or settle outstanding housing loan
•          Withdrawal for buying house
•          Withdrawal for monthly installment on housing loan
•          Withdrawal for flexible housing loan

Again as highlighted earlier, withdrawal to reduce or settle outstanding housing loan will be the best option based on criteria for less hassles and for better profit rate on our financing products. Withdrawal for buying house is very common for the first time purchaser because of the down-payment issue if can get something attractive deal from the developer or owner.

The next one is on monthly installment on housing loan where our monthly installment will be paid via our money from account two (2) in EPF based on total amount available when submitting our application. Let me illustrate from monetary value, say we have RM 12,000 in our account two (2) and our installment is RM 800, then EPF will pay on standing instruction by depositing into our saving/current account so that can be paid to our housing loan account. This is how it takes place on withdrawal for monthly installment.

Last but not least on withdrawal for flexible housing loan where this is almost similar to previous to pay on monthly basis and it has very tedious procedures and not all banks offering through this scheme. Since there is not much benefit from this withdrawal, no further discussion I want to highlight here.

In conclusion, I may say that the best option could be withdrawal to reduce or settle outstanding loan based on all the justifications we have seen earlier. You may judge accordingly and choose whichever the best suit with your need.

Capital

This is the main issue for new house purchaser to get their first house. They always claim how to buy if the down-payment itself can cost almost RM 100,000 and hundreds of excuses will be thrown to whoever advising them to buy the first house.
 

So, are we agreed with all these new purchasers? If yes, then I have to further give reasoning to eliminate similar excuses related to high down-payment. Why am  saying so? It's simple because whichever stopping factor can listed out so that can be resolved one-by-one. Firstly, why the purchaser need this amount of money as the down-payment? What could be the price of the property or house he's/she's going to buy? How to develop the capital for down-payment? Is he/she eligible for the loan with the selected property?
 

Let us discuss on the amount which is RM 100,000 and he/she needs this amount? Any idea? Yes! At least 10% from the selling price has to be paid as down-payment if no rebate or discount is given by developer or the owner. Why not the purchaser looking for some units which giving some discount especially rebate for the down-payment by allowing us to pay only booking which varies between RM 1,000 - RM 10,000. Furthermore, why this purchaser(s) are looking for property something his/her dream house? Would it be good to purchase whichever can give us back some money to create positive cash-flow, wouldn't be?

 

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) – Part 2

Let us focus on withdrawal of EPF savings to pay-off housing loan where I have highlighted earlier in previous article. How to choose among all four (4) types to be the best option? Let us discuss further on we can manipulate so that we can benefit. Not to forget, all these are legitimate and halal to be executed and it depends on how and what we choose on the withdrawal type.

Very common for new buyer to withdraw for the new and/or first house to avoid any down payment with own cash. However, have we ever noticed aware something not good by using or cash? Again this is based on case by case where if it’s required or mandatory to pay down-payment of 10% then no choice besides to pay the amount. If we’re buying with some rebate by the developer or by the owner, there might be some scenarios where we’re not really required to pay the down-payment besides some charges and fees for lawyers. So what would be the scenario where the purchaser normally still withdrawing the EPF account 2 amount to pay as down-payment? Let us discuss further about this scenario to have better clarity.

As discussed earlier, new purchasers for the first house don’t have any experience in purchasing a house, hence, end-up with some technical issues which will make the decision made is not beneficial for them. Our mentality to reduce as much as possible for housing loan must be removed from our mindset. Some may say that our house to be stayed must be loan-free property because it takes money from our pocket. YES! I agree with you but let us manipulate first so that we can manipulate for our benefit. There are some winning points I would like to share for our benefit mainly on documentation required, financing profit rate, and loan amount. There might be some area I missed out you may leave the comment for further discussion.

The most significant benefit is mainly on the financing profit rate where as everybody aware the concept for housing loan, “higher the loan amount, lower the profit rate” and this is very common in most of the banks. This is not something I’m sharing just by reading but based on personal experience where profit rate for loan below RM 100,000 is BFR – 1.6 and above RM 100,000 is BFR – 2.2 (this is before new mechanism on profit rate is introduced). Just to share in term of monthly instalment, my monthly instalment for housing loan of RM 108,000 is same as my housing loan of RM 91,000 which is approximately RM 500. Let us read and digest first before we go further discussing other types.

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) – Part 1

Everybody knows that EPF is a way savings during retirement by forcing us to park our contribution and employer’s contribution there and prohibited from withdrawing it until meet certain requirements. So what exactly to be discussed here? Typical question isn’t it? Give an applause to yourselves buddy! Why? Because you want to know more about this article.

I’m sure that most of us know about types of withdrawal from EPF account one (1) and account two (2). However, type of withdrawal is not same and it is based on purpose of withdrawal. Basically withdrawal of account one (1) is something reversible whereby withdrawal account two (2) is something irreversible. So? More exciting? Great!

