MONEY MASTER

If you are not aware, tomorrow, Malaysians will be looking forward to the Budget 2015, which will be announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The theme of the budget is something to look forward to:  “Accelerating Growth, Ensuring Fiscal Sustainability and Prospering the Rakyat”. BUDGET 2015 What is there to look forward to? Focusing on implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in April next year. GST may well be the talking point again Budget 2015 will definitely highlight some of the key things in regards to GST that will take effect in April next year.  According to Maybank Investment Bank, it is expected that there will be ammendment on the excemptions from GST. Currently, fresh food, public transport, education fees are excempted. It is expected that there will be new excemption from the GST and thus GST revenues could decline to 2.4 billion ringgit from 4 billion ringgit for the April to December period, and...

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...

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...

It's Sunday again....I'm excited to learn another new term here...and this will be something familiar to the people staying at the States. The Wal-Mart effect... Heard of the Wal-Mart effect? If you have not heard of it, buy the book...there is actually a book on Wal-Mart effect by Charles Fishman.  Anyway, in this post, I will give you a brief understanding of what the Wal-Mart effect is...it is the economical impact felt by local businesses when a large firm such as Wal-Mart opens in the area. The effect can be seen as it forces the smaller firms to run out of business or the reduction in wages for competitors' employees.  These are the main reasons why local stores are against the introduction of Wal-Marts into their areas. However, there are some positives from these effects...as Wal-Mart effect helps to curb inflation and keep productivity at an optimum level. 

ELECTRICITY TARIFF HIKE...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Well, if you have not heard the news, then it's time to tune into it...because beginning in January 2014, electricity tariff in the country will rise by around 15%.  It is not a standard increase...but the average is about 15%. In the Peninsular Malaysia, the increase is about 14.86% while it is about 17% for Sabah and Labuan.  In Peninsular Malaysia, the rate will be about 38.53sen/kWh from the current average rate of about 33.54sen/kWh while Sabah and Labuan will seen an increase from 29.52 sen per kWh to 34.52sen per kWh. The Sarawak state will not be affected by the rate though, as the electricity supply in the state is operated by state-run company, Sarawak Energy. Of course, not all is bad news as those who use below 300kWh a month will not be affected. So, if your monthly electric bill is about RM77, you will not be affected. So, try to stay below this and you will be okay.  check out the...

We all know the importance of owning properties and how the Malaysian government tried to set certain rules and regulations to prevent an overpriced of the properties in the country.  Well, here's the news for those of you who do not know....the new trend: a growing number of individuals and groups organizing bulk purchases of properties from developers. Bulk buying is basically an activity that allows few or many property investors to invest in a single development as a group. Most of the time when in bulk purchase, there will be additional benefits that won't be available should these individuals invest individually.  GROUP PURCHASE OF PROPERTY Whether it's a good strategy or not, it's up to your preference but here are some of the pros and cons in group purchase of property... The Pros: Normally, when you buy in bulk, you will be given discounts and additional benefits...a simple logic deduction: A lot of developers love and encourage group ...

Here is the thing that we encounter most often...."income not enough?" A lot of people have criticize the Gen-Y for not knowing how to appreciate the jobs that they have or the opportunities given....it is true to a certain extend but what Gen-Y is complaining have its' valid points...ask most of the Gen-Y and they will tell you that their current companies are no good, income not enough etc.   Well, let us do some simple calculations shall we? Here is a simple calculation.... The average rate for a rented apartment in the Klang Valley costs between RM800 – RM1000 per month depending on location. Car loan repayments are somewhere between RM600 to RM1000 a month, while monthly fuel expenditure is RM 250 – 300 a month; exlcuding tolls. Food tallies up to about RM800, if you eat out everyday three times a day, averaging at RM10 per meal. Add other costs like cigarettes, entertainment, internet and telephone bills and all of that rounds off to about RM3000 – RM3500...

We all know the importance of money, which is why we work, we save money...we put those money into investment, savings, insurance etc..... Because of that, most of us have been thinking ways to make more money...but at times, without realizing it, some of us become what money wants us to.  I think it's time to set the right perspective... MAKE MONEY. DON'T LET MONEY MAKE YOU!!

We all know the essential of using money to generate more income but how many of us could really said that? The other day I was reading an article about this man who retired at the age of 30. According to this man, retirement means you no longer have to work for money . No doubt bout that...easier said than done. Recently a good friend of mine actually bought a new car....Toyota Vios....while it is nothing too big to shout about changing a car that is more reliable, I felt that my friend should practice a bit of proper planning. Since we were very close, I happened to know that his debts are quite a large sum to handle....not forgetting about the expenses on a monthly basis. Well, I guess this is what is happening to this generation, me included...that so often, we spend on an impulse, and in the long run, we become a generation of workers, because there are so many unnecessary commitments. Maybe it is really time to consider about our culture of "spending madness"......

Ever wonder why some people make it to the top so easily while some others work hard day and night only to earn for survival. Well, it is not just a matter of the hardwork poured in. It is also about the way one live their lives, use their money and also the type of work that they do. But if you are indeed willing to struggle for it, it is possible for you to be a millionaire.  The first step besides all the hard work put in your work is the willingness to create a personal expense account .   You will need to open a checking account just for your household expenses. Then you will need to figure out the amount needed for monthly usage from electricity, food, right til entertainment. After that, put the rest of the paycheck that you are about to receive into savings account for it to accumulate. This is for budgeting purposes and if you felt that you are using more than you earn, it is time to consider cutting on some of the expenses. The money put into savings account wi...