Telemarketing is marketing or selling through the phone. I use to sell hotel memberships. It wasn't easy as you often get rejected. It is often a numbers game. The more you call, the more you close. I used to work from 2pm until 9pm.

Your clerical job, how many hours do you work? It looks pretty low to me. I used to pay my part time staff who worked for me from 1-6pm RM700 per month. I suggest you look around for better part time jobs. Search the net as well as use your contacts. You can definitely earn higher. Most important is that when you get a job, you have to do your best, learn as much as you can, work hard and don't be too fussy.

Your phone bill is high. As a student you should not get a data plan. Just get a basic phone with prepaid.

Your expenditure is very high. Your car loan is very high. That is 28% of your take home pay. You should sell off your car and buy a second hand car that costs you less than RM500 per month.

Your other debts are also very high. Is the RM400 paid to your credit card the minimum payment? If it is that probably means that you owe close to RM8000 on your credit card. How much is your personal loan debt?

You have to start paying down your debt quickly. List out all your debts and the interest rate for each debt. Keep your monthly expenses to below RM1500 and put the rest into paying your debt down.

My suggestion on your expenses:-

Car loan - RM500
Mobile phone - RM30
Petrol - RM200
Food - RM250
Utilities - RM100 (Please cut all unnecessary utilities like Astro and use less aircond)
Miscellaneous - RM100

After all this you will have RM2K++ per month to pay off all your debts. Use the money to pay all your debts with the most money going to the debt with the highest interest rate. In one year you would be able to pay down RM24,000 of debt. Saving when you have so much debt is useless because any interest you may gain from your savings will never offset the interest charged on your debts.

Dear AAAAB,

It seems that you have a good head on your shoulders. I don't see why you cannot achieve your goals. However at your age of 32, do you have any other goals like getting married and starting a family? I understand that you want to retire at 50 but have you thought what you want to do when you reach your goal?

I have the same goal as you, to retire by 50 but the way I am going about it is different. I save a fix sum of RM3K a month, similar to you but I also make between 50K - 100K extra per annum with other investments. My approach is two fold - increase income exponentially and maintain low expenses. Because of my approach, I think I can retire even earlier, if I want to. I don't think reducing expenses is a problem for you (you are a pro already). My suggestion, is to study investments that can fetch you better returns so that you can achieve your goal earlier and then maybe you can spend more on yourself (better food, and maybe even start a family).

Why do people equate eating cheap with starving? I don't understand.

I eat cheap but I definitely eat healthy. In fact every day I have vegetables and protein in my diet. I also eat high fibre bread and have fruits every other day. The only difference : I cook.

My monthly food bill for 2 is less than RM450. My daughter takes food like tuna sandwiches, egg sandwiches, roast chicken sandwiches and even sushi to school. All homemade, healthy and cheap.

Start changing your meals one by one. Plan your meals for a month and make a shopping list. Buy a lunch box that can keep your food warm. Cook some of your meals in advance and freeze.Eg. lasagna, spaghetti sauce, soups, burger patties, cutlets, marinated lamb. Veges you can prep for a week.

Both me and my daughter like tasty food hehehe:

Eg.

Breakfast:
Pancakes with bananas and half boil egg

Lunch:
Savoury pancakes with leftover roast chicken, tomatoes and herbs

Dinner
Slow cooked lamb with savoury rice and steam vegetables

Then the next day...

Breakfast
Half boil eggs with toast and a banana

Lunch
Fried rice with lamb leftovers and beans

Dinner
Rice with Spicy tofu beef soup

Just to let you know : All the meals only takes me less than one hour except for the lamb which I throw in the pot in the morning to slow cook until dinner time. Breakfast less than 30 minutes. A lot of people think it takes a lot of time. It takes less time than watching an episode of 24 or House.

This post has been edited by cynthusc: Jan 9 2013, 05:32 PM

Perhaps the question you should ask is...how did he accumulate his wealth at 27? What did he do to achieve it? Was it a lottery? Did he start up a business at 15 and grew it into a 15 million dollar company? Did he inherit the money? Did he buy his ferarri after he acquired his wealth or did he buy it before? Does he really have 15 million or he has leverage 2 million of wealth to hold "15 million in assets". The point is one has to live within ones means and put aside for the future. If he earns 5 million a year, of course he can buy a Ferarri and eat food prepared by a professional chef. If he earns 5K per month, are you going to advocate buying a Honda Accord and eating out every day? Personal Finance is all about living within your means! Unfortunately I deal with a lot of bankruptcy cases and auction cases and from what I see....they do not have the $$$ to sustain their lifestyle. Eg. I just bought a condo by way of auction and looking at the contents of the condo, I can understand why their property is under auction. Christian Dior handbags (Which I believe cost more than 2K per bag), Dr Dre Beatbox ear phone costing 800 per piece , letters from banks repossessing their Mercedes, every game console under the sun and antique furniture etc etc etc. I'd rather have cash in the bank, a moderate-frugal lifestyle than go through the humiliation of having some stranger rifle through my "pricey" belongings because I couldn't live within my means. Unfortunately this sort of lifestyle is so common nowadays. I see it everywhere. From my friends who live in a low cost flat but drive a Honda to one who lives in a medium cost flat, drives a Merc and carries a 7K LV handbag. These friends have more than once asked me to "advance them money" to tide them over to the next month. What you see may just be a mirage!

