OMG you only get 1.7k after graduate? you should make some changes and do something on yourself.

My opinion is that you should take baby steps to start with. Given that you have 3 more years before earning any real income, i suggest you keep that 50k in FD for the timebeing.
How much do you know about property/stock/commodity investment and how much do you know about starting up a business? If you dont know much then you should invest in yourself first. Invest in yourself by reading investment related books, learn about financial planning and money management. This is the most boring step in financial success but it is also the most vital step. Talk to more experienced people, observe and listen to different ideas about money management.

If you are to start a business now, can you afford to lose 20-30k? do you have extra income to support your business or investment should it fails?
The other thing you have to consider is time. How much time have you got. You need to sacrifice lots of time to start up a business, never trust anyone with your hard earned money. Its a gift from your mum, you should be extra careful with it. I reckon the best thing you should do now is to invest your time in your studies, in yourself, learn more about finances. Then take your first step once you feel confident enough (my opinion would be after you earn your first paycheck).

Also don't forget once you graduate, in order to achieve more in your career, you need a lot of time and money as well (ie if you are keen to pursue specialty training).
Good luck.

I am in my second year of working, and heres my cash flow statement:

Income:
Salary - 5000

Savings & Investments:
Savings, Unit Trust, Precious Metals, Stocks - 1300

Expenditure:
Masters study - 1500
Rent & utilities - 400
Parents - 400
Insurance - 200
Transport - 300

Pocket Money - 900

hoping that in the long run, the stock i own could generate me some side income.


This post has been edited by ballackahn: Aug 30 2012, 05:30 PM

Tauke wong, what do u think of the following:

Me, Freshgrad worked for 2 months, BT income about 3K to 3.5K depending on commission.
Gf, Freshgrad also, worked for 2 months, BT pay 2.2K fixed.
Our practice is to think of us as 1 entity, meaning all my GF's salary will be spend on whatever necessary, while all my salary will be untouched and saved in the bank.
What do you think?

---

Added on September 2, 2012, 10:34 amOh ya and we're both 22 this year.

Personal Balance Sheet:

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Added on September 2, 2012, 8:54 pmThis post has been edited by B u B u: Sep 2 2012, 08:54 PM

er.. bro BuBu & partner, i'm no tauke leh (although i like eating tauge ) - just a worker ant like 80% of the world's population

Ok onto the numbers and "opinion-ating":
1. Concept & Approach
Congratulations to your partner & U on having such thinking & approach - a truly "one for all & all for one" + a great savings and wealth generating approach too.
In addition, both of U didn't fall into the "car trap" - a SERIOUS destroyer of wealth in Malaysia, especially when it can cost nearly 1/3 of an apartment.
U sure both of U are 22?
Dagnabit - i wish i had such discipline & thoughts in my younger & dumber days, thus wouldn't have gotten into so much kaka

2. Numbers
er.. what's "BT Income"? My apologies - old uncle here have not heard such terms used with other fellows hehe. I'm not "too in" so to speak.
I'm assuming it's net income here yar.

A very good savings rate 57%+ of net income!
er.. i'm assuming PTPTN loan is being repaid as well in your total expenses yar


Extrapolation of your cash investments/assets, based on average returns pa 7% + average inflation pa 4% and NO INCREASE IN SAVINGS pm!
Realistically, as one's salary & commission grows, savings can grow.


Extrapolation of your EPF and EPF-related investments

Looking at BOTH the extrapolations of EPF-related & cash investments, both of U will be reaching financial freedom OR at the VERY LEAST, comfortable retirement.
Note that there's an NPV (net present value) calculated to give U an idea what your future value of $ is worth today.

Now all U have to do is:
1. Keep on being mindful of expenses & saving like what U are doing - half for spending & half for saving
2. Learn how to manage $, risks & invest. this er.. summary (though long-winded) may help http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1577849/+1551
3. Hit your financial freedom level 0 (basics / bare necessities), then go for level 1/2/3 (better retirement lifestyle) if wanted OR just relax
U may want to learn to "give back" effectively as U travel through (1.) to (3.).

Attached is the ZIP of the Excel files snapshot above - for your easy SIMULATION/WHAT IFs if U are Excel inclined.
Please note that the above are just extrapolations and personal opinions, not gospel truths.
Just a thought

Hm.. funny, screenshots 2 & 3 black only, even though checked and re-uploaded..

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Sep 3 2012, 12:15 PM


Attached File(s)
 Bubu___Partner_COMBINED.zip ( 372.78k ) Number of downloads: 73

Woah tauke wong thx for the long reply, go home only digest tonight, now working

BT = not nett, sorry....

