Nov 2011

Right.....

It is now Nov 2011. In a about an month and a half's time, we would celebrating the new year.

New year means new resolutions. New aims, new objectives and so forth....

I think it's a good time to sit down and jot down your achievements for the last 11 months or so. Not to forget, to write down the things that you should've done and the things you wanna do for the next couple of weeks....

Perhaps, it's a good time to start planning what you wanna do for 2012.

For me, in terms of investing, it has been very 'stale' especially from the property side. No doubt that I've save some money that I invest in various places but I think I could do more....Earlier, I planned to add another 2 properties under my name but haven't be able to do so. Nahh, I won't blame it on BNM with their ruling but I blame myself. It's ok as I think I learn my lesson.

2011 for me is about discovering new things in investments especially being a landlord. Previously, you only read stuff from the books and hope you learn bits and pieces from it. But to be honest, nothing beats experiencing it by yourself. There are things that I should've done but for some strange reason or another, I didn't.....

Whatever it is, I thank Allah for opening my eyes in becoming an investor. I had nothing prior to 2008. Nothing...Zero....Zilch...even my ASB balance was pretty depressing to see....I had very limited savings.....but now, I guess, I can be a little proud of the efforts that I had put in for the last 3 years. However, I do realize that my journey is still at its infancy stage. I hope I can double up my efforts, take a wee bit of risk and pray a little harder for 2012....

Some time, my friends asks me why would i be an investor (part time that is....)...My answer is simple, to make sure that the financial being of my daughter is taken care off when the time comes. Having a kid changes your perception towards life. Especially when you start to think about her education, her needs as well as her wedding day. Hahahaha. I'm told not to worry about it but how can I not...:P

Anyway, at this moment, all I'm thinking is to maximize my wife's ASB savings. If I can achieve that, that's a big, big achievement. Hehehehe. On my part, since I wasn't able to purchase a property this year, I might do it next year....but having need to pay 30% deposit with your own money, I don't think it's a wise move....Thank you BNM!!

Have a nice day

A casual conversation over ciggy break

I just had a casual conversation with a colleague about 30 minutes ago....The conversation goes like this...

Me: Eh bro, heard that your wife's pregnant...Betul kah?

Mr T: Yeah man....(muka blank jer)

Me: So congrats la daddy-to-be

Mr T: Thanks man, but I have some worries lah...

Me: Worry pasal apa?

Mr T: Having kids nowadays means money.

Me: True...true...

Mr T: How's your kid?

Me: She's in playschool now...

Mr T: How much eh the fees?

Me: Quite a lot if you ask me. But we always have options, whether to send it to Taska or the more expensive private ones...

Mr T: I think I better start thinking of doing some savings plan for the kid lah...

Me: You should bro, and you better start now.

Mr T: I need someone to guide me a wee bit. Coz, saving money in the bank's savings account doesn't give a good return...

Me: Well, again....we have options...we have FDs, ASWs or unit trust. But if you have RM20k-RM50k now, we can start investing in shares or IPOs. Hehehehe

Mr T: hahahaha...but seriously, i need to start something lah...

Me: You do.....and I can help you a bit in making those decisions...

Before we end our 'short' conversation, we finished up 3 sticks of cigarettes (I know, I will quit next month!!). I briefed him on the options that he has especially in investing in unit trust and he seems to be interested. I told him to take his time and talk about it with his wife and make the right decision for him and his family...

I did highlight the importance of saving money and put it in a place where it can give you better returns in the future. I try not to be too technical but I did mention that the value of a RM10 now won't be the same as the value of RM10 in 5 years time.

So to be honest, we can't tell people what to do with their lives, but what we can do it show that there are a lot of ways that we can generate passive income just by saving a small portion of our income.

I hope to write about compounding and education fund later when I get back from dive trip. Hehehe

Have a good holiday everyone!!

Inflation.....A threat?

When I was a lot younger, my dad used to give me RM2 per day for my daily expenses at school. That's the money that I used to buy the Hotplate Mee, sirap ais and some other stuff. If I can recall correctly, when my little sister went to school in the 2000's, it was RM5 per day. It is possible that some kid will need RM10 per day in 3-4 years time. Plus...I can still remember that you can get a cigarette at 30 sen per stick in the late 90s. Nowadays, it's RM1 per stick. Heck...I know of a makcik who now sells her kuih tart nenas for RM1.50 per piece!! Imagine if you order 20 piece of tart nenas from this makcik....it'll cost you RM30!!!