BTW I have one client who is definitely rich...90 mill in his account. Where is he now? Serving a sentence in prison!
Those advocating : Just earn more! Yes one should work on earning more within one's capability but cutting cost is important as well. In my experience, taking the step increasing your income exponentially (i.e doubling or tripling your income) entails risk taking. One should always take CALCULATED risk...otherwise you'll end up like my client.

This post has been edited by cynthusc: Jan 12 2013, 10:56 AM

Beachkid,

I don't think anyone is disputing that there are exceptional individuals who are capable and can in fact earn to such an extent that they can enjoy the type of lifestyle that is conventionally admired i.e. driving a Porsche, sipping champagne and eat meals prepared by Michelin star chefs. It is the tone of your post that people take exception to. The manner in which you wrote pours disdain on people who post on cutting down expenses as a prudent step in personal finance management. Most of the posts on expense cutting were answers to people who posted their current income and expense and asked for advice on how to manage their finances better. Whether a person earns 2K or 50K a month, they still need to manage their finances and part of that is managing their expenses. A person who earns 5 million a year may think that they don't need to cut expenses but if they are spending 6 million a year, then the advice would be the same : cut expenses. Not many people would advise just maintaining a unmanageable lifestyle and just to earn more. Cutting expense can be done immediately but earning more takes time and depends on the ability of the individual, opportunities at hand and even luck.

I agree with simplifying your life to get "MORE life". I myself consider my life as simple compared to others in my profession. I believe I am a medium minimalist. I only have twelve articles of work clothing and five of the casual variety. I keep them in neutral shades for easy matching. Two handbags (used to be only one until a friend gave me another as a gift), two pieces of luggage for the two members in my small family and just 5 pairs of shoes. My house is pretty clutter free and to some, quite stark as I have very few items.

In paring down my belongings and adopting a more consume - less lifestyle, I feel that I have a better quality of life. I work 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week. I take 2-3 one week holidays a year and I definitely have less stress. Some people might say that I have semi-retired. A lot of my fellow professionals envy my freedom and ask me how I do it but when I tell them, they always say that they can't do that because to them, appearances matter a lot: They feel that in giving up their BMWs, bungalows, luxurious holidays and latest gadgets means that they are not a success. The admiration they get from friends and family is too addictive. Societal pressure can be dehabilitating.

This post has been edited by cynthusc: Jan 17 2013, 11:19 AM

I think it is important to understand that money is a tool. You use it to achieve the goals you want in life. The more you consume, the more money you need. Wants are unlimited. When you have a Honda, you want a BMW, when you have a BMW you may want a Ferrari or a Lamborghini so on and so forth. The most important thing is: Does it make you happy? If material goods are the only things that people strive to achieve and acquire, I really do pity them.

Did I hit a nerve? LOL

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.

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

Something to think about:
If your income is below RM1600:

Buy a low cost apartment in a desirable area. Eg. one that I saw recently is at USJ 1 at a reserve price of RM60K. 3 rooms at 657 sq feet. Assuming you bid and win at RM68K. Your cost is
RM68K for the price + RM1800 (Stamp Duty and Legal Fees) + RM1K for outstanding charges + RM4K for light renovation. So total cost is RM74,800.00.
Rental RM600. If the area is Wangsa Maju or Melati or anywhere near an LRT station, the rental can even go up to RM800

Rental/property price = 6K/74800 = 8% return.
BTW this property's current market price is RM80-RM90K so when the purchaser buys it, they already make RM10K

So the possible return in 5 years:
(RM6K x 5 years) + RM10K current market price difference + RM10K future appreciation
=RM50K return on RM74800
= 66.84 for 5 years i.e. 13% per annum

BTW your RM50K appreciation for a 188K is IMO too optimistic base on current market trends. Perhaps more like a 25K appreciation.

I have done this sort of investment before but on higher end properties and larger current market price difference. In fact there was one property I bought which was RM80K below market.

Did you inherit via her passing i.e through a will? If the will states that the 50% share goes to you then the stamp duty is RM10 regardless of value. Only if it is transferred to a third party not part of the will, will it invite stamp duty.