Generally there are approximately eleven (11) types of withdrawal where we are entitled to withdraw and each type has its unique criteria. Out of 11 types, I’ll discuss mainly on five (5) only. If you are interested on all 11 types, kindly leave comments and I’ll email you separately for the types available. Here is more on our strategy to optimize for our financial goal. The withdrawals we’re going to discuss is mainly cover on housing loan and education loan. Withdrawal for housing loan itself has four (4) types can be elaborated further. So, how to prioritize between housing loan and education loan? Which one to be chosen first? My personal suggestion is that it would differ case by case. I would explain in detail for both scenarios for our benefits.

Why did I say it’s subjective for prioritizing between housing loan and education loan? As we all aware there’ll be some discount given for education loan (PTPTN) during some dedicated time and we must be aware about the promotion period. From my personal experience, there was promotion period with 20% discount if able to settle the whole amount of loan and it is very limited time only. Hence, it’s for recommended for me to settle it earlier because it is huge discount compared to any ROI of any investment portfolio can give us back the return.

Similarly, there are some strategies on housing loan as well which I will cover in upcoming article so that you’ll have some idea to digest first prior reading article on EPF – Part 2.

Kepentingan Takaful

Pertama sekali saya bukan seorang penjual pakej takaful tetapi mempunyai takaful bagi menyiapkan diri untuk kecemasan khususnya dalam membiayai kos perubatan. Saya juga mempunyai prinsip saya sendiri dalam memilih produk-produk takaful yang mana ejen-ejen mungkin tidak setuju. Apa-apa pun buatlah keputusan setelah analisa dibuat berdasarkan sumber-sumber ilmiah yang bermanfaat. Bagaimanakah untuk mendapatkan sumber-sumber ilmiah tersebut? YA! Anda tepat! Teruskan baca artikel ini bagi mendapatkan sedikit sebanyak garis panduan untuk maklumat yang lebih terperinci.

Siapakah yang paling arif mengenai takaful di sini? Bagi saya bukan semua individu arif semua bidang dan ianya mengikut kepakaran khusus seseorang individu tersebut. Dalam kes ini sudah semestinya, ejen takaful adalah pihak lebih arif mengenai produk mereka kerana mereka dilatih mengenai produk-produk yang akan dipasarkan kepada pengguna atau klien mereka. Selain itu, risalah-risalah produk juga akan memberikan maklumat yang kita inginkan tetapi mungkin agak samar-samar kerana perkataan yang digunakan mungkin agak mengelirukan kita. Di manakah kita boleh dapatkan risalah-risalah tersebut? Layarilah laman-laman syarikat yang menawarkan takaful untuk mendapatkannya di samping maklumat tambahan dalam laman tersebut. Namun begitu, seperti yang dibincangkan di atas, sesetengah perkataan dan ayat mungkin mengelirukan kita seterusnya memerlukan penjelasan yang terperinci. Siapakah individu yang kita boleh hubungi untuk mendapatkan maklumat tersebut?

Setelah membuat sedikit sebanyak analisa terhadap produk-produk takaful, bolehlah hubungi ejen-ejen takaful yang kita kenal atau melalui talian yang dipaparkan dalam laman sesawang untuk mendapatkan penerangan. Saya sarankan agar tidak mudah terpengaruh dengan janji-janji manis yang melebih kerana bukan semuanya di dunia ini datang dengan mudah. Oleh yang demikian, kita boleh menilai seseorang ejen dalam menerangkan produk-produk yang ditawarkan oleh syarikat takaful mereka. Ada yang menyatakan bahawa produk merekalah yang terbaik berbanding yang lain dan mulainya mengutuk syarikat-syarikat takaful yang lain. Sekiranya anda dihampiri oleh individu-individu seperti ini maka saya sarankan supaya mengelak daripada sambungkan perbincangan atau penjelasan yang anda inginkan. Untuk pengetahuan sama ada anda sedar atau tidak, terdapat ratusan atau mungkin ribuan ejen-ejen yang ingin tawarkan khidmat mereka. Dalam menilai seseorang ejen sama ada bersesuaian dengan anda, jarak perlu memainkan peranan yang penting kerana dalam urusan tadbir sekiranya berlaku sebarang tuntutan.

Kesimpulannya, kita perlu tahu apakah keperluan kita bukan tawaran yang diceritakan oleh ejen-ejen dan sentiasa berbalik kepada keperluan kita. Bagaimanakah untuk mengetahui keperluan kita? Luangkan masa untuk membaca dan menganalisa produk-produk yang ditawarkan dalam pasaran. Jangan sesekali membeli produk-produk takaful semata-mata kerana orang lain membeli kerana keperluan masing-masing adalah unik. Akhir kata, berkawanlah seramai yang mungkin dengan ejen-ejen takaful kerana maklumat yang dimiliki oleh mereka adalah sangat berharga dan ianya boleh membezakan berlian di dalam tambunan kaca.