To me folks, these are what I call inflation.To be a little bit more technical, it can be further defined as a rise in the general prices of foods and services in an economy over a period of time. As inflation increases, every ringgit that we own buys a smaller percentage of a product or services. In a layman's term.....our purchasing power decreases.....

The most well know measures of inflation would be CPI (Consumer Price Index), which measures the percentage change in the cost of purchasing goods and services by consumers over a period of time

Our very own inflation rate at 31st July 2011 is 3.11% as reported from tradingeconomics.com. However, it is good to note that we have to calculate our very own personal inflation rate to have a better and clearer picture as to how inflation affects us individually...

Based on what I understand, there are 2 reasons for  inflation which is high demand, low supply and the rise in the production costs. Basic economic tells us that when there is a demand for a products or services but shortage of supply, the price will go up. If I can recall correctly, this is what we call demand-pull inflation. When the price of raw materials go up, production cost will increase which in turn will increase the price so that companies maintain their profit margin. Furthermore, their workers will demand higher salaries as the company will pass these costs to the consumers.

So when inflation increases, logic tells us that our purchasing power decreases. A RM1 may buy you a teh tarik 3-4 years ago but now, that's no longer the case. In fact, we may find that in general, the price of most products and services are rising by the hour. Just 2-3 days ago, it was announced that the telco's company will be charging 6% tax on the consumers. In fact, it's even worse when the interest rates going up as loans will cost more which in turn, we have to pay more.....

Hence.....how do we beat inflation (if possible)...

The ways to beat inflation that I can think of now would be:

1) Start investing in the correct investment

As we can see from the graph above, our current inflation rate is at 3.11%. So, for ease of reference, we have to be smart and ensure we invest in places that can give us better returns than 3.11%. What's the rate of return for FD nowadays? Is it 3%? So, a good place to start would be ASB, ASD and Unit Trust

2) Diversify

Almost everybody knows this rule of investing. Never, EVER, put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, you need to diversify your investments portfolio. You may have 40% property investments, 40% unit trust investments, and 20% other investments. You may also split your unit trust investments into equities or bonds or whatever....

3) Invest extra cash in hand to ASB or balance fund. Better still, invest in gold.

4) Debt management. It's time to reduce debt to a minimum level as interest rates usually increases in tandem with inflation. Perhaps, it's time to settle off those highest rate loans as quickly as possible....

So there you go, my brief thoughts on inflation. Obviously, there's more to it that I have just wrote but the bottom line is whether we like it or not, we just can't ignore the importance of saving money. Hence, do what you gotta do and have a nice day....

Sembang2

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my car to be serviced, I bump into an old friend.

It was nice to meet him again after all these years. He used to be a member of a local 'underground' band ages ago but has now became a 'successful' marketeer attached to PNB.

So there we were talking about the glory days back when we were young. Anyways, when we were talking, one of the topics that we spoke about was investment. He asks me whether I've invested before and obviously my answer was 'yes!!'.

He was saying something it's mega important to invest and spread the risk if you can and try not to focus on one particular area. He spoke at length about investing in unit trust as there one too many funds and we have to be on our toes to pick the best one that suits us.

He then laugh as we were talking about investment as he said, he never thought that one day, we will sit down and talk about investment. Those days, the only thing we speak about was music and hang out at Uptown. How time flies and he said we're definitely getting older!! Heheh

I was pleased to see him after all these years and glad he is 'happy' to be where he is now. As for me, there are things that need to be done. Obviously, I can't buy another property now so for the time being I'm focusing on maximizing Wifey's ASB. She's got a long way to go before we reach the RM200k mark but we'll get there.

To be honest, I've not been able to save as much as I wanted to as there will always be something that need to purchased or paid whenever I wanna save some savings. Hahahaha. Anyways, hope to clear out those 'debts' before the end of the year and hopefully, I can invest more in ASB and properties next year.

Pikir lagi........

Now that I own several properties, I can no longer take up a housing loan under my name as I have so many loan commitments. Obviously with the recent Bank Negara's instruction and ruling, it makes it harder for me to purchase one or two more properties...

