MONEY MASTER

Saudi Arabia is not afraid of low oil price and this will send the already gloomy oil & gas industry even further downwards. Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is maintaining investment in oil and natural gas projects and has formulated a new strategy in response to cheaper crude as it studies options to sell shares in its parent company and downstream refining and chemical operations, Chairman Khalid Al-Falih said Monday at a conference in Riyadh. The state-run producer, known as Saudi Aramco, can sustain low oil prices for “a long, long time,” he told reporters. It is a signal that the Saudi is sending across....that this is a fight they will not lose.  “Saudi Arabia is well-documented to be the clear lowest-cost producer -- we have scale, capabilities, and technology to help us maintain our low cost as we go forward,” he said.  He also mentioned how the company encourage fiscal discipline and in the company's investments capacity, oil and gas had not slowed down. LOW...

BNM International Reserve The Malaysia's BNM International Reserve has dropped again from US $ 96.5 billion in July 31st to US$94.7 billion as at end-August 2015, down 2% or US$2 billion month-on-month to its lowest since July 2010.  The figure reflects a third straight decline on the BNM International Reserve but it was higher than it was in mid August 2015, when it was at just US$94.5 billion. It shows a US$200 million increase from the mid of August low. The central bank has issued a statement, stating that the reserves are sufficient to finance 7.4 months of retained imports and is 1.0 times short-term external debt.

A lot of us Malaysians are probably upset with the depreciation of the Ringgit.  Weakened Ringgit The Ringgit has weakened to multi-year low and breached the previous low of RM3.73 to the USD and according to a lot of research, it is inching towards the pegged level of RM3.80/USD. This morning, while I was driving to work, I heard from BFM on their discussion. Apparently, our foreign reserve exchange is stand at an estimate of around 100 billion USD.  If you're like me, you'll probably feel the pinch as I'm earning in RM. To talk about travelling would be a pain in the ass now because I'll have to fork out more most of the time. I suspect gadgets like Apple products might see another increase if the drop in the currency continues. Even then, Zeti insist that the RM is still strong and it's only at this level due to negative sentiments. I'm not sure if I'm buying it but as Ringgit continues to weaken, perhaps it's time to look at who...

The term "middle class" was a word that signifies progress, and it also mean stability. The "middle class" used to mean a family with a nice place call Home, drives a Volvo or vehicle of that class, goes on yearly vacation and send their kids to college.  But those were the days. Because the middle class today varies so much in comparison to 10 years ago. In Malaysia, the "middle class" group generally includes people who earn RM3,000 above. Between RM3,000 to RM4,999 a month, it's normally the lower middle income while the upper income earns RM5,000 above. In our country, our government data in 2012 shows that 27.8% household income was at the lower middle income while 33.6% household earn RM5,000 and above.  Even though there is a stead increase in income in the country, the increase barely offset the country's soaring inflation rate....the rising living cost.  Here are some of the significant items that one should compare between ...

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has raised the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 3.25%. This is the first hike in the OPR since May 2011. The decision was made at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). BNM also released a statement, saying "The floor and ceiling rates of the corridor for the OPR are correspondingly raised to 3.00 percent and 3.50 percent respectively." OVERNIGHT POLICY RATE? WHAT IS THAT? Have you ever wonder what is this OPR that these people are talking? I used to have big difficulty understanding the business and financial vocabulary. In short, OPR is the interest rate at which a bank lends to another bank, which is set by the BNM.  This rate has an effect on the country's employment, economic growth and inflation. Generally, it is an indicator of the health of a country's overall economy and banking system. WHY IS THERE A HIKE? There is a lot of reason for the increase in the OPR but there are a...

Have you ever wonder if you could ever retire?  Most people find it difficult to go through the month with their current earnings....so what do you expect to happen when you retire? Is retirement possible? While Malaysia set a minimum savings at age 55 to be RM196,800, meaning that you will have about RM820 a month for 20 years. Quite a small amount but if you have already got your healthcare taken care of, mortgage settled and children's education done, you should be quite safe.  Now, if you think RM196,800 is a small sum and insufficient, then it's better that you be prepared. If you want a comfortable income to sustain you and your family after you retire, you have to start planning now. Not tomorrow, not in the future.  Here are some ways that you can mess up your retirement plan and ended retiring poor. 1) NOT ENOUGH SAVINGS If your monthly income is good enough to cover your expenses only, maybe it should be an indicator that you ar...

The other day while I was talking with my brother, I realized that in life, most of the time, it has to do with Lifestyle Inflation, and not inflation alone that cause the struggle for Malaysians to live in our time today. How many of you remembered how you spent when you were still in your university days? As I studied in local university, I have the option of staying in the university residential for an amount of RM300 (inclusive of food, broadband and utility). We would still go for movie, Starbucks and also entertainment, but most of the time, we would take the public transport. (save on parking). After graduation, some of us would opt for RM300 a month room rental...I remembered some of my friends would even shared a room but fast forward a few years, we would take room that cost us RM700. The old apartment might be in good condition, great location, nice neighbours and a lot of good food....but the new ones are in exclusive neighbourhood....it is not because there is a nee...

