Malaysia's Weekly Personal Finance Summary - May 20 2019
The Best Personal Finance Summaries - 20 May 2019
Continuing from last week, we are continuing to cover what you can always expect from us.
The first one is that our goal is to give you insights that really help you with how you use / invest your money. Whether that's breaking down the things to look for in the perfect insurance plan or how to grow your wealth far faster than the typical investment, you will definitely find information here that only seem to be talked about by the super rich.
The second thing you can expect from us is to not only get you out of your frustrations, but to help make your money fuel your aspirations. That means we will help you get clear on what you want your money to be able to help you do and then help you create a plan to make it happen.
The third thing you can expect us to help with is getting you high quality information and opportunities that we have negotiated on your behalf. This means that instead of paying RM888 for a financial roadmap session with a professional advisor, you can get it for RM88. It also means that you have the ability to get your questions answered by a community of people who are also on a similar journey as you.
The final thing is around partnership. You have things that you like. You have things you're willing to spend all day reading and talking about. You have topics that your friends will go to you for because they know your suggestions are based off your values that they also believe in. And personal finance is the thing people come to us about.
Now that you know our values, you know if we are people that you connect with. And if we are, we can be that place you go to for information.
From Us
The different types of investment options in Malaysia
Ever wondered what investment options you have here in Malaysia? Well, here is the most comprehensive list available for you!
We're still writing this piece, but we figured that the ones that are done can be shared right away :)
Which one do you want to learn more about?
Money in Daily Life
8 Money Concepts That Most People Confuse For Each Other
There are plenty of examples in our funny world - things we perceive that don't actually reflect reality.
- INCOME VS WEALTH
- High income makes it easier for you to get wealthy only if you spend money the right way - by investing in good assets. If you spend it wrongly, the highway to poverty opens up.
- PRICE VS QUALITY
- Some of the best things in life are free. You could probably learn more from an amazing blog or book than an expensive "keynote speaker" whose true objective is for you to buy more courses.
- FRUGAL VS CHEAP
- Frugal is to spend money to maximize benefits, not about finding the cheapest possible option. Cheapness, on the other hand, is looking for (often unethical) ways to not spend money at any cost.
- SPECULATION VS INVESTING
- Speculation is putting money in things you don't know much about and hoping to get lucky quickly. Investing is putting money in things where you understand the risk and you have done your homework without expecting your money to grow overnight.
- INVESTING VS SAVING
- Money in the bank doesn't grow much due to Inflation. So, save money but also understand that you can invest some portion of your money responsibly. (You just need to understand the risk!)
- RISK VS RECKLESSNESS
Different people can handle different levels of risk. Some ways people can tell how much risk they can take:
Knowledge (if you have expertise in investing, you probably won't lose money so easily)
Income (if you earn more, you can handle more losses without disrupting your life)
Age (if you're younger, you have more time to get your finances ready for retirement)
- PROFIT VS LEGITIMACY
Just because your friend made money from something doesn't mean it's legitimate. Better ways to judge whether an investment is dodgy:
Does it promise you unrealistic profits? (Be super cautious about anything that aims to make more than 12% per year.)
Does the business model make sense?
Is there some sort of protection for investors?
Do you have to make other people sign up, and are your "profits" dependent on how many new people you get to join?
What are the government's rules around it?
- CONFIDENCE VS COMPETENCE
Just because someone can speak well in front of an audience doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.
History is filled with stories of common who got rich off the backs of hardworking people - by playing the confidence game. On the other hand, people with expertise are usually full of doubts. Because they question everything.
Our personal views on 'debt' are a reflection of our upbringing, life experiences, and financial knowledge presently. In this article, the author attempts to fill in the blank on what debt is and share his views on how all of us could move one step closer towards financial independence by managing debt wisely.
- Debt is _. Money
- Today, the currency that we hold onto are debt instruments that are issued by governments. The word 'credit' is another word for 'debt'. A currency is 'strong' if its nation is creditworthy. Otherwise, it devalues faster than other currencies.
- Debt is _ Cheaper if it is backed by Something that Holds Value
For instance, if you defaulted on your mortgage, the bank would confiscate the pledged real estate from you and sell off the real estate to recover back a significant portion of the mortgage.