Hence, it got me thinking, how am I going to add a few more with all these restrictions around me. I To be honest, I would love it if I can add up a few more before I reach the age of 35. Hehehe. Anyways, I thought of using my wife's government loan to purchase at least one but decided not to as we want to save it to buy our dream home. Plus, I can have the option of using someone else's name but for me, it doesn't sound right and I yet to have the interest in using someone's name to buy a property for my own gain.

I've spoken to some friends and they say now it's not the right time to buy new properties. I don't know whether to agree or not to agree. For me, it's about having the capital and buying at the right price and right location. Of course property prices in Klang Valley especially have risen to an unbelievable level. At times when I take a look at the property listings in the media, I would shake my head in disbelief. Maybe I'm wrong but it's getting harder and harder to buy properties nowadays. One of the major cause would be the price....

So, the question is, how will I be able to add a few more properties under my belt? I was thinking the other day, should I open up a company and 'transfer' all my properties into that company? Can I do that? Is it permissible? If I'm allowed to that, maybe, just maybe, it can free up some space in my loan commitment, which will then allow me to buy another property. Errr...sounds confusing lah....Am I confusing my self? I doubt whether the bank will allow such things.

I better start putting my thinking cap on. There must be a way out of this. There must be a loophole somewhere and somehow.....

Have a good day

A visit to PNB

Earlier today, I went to PNB with wifey. She lost her ASB book for some strange reason. I think, it has been a year since I last went there. Maybe more....Hehehehe.



So we were at PNB about 9am and the place was practically empty except us. .... I would've thought that the place will be full of people. Nevertheless, we proceeded to the counter and she got replacement book after paying RM20.

Since I was there, I spoke briefly to one of the staff about ASW & ASD. Since I can't open up an ASB account for kecik as she is only 4 years old, I decided to open up ASW account for her. Infact, the staff told me that I have 2 options for kecik. Either open up Amanah Saham Didik or Amanah Saham Wawasan. She suggested that I go for ASW as it is 'easier' to get and the dividend given for both funds is more or less the same i.e. 6% (for the last 3 years, the average div was 6.55%).

So, as a start, I invested Rm200 in ASW for kecik. I've yet to decide on how much I would like to save every month in her ASW but as I always said, a little bit of everything can be good in the long run. Maybe, just maybe when she turns 12 in a couple of years time, I might change her funds to ASB.

As I was on my way back to the office, I was thinking that we are very lucky to have such facilities & opportunities to save and get reasonable returns in the long run. I would think that it's a waste if we don't use the opportunity to improve our wealth a bit or at least, to have something for the future especially when we are talking about retirement plans as well as the well being of our children.

Of course, we can't guarantee what will happen to us in the future but what we can do is to be well prepared and keep on improving.

Have a good day

Filling System

As I was wondering on what to write about earlier today, suddenly I gazed at my filling cabinet and saw some of my personal files. And then, it struck me that how important it is to have a reasonable filling system for your future reference.

It's an odd topic to talk about but to a certain degree I think it's a very important one as it helps you greatly in minimizing the hassles of finding documents, especially the important ones when you need it.

Right, let's get straight to the point. Why does a systematic filling system helps you in the long run?

1) It saves you time
2) Minimizing the hassles of looking for documents
3) Helps you being a wee bit more efficient
4) You know where and what you are looking for when it matters

There are a lot more reasons on why you should have a proper filling system but those stated above are the obvious ones for me.

When I started working way back in 1999, I used to file everything in one 'ABBA' file. It includes the bank statements, P45, P60, Salary Slips, Credit Card EPF, tax, insurance, ASB, etc..

As time went on, I had to create a file specifically for the Credit Card bills, since I owned about 5 credit cards at one time.

When I first started buying a property, I told myself that I need to create a folder/file specifically for 'Property'. At that time, I have no interest in purchasing more properties as my income was pretty limited. When I took home the S&P agreements and stuff, it was clear that I need to file it properly.

Again, as time went on and as I progressed, I began to purchase more properties via auction as well as sub-sale. Hence, there was a need for me to have separate files for each properties that I bought. Now that I have a few properties, I told myself that I need a small cabinet to put all those files. Everything about a particular property such as the agreements, the maintenance fees, amount due, amount received, etc is clearly filed according to their dates. In fact, I have a summary of payments made for every month for each property so that it'll be easier for me to track my monthly expenses.