Beli Rumah

Membeli rumah bukanlah seperti membeli barangan runcit di kedai atau di pasar malam sekiranya ianya dilakukan tanpa ilmu pengetahuan yang betul. Maksudnya? Mesti ramai akan bertanya adakah membeli rumah semudah membeli barangan runcit di kedai atau pasar malam. Apakah respon kita semua sekiranya saya nyatakan ianya lebih mudah berbanding membeli barangan runcit di kedai atau pasar malam? Hihi!! Gelak la sikit bagi menceriakan hari anda. Hah! Kan nampak lebih bertenaga apabila senyum atau gelak.

Okay, mari kita dengan lebih terperinci bagaimanakah ianya dikatakan membeli rumah bukan semudah membeli barangan runcit malah lebih mudah daripada membeli barangan runcit. Mengapakah saya menyatakan sedemikian? Ianya mudah kerana hampir 99.9% transaksi pembelian rumah dilakukan oleh peguam yang anda lantik dan kita sebagai pembeli amat mengerti dengan strategi yang terlibat dalam membeli rumah. Saya ingin tekankan di sini bahawa transaksi sahaja yang dilakukan oleh peguam bukan penilaian terhadap sesebuah hartanah yang kita telah kenal pasti. Penilaian terhadap hartanah atau rumah itulah yang memerlukan strategi dan ilmu dalam merealisasikan impian untuk memiliki rumah.

Dilemma dalam memiliki rumah mempunya dua (2) tahap yang berbeza yakni pembeli rumah yang pertama dan pembeli rumah yang ketiga dan ke atas. Kenapakah sedemikan senarionya? Jika soalan ini terdetik di pemikiran anda, maka, ianya menunjukkan anda hampir faham apa yang ingin saya sampaikan. Jika tidak terdetik dengan soalan tersebut, tidak mengapa kerana anda akan fahami sekejap lagi dengan membaca huraian seterusnya.

Mengapakah sebagai pembeli rumah pertama, kita mempunyai sejuta dan satu kesangsian yang membelenggu kita dalam merealisasikan impian untuk memiliki rumah pertama. Kesangsian pertama yang paling popular adalah “bagaimanakah untuk membeli?”, “di manakah untuk dapatkan duit bagi pembelian rumah tersebut?”, “di manakah lokasi yang sesuai untuk aku nak beli rumah?”, “aku nak beli rumah banglo tak mampu, semi-D pun tak mampu, rumah teres pun tak mampu, kondominium pun tak mampu, apartment mungkin mampu, tapi…… aku graduan jurusan kejuruteraan, takkanlah aku nak duduk rumah apartment atau flat macam rumah ini?”, dan banyak lagi kesangsian yang membantutkan impian anda untuk membeli rumah pertama. Ianya menjadi semakin parah apabila tiada kenalan kita yang sanggup menasihati kita dalam membeli rumah pertama kita. Menjadi parah dan kritikal apabila ada yang sanggup menasihati tetapi tidak mengambil tindakkan untuk mendapatkan rumah pertama kita. Kes kedua adalah berdasarkan pengalaman saya sendiri di mana saya selalu sarankan kepada beliau untuk membeli rumah pertama yang mana bayaran bulanan hampir sama dengan bayaran sewa yang didiaminya sekarang. Namun, hasilnya masih tidak mengambil tindakkan untuk memiliki rumah pertama tersebut.

Dilemma kedua adalah bagi yang ingin membeli rumah ketiga dan lebih lagi apabila tawaran pihak bank kepada mereka agak terbantuk kerana margin pinjaman sudah pun dikurangkan sebanyak tambahan 20% yakni hanya dibenarkan untuk pembiayaan sebanyak 70% daripada harga jualan atau harga pasaran (yang mana yang lebih rendah). Dilemma tetapi akan menjadi dilemma sekiranya tiada sebarang tindakkan diambil untuk mengurangkan dan seterusnya menghilangkan terus dilemma tersebut bagi membolehkan kita maju ke hadapan dengan lebih yakin dan bersemangat. Saya kongsikan sedikit sebanyak sebagai permulaan untuk titik permulaan dalam merealisasikan untuk memiliki rumah pertama atau yang ketiga dan selebihnya akan dikongsi dalam artikel-artikel yang akan datang. Sila tinggalkan komen jika mempunyai sebarang kesangsian dalam merealisasikan impian anda untuk memiliki rumah pertama atau rumah ketiga dan lebih lagi.

Berapa Murah Itu Murah?