On the contrary, if you defaulted on credit card debt, there is really nothing of value the bank can confiscate from you to sell it off.
This explains why interest rate on credit card debt is charged at around 18% per annum, as opposed to mortgage which is charged at 4% - 5% per annum.
- Debt is _ Bad if it Makes You Poorer, Good if it Makes You Richer.
We may choose to 'upgrade' our car. It looks like we are advancing in our financial lives. But, in fact, it is a regression for you due to the incurred interests on a car which loses its value over time.
However, If you invest into a property and let it out for rental income, and pay your mortgage and fees by the amount received, it is a good debt as the interest of your borrowings is paid for by another person (your tenant).
It explains why the richest people on earth today own real estate. They borrow to buy assets that appreciates in value while having their tenants to pay for their interest expenses.
- Debt is _ to be Managed with Cash Flow.
- To be conservative, it is ideal for all to maintain a low DSR, let us say, about 30% at maximum. It offers a buffer for us to withstand against any events which may have a big impact on our finances. Prudence is key.
Some Thoughts on the Cost of Eating Out
- Eating out consistently is a very expensive endeavor.
- When you compare a meal prepared at home and a meal eaten out of similar quality, the meal eaten out will always be more expensive.
- I am paying for convenience, not the food.
- Most of the time, people eat out because they're hungry and they're not near any options for preparing food themselves or to acquire low cost and quick to eat items.
- Situations where you need to spend for the sake of convenience are often prevented by better preparation.
- Many meals that people eat out do so solely because they didn't plan ahead when they knew that there was a good chance that they might need to eat a quick meal or a hearty snack in a convenient way.
- I could have prepared better by keeping more food items in my bag.
- My favorite technique for keeping hunger at bay when I'm out and about is to have a few food items in my backpack such as toss in an apple, some granola bars, a water bottle, a bag of nuts and maybe some crackers.
- Eating out should be an experience you can't recreate at home.
- Only eat out (or have treats) on genuinely special occasions.
iWealth - the 'Waze' to Your Financial Freedom
For years, Yap is an advocate for independent financial advices. Just recently, he reached out and excitedly share about his latest breakthrough - a mobile app which provides DIY financial plan to its users. And get this, it is FREE!
iWealth
Users would be able to tell , whether or not, they would accumulate sufficient wealth to fund their desired lifestyle until the age of 85 and beyond.
There are many of us who wish we knew how much we need to save, to spend, to lavish, to invest, in order to achieve a peace of mind and importantly have enough resources to retire.
If you happen to be one of these people, you may check out the app at iWealth.com.my or download the app free of charge (FOC) at: iWealth App on Google Play and App Store
Like #1: It Considers Our Lifetime Income
Upon completion of the chatbot on the app, you will be shown a projection of how much money you can possibly earn throughout your entire working career.
With iWealth, we are able to truly realise the extent of our money making capabilities. Hence, it helps us to be more purposeful and long-term focused when we make major financial decisions.
Like #2: It is a 'Wake-Up' Call to Achieve True Financial Freedom
iWealth tells us, whether or not, we are on track to achieve true financial freedom. In layman terms, is your wealth growing fast enough?
By knowing clearly where we stand, we will be able to increase our chances of success towards attaining true financial freedom.
If you find your wealth not growing fast enough, you would be able to take corrective actions ASAP to improve your financial success. As the saying goes, better sooner than later.
Like #3: Tailor-made Financial Strategies.
Unlike any other financial apps out there, iWealth offers users a snapshot of their present and future financial standing while generating a suite of personalised strategies to help users get closer to achieving their financial goals.
The suggestions given would be more tailor-made and specific to your personal financial needs.
Like #4: Flexible to Choose Your Preferred Strategies
Like Waze, iWealth helps users to identify a few alternative routes to reach their financial freedom destination. From those alternatives, users can then choose the best approach to achieve their financial goals.
As such, it is important for users to explore or go through various permutations with the app, to find the most effortless and preferred strategy to grow their wealth moving forward.
Want To Have Your Money Accelerate Your Goals?