And i havent gotten myself any insurance, cuz totally dont know what should I buy, have 0 knowledge in it. But company does provide me with MSIG card...

This post has been edited by B u B u: Sep 3 2012, 02:02 PM

oh heheh BT, like PBT (profit before tax) & PAT (profit after tax) in accounting terms - i baka
well, the % still looks good.
As for the the simulations of cash investments and EPF-related, i'm sure U can play with the Excel provided to "see" the WHAT IFs since you're accounting-related (i assume yar hehe BT from PAT & PBT)

As for insurance (death, disability & disease) - play with the earlier included Excel sheet as well.

For medical insurance, U'd have to do a bit more digging / thinking - on whether cukup or not your current employer coverage AND what U want your hospitalization to cover.
eg. for me, hospitalization is to cover more than $10K surgery BUT less than $100K surgery.
For the $100K onwards stuff, to me that's dread disease liao - ie. i'd use one of my 3Ds (death, disease, disability) to cover that cost and try to save my life, failing which, my 2 other 3D insurances kicks in to take care of my love ones.

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Sep 3 2012, 02:11 PM

2004 the fresh graduate already can get 1.8k

today still 1.7k ????

this is totally wrong !

Excel guru as well Thx for sharing!

Anoneh - bros & sis of the numbers & probabilities, something interesting to share:
1. FIRECalc - a "Monte Carlo" simulation for your Portfolio / Asset Allocation VS savings & investing VS spending
http://firecalc.com/
an example of a filled firecalc - just click on the SUBMIT button to see the chart & results, then tweak as U wish:
http://firecalc.com/index.php?wdamt=77000&...alcVersion=3.0&

2. Tipster - an Excel "Financial Planner & Portfolio simulator"
http://www.prospercuity.com/download.htm

Have fun

Wong Sifu,

i read with great interest & i applaud you for sharing your insight & knowledge with the rest of "ignorant" people like me here. I wonder if you could drop few pointers on my situation.
I’m 34 years old, engineering line.
Drawing MYR12.5 gross, net ~9k.
After minus all expenditure/insurance/loan etc - left around 1k for saving.
Asset (cash/stock/FD) ~ 50k. I’m planning to get married early next year, so bye2 to another 10k or so.
I sold my house in JB ( bad decision) & lost money. Supporting siblings financial, parents & even my ex-gf’s hence not much saving ( yes, I’m very generous hehe)
I have 4 insurance policy
Insurance 1 – MYR200 per mth/ 20 yrs (maturity 2018)
Insurance 2 – MYR200 per mth/ (maturity 2018)
Insurance 3 - MYR100 per mth/ (maturity 2018)
I foresee a return of MYR200k upon maturity in 2018.
All 3 insurance policy above from MICS, supporting my best friend when she was agent back then!
She left some time ago, I have no idea if MCIS will still entertain me if I would like to check the value & possible gain upon maturity of those policies.
But in a way its good cause I don’t really have discipline to save.
Insurance 4 – SGD100 per month / 10 years (maturity 2014), conservative estimation can get MYR50k with 2.5x exchange rate.
Saving per month not much cause a lot responsibilities, supporting parents, wife to be & lifestyle.
EPF ~ 100k, just started working in Malaysia for the past 3 yrs. All this while in SG no CPF
Credit card debts – 5-6k
Btw, I’m planning to marry my Muslim GF hence I would be eligible to invest in ASB.
I do not know if I should take loan to invest in ASB, I read some said not worth it while some said go for it.
What would be your advice to me on how i could further maximize my gain for future?
many thanks

<looks left><looks right><points to self>
moi?
"Seefood" here, no sifu, coz i'm still "ignorant" about lots of stuff and details in the personal finance & investment world

Hm.. just an overview opinion yar, coz not much details/data to chew on:
1. U seem to know that U have discipline issues with saving & investing for future, thus U forced yourself via insurances.
That's a good start.
However, do U know what type of insurances U have?
From your sharing - with maturity date stated, i can just assume it's some sort of endowment. If U don't know the parameters of your insurances, that's dangerous in the sense that U keep putting $ in without "knowing apa binatang itu".

Give MCIS a call & get the details, don't worry - U are their customer. U buy an insurance from them, not your exfriend. She's just the "sales channel".

Also, be aware that endowments is literally "better than nothing", though with a slightly more effort, U may get better long term (20 years+/-) returns, just by looking into equity & bond funds + ETFs & REITs.