Kita saban kali digalakkan untuk membandingkan harga untuk mendapatkan harga yang terbaik yakni yang paling murah. Kita mungkin betul dalam membandingkan sesuatu produk atau servis dalam menilai harga terhadap apa yang ditawarkan namun ada juga masa tertentu kita menilai tanpa membandingkan dengan apa yang patut dibandingkan. Contoh paling ketara adalah apabila membeli sebuah kereta di mana kita mungkin membandingkan jenama yang sama tetapi keperluan yang berlainan. Sebagai contoh kita mungkin akan membandingkan harga sebuah kereta Honda City dengan Honda Accord di mana ianya berada dalam kategori yang sememangnya sudah lain. Jadi, apakah model yang patut dibandingkan sekiranya ingin membeli kereta yang sama famili dengan Honda City? Ya! Anda tepat! Kereta yang mungkin boleh dibandingkan adalah terhadap Toyota Vios, Kia Forte, Chevrolet Cruze, dan seumpamanya.

Sedemikan juga dalam menilai sesebuah takaful yang ditawarkan, servis yang ditawarkan oleh peguam dalam membuat transaksi beli rumah, servis yang ditawarkan oleh perancang kewangan bertauliah, dan banyak lagi. Contoh yang boleh diambil dalam perkhidmatan takaful, sebagai seorang ejen takaful yang bertauliah amatlah penting dalam menasihatkan produk yang paling sesuai dengan klien berbanding kepentingan sendirinya untuk mencapat target jualan semata-mata. Saya tidak menafikan terdapat banyak ejen takaful yang amat membantu dalam membuat pilihan produk takaful berpandukan keperluan kita. Selain itu, dalam memilih peguam juga janganlah berkira dalam membayar yuran guaman sekiranya servis yang ditawarkan amat berbaloi. Bagaimanakah untuk menilai sama ada amat berbaloi atau tidak? Bagi saya daripada pengalaman peribadi, amatlah penting dapatkan rujukan daripada kawan-kawan yang pernah menjalankan urus niaga dengan peguam yang disarankan itu. Di sini saya ingin kongsikan pengalaman agak pahit bagi saya dalam menjalankan transaksi pembelian rumah di mana peguam yang dilantik memberi sejuta dan satu alasan dalam melewatkan urus niaga tersebut. Untuk pengetahuan semua, salah satu alasan yang kerap diberikan oleh peguam tersebut adalah saudaranya yang baru sudah meninggal dunia dan setakat menguruskan transaksi pembelian rumah tersebut, sudah hamper 20 saudara peguam tersebut telah meninggal dunia. Oleh yang demikian, jadikan diri anda agak cerewet dalam memilih peguam dalam menguruskan transaksi pembelian rumah anda.

Begitu juga dalam memilih produk-produk yang ditawarkan oleh pihak bank di mana perlu memihak kepada kita yakni boleh membina lebih banyak kekayaan daripada produk yang ditawarkan itu. Dalam menilai dan membandingkan mengenai harga sesuatu produk atau servis tidaklah kepada harga semata-mata. Saya sebagai seorang jurutera dalam memilih sesuatu teknologi perlulah dinilai daripada keperluan teknologi tersebut dan seterusnya baru kepada harga. Justeru itu, saya sarankan supaya dalam menilai sesuatu produk atau khidmat perlu kita membuat “technical bid evaluation” supaya ianya boleh memenuhi kriteria kita. Selamat mencuba dalam membuat penilaian dan perbandingan supaya kita lebih tahu terhadap apa yang diperlukan daripada apa yang ditawarkan semata-mata.

Cash-flow

Why we always talk about cash-flow? Why flow? What would be the main criteria for the health specifically on our blood circulation system? How about our plumbing system? How to judge our plumbing system is good enough? How about the traffic? What is the main criteria to claim that our traffic is good? YES!!! The answer is very simple where the FLOW is the main criteria to gauge the healthiness of all the above mentioned. Hence, the main criteria to gauge our health level in our financial report is the cash-flow. Some would say that this cash-flow is only applicable to business and not for individual which salary based source of income. Great! Let us discuss further about the cash-flow that we can apply in our day-life.

I believe most of us have read my previous article on Saving - Part 1 and Saving - Part 2 which is the main criteria to start our investment portfolio. I also have published on our first investment would be our steady savings which can be read here. As highlighted earlier where people may claim that cash-flow is only applicable for business and not much related to person with salary based source of income. This scenario is not really a credible scenario because the first investment portfolio is via our saving, you may read Investment – Savings. Hence, cash-flow for an individual as a start will be the amount allocated for the savings every month. If you noticed that you can’t able to manage your cash-flow at least with certain amount to show the positive cash-flow then you have to develop attitude towards investment mindset, you may read here to have some idea.

When you have developed to have positive cash-flow from your monthly income which is your salary based income source then with some capital you have developed from your saving you may start our investment portfolio. Bear in mind that when we discussing about the investment portfolio, it is not necessarily to be portfolio creating millions of dollar in our cash-flow but at least something positive which could be just RM 1. As we discussed earlier, we’ll find that our portfolio slowly will give more and more cash-flow which ultimately will create our multi-million wealth portfolio. How to reach that? Be patient and passionate with our goal to achieve our financial freedom. Remember the double-P!

