Blast from the past : Nostalgia Oct 13, 2008

''I went back to Temerloh, Pahang last Saturday. This was my first visit after two years to Temerloh. It is where my dad was born and during my early childhood and throughout my teen years, we would always go back there to celebrate Raya and sometimes we will visit my grandpa and grandma every 3 months. I could still remember the laid-back lifestyle that my grandpa whom I called AKI led. Everything was slow paced as compared to the life in the city. Aki was a simple man and he used to work as a padi-planter when he was much younger. Nenek, on the other side, she was quite fierce and like to nag or berleter as we call it in Malay. I still remember one incident where I borrowed my uncle's bike and took for a ride around the kampung. Being only 12 or 13 and the lack of experienced in handling a motorbike, I fell and hurt my leg. The scar is still visible till now if I'm not mistaken. And nenek just can't stop nagging . How I miss those wonderful times.

Things are completely different when Aki passed away in 1998 I was in Dublin at that time. Prior to my departure towards the end of August 97, I still remember his words to me. He said 'awok pergi lah berlayor...aki takde ape nak kasi kat awok' ( you go ahead with your travels as I have nothing to give you). At that time he was bed-ridden and couldn't get up. Maybe age is fast catching up with him. I just kissed his forehead and that was the last time I saw him. Can't really believe that 9 months after that, he passed away.

Nenek on the other hand, was badly affected with aki's death. She was moody and never stopped visiting his grave every other day. This was told to me by my uncle, whose house is just next door to aki's house. Whenever I came back for the summer holidays, I never fail to visit her but she was not the same as before. One incident that I can remember clearly is when she came all the way to KL by bus just to send me to the airport. I was madly in anger with my dad as I could never believe how could he let his mom took the bus to come to KL. He could just inform me and I would gladly pick her up in Temerloh. Anyway, on the way to KLIA, she gave me RM10 as duit belanja. For her, RM10 is a lot of money..I felt touched and was determined not to fail her in my studies.... In 2002, when I finally came back for good and after getting a job, I didn't had the chance to go and visit her until I received a call sometime in 2005. My uncle called to say that she passed away due to heart attack. I regretted that I never took the chance to go and visit her. So there I was standing in front of her lifeless body and crying and regretting for not visiting her enough. I have to admit though, I wasn't that close to my relatives on my father's side. But that incident brought all of us together for the first time after so many years.

Like I mentioned, things are completely different now. The house in now empty. I can see anai-anai is happily eating away the old shack. Yes, I shed a few tears cause this was the house that I used to sleep when I was small. This was the place that I went to when I had my fights with my parents. This was the place that I played 'meriam buluh' when all the city kids played thunder claps. This was the place that we found a big ular sawa sleeping in aki's chicken barn.

How I miss those moments and I will cherish those moments for the rest of my life. Sometimes, I tend to forget where I come from but goin back to my roots that day, it helps me realized who I am all this while......''

Unipark Condo For Rent

Monthly rent: RM 1800
Bedrooms 4
Type: Apartments, For Rent
Size: 1252 sq.ft.
Furnished: Fully furnished
Facilities: Swimming pool, Gymnasium, Tennis court, Mini market, Covered parking, 24 hour security, Balcony/Patio

- 4 rooms + 2 bathrooms,
- Brand New unit
- Located on the 12th Floor
- Excellent view of KL,Bangi,Putrajaya
- Spacious living room. Fan at every room.
- Quiet area.

Facilities
- tight security, 1 covered parking lot, swimming pool
- Located within university area.

Near amenities
- Alamanda Shopping Mall,
- Uniten
- UPM
- UKM
- KLIUC
- Bangi/Kajang/Putrajaya/Cyberjaya all located within 20 minutes drive

Easy access to all the major highways (PLUS/SILK)

Available for rent from September 2010

Call: En Wan 0122866347

Unit Trust....2nd cycle...

Since I've made a wee bit of profit from my first ever investment in unit trust a couple of weeks ago, I decided to close the account and put it back in my Account 1 of my EPF savings. So, with that small profit now in EPF, I could get more dividends for this year lah. Again...not much.....

However, yesterday, I've made my 2nd cycle of investing in unit trust. Again, via EPF account I. My cousin now is handling my account for me. So let's see how it goes....''Unit trust is for the long term''-that's what i've been telling myself. But if I can get more or less the same amount that I received in my first cycle, I'll be very happy.....

Updates on Unipark Condo:

1. The lights & fans has been installed last Tuesday
2. The curtains will be up by Sunday
3. The grills will be installed by Wednesday
4. The unit has been advertised in mudah.my
5. Furnitures & Fittings will be done when a suitable tenant has been identified

Hope to write a wee bit about the total cost incurred for furnishing the place later.

Have a good week....Selamat Berbuka....

Buka Puasa @ KLGCC

Last Saturday, I had a buka puasa event with a couple of my highschool friends at KLGCC. It was some sort of a reunion.

A friend of mine decided to be a good buddy after all these years and we were all there for a treat. He paid the bills at the end of the day. Thnk You so much Azahan.