Up till today, I have a cabinet that is full with my personal files. Each of them are clearly marked such as properties, Unit Trust/ASB/AHB, Insurance, Credit Cards, ASTRO, Motor Vehicles, Loans & Bank Statements, Alya's School and of course, EPF. I'll make sure that everything is being arranged according to the latest dates so that it's easier for me to look for a particular document in the future.

I dread to think what would happen if I don't have a proper documentation system of my own. I know of some people that couldn't be bothered to file their own bank statements let alone their Salary slips. It certainly have helped me in so many ways. For example, although I seldom do it, with proper filling, I can reconcile my bank statements whenever I have the time.

In this particular period of time where everything must be in documented in black and white, a proper filling system helps a lot especially when there's a dispute. You might think that it won't happen but when it does happen, at least, you're prepared for it.

I do not know whether everyone's doing it or not, but what I do know is, it has helped me to be a little bit more systematic and in control. To be honest, it's not a rocket science kinda stuff. It's about putting things at the right places so that when the time comes, you can easily search it.

Have a nice day

Unit trust investment

I made an additional unit trust investment again this morning through my Account I in EPF.

So far, I've made my unit trust investments in 4 different funds and at this current moment, the performances for the funds looks encouraging. To be honest, all my investments are being invested in Islamic-based funds.

Obviously, unit trust is a long-term investments and usually we can see the returns in 5 years time. So, now the waiting game begins and hopefully, it'll bring some returns.

I still remember when I made my first investment in 2008. I started with RM5.5k and over the next year and a half my total investment was about RM15k. In Aug 2010 I decided to 'close' the funds and received a return of about RM4k. Not bad lah kan?

So, for the time being, I'll invest in unit trust using my Account I with the aim to 'boost' my EPF savings in the long run.

Some of my friends has asks me whether is it safe to invest in unit trust? I would say, it's another form of investment and you are diversifying your investments by investing in unit trust. After all, you're investing with your EPF money. Rather than keeping in EPF and get about 5%-6% dividend, might as well, invest a little bit in UT to get better returns and boost your EPF savings in the long run. Hehehehe

Anyways, just remember to 'Never put all your eggs into one basket'.

Have a good week ahead....

Becoming a millionaire

Cool topic eh?

Or is it catchy?

Well...I hope it is....

So the question is....how do I become a millionaire or how would I be able to achieve that solid RM1mil mark?

There are few ways....

1) Business....
2) Savings..
3) Lottery...
4) Robbery..
5) Corruption...
6) Swindle...
7) Keep on dreaming......
8) Property investments.....
9) MLM.........

Well....saying and writing it easy (in theory that is)....and I'm gonna touch on being a millionaire through savings and compounding.....I don't think writing about becoming a millionaire through other channels will be right for the current moment and of course, almost everyone knows that investing in properties will certainly help ...heheheh.....So here we go...

Let's assume we have a savings of RM1500 and we want to have RM1,000,000 in 14 years time. So how much do we have to save a month or a year to get that RM1mil. Let's be conservative and assume that the annual interest rate will be constant at 7.5%.

According to the Compound Interest Calculator, you will need to save RM3,333.33 per month or RM40,000 per annum for the next 14 years to achieve that mark.

Let's take another example, Abu is 34 years old. He plans to retire at 55 and planning to have RM1.5mil as his retirement savings. So how much does Abu has to save from now so that he will able to attain his financial objective?

Again, assuming an annual interest rate of 7.5%, he needs to save around RM2,460 per month for the next 21 years or RM29,500 annually.

Play around with the calculator at the link and you'll be amazed with the power of compounding.

Let's take a look at another example. Assuming you open up a new ASB fund for your soon to be born kid. Every month from the day she or he was born, you put RM200 until she or he is 21 years old. If you do that constantly, at the age of 21 and assuming an annual interest rate of 7.5%, your kid will have about RM92k worth of savings. A good way and amount for him or her to start their life. I wished I had such kind of start but there's no point looking at the past kan?

Again, all of this looks rosy in writing and in theory and I admit that sometimes, it can be difficult to do it in reality. Whatever being said though, it all depends entirely on what do we want to achieve in life. For some, they couldn't be bothered at all and for the other some, they have made the necessary preparations to face the future uncertainties.

I will be very happy if I could save RM20,000 per year. If I do that consistently over the period of....let's say 14 years, I may have about RM500k. Will I do it?....I'll try but my main aim is always to ensure to I'll have sufficient funds to use when the time comes.....

