MONEY MASTER

Remember the days when the Federal Reserve and central banks slashed interest rates and engaged in quantitative easing to revive economies after the global financial crisis? The prevailing concern was that interest rates would remain perpetually low. The Fed appeared anxious as the world’s largest economy faced near-zero inflation, potential "double-dip" recessions, and sluggish consumer spending. Fast forward to today, and the narrative has reversed. Now, the markets worry about perpetually high interest rates. It seems paradoxical, doesn’t it? Previously, Wall Street celebrated hints of rate hikes. Now, even the suggestion of a rate increase provokes negative reactions. But here’s the crucial question: Does fretting over interest rates truly matter? Should we even care? Key Takeaways Focus on Controllables: Interest rates are beyond our control. Instead, focus on factors you can manage, such as your savings rate, investment choices, and continuous learning. Consistency is ...

Have you ever wonder if you could ever got yourself a place you could call your own...a place call home? If you have this dream of owning a home and finding it difficult to believe you can achieve it, you're absolutely normal, given the current economy in our country. But like many, it's possible to save for your home downpayment. Some of you may opt to withdraw from your Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account number 2 to fund your house downpayment, but EPF is your retirement savings and you should really consider the possibility of it not being enough. For example, a property selling at RM400,000 with 90% loan comes with a down payment of RM40,000 (10%) and an additional of about RM20,000 in fees and charges. This would approximately come up to an initial payment of RM60,000 in cash. It may seem overwhelming to save up that much, but by drawing a strict and realistic savings plan for this purpose , you will be able to afford your first home in no time. ...

Whether you are one of those who are struggling with monthly bills like myself or a debt-free Malaysian, here are 10 simple & realistic ways to help you SAVE MONEY.  1) GOODBYE TO YOUR TV SUBSCRIPTION We know that many of you have Astro at home, and it really help you to feel so much more convenient but maybe it's time to say goodbye to your TV subscription.  GOODBYE TO TV! Instead of making Ananda Krishnan (2nd richest in South East Asia, estimated wealth of US$11.7 billion) even richer, it is time to consider saving a little bit more for yourself. Most of the favourite tv series and movies could be watched online nowadays.And maybe, just maybe it's time to stay away from your TV and develop a healthier lifestyle at the same time. Thus, saying goodbye to your TV subscription is first on the list to start saving more money. This will help you save about RM120 to RM200 .

As the Bank Negara Malaysa (BNM), the Malaysia Central Bank trying to tighten the borrowing rule, I’ve been read­ing a lot of arti­cles lately about ways to get out of debt, and I’m not impressed at most of the articles that I've read. It's not that the articles are bad, I just don't really agree with most of the articles. I know that most of the articles will advice on repaying debt as soon as possible and have more savings and stuff like that, which I don't really agree as we are not optimizing the money well enough. Having said so, I don't really mean that we should go and buy lots of stuff and then finally go into bankruptcy. In my opinion, one should really have the balance between debt and cash, in order to fully optimized the money to improve the lifestyle. In fact, a lot of affluent people have certain level of debts that they are comfortable with. To begin with, there are two kinds of debt, often called “good” debt and “bad” debt. Good debt is the ...

I read about an article on Mr. Money Mustache and how he retired at 30 and it was actually an inspiring article to me, and I'm pretty sure that most of us can learn from him. Inspiring in the sense that I aim to retired by 30 before I started to join the workforce, and unfortunately at 30 now, I still don't feel comfortable retiring. There are few reasons that I don't feel comfortable; the first being not accumulated enough invest able cash and investment assets in which can generates the amount of cash that I need to have my current lifestyle. Another reason is I'm still aiming for property and still paying for my property; in which will increase my expenses. So, I look into the advice of Mr. Money Mustache and learn something; though I cannot emulate him 100%, I'm sure there are some key learning from him. The article is as follows:- Meet Mr. Money Mustache. Hundreds of thousands of readers follow his bold advice on his self-titled blog — and for good rea...

If you are on your own, you’re probably not saving enough for retirement. That’s the conclusion of a new study published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research on retirement readiness from two researchers at the RAND Corporation, a non-profit research firm. In Economic Preparation for Retirement, Michael Hurd and Susann Rohwedder found that 51% of the single people in the group of 66-to-69 year olds they looked at had a strong possibility of running into serious financial troubles in retirement. By comparison, only 23% of the couples in the study were at risk of outliving their savings. The group with the most retirement risk? Women who had not completed a high school education. Of that group, 73% are likely to run out of cash before they die. Surprisingly, though, the study found that Americans are, on average, better prepared for retirement than many believe. The study looked at the finances of early baby boomers, who have recently retired or are near retirement. ...