It was nice to see those faces that i've not seen since 1994. Some has grown in belly sizes and some were pretty much the same. Of course, we made jokes with each other just like in school. I can still remember those days when we used to tease each other by calling their father's name istead of their names. Hehehehe

Anyways, during the buka puasa, I realised that, some of us doesn't really appreciate the meaning of fasting during ramadhan. As far as I'm concerned, buka puasa is not an excuse to eat like a horse. That night, I saw this guy with his plate full of rice, chickens, lambs, satay, etc...etc.. As if he has not tastes any food since his mother gave birth to him. I do understand that it is not cheap to eat at such places but do you think that all of us should wallop all the foods even before the azan maghrib ends?

I made my way to the surau after having a drink and some dates. When I was there, there were only a handful of jemaah. Not that many if you consider the amount of people having the gala time eating by the pool....When I returned, I was a bit shock to see that some of the foods has finished and some of the tray were empty..... and people were still lining up at the food stalls for the foods....

I guess, food business must be really thriving during ramadhan eh? If I can remember correctly, the price for buka puasa at KLGCC is about RM65. Do you think that you can actually eat RM65 worth of food? I certainly don't think that I ate worth RM65. Maybe RM15. Hahahahah.....

Anyways, we should be grateful that we have all the options on where and what to eat for buka puasa in Malaysia. In fact, the choice is limitless. Maybe, it would be good if we could take some time and think that some of our brothers and sisters out there in the world would kill to have the same luxury life that we have.....

I still remember the days when we were small, my dad would always bring us to some hotel for buka puasa. Not anymore since the last couple of years. I found it odd as it is better to save some money or maybe donate some of the money to the less fortunate rather then spending RM60, RM70 per person for buka....At least, we're helping them a wee bit....not much....but a wee bit....

Which brings me to a short story. When I was in Dublin, my colleague, Malcolm, he's a Christian (obviously). Do you know that every month, he donates 3% of his salary to his church. I never ask why but it is something that I found it worthwhile doing. He once said to me, God has blessed me and my life to be where I am today, so it is just right for me to give something back to God. Actually Malcolm, without him realizing, taught me a valuable lesson about life....So since that day, I try, whenever possible to donate some of my money to the mosque/rumah anak yatim. Not much but at least, I know that i've contributed something....I wish and I pray that I could do more....

Which reminds me, I've yet to pay my zakat. Will do later tonight lah....

Anyways, to the VI boys, nice meeting you guys again!!





P/S: One of my ex schoolmate now drives a Hummer H3. I've only seen the car/SUV in TV but last saturday was actually the first time I've seen it real life. And yes..I had the opportunity to sit inside it as well. It's freaking huge!!! Well...it goes to tell you that if you work hard enough in this life, all your hard work will give you something back in return....I did ask him, when is he goin to install a machine gun. Just like the US Army....Hahahahahaha....


This is not his Hummer....just a pic taken from google....:p

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone 'Happy Merdeka'

Take care of yourself and everyone around you!!

The pic is courtesy of : Uncle Nupit

Holy ****!!!

I read the news where a father slaughtered his own son in front of his wife somewhere in Kelantan. I felt sick. I felt horrible. How could a father do such a thing. How could a man can act like that. This is worse than animals.....The man was reported to be unstable....

This is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable....

Another news that I found it amusing. Some people in Indonesia decided to throw human faeces at the Malaysian embassy and step on our country's flag. What were they thinking? I've never seen Malaysians go out and shout at the Indonesian embassy. What more stepping on their country's flag.

To make it even worse, we've been very accomodative to the Indonesian. As far as I know, we even help them during trouble times (tsunami, earthquake). So this is not on!!!!! Totally not on!!!

Anyways, on the other hand, there are some of us went to Indonesia and talk about nasty things about their own country in front of the Indonesian media. What was that about? I do not know any Indonesia leader came to our country and talk something bad about his or her country....

COme on, at least have some respect for the country lah......

Personal Loan

A cousin of mine met me late last night. He was talking about applying for a personal loan. I asks him, what is the loan for?

He just said, I wanna settle my credit cards and perhaps wanna use it for my personal use.

My answer? If possible, refrain yourself from taking personal loans from the banks. Why? The amount that you have to pay back might be a lot more the amount of loan that you've taken earlier!!!!

This is what happened to someone I know. Ali took a personal loan from Bank Rakyat in 2005. He took RM30,000. The contract/repayment period is 7 years. The monthly repayment is RM551 per month. So let's calculate: RM551 x 84 (7x12)=RM46,284. That's like RM16k more than the initial loan amount. Imagine what you can do with an extra RM16k at hand....

So, I said to my cousin, think really carefully before you embark on your journey in getting personal loan.....

Eating the humble pie..............

During the weekend, one of those things that I really looked forward to was watching Liverpool play. This time, it was against the mancs...mancs citeh to be precise. Yeah, the team that have spent over 100 million pounds in buying new players. Compare it to Liverpool who have spent less than 20 million for the summer.

Anyways.........

I was unlucky enough to stay up and watched the match. Initially I was looking forward to see the game although the game kicked off at half past two on Tuesday morning. I really thought at least the team will come home at least with a point. After all, they can buy all those best players in the world but class is permanent.....(so they say...)