So for those who wants to be a millionaire, good luck and start saving (duhhh).....

psssstt...just assume you have Rm5k in hand, where would you put your money to? ASB or Unit Trust?

Education fund....II

When you are married, it is highly likely that you will have children, sooner or later. Make no mistake about it as having children is important and can be a source of pride and joy. My life changed significantly after the birth of my princess way back in 2007. Honestly speaking, I would say, I'm a better man now as compared to what I was before. Hehehehe....

Anyway, after the birth of my daughter, I was looking for a product, be it insurance, investment or education fund for my daughter. I realized that, as parents, I have the biggest responsibility in ensuring that she is well taken care off (in terms of her future education and of course her general well being). Hence, after meeting and talking to few insurance agents, I decided to go with Prudential. So for the time being, all of kecik's insurance, medical and investments fund are currently 'managed' by them.

She was admitted to the hospital 3 times for the last 2 years and I thank Allah for helping me realizing how important it is to have medical insurance for your child. Of course, I'm a bit lucky in the sense that wifey is a government servant and we could choose to send kecik to the govt hospital. Instead, we sent her to a private hospital and with all the medical coverage that she had, I only had to pay a few hundred for a bill that came up to about RM4k. These incident helped me to realize how important it is to have a medical coverage, not only for your child but for yourself as well. Hence, I would certainly advice to everyone, pls get a medical coverage for your children......You won't know when you need it, but when the time comes, you'll be glad that you took the initiative to do it.....

Anyway, life doesn't stop there...unfortunately. You'll need to work hard and smart for the next 20 or 30 years or maybe the rest of your life to ensure that your children gets sufficient and reasonable education. Next to purchasing a house or a home, I would think that setting up an education fund will have to be a priority. Of course, as parents, we want to have the best facilities to be given to our children. We want them go to the best school, mix around with good & reasonable people and for some, we wanna send them to study abroad. Like it or not, all of these will cost money. So...the question is, how are we going to do that if we can't afford? or to make it worse, we did not make an effort to even think about our children's education fund....

I would like to think that giving 'em the best education possible is the most important thing that you can ever 'give' to your child. Not money or even properties but education.

Hence, it is always good to have an education fund. Just like saving 30% of your monthly income to your Savings Account, you may have to put aside maybe 10% of your income for the education fund. The key is, if you have yet to start in setting up any funds for your children, it is always not to late. Start now.

ASB is always an option. Hehehe. If you ask me, I've set up a a different fund for Kecik in PM and I try to put RM200 every month and hope to do it continously for the next couple of years. I do have an option of investing a lump sum of RM10k now and just leave it be in the fund for the next 14 years. If the calculations are correct, and assuming a 12% int rate, she will have about RM50k in her fund. That's quite alright in my opinion. At least, at the back of my mind, I know that what ever happens, there will be some money for her when she turns 18. It takes away some of the headache (I hope).............Having said that, it'll be great if you children are rewarded with education scholarships from the govt. That will lessen your financial burden significantly.

Anyway, I don't wanna be too technical but believe me when I said, through the effects of compounding, a small sum of money that you save each month, can and will grow into a significant amount in the future. As always, start small and start now. RM50 pun jalan..........:p

Have a nice day..........

Borak2....

A friend called me up the other night.

He was asking, whether is it alright for him to invest in Unit Trust via his EPF account.

My answer was....why not? For me personally, it's a good way to invest using your EPF money. I mean, whenever we talk about investing, we must always associate it with risk. There is no investment that is without risk. Even driving a car is riskier....hehehe. I would say...joining a MLM business is way riskier....

After all, the amount invested is not much. Presumably below RM10k(maybe more.....depending on your 'available' amount in Account I). I would say, the risk in investing in unit trust depends entirely up to the investor's way of dealing with risk. Either you're a risk taker or a risk averse. I would call myself as a risk-averse type of person. I'll make sure that upon getting some profit from the initial amount invested, I'll 'sell' and re-invest again. It's kinda hard to explain properly in writing as I'm not well versed in unit trust but I believe that it certainly has helped me in getting some returns. I've been doing it for about 3 years now and so far, it has been reasonably good.....

