@tinkerbel

Ahh, yes. Most people only think that debt is just debt.

I have to tell you this, there are a few individual out there will know their difference. If the debt you are borrowing will generate income for you, that is good debt.
Likewise borrowing money to buy an LCD screen to show off, that I would consider a bad debt.

Now, he owns some property and one of them is a oil palm plantation.
If he would to go through a recession, his net worth might be down, but that wouldn't break him.

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Added on September 13, 2009, 5:01 pm

You got any debt to equity ratio that you use?

@dreamer
Thanks for the claryfication.

So your bro-in-law still needs some time to turn it around so it generates more income to exceeds expenses?

@dreamer

I always make sure my property cash flow positive, treating it as a business.
That's the reason I always take 30 years loan.

Buying oil palm plantation to me is a business too, if it's run down due to lack of management by the previous owner. It may require the owner some time to turn it around to make sure cash flows in.
So your bro-in-law took a 5 years loan only?

Dreamer, who is ur bro in law ? i am in palm oil too. refinrey. which platation he in ? if location wise, i can buy the fruits from him.

i owned palm oil plantation too, about 40 acres in teluk intan, are you trying to say i am a silly person to buy ?

in your bro in law case, i will say, refinance and buy palm plantation is not a very wise move. Dreamer, you have to understand that an acre of palm plantation will only generate you about 1 tonne of fruits in about 20 days. 1 tonne, before expenses is about rm 400 nowadays.

some other big player, which they allocate from 1000 acres of land is due to they have the positive cash flow and most importantly, they have their own refinery factory.

by the way, palm oil industry in malaysia is a long story. will talk unfinished.

regarding JASON,
I do agree completely with you that if you make good use of debts, it will generate you more income.  GOOD DEBTS are important. for the persons that do not understand GOOD DEBTS, they are just some conservative people, with no business mind.

one more thing, if you want to make huge sums of money with good business prospect, the only solution is OWE THE BANK.

I'm wondering why no one sabotages the trees, or pays employees to do that. It can't be as simple as "hand over 25-30k, wait for returns" can it?

Lawyer1,

You need to reassess your insurance again. It cannot be ignore. It is a essential tool in financial planning.

Disclaimer: I am not an insurance agent but through personal experience I think Insurance is a wonderful financial planning tool. Insurance transfer your risk to a larger pool thereby freeing your funds for more gainful investment.

Another thing is that you do not know your income, you should. It is the first step in cash flow management. It allows you to optimally allocate your financial resources.

Xuzen.

Pai, thank you,.... well, I guessed I am not a very good prop investor, I am not comfortable to go through the risks of this investment again.

Gentlemen, Xusen, Dreamer, thank you and appreciated your comments. I hoped ther will be more forummers here who will help top comment for me. I too always try to provide my advice where possible and I think productive.

Dreamer, many thanks again. On your recommendation, if you look at my portfolio, I only have 542K in the local Gov't bond, well that's those fixed-price bonds (ASM and ASW2020, no AS1M), and most of my money is invested overseas.

Would you recommend that I take out this 542K too and take them out ? I was thinking, after all, the investment with PNB is quite safe with yearly 'okay' dividends, but don't know for how long more-lah,....  

Yes, I did think of the Critical Illness policy too previously, okay, you confirmed it. But why insure so much, 1 Mil to 5 Mil ?

Actually there is one more 'exposure' in my plan - childrens' overseas studies. I do hope to be able to send them to, say, North America,... quite expensive, and if the course is a major one, eg medicine (if they can study-lah), then by the time they grow up, I'm sure the tuition fees and the living standards would have been very high,... around 1 Mil Ringgit for the whole course, perhaps ?

Of course, another course of action I can take is to start applying and working towards being a PR in the selected country.

Other than the above, well,... I would think I am pretty set-up for the rest of my life,....

Please do advise, Sir,... hmm no one else seems to be helping me here except Dreamer, Pai and Xusen,... hoping for more advice from others too. Thank you,....

do u mean PBB share or Public Mutual Fund?

Foreign Currency FD : 1.10 Mil at current exchange rates, set to go higher

90% of your money to oversea? investing the stocks there?

No, I invested directly in the country concerned and yes, in Sgp,... have been doing so for many years, started during the currency control years (Malaysia).

But would like to share some points here though, 'cos, it's not all good when putting the money only outside of Malaysia. Why ?

1) If you put directly in the country concerned, you get taxed quite heavily by the gov't of that country... say, 10% on your FD interest in Australia, and 4.5% in NZ (and that is if you have enrolled for that special savings scheme, (can't remember the name,... 'cos I registered for it sometime back and just left the money there), otherwise, the Kiwi gov't also whack 10% off your interest.

Alternatively, if you put in Malaysia or Sgp, the tax is zero,...

2) If you put in an FCFD (Foreign Currency Fixed Deposit) in Sgp, the interest is lower compared to if you put in an FCFD in Sgp, of course muct compare apple to apple-lah,... same currency and same tenure/duration.