Attitude Vs Investment

Success in investment are partly or I would say that contributed by our attitudes. As time flies, we’ll see more money in investment, if can’t control our attitude might end-up with disaster. That is the reason I always emphasize that better to be not rich instead of being poor. If you notice, in anything if you have problem with your attitude then you’ll face the disaster. This is regardless of the tools or mechanism that you could have is the best available but due to attitude can be totally disaster to you. In this case, don’t limit to finance subject matter only, for example on driving attitude; even you’re driving the best car in town but if your attitude is not tally with your class of your car then all the safety features promoted by the car manufacturers are waste.

This attitude is the one will guide parallel with the financial planning we have developed or being developed. Hence, most of the time we need somebody professional to guide us with discipline so that the goal can be achieved. This is because when we have the professionals with us then we have to follow their plan for us to see the results as we’re paying to them for professional fees which could be very costly but very effectively. From there we can develop our attitude to be more constructive manner to achieve our financial freedom. What I’m writing here is based on my personal experience where before I’ve got my personal financial planner my saving will not be long-lasting because normally at the third month I’ll use my savings to pay-off all my bad debts. By having professionals with us, we indirectly able to educate ourselves to allocate our savings totally for savings so that it will be our platform to start our investment. Now it’s very difficult for me to withdraw the savings for any unnecessary expenses which are mainly bad debts.

So, what I would say about how attitude is affecting our investment portfolio is mainly on managing our cash-flow and the first cash-flow we have to prove that we are good in our attitude against investment by maintaining our savings progressively. From there we have capability to develop our positive cash flow in our investment portfolio.

Investment - Savings

I believe most of us believe that the key element to start investment is start with investing in knowledge. I have written about investing in knowledge in previous article(s). What would be the next step or next level of investment after we started some research on knowledge either by reading, listening, attending seminars, etc.?

I also have written on savings which really important before start investing in something halal and legitimate. It is really important for us to have some savings before we start our investment and I believe most of us know the importance of it. What? Not really sure? Then, I suggest to read again on my previous articles on savings Part 1 and Part 2.

My personal opinion before we start invest, we should have our reserve fund for at least 6 months to sustain without any source of income. All these are not something to be developed overnight but it is possible if we practice very “healthy” Lifestyle over the time. Whoever really willing to start with some investments but there is none of savings then it’s like to construct a house without the pillars. How is it possible to have a house without the pillars? So, answer to yourself honestly before you take any further action. Always remember that better to be not-rich than poor! Why?! Spare some time and think about this.

I know there are people will claim that we can’t go far just by saving and I totally agree with this statement. I also believe in that where we can go nowhere just by saving. Again, remember that savings is one of the foundation before we start investing after we invested in knowledge. Why all these are important? Spare some time and read Real Investment.

Loans

Do we need loans in our life? Is it important in our life? Some says, it's not recommended to have loan or many loans. I believe most of us have heard or seen about good debts and bad debts right? So, how to know whether the loan we are acquiring is good or bad? Simple concept on this good and bad debts is on the impacts from these two (2) debts/loans; good debts/loans is something can make us richer and richer, whereby bad debts is something can make us poorer and poorer.

As discussed earlier, there are so many products in banking world and to be more specific; they are so many loan types based on needs and requirement. Sometime due to our knowledge level, we may acquire bad debts. This may happen accidentally or unfortunately. Another rule of thumbs is that it is very to get good debts and it is very easy to get bad debts. Sounds good so far? Let us discuss further in upcoming articles.

Lifestyle

Why lifestyle is very crucial towards achieving our financial freedom? How exactly it affects our process to achieve our goal? How does rich practising their lifestyle and how about the other side? Not clear about the other side? Well, the poor I meant.

 

There are always myths are about the rich and the poor. Rich always are blamed to be too greedy and stealing money from others to become richer and richer. Poor always claim that they are always being discriminated by rich in most of the places. As long we believe that this myths are true then definitely we cant be the rich because we always see the rich is the villain and the poor is the hero.

 

Personally I don't agree with all the myths because I want to be rich and want my family, relatives, friends, and whoever reading this to be rich. Why don't you go back on some history of the rich people where they started with very poor family but ended up with indefinite wealth. No need for me to mention it here because almost all of the top 100 richest person in the universe are from poor family background.

 

 

So, what exactly the main criteria is differing between rich and poor? YES!!! The lifestyle of these two (2) different people is totally different! I believe that some might be thinking that "obviously different because rich spending like nobody business and the poor is spending wisely".