How wrong was I. In fact, as the match progresses, the great Red looked like a disjointed team. No passion (again!!!!...) and sometimes clueless. Damniiitttt.........Liverpool just did not turn up and Citeh played like men possessed. I felt like watching Selangor against Man Utd. That's how bad it was. Hahahahahahaha........

Anyways, saw an article in the web about the match. I thought it was a good read and really liked the analysis done....Sums up my feelings about the game....

''A dominant performance from City, who weren’t flattered by the 3-0 scoreline.

Roberto Mancini made changes on his wings, bringing in James Milner and Adam Johnson for Shaun Wright-Phillips and David Silva. Mario Balotelli wasn’t fit, and Emmanuel Adebayor was omitted. Joleon Lescott played at left-back in the absence of Aleksandar Kolarov.

Roy Hodgson shifted away from the 4-4-1-1 he used against Arsenal, and went 4-4-2, with Fernando Torres and David Ngog starting together for the first time in the Premier League. Javier Mascherano was unavailable with a transfer apparently imminent, so Lucas Leiva played in the centre of midfield.

The two-man strikeforce looked promising for Liverpool when Ngog and Torres combined nicely on the edge of the City penalty area after three minutes, but this was, amazingly, the final time one completed a pass to the either in the entire match. After that, they offered the same option – neither is particularly comfortable dropping deep or to the flanks, and both struggled to become involved in build-up play.

Traditional 4-4-2 v 4-2-3-1 battle

The classic problem for a 4-4-2 against a 4-2-3-1 (or 4-3-3) is that it is outnumbered in the centre of midfield, and that was particularly evident today. City’s three central midfielders were the same three used against Tottenham on the opening day, but they were used differently – Yaya Toure played high up the pitch, generally level with the two wingers (as he has done for the Ivory Coast), whilst Gareth Barry played a box-to-box role, starting alongside Nigel de Jong but also getting into the penalty area. And he did that to good effect on 13 minutes, when he sidefooted James Milner’s cutback into the far corner.

Liverpool’s problems going forward stemmed from the numerical disadvantage in the midfield. As they were 2 v 3 in that area, their wide players were forced to play extremely narrow to help Lucas and Gerrard, with Milan Jovanovic in particular barely getting near the touchline all game. Both he and Kuyt were decent defensively, but the narrowness meant there was never any out-ball when Liverpool regained possesion – and add in the fact that Torres and Ngog weren’t giving enough variation upfront, Liverpool looked clueless in possession.

Their midfield problems were emphasised when Carlos Tevez dropped deep, as he did so often at White Hart Lane. Today, he played a slightly more traditional striking role, but still moved into deep-lying positions that effectively created 4 v 2 in midfield, and allowed City to build up play easily and gradually around Liverpool’s midfielders. His passes are depicted below.

Wingers cut in to dangerous effect

City’s problem against Tottenham was that Wright-Phillips and Silva saw little of the ball, but today in Milner and Johnson they had two wingers playing excellently. As Mancini favoured towards the end of last season, they were inverted, with Johnson on the right, and Milner generally on the left. Johnson caused Daniel Agger no end of problems in Liverpool’s left-back zone – and Agger looked completely uncomfortable dealing with the winger, not simply because he is not naturally a full-back, but also because Johnson was always looking to cut inside onto his left foot, towards Agger’s weaker right foot.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Liverpool playing a 4-4-2 is that it forces Steven Gerrard to play a very deep role, especially if he is playing alongside Lucas (rather than Javier Mascherano, who is much more able to cope by himself in the centre of midfield, as he does for Argentina). Following Liverpool’s disastrous final season under Rafael Benitez, a myth seems to have emerged that Gerrard is somehow better in the centre of midfield than he is playing just off Fernando Torres. Nothing could be further from the truth – Gerrard played the best football of his career at the head of a midfield three, and is much more subdued in a four. In a 4-4-2, he is too far from goal, unable to influence attacking moves, less likely to combine with Torres (a partnership that works well) and too likely to play wasteful diagonal balls that are easily intercepted. He didn’t have a particularly bad game, but he wasn’t in a position to inspire Liverpool.

Surprisingly, Hodgson opted to change nothing at half-time – Liverpool had rallied in the five minutes before the break, maybe convincing their manager to have faith in the 4-4-2. If Hodgson remains committed to that system long-term, then we must have patience with him, and understand that a change in formation rarely has instant results. But in the sole context of this game, Liverpool needed something different.

City continue dominance in second half

City’s second goal came from a corner kick. This was particularly interesting, since Benitez’s insistence on zonal marking was blamed whenever Liverpool conceded a goal from a set-piece. So will pundits point to man-marking as the reason why they conceded such a poor second goal? Probably not, but this element of Liverpool’s tactics is worth keeping an eye on in the next few months.

Liverpool had their best spell of the match just after going 2-0 down, when Joe Hart made an excellent double save, but City sealed the game in the 67th minute. Johnson yet again caused Liverpool problems, dribbling past two players, stumbling under their challenges, before Martin Skrtel came across and wiped him out with a crazy lunge. Tevez converted the penalty, and that was game over.