Check it out for yourself - compare Sgp's Maybank vs Malaysia's Public Bank (PBB). PBB will give you a higher rate.

The biggest risk in the world is not taking any risk, everyone agree?

Dreamer,... thank you for the insights and the focus - Wealth Preservation,....

Put it this way : if I am to worry about the amount of money I have in MY, then there is too much to worry about,... don;t forget I have a company too which does not have liabilities (no loans whatsoever), has quite a sizeable customer base and PB value.

So, add-up all I have in MY, how to change-over to Sgp or other countries ?

Can't do much-lah about all these, so for me : just go day-by-day and look forward to working in another country, say Canada. ... New life, new things, no more boredom,....

And then start building another base there and when children study there in future also cheaper-lah,....

What do you all think of my plans ?  Good or not ???

...dreamer,.. Thank you and you are right about the 3 points,... will give it some thought.

As for the transferring of money, well,... my strategy is slightly different : I intend to migrate there first at this moment, fnd a job there and start building-up my residency in the country-of-choice to earn my Citizenship. Then when my children grow up, I'll be able to enrol them into the U's and the tuition fees will be much cheaper compared to a foreign student's.

I assumed not many parents take this step, guessed I'm a contrarian in this respect,...

Dreamer, u r sending a very wrong message here, by encouraging people to channel out their money to overseas as much as they can, i really wonder if u r a true malaysian? if u hate the government and malaysia, why r u still living in this country? form your previous posts i guess u r very loaded and can live in other country comfortably.

You are sending the signal that we are going to have a World war III malaysian version, holding asset and cash in this country is unsafe and better run as quickly as possible to overseas and everybody if they can channel out all the money it will be better. DOn't you think your opinion is bias to those who still love this country and not rich enough to migrate to other country? Many ppl are still cant afford to pay their monthly utility bills, not to think about channel out their wealth out of the country......

guys, any comments of my monthly usage and savings?

Hi there,

I am new at calculating my networth. So here goes. Advice appreciated.

I only have 1 source of income at the moment:
Income: Average 6.5k after tax/epf
Expenditure (per mth):
Rental + Utilities = 400
Meals = 600
Family = 1100
Car = 500

Assets:
House = 0
FD Emergency Money = 20k
FD Short term (waiting to put into investment) = 18k
Cash at hand = 5k (not inc some other cash notes I used to travel overseas)

Liability:
Car loan outstanding = 11k (inc all interest)
PTPTN outstanding = 24k (paying minimal rate at the moment)

I just graduated late last year and have a good 30 years in front of me. Any businessman love to share knowledge with this young man?

Then when I buy house....

So everyone is indebted to the banks la. No wonder some bankers I know is so rich.

Everywhere else is the SAME. Which country has NO corruption?

I assumed not many parents take this step, guessed I'm a contrarian in this respect,...

I see many parents think of getting enough funds to send their children for further studies, or hoping that a student loan or a scholarship would come along, not one who prepared himself for migration, study a foreign language to do so and prepare the financial resources to self-sustain while looking for a job.

Company Directors whom are my clients, relatives who are normal wage-earners, MNC executives or self-businessmen,... all fall into the above category. To them, making money comes first.

That's why I said I am a contrarian in this respect, especially at my age. If young men, without families, or students studying overseas - differentlah,... they will think of going away easily, nothing to loose, right ?

Plan B is simple : I return to Malaysia to stay, manage my investments in Singapore and continue my practice, in fact, continue to enjoy life again,.... But no, I will not need Plan B. I will succeed in Plan A.

Lawyer 1, i agree with u that our top politician may channel out their wealth overseas, this money i believe are somehow maybe illegal money collected from the country. So there is a strong reason for them hiding their illegal income outside the country. The clear example was our ex-MB of Selangor was caught in Sdyney airport holding AUD2.4million cash. But for a legal tax resident like us i dont think we should channel out so much money outside as what dreamer suggested (80-90% of our wealth). I do have some money in overseas too, but not much compare to in M'sia, as i still comfortable to keep big portion of my $ in the country that i live and love.

i always think that it is good to send children to study abroad if the parents are afford to do so, this will broaden their view and knowledge/exposure. I have no objection in doing that, for me 17 years education (up to SPM) in the country is good enuf. I did not get a chance to study abroad but will given the chance to my future kids.

A) Most gloom and doom prediction never materialise. Based on what do you say Malaysia's economy will CRASH? When you say it is not safe to keep money in Malaysia, you are talking about a total collapse of the financial system here. Why so pessimistic? I THINK Malaysia will be here for many more generations to come.

C) You don't have to boycott by RUNNING AWAY from Malaysia. There are forces at work to counter check the inequality.  If we do not achieve equality in our lifetimes, it does not matter. Let our children continue to fight for betterment of the country. However, if you really like to LIVE in another country, by all means do so, but please do not say that you migrate because you BOYCOTT NEP. That is quite CHILDISH.