Anyways, like I said. I do invest in Unit trust and will still do in the future. In fact, I started in 2008. Quite late lah but better late than never. Alhamdulillah, it gave me some returns. Not much but still, a return is a return kan? At least, there's a return from there. Sapa mau kasi extra RM300 or RM2000 or RM1 for that matter without doing anything kan? You work your bloody ass off everyday or work till late at night pun blom tentu your boss will reward you for your efforts...:p

COming back to the topic of using your EPF to invest in UT, I would certainly say, go for it. It might help to further bolster your Savings in EPF in the long run. Obviously you won't be able to use the returns/profits/dividends that you might get as all of it will go back to your EPF account. With a higher amount of money available to you in your EPF account, you can then re-invest it again. Pretty simple idea actually but I'm a wee bit surprised that not many people really see this opportunity.

Anyways, the opportunity is always there for those on the look. Perhaps, this is one of the ways to prepare him or herself for retirement....hehehe

So my dear friends.....go ahead and do it....

A Million Dollar (Ringgit) Policy....

A friend just text me a few minutes ago. In the short text she said, are you interested in the 1 million dollar (ringgit) policy by XXX targeted for high income earners...

Well, who wouldn't lah kan? So I replied, I'm a small income earner so that would strike me out of the list...hehehe. She then replied, it's ok...if you are free, I can see you and we'll talk about the options that I might have for you....

So I said...No problem...

To be honest, I'm interested in listening to what is it all about in the first place. Like I've been saying all this while, I would love to put my money in different baskets (not that I'm having tons of money) so that I can reduce the risk a wee bit....I think, it's another form of retirement product introduced by XXX. Maybe with the policy, one may retire with 1mil in their account...which depend entirely on what he or she will have to save every month....

Anyways, hope to meet her sometime next week...

'Sikit-sikit...lama-lama jadi bukit'

Have a good weekend everyone....

Unipark Condo : A visit

I took the opportunity to visit my apartment at Unipark Condo yesterday evening and spoke briefly with the boys (tenant). Upon a brief 'inspection' all I can say that my unit looks tidy (thank God!!).... I'm pretty happy with the way they've been paying the monthly rentals as well as looking after the place rather well...

It's been 3-4 months since I last went there so I thought it's a good time to go and see the place...

One thing that I didn't like was, when I was about to leave the place, right after coming out from the lift, I heard a loud 'thud'. So I went to look and saw a pile of garbage was thrown from the top floors. The tenants or the owners of the ground floor must be feeling very unhappy with that as these irresponsible jerks throwing rubbish. Bloody hell.....Unfortunately, i didn't get to snap any pictures as I was cheesed-off with what I saw....

Hence, I spoke briefly with the management and told what I saw and how I felt...This sort of behavior is unacceptable....whoever doing it must be fine....heavily fined!!

My tenants told me that the management accused them of putting garbage outside the unit. They claimed that it wasn't done by them but by the tenants living directly opposite of my unit. I said, next time, take a picture of video of the neighbours if possible...hahahah

Villa Tropika: Update

Received a call from the developer earlier today.

The girl told me the SNP documents are ready for collection. So, made my way to Bangi to collect 'em.

At the office, the girl told me about some new development that MCT is doing. She was asking whether I'm interested in purchasing a Semi-D that costs around RM800k.

Erkkk...........800k for a semi-D......how i wish I can say I can afford it......ahh well....not now....in a few years time may be....

Anyways, I also took the opportunity to snap some pics of the apartment. Well, it's not ready (obviously)! But the progress has been good in my opinion...

Ops: Saweet.....

During the CNY holidays, my wife and I took the opportunity to spend our time in Changkat Tin, Perak.

The place never ceases to amaze me everytime I went there. It kept on changing. I still remember my first ever visit to that place. I thought it was interesting and dull at the same time. Hahahahaha....

Well....the place used to be popular when tin mining was the main economic contributor in that area. Maybe during the early 1900's or something like that.

Anyways, one of the reasons that we want back to Perak was to look at some land. Remember my posting about palm oil and land few months back? Well, I know it took us bloody months to go and view the place but have to be honest though, when we went there, I thought the place, the land and the views surrounding the place was magnificent. It's about 5 acres of land. Surrounded by mining pools around it. Maybe boleh buat project ikan keli or udang kalau ada duit lebih....:)

We spent quite sometime hanging out at the place. I felt serene to be honest. I like it....