Conclusion

City won comfortably without ever playing spectacular football, which simply demonstrates how poor Liverpool were. The use of Toure further forward worked reasonably well (although he doesn’t look completely fit) and Mancini’s use of inverted wingers and a false nine was very successful – Tevez had a good game, Milner got two assists, and Johnson v Agger was probably the game’s key battle. With Silva and Balotelli waiting in the wings (literally), personnel might change, but this looks like being City’s first-choice formation this season.

Liverpool’s performance was extremely disappointing, and displayed all the classic failings of a 4-4-2. This is notoriously Hodgson’s favourite formation, but he has shown a willingness to venture towards a 4-2-3-1ish system in Fulham’s Europa League run. That still seems to be Liverpool’s best bet, but with Gerrard in the hole, rather than deep in midfield.''

Anyways, to Roy, perhaps, a 3-0 loss is acceptable during your time in Fulham but not in Liverpool!!!!!..........Come on you Reds!!!

When I was growing up...

I used to play football every single day without fail...
I rode my bicyle with some friends almost every weekend..
During recess at sekolah rendah, we played 'guli-guli'
At times, instead of playing football...we played 'bedok'....

During terawikh, instead of praying...some of us played police and thieves...
During terawikh, instead of praying...some of us played mercun and threw them at some guard dogs at an international school nearby our place....
During puasa month, errr.....we ate McD under a bridge at some longkang nearby our homes.....hahahahahaha....
We would be at the mosque for supper to have free foods....

We even played badminton in the middle of the road those days......
We would go camping in Hulu Langat without any proper preparation...
We played football with the all reliable 'Fung Keong' boots....
We would enjoy each other's company every day....

How things have changed drastically now...

The size of the field now has been reduced. Partly it has become a car park. And the other part, it looks like the international school has taken over the management of the field. So, the field is empty every single day...

No kids are playing football nowadays..
No kids playing police and thieves during terawikh...
Kids are now focusing on having the latest PS3 games and perhaps mobile phones...

How sad it is now that you need to pay to play sports. U wanna play futsal, you have to rent the place. You wanna play badminton, you have to rent the hall.

Life was pretty much simpler 15 years ago.......Can we actually make life simpler?

Keys for Unipark

Went to collect the keys to the condo yesterday. And for the first time ever, I managed to see my unit up close and personal. My initial thoughts?....I'm impressed and the finishing looks good...plus, it's very breezt up there on the 12th floor. There's no need for an air conditioner...hehehe

I've been given an inventory checklist by the management. I didn't manage to fill in the check list as yet as I'm making another trip to the condo later in the afternoon. So, hopefully I can do it later. Heheheh. Perhaps, a detailed 'walkthrough' at all the rooms will help me to identify any defects (hopefully very minimal lah)

Ok, with that one out of the way, my next step will be to purchase and install all the lights and fans at the unit. Hopefully, it can be done before the end of the week. After that, I'm planning to partly furnished the place. I've yet to decide on where to buy the furnitures and what have you, any ideas anyone?

With that in mind, I hope the unit is ready for rental by the 2nd Week of September (which is during Hari Raya). That's a good date to target eh? A month to go. Perhaps, I'll advertise it when the lights and fans are all installed. I've yet to decide on the rates but was told that a fully furnished 4 rooms apartment can fetch up till RM2100 per month. Hrmmm.........let's see how it goes lah


Living Room


Kitchen Area


The view from the balcony


The pool as seen from the master bedroom


2nd Room


3rd room


Another view from the balcony

Another article from Yahoo!

Read an interesting article about the 7 millionaire's myths

We all have are preconceptions about millionaires: they're tax evaders who just inherited their money from rich Aunt Flo, and they hang around the golf course all day with their snobby, elitist friends. So what's the average millionaire really like? Here are seven millionaire myths, and the real facts about the ones who seem to have it all.

1. Millionaires Don't Pay Their Taxes
Fact: It is estimated that millionaires, those in the top 1% of earners, pay about 40 percent of all taxes. Current tax regulation shifts may change these numbers to make this even larger than that -- so think twice before accusing the millionaires in America of not paying taxes.

2. Millionaires Just Inherited Their Money
According to Thomas J. Stanley's book, "The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy," only 20% of millionaires inherited their riches. The other 80% are what you'd call nouveau riche: first-generation millionaires who earned their cash on their own. Many millionaires simply worked, saved, and lived within their means to generate their wealth -- think accountants and managers: regular people going to work every day. Most millionaires didn't get their riches overnight when a rich relative died -- they worked for the money.

3. Millionaires Feel Rich
From the outside looking in, you would think that millionaires feel rich and secure, but that's not so. Most millionaires worry about retirement, their kids' college fund and the mortgage just like the rest of us. Those worries are greatest among new millionaires, the people who just recently acquired their wealth.

4. Millionaires Have High-Paying Jobs
It certainly doesn't hurt to be gainfully employed, but half of all millionaires are self-employed or own a business. It does help to have a college degree, as about 80 percent are college graduates, though only 18% have master's degrees.