Sign up for our free program and get ready to have your money fuel your aspirations.
Grow Your Wealth (Investment Related)
A Guide to Dividend Reinvestment Plans in Malaysia (Online)
Tricor has rolled out online applications and it is so convenient. No more going to the post office to subscribe dividend reinvestment plans ("DRP")!
Step 1 - Register and Login
- Head over to Tricor and sign up for an account, then proceed to login to your account.
Step 2 - Selecting the Corporate Exercise
- Select the corporate exercise you as a shareholder wish to take part in.
Steps 3 & 4 - Terms and Conditions of the DRP
- Read through the T&Cs of the dividend reinvestment plan, check the box and click 'Next'.
Step 5 - Declaration
- Declare that you're fit to participate in the corporate exercise. Check the box and click 'Next'.
Step 6 - My Dividends
- Elect to receive your dividends in shares instead of cash.
Step 7 - Payment
- Follow the instructions and make payment to participate in corporate action.
[SPONSORED] The Beginners Guide to Warrants in Malaysia
On 27 April 2019, I attended my first warrants-specific talk. Good content. No fluff, just lots of good info. This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are mine. It's great that I can share what I learned about warrants from the event, as someone completely new to the world.
- What is warrants?
- For beginners, it's enough to know that warrants:
- Is a short-term trading instrument
- Uses leverage - it magnifies gains and yes, losses
- Has limited losses, unlimited upside
- Is a type of option issued by Financial Institutions
- Are based on individual shares & indices
- Are traded on Bursa Malaysia
- Warrants trading is a higher-risk type of investment
Don't do warrants trading in Malaysia if you're totally new to investing.
Warrants trading is considered higher-risk because you need to be familiar with both fundamental analysis and technical analysis of the stocks market.
If you're already a value investor making consistent positive ROI on your stock picks and now itching to learn trading skills to increase your portfolio's profits, then maybe consider learning it.
If you're not familiar with the stocks market at all, then avoid warrants trading for now. It's not for you, not yet.
- There's a healthy warrants community in Telegram
You are encouraged to join the right warrants trading community if you are interested in warrants trading.
Here are some Telegram communities you can join:
- Who are warrants issuer and what do they do?
Warrant issuers are the ones who choose which blue-chip stocks or indices will be the underlying instrument to the warrant, the 'mother share'.
Warrants issuers make money by (1) Time value decay, (2) hedging and (3) spread between buy/sell.
If warrants issuers are caught manipulating the market, they'll get the other warrant, the one from the police.
- How to choose warrants
There are advanced tools to use for warrants trading. The one offered by Kenanga is called the Warrant Scanner Tool, following the E.S.T.I Strategy. It's available at NagaWarrants.com.
The speaker emphasised how you really have to pick issuers that have a Live Matrix. In Malaysia, currently only two out of the six issuers offer has a live matrix tool. Kenanga is one of them.
During a recent online class, Dr Victor Gan (a.k.a. #PropertyDoctor) further explained the Cashback Method. The method usually involves bulk purchase from a developer, who markup the price to way above market value. In some cases, buyers get cashback when bank release loan more than needed. Dr Victor Gan showed us the ideal scenario, the grim reality, and the hidden problems that trapped novice investors.
During the webinar, we would discuss:
- What is a 'Cash-Back' Property Project?
- Is it 'Safe' to buy a 'Cash-Back' Property Project?
- Explaining Negative Gearing in Property Investing.
- What are Multiple Submissions or Loan Compression?
- What is the Difference between Price and Value of a Property?
You can check out the webinar here.
Rich Dad Fundamentals: Other People's Money (OPM)
There are two ways to get rich. One way is to use your own money. The other way is to use other people's money, or as we call it at Rich Dad, OPM. One (using your own money) provides small-to-modest returns, takes a long time to pan out, and requires some financial intelligence. The other (OPM) provides large-to-infinite returns, creates incredible velocity of money, and requires a high financial intelligence.
Good debt and Other People's Money?
Good debt is a type of OPM. By way of reminder, good debt is any debt that puts money in your pocket. For instance, a loan for an investment property where the rental income pays for the expense of the property, while also providing monthly income is a good debt.