Generally stamp duty is calculated as follows:-
1st 100K is 1%
Next 400K is 2% and
balance thereafter is 3%. So if the property is 600K, the stamp duty is:

100K is 1% = RM1K
400K is 2% = RM8K
and balance 100K is 3% = RM3K

Total is RM1K + RM8K + RM3K = RM12K

Perhaps you are right but base on my experience it would be quite difficult to appreciate 50K in 5 years unless the area is really up and coming. I am not so familiar with Serdang so u may be right. I usually invest in areas I am familiar with. There are many factors like density, residents profile, level of maintenance etc.

In Kepong where there are quite a number of apartment and condos, some apartments have not appreciated much since they were completed. Some have doubled in prices eventhough the condos are very near each other. I have invested in three properties so far. Two I have sold more than 50% of the initial price I bought and I sold them less than 4 years after purchase.

Hi Locno. First of all, sorry to hear about the down sizing. It happens to the best of us. On a positive note your current assets put you in a good position to weather the storm. I would suggest the following:-

1. Tell your family members including your parents about the situation.
2. 5.5K is too much to sustain when you will be essentially earning 4K per month from your business. Adjust your expenses accordingly. You should not spend more than 4K. Since you only have to pay for your car payments and the house is fully paid up, it should not be too difficult to adjust to this new level of income. Your wife and parents should understand this or you should make them understand this.
3. Look at your business income. Will this business be sustainable? Is there room for growth? If the business is something that has potential to grow, you should think about doing it full time. If you can earn 4K doing it part time, you may be able to earn double or even triple if you work on it full time. Try not to pump in anymore money if you can. Take a hard look at the business and analyse it calmly and logically.
4. If the business is something that does not have long term prospects then you will have to think about getting a job even if it means a pay cut. How are you looking for jobs? Is it through friends? You need to network more and get yourself out there. Go through all your contacts, friends, relatives, ex schoolmates, ex colleagues, collegemates, ex lecturers, jobs overseas, out of state etc....You need to put in as much effort in job finding as you do in your job.

Best of luck and do let us know how everything is.

Regards,

This is my suggestion:-
1. Put 170K into ASB (You will get approximately 12K per annum in return)
2. Use 30K to buy a second hand car in cash (3-5year old car) 2010 MyVi you can buy for RM30K
3. Save 50% of your salary for the next 3 years. That is 17K per annum. Save it in your ASB. After 3 years you will have an additional RM76K (this includes the interest from the RM170K in ASB) saved for the downpayment of a house. You will be able to buy a Property at the price of RM400K with 10% downpayment.
4. Buy medical for yourself. Insurance for your parents is very high as they are old. So unless they already have coverage, it would not be economical to buy then medical insurance unless they can afford it on their own. As for your brother and sister you can get them a medical card. It will cost approximately 600 per person per year. Negotiate with your insurance provider.

Hi there! Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.

Base on what you have indicated, your expenses is RM2080 per month which leaves you about RM1000 per month free. Nowadays with RM1000 per month you can only buy a property less than 200K. If you are willing to live in a medium cost apartment priced between RM100K to RM200K, your income is sufficient. Otherwise you need to have a gameplan.

Plan A

Let's say your target is a place priced at RM500K, this is what you should do for the next 5 years (I would suggest not having children until the end of five years. At 27, your advantage is time :-
1. Reduce your expenses to no more than RM1500 per month. Save RM1500 per month into an interest bearing account. If you are a bumiputera put it in ASB. If you put it in an account that gives you 3% per annum, at the end of 5 years you will have RM103K. I would recommend putting at least 60% of any bonuses you have and 50% of any increment you get to the pot and at the end of five years you could possibly save close to RM150K. If your wife can save the same amount you can get this money in half the time i.e. by the time you are 30.

2. Buying a 500K property, you will need 20% of the price as a deposit, legal fees and some minor renovations.


Plan B (which is what I did)

I bought a medium cost apartment for RM200++K and stayed for five years. Then I sold it for a nice profit of 150K. Then I bought another property and sold within a year for a nice profit of RM180K (for this property I was lucky as the seller was desperate to sell). In the span of 7 years I made more than 300K. This does not include my initial outlay and other monthly savings that I contribute to in the last 7 years. Recently I bought a property for RM400++K and am looking at another for RM700K.

The most important is that you save and cut expenses. That is the first step to being financially sound. Once you have a big amount saved up, you will have the ammunition necessary to invest in the investments you are familiar with. You must be familiar with the investment instruments you intend to invest in (whether it is property, shares, gold, unit trusts etc) as the surest step to financial disaster is to make investments base on tips from friends and family.

You need 50K deposit minimum. Then there is legal fees, stamp duty and renovation costs. All this cost $$$$.