5. Millionaires All Drive Fancy Cars
You can get that idea of the rich guy in a fancy German car out of your head when you think of a millionaire: They actually drive a Ford, with the carmaker topping the millionaire preferred car list at 9.4 percent. Cadillacs run second on the millionaires' favorite car list
Car payments are an investment with little return, which is why someone looking to grow wealth avoids high-priced vehicles in favor of a more economical set of wheels.

6. Millionaires Hang Around the Golf Course All Day
Those millionaires are all retired, with nothing else to do but hang around the golf course, right? Wrong. Only 20 percent of millionaires are retirees, with a full 80 percent still going to work. It's not as glamorous or fun, but millionaires go to work just like you do; it's how the money gets in the bank.

7. Millionaires Are Elitists
We've already established that most millionaires earned their money and not inherited it, still go to work, drive a Ford, and worry about their kids' college expenses. Sounds a lot like the rest of America, right? Millionaires come in all shapes and sizes -- some may be elitists, but most are just regular Joes who successfully managed their money.

The Bottom Line
Maybe you see a pattern here: Today's millionaires are people who live within their means, budget and spend wisely, and focus on financial independence first. These are habits that take discipline, but ones we can all adopt to begin growing wealth. If these facts prove anything, it's that every one of us can strive to become a millionaire -- you can start by driving your old car with pride.

by Claire Bradley

More on the Hamdan's trip to Perlis

Some pics taken during the trip....


Joe's family....COngrats!!!!


Joe & Wiza....


The place where we had our daily breakfast....



The view from the lobby


Kecik & Me at the Ostrich farm



The lonely road of Chuping


Waking up to a view like this every morning! Taken from our room in the bungalow

The Hamdan's trip to Perlis 2010

Last Thursday, myself together with the other 40 family members spreading from JB, KL & Kelantan went over to Perlis for our cousin's wedding. So here's the story from my perspective....

Thursday: 5th Aug 2010.


Left KL at about 730am. I checked my phone and there was a missed call by my Uncle from Batu Pahat. So I called him back and he was asking where I was. I said, I'm still in KL. Hehehehehe. He then said....'laaa...sempat tak nak main golf ni?' -initially we planned to play golf in Black Forrest later in the afternoon but nobody took the initiative to plan so every one thought the game was called off. Especially me. What do you expect lah kan? 730am still in KL and the journey to the end of Peninsular Malaysia will take around what....6 hours minimum. Anyways, the journey up north was pretty uneventful. The car was just recently serviced and I did break the law at times. Woohooooooooooo. KL to Ipoh took me about less then 2 hours.


Damnnn....Made a quick stop at Sg Perak for some snacks, refuelling, etc..etc...Continued the journey and made another stop at Gurun (I think!!). Although the drive and journey was uneventful, I found this lorry somewhat amusing. Why you may ask? Well, I just wondered, how the hell did this lorry passed the Puspakom test with the amount of smoke coming out from the exhaust...




Anyways...Can't actually remember how many times my uncle called me as they have arrived earlier and were ready to play golf. Hahahaha. We arrived safely in Tasoh Lake Resort at about 1.30pm. DIdn't had the time to properly looked at the room as I was rushing to play golf with them. Wifey was a bit pissed..(sorry sayang!!) I think I was there for only 5 minutes before I was on the road again with my uncles to play golf at Black Forest. That's another 45 minutes drive from where we were.

PLayed ok lah considering I was driving for about 6 hours non stop. To be honest, I didn't enjoy the game as much as I could as I was pretty tired towards the end of the game.


The game ended about 730pm and we had to rush back as all of us have a barbeque party by the lake Tasoh to attend. Again, wifey was a bit mad as we played till late.....Arrived pretty late as it was almost 9pm when we arrived. The food wasn't great to be honest.

No pictures were taken during the barbeque party as we were all attacked by some insects that looks like a mosquito but it's not. There are millions of them. The food was ok... The normal stuff lah...chicken, beef, lambs, hot-dogs, fruits, coffee...etc..etc....

Since I was bloody tired, I decided to head to chalet and doze off.....tired beb!!

Friday: Day 2 6th Aug 2010

Woke up very early in the morning. Felt really fresh. Put on my sneakers and straight I went for my morning jog by the lake. Seriously, it was bloody good!!

Me-still struggling to shred those pounds....

After having nasi lemak for breakfast, some of us went for a boat ride at Timah Tasoh Lake. My mom was very proud as she thought that the lake was named after her. Hahahaha. Anyway, thnx to JPS for taking the trouble in showing us around Tasoh Lake. It was an experience indeed...






Right after the boat ride, we were all entertained by the JPS staff with some seriously delicious Kelapa Pandan. The juice is so sweet and very fresh!!!



After guzzling those kelapa pandan's juice, some of us went to Padang Besar for some serious shopping. We were so absorbed with the shopping activities that we didn't bother to bring along our cameras. Hahaha. Well, I didn't do much shopping anyways but manage to get myself a nice Adidas sweater and the new Liverpool's away jersey. Hehehehe....