“RM5 for a bowl of curry noodles? In my day, it was 50 sen!” Sounds familiar? No doubt you hear your parents and grandparents griping about today’s prices more often than not. This phenomena does not happen miraculously only in Malaysia, but rather throughout the whole world. The reason for the price differences is simple and straightforward: inflation . We won’t go into the mechanics of inflation and its causes here; all we need to know in this context is that it devalues a currency over time by increasing the prices of goods and services. Many of us were taught that when it comes to housing loans - paying them off whenever you have spare cash and the more the better because you will be done with them earlier; and you "save" a lot of interest. But is this true? It is only true if and only if inflation is at 0%, which we all know not possible. With inflation, the opposite could ring true simply because RM10 thirty years ago has higher value than a RM10 today simply be...

I always believe that savings are important but it's also important to make sure that we spend on needs that are important. In my opinion (a typical gen-Y, connectivity is important), broadband is something that is essential in our daily lives. After I move to my own place, I was looking for a good broadband that comes at a good price. There are a few options that I was looking at: TM's UniFi VIP 5 Package, Maxis Fibre Internet 10, P1 For Home RM149 Unlimited, TIME Fibre Unlimited Home Broadband 8Mbps and ABNXcess 5Mbps.  There are a few things that I looked at when I choose the right broadband... SPEED Well, I believe with the technology of today, we need a home broadband with a speed of at least 5Mbps. While some people will say that 1Mbps is enough, it's important to take note that the speed shown is the maximum speed that it's capable of. Thus, if you're taking 1Mbps, the chances is that you're on 50% most of the time, which is not enough for ...

It's that time of the year again....people knew it, expected it...but for some reasons, it's in the blood for us to procrastinate whatever that may not seem urgent to us regardless of the importance.  TIME TO FILE YOUR INCOME TAX Well, if you are like the many Malaysians out there, I'm pretty sure you have not completed your e-filing for your income tax . DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAX AVOIDANCE and TAX EVASION There are a lot of people who are confuse about tax avoidance and tax evasion. Most people assume that tax evasion is illegal, but let's not be ignorant...tax avoidance is also illegal although it carries a lighter punishment. Tax avoidance means failure to file for income tax without a reasonable excuse. It carries a lighter punishment of about RM200 to RM2,000 fine and/or imprisonment. WHEN YOU MISS THE DEADLINE? I know you are probably very confident of meeting the deadline. That's good news but just in case if you really do miss the de...

To a lot of people, debt is a scary thing...but yet at the same time, it is a beautiful thing. Without debt, it would be very difficult for the middle class to consider earning property, vehicles and some other expenses.  In our world today, with the credit card, there are so many ways for consumers, like you and I to manipulate future money in order to enjoy some of the luxurious goods.  DEBT CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND I have known people who disdain debt to a point that they would pay as much as they could as downpayment for a property even though most of the time, it only requires 10% of the property price. I have also known people who had piles of debts that it is impossible to settle it, and thus BANKRUPTCY.  There is a simple rule of managing debt...DON'T SPEND MORE THAN YOU EARN, but it really isn't that simple, especially when you want to leverage on some of the low interest environment loan. If you only spend less than you earn, there is also a...

The problem with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is not a one day story. This is not the first time we heard about the amount of losses made by the airline company.  In 1972, the Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) became MAS and SIA. In the last 10 years from 2002- 2011 SIA reported a total pre-tax profit of Singapore $13,992 million, averaging S$ 1.4 billion per year. This created a big question mark over the reliability and management skill of those who are appointed to lead MAS.  MAS has just reported a loss of RM 830 million for 3 quarters ending September 2013 which is larger than the loss of Rm 483 million in the same corresponding period last year.   As usual, there are the incorrigibly optimistic cheerleaders for the airline who are unable to see the writing on the wall.   These ‘experts’ are still touting that the company is in recovery mode and will soon be returning to profitability. If you look at the Business Times, you will find that one of the Head...

Well, like it or not....2014 is the year for increased expended....a 15% increase in electricity bill, increase in tolls, LRT, sugar etc... It is probably one of those time when the Rakyat asked the question....what about my salary? I think this story best sum up how Malaysians feel about 2014... A bit of laughter and humor on this is good...after all, whether we like it or not, 2014 is going to be a year where your expenses go up even though you try to tighten your belt.     Posted with Blogsy

We have been talking about GST for a while now and with the implementation set to be in 2015, a lot of Malaysians are starting to worry about the impact that it has upon the country. While the Goods and Service Tax (GST) has a lot of positive wealth impact that was lauded by a lot of experts in the economy, common folks in Malaysia still worry about the negative impacts on the livelihood and affordability of the Rakyat. Before we move to talk about the pros and cons of GST, what is GST in the first place? GST is a consumption tax that is imposed on goods and services at every stage of the supply chain, which typically begins at the manufacturing stage and ends at the retail stage. GST is based on the “valued-added” concept to avoid duplication in tax collected. Here is a simple scenario of how the implementation of GST will look like, assuming we take the 10% tax rate. A) Let's say we take a manufacturer of dairy product. The manufacturer of dairy product will have...

So, how many of you have a medical insurance?  Probably it doesn't mean much to you when you are young but looking at the statistic above, I think there is every reasons for us to start planning while we are young.  We are thankful that medical fees inflation is second to the college tuition and fees but it's still at a big figure....a forecast of 607% increase in comparison to 1978. Well, you probably argue that it's in so many years...but you may compare the increase in medical fees to the average income. The increase of the medical cost is way more than the increase of household income. The data shown until year 2010.  Well, for those of you who have no clue about medical insurance, here is a simple explanation of it. Medical Insurance functions as a form of protection to cover unforeseen expenses arising from illness, injury or accidents – which can be very expensive, especially if hospitalisation and / or surgery is required.  ...