Is it a good plan for retirement? No. I personally don't think so. You put in almost 100k over a period of 10 years. Anything happen to you like you lose your job in between, you forfeit right? ANd I doubt you get anything back. Unless you die.

Is it a good life insurance plan? No I don't so either. If you are insured and you unfortunately die in the 1st year, you only get payout 58k. Why so little? Isn't life insurance nowadays at least 100k regardless of how long you have been paying?


At least in my humble opinion. Maybe the fund experts can help. But me looking at it from a returns point of view for a RM100k deposit after 10 years of loyal payment at the risk of losing it if you don't pay, not worth it.

My suggestion:-

1. Build up your emergency fund from RM5000 about 4-6 times your current salary to cater for emergencies (real ones like car breakdowns etc.) and not for impulse buys) i.e. RM14K- RM21K. This money should be put in an account that is easily accessible and is not difficult to liquidate.
2. Now calculate the amount of money you need to buy a property of RM350K. Don't forget to include legal fees, stamp duty, renovation costs, monthly maintenance costs, quit rent and assessment costs and the downpayment itself. Are you sure you can afford to service a loan for a RM350K property? If you pay RM35K for a down payment and take a loan for RM315K, your monthly would be close to all your monthly savings of RM1400 not including the monthly maintenance fees and yearly quit rent and assessment rates. Make sure you can afford to buy.
For a RM350K property, conservatively you would need at least 20% of the price to purchase, pay for all legal fees, stamp duties and do some minor renovations. That means 70K. It will take you approximately 3-4 years to save that much if you save RM1400 per month and place it in an investment that can bring in 4% per annum returns.
3. IMO you need to adjust your expectations. If you intend to marry the next two years and want to buy a house before that, then get a cheaper apartment for around 200-300K or stay with parents until your income can support the loan for a RM350K house.

Thanks cynthuac! I will set a different plan now as I have a clearer goal. emergency fund should be save in fixed deposit and normal saving accounts? After I have saved up for emergency fund. What are the major types of investment vehicle I should look into? (So that I can study more on it while saving up) is it true that an investment portfolio should have a mixed of different risk vehicle ? I've only read rich dad poor dad's and some of other Robert's book. Any other good recommendation?

FD makes sense, because it isn't too easy and it isn't too hard to liquidate either. You don't want to touch that money unless you have to.

If 15K, try and split it into packages of, say 5K each, so that you don't have to break the FD for all 15K, but only 5K, unless you have to.

Just some suggestions I've read from previous contributions by other members here.

Hi All,

I have a quick question, if anyone could please help me out.

My question is would bank charge additional fees (insurances)if the home loan application down payment is less than 20%?

I am aware that 10% would be sufficient, however would that incurs a fees either yearly or once off for the life of the loan taken?

Please advice.

Cheers.

Hi all,

Would like to get some advice on home loan payment/installment... My housing loan has just started to being disbursed in stages as my house is being completed. My bank charges me only the interest until I get possession. Right now, my house is actually (so-called) already completed, just waiting for the water/electric supply and CF, which should be ready middle of this year. Should I opt for full payment/installment (principal+interest) from my bank instead of paying the interest which is about RM800/month? The house is for own stay, so was thinking that maybe I can save a bit by paying in full installment instead of just paying the interest alone. What are your opinions on this? Thanks in advance!

Cheekily

I think any repayment lowering principle + interest as soon as possible is a good thing to do.

Give the bank a call to speed up the process as a few days & $ spend on lowering your principle may save you thousands at the end of your loan period.

This post has been edited by mrwinkles: Feb 22 2012, 03:26 PM

Thanks for the advice, mrwinkles! Ok, will contact the bank soon

Play around with this mortgage calculator.

Punch some figure in and you will see the differences it makes.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mortga...calculator.aspx

This post has been edited by mrwinkles: Feb 22 2012, 04:37 PM

Hi I'm new to this section.

We are married with a baby. Expecting another this year. Both my husband and I are working. The house is paid up and other responsibilities such as insurance and children education fund are paid by husband.

Now, given 200k cash I don't know what kind of investment to do.

1. Public mutual? Already have some from EPF approved funds but seem is slow. Elder advise to wait 10-20 years to see it bear fruit.

2. Gold? New to this, is it buy from Maybank is suffice?

3. Silver? Sure??? Don't see silver as valuable???

4. ING unit trust? Agent approached us but skeptical.

Both of us not financial expert. Just want to invest money grow money so got some thing for our children in future. Please share some ideas.

Since you did not state your desired returns from your 200k cash savings, I assume you are hoping to make something better than the FD rate.