An article from CNNmoney.com

Saw an interesting article from CNNmoney.com

Worth a read I think...

How Rich Is Rich?

How much money do you need to feel rich?

Wealth is a subjective concept, but one thing is universal in most definitions: being able to live a comfortable life without having to work.

"I'd like to have enough money so my family and I wouldn't have to work anymore or worry about the necessities, and maybe travel a bit," said Deborah Veale, a Southern California resident visiting New York City.

Veale said she'd need about $10 million to consider herself set.

One woman from Seattle put it at a "couple thousand dollars a month." Another from New York City wanted a billion (although she'd still fly coach.)

Experts peg the figure to be somewhere around $2 million to $12 million in savings.

On the high end of that range, a single person living in an expensive part of the country (say, New York City), wanting to retire at 35 would need at least $300,000 a year to feel rich, according to Steven Kaye, president of Watchung, N.J.-based wealth management firm American Economic Planning Group. He based that number on real-life figures his clients tell him they need.

A yearly income of $300,000 would allow for taxes, a $3,800-a-month apartment (the average price in Manhattan), and a monthly spending allowance of around twelve grand, he said. Not too bad, especially since you could do this all without a pesky job.

To generate $300,000 a year beginning at age 35, you'd need a nest egg of just under $12 million. That assumes a conservative investment portfolio generating a return of 5% a year, an inflation rate of 2.5% a year and Social Security benefits of $25,000 a year starting at age 62.

Over time, the shape of your nest egg would resemble a bell curve, growing in the early years, and then declining as inflation required you to withdraw more money to maintain a lifestyle equivalent to $300,000 in 2010. The $12 million would finally dwindle to $934 when you turned 100.

If you live in a low cost part of the country, $100,000 a year should be enough, said Kaye. In that case, you would need savings of about $4 million to retire at 35.

But if you're willing to stay in the workforce until age 65, a mere $2 million would be enough.

Jon Duncan, a financial planner at Tacoma, Wash.-based Seneschal Advisors, gave numbers similar to Kaye's, and agreed that for most people, the figure would be somewhere in the multi-millions.

"I'm from an era when we'd talk about millionaires and say 'Whoa, he's got it made for life,'" said Duncan. "But that's not the case anymore."

Indeed, few experts think a million is enough to quit your day job.

"Don't retire at 35," he advised this reporter, "you'll need a ton of money."

Keeping Up With the Joneses

Of course, there are other ways of determining wealth besides just what you'll need to live well in retirement.

Although decidedly not recommended by financial planners, one is relativity. Basically, you're rich if you're making more than your brother-in-law.

That appears to be how the government measures affluence. The Obama administration wants to extend tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans, which it defines to be those families making more than $250,000.

But that only includes about 2% of the population, according to the Census Bureau.

Kaye cautions not to confuse wealth with income. Some people can make a million a year, but be spending a million and a half. They are not rich, said Kaye.

"Income relates to lifestyle," he said. "Wealth relates to balance sheets

Reflections

The journey to a million miles begin with a step....

Before you make your millions...you need to be able to make your first RM1. Then your first RM100, then your first RM1k, then your first RM10k and it goes on and on and in........

I took about 10 minutes earlier today to reflect on things that I've done this year and compare it to what I planned to do in 2010 (which was written before Jan 2010). Of course, there are things that went according to plan and there are things that went totally the opposite.

Let's take a look at some of my earlier aims.

1. Having 6 figures balance in ASB- Haven't achieve as yet but should be before the year end 2010.

2. To purchase 2 properties- Purchased only one

3. Play golf as a 12 handicapper- Yeap, managed to play as a 12 handicapper

4. To start doing book-keeping services- In the pipeline. Should commence in a few days time...

There you go, some of my aims. Still have a few but I'll keep it to myself lah....hehehe

Have a nice day....

Unit Trust...again....

Just a quick update on my unit trust issue...

Went to PM's office earlier today to find out about my investments. I requested the statement to be printed out.

I even complained to the customer service about the issue I had with my agent.

Anyways, all is sorted now. I closed my account for the time being in PM. In fact, I've made some money with the little investments that I had. Made about RM4k. Not too bad ehh? My first investment was made in Dec 2008. At least there's profits lah.

Alhamdulillah. So I was told I will receive a letter from them in a week's time and the money will be credited to my EPF account. Perhaps, in 2 weeks time, I'll let my cousin manage my funds for my 2nd cycle of unit trusts investments....

Happy Ramadhan To all

I'd like to wished every one 'Selamat Menyambut Puasa'.

Just some words to ponder from me.....

It's time to reflect more on ourselves
It's time to be more discipline
It's time to have more patience
It's time to be more accomodative
It's time to loose the extra pounds (again!!)
It's time to save more money

It's not the time to buy bucket load of foods at the bazaar ramadhan
It's not the time to be lazy
It's not the time to make excuses
It's not the time to catch up those sleeps
It's not the time to spend loads of money for Hari Raya

Errrr.....that's all I guess...ghehehehe

Agent Unit Trust buat hal....

