No, no nerves.

Just wondering exactly why there is any pity involved? Difference of opinion, outlook and objectives in life, yes.

"Pity - The feeling of sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering and misfortunes of others." (from Google).

Pity means your position and view-point is superior, and you are more fortunate than other people. What makes your view-point correct, and hence more fortunate than other people? What makes you think they are suffering and encountering misfortunes?

Just because you don't understand their outlook and objectives in life, it doesn't make them pity-full. It just makes you ignorant.

Wow bringing out the dictionary huh? Are you sure it didn't hit a nerve? C'mon...admit it. You are one of those people who need 'brand' names to bolster their ego or a flashy car to act as an extension of your nether regions. Pity the fool. Oops.

I thought this thread is for (copied from v1):

"the objective of this thread is to
1. for people with financial management problems to seek help
2. for others to share their experience (and help those that need)"

Because of the availability of loans and credit, this is really why we are talking about this topic, right?

Many people have said make sure spending < income, that's a fantastic guideline. Unfortunately, loans and credit can allow people to spend < income PER MONTH, but in the long run, they become poor because of excessive debt and interest eating into their future income...

Some have opinion that ppl have the right to spend and buy whatever luxury goods they want, fair enough - enjoy life you only live once, right?

And some have the opinion why 'waste' money on these 'luxury' things - also valid point.

But the whole point about personal financial management is to grow net worth, not to enjoy life and spend like there is no tomorrow. If we're talking about enjoying life, I think there should be another thread maybe titled "How to Spend and Enjoy Life to the max"

Stanley/Danko's book has a fantastic formula at the beginning of their book:

Avg Net worth = Total annual income * age / 10

and this is a good yardstick on whether one is building up wealth or spending like there is no tomorrow.

There is no right or wrong I think, it really depends on what the individual wants. Build up wealth (this is the thread) or spend and enjoy life (new thread maybe...)

On a separate note, I read in recent magazine interview about Clarion MD, how his father sent him to Japan and the people there brought them to a posh fancy restaurant dinner. The father told the Japanese "He knows how to spend money, in fact he can teach you a thing or two. I need you to teach him how to MAKE money!"

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Jan 31 2013, 01:17 PM

A great man!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/bill...by-his-bed.html

Wow, a lil tough for a young guy turning 25 this year and having only worked for nearly 2 years. Any other better yardsticks for a poor chap like me?

yeah... so take 10% of your past 2 years' earnings + yr EPF %, and multiply by 8%pa
This should be around the AVERAGE is U saved & invested 10% of yr net pay.

Looks like all you are capable of is Kopitiam-style posts. This is the Financial, Business and Investment forum, thanks.

Yeah one of the drawbacks of this calc is unfair to the younger ones... But hey, you can still use it... Let's assume you earn rm3k which is 36k pa. 3.6k x 25 = 90k.

Calculate your net worth, include all assets (savings, epf, car, house if any) - all liabilities (cc debt, car loan, house loan if any) and see whether it's close to this figure or far off.. If far off, then it's a good target to aim for.. The rm2k forced savings example was a good one (although quite extreme imho)... Before long you'll exceed this 90k in net worth and on your way to being financially secure!

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Jan 31 2013, 11:30 PM

Thing is, I've not even made that much in my <2 years of working to allow me to save as much. Hehe.

If I were to use Wong sifu's method though, I'm well within being financially comfortable.

Net worth? EPF balances kira tak?

If tak kira, I'm far off
If kira, I think I got it

epf should kira right? it's YOUR money your asset.. although you can't touch it yet...

lol i didn't realize 36k x 2 = 72k... silly me

From the Standard:

"Unhappy mainlanders count their riches

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The richer they are, the less happy they feel.

That is a key finding of the inaugural Millionaire Happiness Report - a sub- report of the Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013 - which documents the satisfaction that Chinese millionaires have in their lives.

And they don't sleep that much - just 6.6 hours on average during the working week.

The Chinese super-rich fall into two categories: those who are workaholics; and those who are winding down, supposedly toward early retirement.

Men consider setting up their own company as the happiest moment of their life, whereas women consider theirs to be falling in love.

Self-made female millionaires are more likely to be divorced - 35 percent of the respondents, with an average age of 37 years, are either divorced or remain unmarried which is twice the figure amongst their male counterparts.

Both male and female millionaires are dissatisfied generally with their health and want to spend more time with their children.

Millionaires and the super-rich are better educated than expected, with 43 percent and 56 percent respectively claiming to have a post graduate degree, mostly executive MBAs."