I've yet to decide on anything but one thing for sure though, I'll surely get myself a nice scrambler and keep it in my uncle's place. Hahaha. The reason being, when we went there, my uncle brought along his Honda C70, which I took the opportunity to ride on it. It's been a year, maybe more since I last rode a motorcycle, and when I rode the C70, it certainly felt good....heheheh.

I know it's wrong, but my little girl rode with me. She sat in the basket. Hahahahahahaha. I told my uncle that we should get ourselves a decent scrambler.

Anyways, back to the main topic, like i mentioned earlier, nothing is decided yet. Lots of factors needed to be taken into considerations. Obviously, finance will be the main issue here. Need to sort out the details, the returns, the monthly cost, bla bla bla....

But one thing though, if I have a bottomless pit of cash now with me, I won't hesitate to buy that land in a blink. Afterall, since I can no longer purchase a property (Thank YOu, BNM!!), might as well, I start to buy a land kan?....

Enjoy the pics

The land has been cleared by the current owner (who no longer has the interest to pursue his sawit project)




Previously, we came here to fish. Manage to catch ikan jelawat once. Hahaha.


Pokok kebabu welcoming us.....Kinda eerie when night comes....:p


If only I have a scrambler..........:(





Both pictures below were taken from my uncle's land situated about 3-4 minutes away. You can see that his project is coming along very well.....

Another article from Yahoo!.........

Read a nice article from Yahoo this morning....Maybe we could learn a thing or two from this old man......

Retirement at 107

Eight years ago, at age 99, Leonard McCracken failed the eye test for renewing his driver's license. He put his Lincoln Continental up for sale and got $1,600. "I sold it in three days -- I got a good price. I love to haggle," he says.

McCracken, who lives in Florida, has been living in retirement since about 1969, when he left a position as a salesman with a now-defunct steel company in Ohio. Since then, he's been living on savings, Social Security and a lifetime annuity that he purchased before he retired. He has never had a pension. At 107, after living in retirement for 41 years, he's still paying the bills and getting by on his own resources.

"Dad never made more than $10,000 a year in his life," says his son Bob, a 73-year-old retired GE aircraft engineer.

How does a guy with modest income manage such a retirement planning feat? McCracken points to a half-dozen basic principles that have gotten him through life and continue to serve him well.

Thrift

In his whole life, McCracken says, he has only owned two new cars. The rest of the time he bought used. He still shops at the thrift store. And he remembers vividly the time that his wife was holding a garage sale and left him in charge. When she returned, he had sold the living room sofa for $100. "I had a very understanding, frugal wife (Dorothy, who died in 2002 at 95 after 75 years of marriage). We gave up a lot of things that other people were buying in order to break even."

Real Estate Investments

McCracken bought and sold 35 houses in his life, including five that he built himself. His son, Bob McCracken, says his parents "always invested in a nice house and that has helped my dad. He is living off the equity in the last home he and my mother owned."

The elder McCracken agreed that buying and selling real estate was a smart move for him. "We didn't make a lot of money in every case," he says. "But we made something and that helped."

What is his advice for current owners of real estate? "It's bad now, but it will come back," he says. "And people who buy now, they'll make a lot of money," he says.

Use Debt Well

During the Great Depression, McCracken worked for a bank. He watched people lose their shirts and learned from it. Throughout his life, he borrowed when he had to, but he borrowed as little as possible, he says, and he paid it back as quickly as he could.

Work Even When Jobs Are Hard to Find

McCracken was unemployed about 45 years ago after his previous employer went bankrupt. He had to take a job driving a truck that paid $5 per day. It was a low point in his life, but between that and a commission sales job that he took at night, he and his family muddled through until he got back on his feet.

Save and Invest Conservatively

All of McCracken's money is in CDs and bonds. He's always avoided the stock market, even when people who purported to know more than he advised him differently. "When the economy tanked, he made a lot of us look real silly," Bob McCracken says.

Stay Healthy

McCracken has hung onto his health and his wits and has had no major medical bills at all throughout his entire life. It has only been in the last year that he's needed a little assistance. And even then, he doesn't need much, his son says.

by Jennie L. Phipps
Monday, January 17, 2011

Rumah...Flat

As I said a couple of weeks back, for 2011, I hope to purchase another middle-cost apartment for investment.

Wifey and I had already discussed the location and we both agree that it's gonna be another good investment for us.