For the last couple of years....2 years in fact, I've made some investments in unit trust via my EPF account. A friend of mine approached me in 2008 and advised me to invest and after much consideration and weighing the pros and cons, I decided to invest in unit trust...

Perhaps, it was my mistake of not keeping in touch with the agent or perhaps, it was her mistake of not keeping in touch with me in updating me on my investments. Perhaps, the investments were a little too low but it shouldn't be an excuse to not contacting me in the first place.

Fast forward to last week when I met my cousin who happened to be an agent as well. He suggested that I go and check to see any profits (if any) on my investments. Of course, when we talk about investments, we always want to see positive returns (is there such thing as negative returns??). So I make a call to this agent of mine and after trying a couple of times, I couldn't get hold of her. Hrmmmm....HOwever, after about 10 miss calls, I finally managed to speak to her and apparently she said she was in a meeting.

Anyway, since she was so busy, i decided to text her instead.

So here are my 'transcripts' with her:

Me: Hi XXXX. How are you? I nak tanya pasal my unit trust actually. Any updates?

Ms L: Abe...Sorry...Psl unit trust tu, I tak dapat buat any transcations coz I don't have your number. U wanna close the account?

Me: hah? what happened to all the investments I've made all this while??

Ms L: Ada lagi...just i tak buat transaction jer...i can't reach u....EPF came out w new form and need new thumb print..

Me: No profit ka?

Ms L: Not much coz to be honest the market is not good

Me: I don't wanna loose any money. I want to see you asap. Thursday nite after terawikh.

Ms L: Ok will do.

Me: Please do....

So there you go. My short communication with my agent. Previously, when she wanted to see me back in 2008, she was pleading and begging just to talk about unit trust. But I can't actually believed it when she said that she didn't have my number as I'm her client for god's sake....

Actually, it's not so much of the profit but I just wanna know what is happening to my funds that I invested. That's all. Perhaps, it was my mistake of not keeping in touch with her once in a while.

Maybe it's time for me to change agents lah. How do you expect to make some returns with an agent who doesn't have your number. That's very bad. She may need to be re-train by her agency on how to service their clients better...

To my cousin Angah, if you are reading this...please call me...free business for you......

Which one?

Would you pay RM2500 as your monthly installment for your car or the same said amount for your housing loan?

Both are assets. A car is an asset. To be frank...it's a depreciative asset. The value of the car will go down as time goes by. With it, comes the yearly insurance cost, the 3 monthly maintenance costs, etc..etc...errrr....so is a car an asset or a liability?

What about the house? Obviously it's an asset. The value will (depending on the location, demand, etc, etc) appreciate over time. Obviously, the cost of maintaining the house can also be high at times. For a monthly payment of RM2500, I would assume that the property current worth of about RM400,000. Betul ka?

So, which one would you choose? The car or the house?

education fund........

During my recent retreat to Perlis, a cousin of mine approach me about investing in Unit Trust offered by PM. It's something about using my EPF and invest it in Unit Trust. I told him that I've done it with a friend but of course, I'm still on the look out for something else for my daughter.

No doubt, I've already set an education fund for her in Prudential. If I'm not mistaken, that was done 2 or 3 years back. My cousin then told me about PM's education fund and took the trouble to explain to me and wifey about it. Of course, judging from the presentations and numbers, it looks nice on paper.Of course, him being an unit trust agent, he has his interests as well...

Anyways, the figures looks good I must say. The returns (on paper) obviously are higher than EPF & ASB. He told me that the average return is about 12%. He told me that the initial investment needed to do this is only RM1000 and I may add RM100 every month for the next couple of years. If I continually doing this for the next 10 years, the money will grow. TO be frank, it is something that I've been looking for quite awhile.

Let's see if I get this calculation right, taking an average of 12% return annually for the next 10 years. If I decide to invest RM1000 and not doing anything for the next 10 years, I will get about RM3,105. Quite low but considered ok lah if I'm not doing anything. It's still more that what is being offered by ASB or EPF. Hehehe.

ANyway, after a quick browse on PM's website about investing, this is what I found:

Why Should I Start Investing Today?

Today's decision should depend on tomorrow's needs. There is a direct relationship between the amount of money you need to accumulate and the number of years you have to do it.

For example, if you plan to have a RM120,000 education fund within 20 years and expects an annual rate of return of 12 percent, you have to invest only a little over RM120 a month. Wait another 5 years, you will need over RM240 a month. Procrastinate another 10 years, you will have to put in almost RM1,470 each month!

Time can be a real asset when planning for a child's education or our retirement. The more time we have to save, the fewer ringgit we need now. Do not let time slip away.

Source: PM

Of course, I've yet to decide on how much I would want to have in 20 years time. Perhaps, RM150,000 is a good target. After all, the property that I recently bought is for my daughter's future as well. hrmmmmm.........time is money eh?

I've yet to decide on this one yet. It's always good to invest in different baskets at one point or another. Obviously, it's an attractive one and I'm considering. After all, with such a low entrance 'fee' of RM1k and a monthly of RM100 per month, I think it'll help in the long run. Especially when she finishes her high school in 14 years time....

time for some thinking........

phewwwww.....

It's been a week since I last make any updates in this blog of mine....