IMHO, discipline issues are easily solved by prioritizing your $ usage.

2. ASB - Muslim does NOT equate Bumiputera.
Just FYI - in case U do not know.

3. Be aware when converting to marry
Just FYI - in case U do not know, your Will if any, will be useless upon marriage (to anyone).
In addition, as a convert, from my understanding, your non-Muslim parents & siblings will have very little "coverage" under Wasiat.
Worse still is if U don't even have a Wasiat - your parents/siblings may be left out in the cold should any untoward incidents happen.
Sorry for bringing this up yar - i'm just a pragmatic contingency fler, from your sharing i assume that your family is quite reliant on U economically, thus the "heads-up" for U to plan ahead.

4. All "special" investments for Bumiputera
Assuming your future-wife is a Bumiputera, not just a Muslim, from my reading and experience (cousin married a local Malay), to get the "special investments" / privileges, those must be in your wife's name. Again, things may have changed now lar - cousin-experience was several donkey years ago.
Given that if it is still true - U may have a "single point of failure" (engineering techie talk) yar.
Thus, don't go crazy/overboard leveraging on those "special investments".
Taking loans for ASB is worthwhile assuming the loans are those "special loans" with low rates - eg. say ASB sure die die give at least X% back yearly, the loan should preferably cost less than X%-2% pa.
Please also keep in mind - if/when U take other loans like mortgages for own home or property investments, please check whether your ASB loan thinggy is factored in by the banks for your amount eligibility. Sorry yar - i'm unsure coz i can't do ASB loans, thus didnt bother checking whether it impacts property loans and stuff. Logically speaking, it should though.

5. Things to Focus On
I think the biggest impact for U would be to focus your attention & energy on:
a. Money management - spend less than U earn, save for creating and emergency buffer & invest for the future
b. Clearing your Credit Card debt (U make/save about 18%pa +/- just from this!)
c. Learn about investing - asset allocation, stocks, REITs, bonds VS FD rates. Calculate what U need for retirement
d. Invest (hopefully not via insurance products - those are for coverage OR minimal cash planning)
e. Plan for your estate

Hope the above helps with some thinking/planning
Just a thought

Dear (Mr.) Wong,
Thank you for your prompt reply esp in regards to conversion.
On the ASB, i can confirmed that converted Muslim is eligible.
& yes, it impact loan eligibility amount.
On the insurance, yes i will schedule an appointment, i have my doubts that the local branch could assist me. No offense but most insurance agent are merely salesman to me.
On EPF, what u reckon is the best way. Dont touch AC2 & enjoy safe dividend, dump on appointed unit trust management or invest on property?
Many thanks

Thanks for your sharing on the ASB, Muslim & loan impact info.

EPF?
Personally i'm "draining" it out:
A/C 1 --> Amara --> KLSE (used to be Public Mutual but now i want to up my REITs, thus self-directed KLSE invesment via Amara)
A/C2 --> Monthly mortgage payment

I wouldn't recommend either to U unless:
a. U know what you're doing
b. For A/C2, monthly withdrawals goes into your bank a/c, not direct to mortgage a/c.
Thus, if U have no money management discipline, U'd most probably blow it instead of paying down your mortgage or investing it properly (to beat your mortgage interest)

Just a thought

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Sep 8 2012, 02:41 PM

Apologies for my ignorance.... but epf a/c 1 can withdraw? what's Amara?

You answered a forummer who made the post in 2010,

EPF A/C1 can be withdrawn for investment purposes IF U meet certain criteria.
Please go to KWSP's website, search and read - too basic and long to explain here.
To reduce or vanquish ignorance, searching and reading's the best temporary antidote

Amara = Amara Investment http://amararose.com/

Wong sifu,
I'm currently 25 years old, earning 25.k per month. After deduct the expenses, I have roughly 1k saving. I had invested 7k in bond fund with 4-6% return.  However, I was thinking to invest in other which will give me higher return like 20-30% annually?  I hope can further maximize my saving. Many thanks to ur advice in advance.

er.. no sifu here bro, just an average worker.

Hey, U are 25 & earning 25k/month BUT with only $1k savings after deducting expenses?!
I think all U need to do is focus on increasing your $ management skills - $1K/$25K is very low. Perhaps U can share on how U manage to earn so much, so fast?

In addition, i've no idea how to get 30%pa returns annually consistently, other than doing a biz. However, a biz's return may also not be consistent.. but i digress, i'm no bizman thus can't help U much.

Sorry, typing error!!!! Is 2.5 k..