The downside to good debt is that you can generally only borrow a certain percentage of an asset's purchase price. In keeping with our real estate example, that is generally around 70 to 80 percent of the purchase price.
The rest of the money must be made up of equity from another source. Because of this, you have two choices when you find a worthy investment: use your own money or use other people's money for the equity needed above and beyond the loan.
In the case of our real estate example, let's run a few scenarios:
Scenario 1
$100,000 purchase price
$80,000 loan at 5% interest
$20,000 of your own money for equity.
Running through a simple mortgage calculator, your annual cost for this loan would be about $8,500.
Assuming you have an income from the property of $11,000 a year, after expenses are paid, your total net income would be $2,500 ($11,000 - $8,500).
Your return on investment for this would be $2,500/$20,000 = 12.5%.
Scenario 2
$100,000 purchase price
$80,000 loan at 5% interest
$20,000 OPM at 7% interest
You get paid 50% of net operating income as the finder of the deal.
In this case, your annual loan costs would still be $8,500, but you'd also have an additional cost of around $1,500 for the other people's money you borrowed for equity based on an assumed 7%. So, total loan and OPM costs would be $10,000.
Again, assuming you have an income from the property of $11,000 a year, after expenses are paid, your total net income would be $1,000 ($11,000 - $10,000).
Your fee for putting the deal together would be 50% of the NOI, in this case $500 (50% x $1,000).
Your return on investment for this would be infinite because you're making $500 without any money in the deal.
Would anyone really give you their money like this?
- Many people think it's a fantasy world that people would just give you money to invest, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The reality is that most people don't have time to find good deals. Instead, they rely on people with the proper financial education, skill set, and drive to bring deals to them.
The power of Other People's Money at scale
Let's say that I have $100,000 to invest. I could use that to put down 20 percent on five properties. But using the concept of OPM, I'd rather use that $100,000 to put down 5 percent on 20 properties. I can do this by finding 20 great deals and lining up investors to invest in them.
Adding up the total return for all 20 deals, that's $24,000 per year cash flow, a return of 24 percent. Not only am I making 6 percent more per year than if I just used my money, but I also have ownership in 20 assets instead of just 5. Later I can refinance these properties, pay off my investors, get my investment back, and continue to receive cash flow from the 20 properties-an infinite return.
In real life, the numbers are more complicated and much larger. But the principles are the same. Investing with Other People's Money takes a high level of financial intelligence. But I started small and worked into the big apartment deals we do today. You can do the same.
FYI
You're awesome :)
Cool Opportunities
BigPay - The Best Travel Credit Card for Malaysians?
If you ever travel out of Malaysia and use your credit card, then this is BIG (pun intended). AirAsia has released BigPay, a prepaid mastercard that you can easily top up through the BigPay app and be able to use instantly.
But more importantly, BigPay charges you at the real exchange rate (which means they charge no fees). This is something you won't get if you were to go to your bank or some exchange counter.
In fact, I've already saved over RM 10,000 using this card (you can read about it in our BigPay Review)
Anyway, if you don't have one yet, you can sign up for free and get RM10 free when you use referral code B7D3YNZPGO.
A way for females to get free insurance
We were talking to our super humble financial advisor friend one day and she started talking about some insurance product for females that provides coverage for all these female related illnesses. But more importantly, the contract also states that all the premiums will be returned at the end of the contract.
Seriously something for all females to consider!
Building a financial roadmap
For those who are lost when it comes to tracking your net worth and using it as a way to create the ideal life, this is something you should check out.
We have worked with a financial advisor to lead you through building your own financial roadmap by yourself online.
And if you want them to do it for you (at a huge discount), you can make the request as well.
Talking to an Independent Financial Adviser
A big issue when you work with someone who calls themself a financial advisor is you do not know if they really have your best interest at heart. That's one of the main reasons why I never work with any (the other one is that most of them get trained to say what the company wants and thus, do not know of all the other cool opportunities out there).
However, I've been talking to an independent financial adviser the last few months and I do believe that not only is she knowledgeable, but also super open to sharing her knowledge.
If you're interested in talking to her, join our facebook group and ask your questions. She will definitely find time to pop by and answer them.