 

If we analyse wisely of this rich people's lifestyle, they have very systematic or proper recording of all their expenses. Why? Spend sometime and read some of my previous articles on Saving, Earning Vs Saving, Levels of Financial Freedom, and lot more. You will find the key elements on how to be rich slowly and steadily. The rich people also practising very systematic book keeping to monitor what is in and what is out. Most of the time, active income from rich people are untouchable or recirculated for investments. Last but not least, rich always allocate some portion of their wealth to be shared with others via charity.

 

How about the poor? Hmmmm.... They don't have proper recording at all, no book keeping, no traceable records, and always rely on active income only for their life. Hence, spend more time to invest on knowledge prior to take action to avoid unnecessary mistakes. Best of luck for us buddies! 

Importance of Networking

Why do we need connections for this finance subject matter? How exactly can we benefit by having all this networking or connections? How many connections normally in general we have to have when dealing something related to investment subject matter?

 

First of all we must have our friends or/and relatives which practising very good personal financial planning where we can start developing our network from them. Why is from them? It's simple because they must have somebody more professional dealing with this subject matter. Normally they should have they financial planner where most of their actions are guided by this professionals to minimize the risks based on their personal experiences or lesson learnt from other clients.

As our skills is being developed in this field even we are not the experts but slowly you'll see that more skilled people are surrounding you where can be benefited from them. Start with products from banks, you'll see bankers start becoming your friend or network. My point here is that make friend with them even sometime can be annoying because of the sales skills from them. Hehe! Don't worry because they are professionals and fully aware if you have any specific products that you are looking for. Remember that we want to get rich a bit faster by using all this products offered by the banks.

 

As you go further, you'll find more people will become your contacts and more importantly this professionals will be part of our team in developing our wealth. Who are these professionals? Do you want me to name it here or in future articles? Alright folks, let me list them here but will explain further in upcoming articles so that we can team-up with them in future. Other professionals that we must have connections are lawyers, real estate agents, investors, and valuers (I might be missing some professionals that might crucial in developing our wealth).

Consistency - Part 2

We have discussed on acquiring knowledge and experience consistently by reading, sharing, and asking. So, now it’s the time to take action! We have discussed about Savings in previous article which is key element before we start develop our investment portfolio. Hence, how it can be done and materialized? And more importantly is consistently!

I believe almost all of us are earning salary or monthly income consistently and why not we reflect it into our saving too! It has very powerful element in order to success with consistent saving. People always emphasizing on steady (or consistent) income but hardly people emphasizing on consistent saving. Hence, again as highlighted in my previous article on Earning Vs Saving where I emphasized on the percentage of saving compared to the actual amount because it shows the CONSISTENCY. Again I would like emphasize here that we must consistently allocate our hard-earned money (steady income) for steady saving to ensure we can expedite to develop our investment portfolio.

Our way forward towards financial freedom is mainly to develop consistency on saving from our consistent active income. By having this steady income, must ensure that we can have consistent saving too on monthly basis. When we can develop our consistent saving automatically we can generate passive income consistently (with assumption no money is spent from saving dividends). As we develop further, there will be consistent passive income higher than our steady active income (please read Levels in Financial Freedom). You’ll see the miracle when we do it consistently from beginning, where financial freedom is just ahead of us and it’s possible to achieve.

If you notice, this CONSISTENCY will actually develop attitude to achieve our goal toward financial freedom. Anything we want to develop must develop from attitude, not specifically only finance subject matter but anything on earth. So, key element to success is attitude which has to be developed from habit which actually CONSISTENCY. Hence, when we can do it consistently you’ll see that you’ll slowly, steadily, and consistently will develop your investment portfolio. Let us start do it consistently!

Consistency - Part 1

How consistency does important to us? How does it affect to our goal to achieve financial freedom? What it does? What are the benefits if we are consistent in doing something good for us?

You may have noticed that I’ve been telling the knowledge is very important to achieve our goal to be free financially. So, how can we get this knowledge CONSISTENTLY? We must align with latest information in investment world on banking products available, portfolio available, etc. And definitely all these are halal and legitimate! In order to equip with latest information or knowledge we have to ensure to read, share, and ask people CONSISTENTLY. When we read we know something new is available in the market or something we know is already obsolete in the market. When we know something new in the market we may want to share with our colleagues and later may ask them whether they are familiar or new to them. If they are familiar with our latest information, things get easier because we have someone can explain further on the information so that easier to digest. When we easily digest the information, then it is easier for us to take action which ultimately will give us the results.

When we develop our consistency in reading, sharing, and asking, we’ll benefit without noticing it. From this consistency we can develop discipline internally to keep on reading to gain more knowledge before take into action. Why is this so important before take action? Huh?! It’s simple because we can see the impacts based on lesson learnt people have shared from the readings. We may share our colleagues and they might have experienced it in reality and could be our benchmark prior to take action.

