MONEY MASTER

IN recent years, the level of household debt among Malaysians has been a matter of growing concern, as the statistics show that the average person is way over his head in debt. Based on Bank Negara figures, the typical household borrowing is a shocking 140% of disposable income. That's something to think about, as it means that at least half of Malaysians are struggling desperately with their finances. So, they probably have very little idea of how they can become financially free, let alone wealthy. Incredible, isn't it? Most people we know would like to be free of financial worries and to enjoy a high standard of living, but so few seem to get it right. The journey towards financial success begins by first knowing where you are. Strangely, many people in the middle class find it difficult to answer this question: are you middle class, financially free or rich? In my latest book, Set Yourself Free: How To Optimise Money and Become Wealthy With Minimum Effort and Risk, I have t...

It's been like a while since I last update this blog, but finally I intended to update this blog with an article that I found which suits the blog very very much. It is about how the richest 400 people in the United States of America got so rich, and basically the summary of the article is stocks will outperform any form of other investment. The article is as follows:-   In 1992, the 400th richest person in America made $24 million. In 2007, the 400th richest person in America made $138 million (or $87 million, inflation-adjusted). Now, that almost certainly wasn't the same guy. There's a lot of churn at the top of the money pyramid. In all of the 1990s, only 25% of the Fortunate 400 made more than one appearance. But the overall message is the same. The rich keeping getting richer. According to the IRS, which recently released 2009 data from the 400 richest individual income tax returns, the real runaway growth in wealth has come from capital gains. In the la...

This post continues from Forbes 400: The Richest People in America 3. Larry Ellison Net Worth: $27 billion Source: Oracle Residence: Woodside, Calif. Age: 66 The Oracle chief brazenly chastised Hewlett-Packard for ousting its former head Mark Hurd over his relationship with a marketing contractor. Then he turned around and hired Hurd weeks later to replace Oracle's co-president, Charles Phillips, who resigned at the same time. HP sued Hurd, prompting Ellison to say that HP was making it "virtually impossible" for the 2 companies to do business together. (The two parties recently settled). Oracle, which has acquired 66 companies over the years, figured out a way to turn a profit on its latest big buy, Sun Microsystems, in 2010. One of the highest-paid executives in the country, Ellison has gotten $960 million in compensation in the past 5 fiscal years, mostly from the exercise of stock options; he recently cut his salary to $1. Ellison's fortune is almost entirely tied...

So, do you know who are the richest people in the United States of America? Well, the top two people in the America seems to remain in their position. They are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Both of them are still on top despite being generous. Read below for full story that I get from the Forbes 400: The Richest People in America from Yahoo Finance . Since the article is too long, I'll share it in this blog by separating the articles into few parts. It has been a year of reclamation for America's richest. The total worth of the Forbes 400 was up 8% to $1.37 trillion, well out-earning the 1% rise in the S&P over the same period of time. More than half (217) are richer than they were a year ago. The headline number tells a partial story. Just over one-third of the 400 failed to add to their fortunes or lost ground. Still far above us is the record of $1.57 trillion in total net worth set in 2008. But the very top of the list gained, as good friends Bill Gates and Warren Buf...