Well...the reason being, I was away in Perlis last week to attend my cousin's wedding and have to be frank, I had a wonderful time in Perlis. It's kind of a 'retreat' if I may say.

We got ourselves a nice place to stay by the lake of Timah Tasoh, big rooms, and most importantly, we had almost all of our uncles, aunties and cousins coming from all over the county just to attend the wedding...

Will write about that later and for the time being....I'm just wanna have a wee bit of rest after driving almost 6 hours from Kangar to KL...

Have a nice week everyone....

Death on the road...

Again...read Kosmo earlier today. The main story is about the death of two politicians on the road.

Thought it was just another ordinary road accident but police found out that both the driver and the passenger has been shot in the head. The passenger was found with 2 bullet holes.

I was thinking to myself....WTF!!!???? This is not your everyday normal news. It's something else. It's fishy and it's hard not to make assumptions based on what's been reported.

Anyways, I'll keep it to myself as the police has said that no one should make any speculations regarding to the matter. But what I do know is, something is not right somewhere and somehow.

Read it here

Sometimes...life is about paying the bills...

Someone close to me was handed a letter by a lawyer earlier. Reason being.....he was reluctant to pay his credit cards bills of about few thousands for the last couple of months.... I read that letter and just shook my head....This guy said, he is least worried upon looking at the letter. I asks him so what are you gonna do about it? He said...'nothing'...hrmmmm

Another story, a friend told me that someone related to him, still in his/her late 20s has accumulated of about RM20,000 of outstanding credit card bills. That's only after a few years of working.

Yet another story, a friend of mine who used to be my classmate during my uni year, has accumulated of almost RM40k of outstanding credit card bills. He has 4 credit cards if you wanna know...

Myself, I used to have 4 credit cards before. My cc bills at one time a few years back could be somewhere around RM15k. Alhamdulillah, I settled 'em all and now I only have 2. One is for my personal insurance together with kecik's insurance and another one for personal usage (fuel & groceries) with a credit limit of RM5,000. Why RM5k? I don't need anymore than that. Plus, I had to make sure that I don't overspend on things that I do not need....hehehehe....

So, what's the point of me telling all these stories?....well...what i'm trying to say is, if we are not careful with our spending especially having more than 1 credit cards in hand, we are basically digging our own graves. We don't actually feel anything when we swipe those cards but reality kicks in when you receive the statements at the end of the month. We thought that we'll be ok just by paying the 5% minimum payment. Actually we are not. We are only joking with our ownself and buy ourself some time to pay. Who makes the money at the end of the day? Obviously the bank lah.

I remind myself everyday about not spending on unnecessary things and I still do every now and again. I like what my dad jokingly said to me about life..... 'sometimes... life is about paying the bills'. TO a certain extent, I find it very true. When you open your mails, it's either electric bills or phone bills or astro bills or credit card bills or any other bills. The mails could also be an invitation for you to buy stuff as well. Hahahahaha. Very seldom when I open those mails, there's a cheque for me. Perhaps, only one or twice if I can remember correctly.....

Anyhoos....I don't know or have any idea on how some of them are going to settle those credit cards bills. Some of the figures are quite big. Perhaps big enough to start an investment property portfolio. Perhaps, if one were to keep RM10k in ASB, he or she might get at least 5% return on that RM10k. Control your expenses my friends. That's all I can say....

Have a nice day

LO Signed.....VT

Yup...as the title goes.....I signed the LO by RHB Bank earlier this morning. Glad I did it. Like I said earlier, I had some concerns on my loan application for this property but everything went well at the end. Alhamdulillah.

So I was offered a total loan of RM172,441 for Villa Tropika (RM165k-purchase price + RM7.5k MRTA). Can be considered as 100% loan lah. BLR-1.70% with a monthly payment of about RM884 (for 360 months or 30 years) once the building is completed. Hope to sign the S&P soon....

During the small meeting I had with the bank officer, I did enquire about my loan exposure and whether I can make anymore loan applications for the future. He said that shouldn't be a problem provided I have all the documents that he needs. That's good news eh? Well, I'm not saying that I'm going buy another one soon, but who knows kan?

Now it's time to reallign my cashflow and hopefully boost my ASB balance. I'm in the midst of starting my own small book-keeping services for small business owners (will write about this later) and due to some family reasons, I needed to use some cash quite urgently. Things will be a lot better after Raya, Insya-Allah. Earlier in my previous postings, I did mentioned about having 6 figures in my ASB balance. I think, I might have a chance of achieving before the end of the year. Let's see how it goes lah. Obviously, it's been months since I last make any 'savings' to my ASB account. Hehehehe. But, with the help of the minimal OD facilities that I had, I've made more savings this year as compared to what I did save for the last 2 years.

Some of us keep talking about maximizing our ASB and that's what I'm trying to do come Sept 2010. If I can get to six figures balance this year, I'll be a happy man. But, if I can't, I will certainly achieve it before the first quarter of 2011. I've also spoken to wifey about this ASB thingy and she is very keen to get involve. Hehehehe.... Amin Ya Raabbbbb


Have a good week ahead!!