Since we go on with reading, sharing, and asking consistently we are indirectly gaining experience by reading to others experiences. Experiences are something very precious because they may save you from very big disasters. We must be very thankful if there are people to share their experiences even they are charging us with some amount. I would suggest to get this experience by reading so that we have ample time to digest and later we can ask somebody more familiar. This could be more efficient and economical!

While acquiring the knowledge and experiences by reading, sharing, and asking; you may indirectly have developed passionate and confidence in investment. This leads to develop interest in subject matter which is in this subject related personal finance and investment. It could be a bit difficult at beginning but believe me, you’ll feel the sweetness by doing it CONSISTENTLY!

Kepentingan Kewangan Peribadi – Bahagian 3

Cara menguruskan aliran tunai kita akan mencerminkan kesihatan kewangan kita dan seterusnya akan dinilai oleh pihak-pihak bank sekiranya kita ingin menggunakan kemudahan-kemudahan yang disediakan oleh mereka. Cara pemikiran dan perbualan dalam dunia kewangan juga akan memberi impak yang membina atau membinasa dalam mencapai hala tuju kita untuk mencapai “financial freedom”.

Ini adalah kerana produk-produk yang ditawarkan oleh pihak bank amatlah membantu sekiranya kita dapat menganalisa produk-produk tersebut untuk memanfaatkan seadanya. Kebiasaannya kita akan dihujani dengan panggilan-panggilan daripada “tele-marketing” untuk pinjaman peribadi di mana ianya pra-lulus. Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan pra-lulus? Anda tepat! Tepuk la tangan sikit untuk diri sendiri, apa salahnya. Pra-lulus selalunya adalah permohonan yang anda tidak pernah memohon tetapi anda ditawarkan kesan daripada kesihatan kewangan anda yang baik dengan bank tersebut. Saya selalu akan menolak tawaran tersebut kerana ianya bukan untuk keperluan kita pada masa tersebut dan ianya lebih kepada “tangkap muat”. Oleh yang demikian, haruslah berwaspada dengan produk-produk atau servis yang ditawarkan melalui “tele-marketing”.

Apakah produk-produk yang kita inginkan dalam mereliasasikan impian untuk mencapai “financial freedom”? Pada asasnya kita perlulah selesaikan hutang-hutang yang menggugat kesihatan kewangan kita sama ada dengan mengambil kemudahan (hutang baik yang dirancang) daripada bank-bank. Ada yang sarankan dengan selesaikan hutang-hutang yang amaunnya sedikit dan seterusnya menyelesaikan hutang yang paling besar. Hutang jahat atau dalam bahasa kesihatannya adalah kuman yang perlu dihapuskan demi menjamin kesihatan kita. Apabila kita mula berkecimpung fenomena hutang-dalam-hutang, saya ingin tekankan di sini bahawa kita perlu bertindak dengan nasihat pihak professional kerana silap langkah makin parah jadinya.

Alhamdulillah kita dapat selesaikan paling tidak satu hutang (hutang yang paling kecil) dan dalam proses untuk menyelesaikan hutang-hutang yang lain. Sealiran dengan misi menghapuskan hutang-hutang lapuk, kita juga perlu mengasingkan satu amaun untuk simpanan dan seterusnya melangkah lebih jauh untuk misi pelaburan. Misi-misi ini tidak mungkin tercapai sekiranya kita tidak menggunakan kemudahan-kemudahan yang disediakan oleh pihak bank. Oleh yang demikian, amatlah penting untuk memanipulasi kemudahan yang ditawarkan untuk kebaikan kita dan ini hanya mungkin dengan ilmu sama ada diri sendiri atau melalui khidmat nasihat pakar dalam bidang perancangan kewangan. InshaaALLAH saya akan kupas sedikit sebanyak mengenai kemudahan “overdraft” yang membolehkan kita untuk bergerak lebih laju tetapi dengan had laju yang boleh dikawal.

Kepentingan Kewangan Peribadi – Bahagian 2

Seperti yang ditulis sebelum ini mengenai keseimbangan tunai adalah amat berkaitan dengan kesihatan kewangan kita. Ini adalah kerana keseimbangan ini adalah hasil daripada sikap kita dalam pengurusan kewangan kita. Pengurusan kewangan kita akan menghasilkan keseimbangan dalam aliran tunai kita sekiranya diurus dengan ilmu yang sentiasa berkembang selaras dengan kemudahan-kemudahan kewangan yang ditawarkan dalam pasaran terkini. Bagaimanakah semua ini mungkin?