It is important to work for goals and not just money per se. Once a certain amount of money is acquired, anything more does not make a person happy. Money is a tool. Use it to achieve concrete goals.

A longer elaboration on the same article:



"SHANGHAI: China's super-rich suffer because of the pressures brought about by their fortunes and are less happy than ordinary millionaires, according to a survey by a leading wealth magazine.

"The richer you are, the less happy you are," concluded the poll of more than 500 Chinese millionaires by the Hurun Report, which compiles an annual list of China's richest people.

The survey defined "millionaires" as those with personal wealth of 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) or more, and the super-rich as those with 10 times as much, 69 of whom were included.

"Money also brings you problems," said Hurun Report founder Rupert Hoogewerf.

"These problems could be pressure to perform, pressure to satisfy your customers, pressure from all these different aspects that come about when you have a big business," he told AFP on Wednesday.

Nearly 30 percent of all those surveyed said they could not balance work and life, the survey showed. More than half were unhappy about spending so little time with their families.

On well-being, more than a quarter were unhappy with their health while more than a third believed they did not exercise enough.

Chinese millionaires only sleep an average of 6.6 hours a night during the working week, the report found, with some 27 percent sleeping for less than six hours.

Male and female millionaires were split on some issues.

Men considered setting up their own companies as the happiest moment of their lives, while women put falling in love as number one, the survey said.

Self-made female millionaires were more likely to be divorced with 35 percent of them divorced or unmarried -- twice the statistic for male millionaires.

The figures come after the daughter of China's richest man, beverage magnate Zong Qinghou, lamented in an interview that she was over 30 and had never had a boyfriend.

Chinese media said Zong Fuli, who helps her father run the Wahaha company, was still single because she could not tell whether potential suitors were chasing her for love or money.

In September, the Hurun Report estimated Zong Qinghou to be worth $12.6 billion."


This post has been edited by cynthusc: Feb 1 2013, 12:14 PM

Pink spider,

EPF consider your own assets, the only different is the withdrawal at the age of 55 year old. yet, there will be a situation for you to withdraw the money before retirement.

I'm 25 this year, and I have no cars, no asset. I've been using parents car all this while, but I think it's time for me to get one because car memang tak cukup

I just recently got a job that earns a nett of around RM3,500 a month. I plan to get myself a car, but I'm not so sure what car to get. Any financial advice on the car price I should buy? Around 50k car? I wouldn't want to squeeze myself hard as I am saving for my first house as well.

Any good advice is appreciated.

This post has been edited by GeminiGeek: Feb 8 2013, 01:58 PM

Hi geminigeek,

Simple recommendation - don't buy a new car. Look for a second hand car which will not depreciate much e.g. MYVI. If you're cool enough to drive an older less popular car, the old Proton Iswara is a rather good deal most are all below RM10k now. Maintenance is cheap. However, there are issues with safety if you drive a lot as it is deemed a less safe car compared to newer models.

Save as much as you can out of the RM3500 and start researching and planning on the property you want to get. Research, do your homework, and go get the property instead of car. How you want to save, I think that's flexible, some will go for dollar cost averaging into unit trusts, some invest in other instruments, etc.. but regardless, just save. Even putting money in bank and then FD also better than serving a car loan...

I've shared this link elsewhere before but sharing again as this is so mind opening, so take a look and understand the concept.

http://www.daveramsey.com/articles/article...ey_automobiles/

All the best!



This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Feb 8 2013, 02:18 PM

But here's the thing.

I have no car loans, only credit cards. With this weak credit record, wouldn't it be hard for me to apply housing loan in the future?

Please advice.

If you have a car loan, it's even harder to get another house loan! Hopefully, you don't carry any balances on the credit cards.... if yes, that's another negative point when you want to apply housing loan...

If your long term plan is to get a property, don't waste your $ on cars for now. Have a firm objective and target, and strive to achieve it. E.g. in x yrs time, want to save up RMxxxxx for the deposit. Invest the money and let it grow while you continue to save...


This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Feb 8 2013, 02:43 PM

get local car...proton persona elegance ...

today at Bukit Jambul complex downpayment RM5 onli.

I not sales man...just think since u got a job offer RM3500 can apply oledi..

buy new car less hassle on repair and safety...

if get the iswara almost 10 yrs car RM10K..aiya almost time go kereta potong already..

RM47,663.00 to RM 51,113.00

Documents Required :

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+100!!! Totally agree w the statement here coz I'm just an average person w all the thoughts above!