However, due to its location, it's gonna sell like hot cakes. We are pretty sure that most, if not, all the units will be taken up really soon.

The opening for registration is in Febuary and we've been made to understand that we will require to put RM13k for deposit. Quite a lot eh....

Anyways...since I no longer qualify to get the 90% loan, it'll be wifey's turn now. Hehehe. We've also discussed that if this 'project' materialises, she won't be using her government loan but will use the conventional banking loan instead.

Since she is the government, we'll try to purchase our dream home using her facilities. But that can wait lah for this moment....

Anyways, the other day, I received a letter from CIMB stating that CIMB's BLR has been revised 3 times during 2010. Hence, due to these revisions, my monthly installments now needs to be adjusted to RM530.

My thoughts, this is bloody -bullshit!! Hahahaha.

I've spoken to the officer in-charge and have written a letter reinstating that I can only pay RM500 a month. Hehehehehehe. Let's see lah how it goes.....

Have a nice day....

Perbualan Singkat....

Saya: Hallo bro....apa cerrrrr???

Rakan: Hallo...bila mau hantam (golf)??



Saya: Weekend aaarr.....weekday susah aaaa...



Rakan: Apasal? Anak sekolah ka



Saya: A'ah...



Rakan: Wei...kau ada simpan duit kat tabung haji x?



Saya: Simpan duit kat tabung haji tu tak lagi...tapi simpan duit nak gi haji dah mula aaa...



Rakan: Apsal tak bukak account kat tabung haji lagi?



Saya: Urrmm.....blom sampai seru kot....hehehe...



Rakan: Nko ni....abis tuh...ko simpan kat ner.....??



Saya: Few places aaaa. ASB ada, baru start AHB, Insurance-Education policies....Unit Trust..



Rakan: Itu semua haram bro....Aku tak caya semua tuh.....



Saya: huh........?



Rakan: AKu simpan kat tabung haji jer....



Saya: Urmm....kau punya planning utk anak2 kau camana?



Rakan: Alaaaahh.....ada lah tu nanti....



Saya: Ohh.....boleh ek gitu? Dah lama ka kau save kat tabung haji?



Rakan: Baru nak save je.......hahahahaha......



Saya: Hampeeees...........So bila mau hantam (golf)??



Rakan: Mariiiiiiiiiiii............

A short and simple conversation indeed eh?


I have to admit that I've yet to open up a tabung haji account for myself....Maybe it's time lah...Well, to be honest, I've started saving for the trip months ago!!

But, I do wonder about the 'haram' part that my friend mentioned during the short conversation....

I know....religion plays an important role in our daily lives....but it seems, there are 'so many restrictions' that has been set upon muslims in doing certain things in life....

I read somewhere where a fellow bloggger wrote about ASB and its return and there were some comments stating that it's Haram.

I wished not to go into the details of it, but I really think, if we do things correctly, and for the benefit for ourselves, and the people around us, Allah will grant us happines.

''Truly, God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves'' (Quran 13:11)

ASB..........FD

Since it's already known to many that we can no longer use ASB to pledge for overdraft purposes, I was thinking of using Fixed Deposit instead....

I was at the bank the other day signing some document for my ASB loan, and I took the opportunity to enquire about pledging the FD for O/D purposes.

First and foremost, we all know that the FD return is low. Seriously low. About 3% if I'm not mistaken.

Secondly, the bank will give you 1:1 for the overdraft. So if you have RM30k in your FD, you can pledge the amount for your od.

Third, why would anyone wanna do that? Well...for some and for me, OD has helped me a lot in 'enhancing' my financial being. It has helped me in diversifying my investment. So, I was just thinking, if I have some cash to 'spare', I'll put it in FD and then pledge it for OD.

To be honest, my OD account is not ''big'' but it is enough for me to use to spread my investments and my risk in different baskets.....

Hence, I believe, by 'expanding' my OD, I could have some 'ready' cash with me at any one time.

I've yet to determine whether to go ahead with this small 'project' of mine or not.....

Let's see how it goes lah....

hrrmmmmmmm..........investment lagi?

Spoke to a friend about gold investment earlier today....

She introduced me to Public Dinar....& PRU BSN sUmmah

Spoke at length about the advantages of investing in gold & the PRU BSN thingy

Haven't decided anything as yet.....

Need to do some calculation first...& of course some thinking....

Obviously need to choose the right 'instrument' at the right time.....