Dalam menghasilkan keseimbangan aliran tunai kita yang sihat, perlulah kita dapat perhalusi aliran masuk dan keluar tunai kita supaya ianya dapat dikawal untuk memaksimumkan dalam simpanan dan pelaburan kita. Dengan pengurusan kewangan yang rapi, kita boleh mengesan ke mana hilangnya wang kita walaupun hanya RM 1. Mungkin ada yang menyatakan bahawa adalah amat cerewet untuk mencatit setiap satu perbelanjaan bagi setiap bulan. Namun, mesti ada hikmahnya dengan melakukan semua ini yakni wang untuk simpanan dapat dimaksimakan. Saya tidak menafikan ada yang meletakkan sebahagian amaun untuk perbelanjaan untuk setiap bulan supaya tidak leceh untuk menguruskan setiap perbelanjaan tersebut. Walau bagaimanapun, amaun tersebut dapat dikesan dengan memberikan segala senarai perbelanjaan supaya ianya lebih rasional kerana agar tidak terlampau rendah atau terlampau tinggi daripada perbelanjaan.

Setakat ini segala pengurusan kewangan yang dibincangkan adalah berdasarkan pengetahuan yang asas daripada gaji yang masuk setiap bulan dan perbelanjaan yang keluar setiap bulan. Ianya dapat dioptimumkan lebih lagi sekiranya dapat menggunakan kemudahan-kemudahan kewangan yang terdapat di pasaran. Ianya akan dibincangkan pada masa akan datang.

Kepentingan Kewangan Peribadi – Bahagian 1

Kenapakah pengurusan kewangan peribadi amat penting dalam kehidupan seharian kita sekiranya ingin mencapai status “financially freed”? Apakah unsu-unsur yang penting dalam menjamin kewangan peribadi kita selaras dengan matlamat kewangan kita? Apa? Keluar sama dengan masuk? Apakah yang boleh difahami dengan analogi tersebut? Sebagai seorang jurutera kimia/proses, keseimbangan jisim dan tenaga adalah amat penting. Sekiranya pemahaman terhadap keseimbangan jisim dan tenaga sudah kukuh maka mudahlah subjek-subjek yang akan datang. Saya secara peribadi mengalami trauma dalam subjek ini sewaktu tahun pertama pengajian dengan mitos bahawa subjek keseimbangan jisim dan tenaga amat sukar dan selalunya pelajar akan gagal.

Selalunya mitos akan mempengaruhi cara pemikiran kita sekiranya tidak dilengkapi dengan ilmu yang betul dan cukup dalam memahami sesuatu perkara. Kembali kepada subjek keseimbangan jisim dan tenaga, pada awalnya berasa sukar kerana perasaan takut dengan cerita-cerita mitos daripada rakan-rakan senior yang telah diturunkan generasi ke generasi. Haha atau huhu? Haha! Memandangkan pensyarah kami pada tahun dibahagikan kepada dua (2) pensyarah; satu pensyarah untuk keseimbangan jisim dan satu pensyarah lagi untuk keseimbangan tenaga, saya mendapati subjek tu agak sukar difahami pada awalnya kerana cara penyampaian lebih berpandukan teori semata-mata. Nota untuk keseimbangan jisim yang disediakan pensyarah pertama lagi tebal daripada buku teks untuk keseluruhan silibes dan nota daripada pensyarah kedua yang ditugaskan untuk keseimbangan tenaga adalah kurang 50 muka surat. Untuk pengetahuan semua, untuk memahami keseimbangan tenaga, kita perlu asas yang kuat dalam keseimbangan jisim. Boleh bayangkan dilema kami semua pada tahun itu? Ya! Memang seram!

 

Apa yang saya ingin sampaikan di sini dalam pengurusan kewangan peribadi adalah mengenai cara pengajaran dan pembelajaran akan memberi impak yang besar dalam menghasilkan sesuatu keberkesanan. Oleh yang demikian, pelajari ilmu kewangan supaya kita akan boleh menghasilkan suatu impak yang amat berkesan dalam mencapai matlamat kita untuk “financially freed”.

Mungkin ramai yang masih buntu mengenai kaitan subjek saya ambil sebagai seorang pelajar kejuruteraan kimia dengan kewangan peribadi kita. Seperti yang diilustrasikan dalam maksud perkataan “keseimbangan” maka amatlah penting juga dalam keseimbangan kewangan kita dalam memantau aliran tunai kita. Pengurusan aliran tunai yang mantap akan menghasilkan suatu keseimbangan dalam kewangan peribadi kita yakni aliran kemasukan dan keluaran dapat dikenal pasti. Sekiranya kita dapat kenal pasti segala yang masuk dan keluar, barulah kita dapat mengoptimumkan simpanan kita dan seterusnya dapat meneruskan agenda dalam pelaburan untuk mencapai kebebasan kewangan. Pengurusan aliran tunai yang mantap adalah faktor utama dalam mencerminkan kejayaan sesebuah syarikat kerana keuntungan dan kerugian dapat dilihat dan dapat diunjurkan dalam mengoptimumkannya di masa hadapan. Nantikan kemunculan artikel baru mengenai kepentingan kewangan peribadi yang akan mengulas berpandukan pengalaman peribadi saya dalam menguruskan aliran tunai untuk memaksimakan simpanan untuk pelaburan terutamanya dalam hartanah.