If I was in your position where your current house is already paid for and have a large amount of cash savings, I would buy another property for investment. Not necessarily be an expensive property but something that can generate income. Since you have already a place to call home, the 2nd property can be an investment and potentially provide you another form of income if the yields are good. It can also be seen as a education asset for your children next time they want to study overseas or whatever, you can sell the house.

Investments in gold/silver have it's own risks. I do suggest you really read more about it and decide how much risks are you willing to take before putting anything in.

Unit trusts whether ING or PB Mutual also has its own risks. Some say it's lower because it's being managed by a fund manager. Whatever the case, always read as much about it and the evaluate the risks involved. Unit trusts also has annual fees regardless of how well the fund is doing. Meaning you can be losing money in the fund but still be charged your annual management fees.

Personally, IF i had a lump sum of $200K and not financial expert (cannot be mar, U & hubby doing well - savvy enough mar right?), i'd:
a. Plonk $ 50% into FD,
split into 2 * (2 or 3 mths term) ie. put in 25% now, put in another 25% next month, thus any month, i can access 25% for cash investments
b. Plonk $ 50% into a bond fund
(a) + (b) is to hold the $ while I do the below

c. Learn about Asset Allocation and re-allocation/re-distribution
Simple big picture control over my total assets across several classes, thus i invest always with the big picture in mind, not just which REITs/Stocks/Funds/Gold/Silver

d. Learn about KLSE REITs & Stocks
+Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) is similar to being a landlord WITHOUT the headache of being a landlord + more liquid than buying properties BUT not much leverage game. Knowing this enables me to evaluate & invest
+Stocks - REITs are a type of stocks U can buy, thus knowing this enables me to transact properly

e. Learn about Gold/Silver & Precious Metals
It looks more of trading than investing UNLESS I know the underlying trend OR value points
Some % into this is possible but i wouldnt bet the farm on it (again, Asset Allocation big pix while investing or even trading)

f. After learning the above asset allocation (big pix guidelines to investing how much in each type of asset classes) equities, i'd then learn about methodologies (entries & exits) of investments, like value investing (buy during lelong / cheap sale) and/or value cost averaging, dollar cost averaging, trend (mid to long term), etc.

Once all the above knowned, planned Asset Allocation & execution (entries & exits reasonings/logic/triggers), i'd execute the plan, track it and tweak the plan as necessary.

Whew... just a thought

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Feb 27 2012, 08:28 AM

Brother, u did not include property investment


This post has been edited by cheahcw2003: Feb 27 2012, 11:36 AM

yup yup - heheh, my bad.
Auto-suggested heheh - REITs and Real Estate same difference, one (REITs) has liquidity & easy to evaluate + easy to diversify using little $ (comparatively), the other (RE) has good leverage +if one has superior hunting skills, easier to "beat others" to a valuable property

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Feb 27 2012, 12:04 PM

Hi, thanks for replying.

Desired return is of course the higher the better but I also know the rule: the higher the return, so is the risk. I am not greedy, nor do I have big dreams. In fact, I just thought of leaving the money somewhere (not FD) and let it roll itself to some sum substantial for our children some 20 years in the future.

I am not good with property, always skeptical thinking if I buy a property and fail to sell it, I have to finance the loan for it. If you are thinking of renting out a property, well, I have thought about it as well. Renting out a place is scary and this is based on experience, we had tenants running away without paying and then we had to settle the bill for them. It was an old double storey terrace, belonged to my parents but in the end, we decided to sell it. Renting... need to find the right location and crowd. When you buy a place and then service the loan, you rent it out for like 1 - 2k, is barely enough to cover the loan. Quite the contrary, I have to finance the balance and that will bring me into a negative rather than just invest the money I currently have.

I know gold has its value and its ever growing but I am new to this silver thing. Havent found the time to read about it, that's why I came in here to ask. Thanks for telling me that unit trust has annual fee. I heard of it but not sure how much is it really. We checked out PB website and saw the fund at +0.1 / -0.1, nothing impressive - probably slow movement now.

Just wondering what other kind of ideas a more experience forumer can share.

Wow, actually is I respect you because I have no idea what you're talking about. I dare not say we are savvy but lucky in some sense.

Mind sharing what is asset allocation? KLSE REITs? How do you be a landlord without the headache of being a landlord? I dont get what you mean at all!

My aunt manages our stock. It's been that way since we were in school but we hardly touch that money, we are traditional and believe money just roll in money. Have not had the need to withdraw our winnings (got losing also!) from the stock exchange.

Where can I learn more about precious metal trading? KLSE REITs? Big pix guidelines to investing? Entries & exits? Sorry, I'm lost.

Greetings everyone, new to this part of the forum. I was trying to search for homeloan related topics so if someone could direct me there it'd be much appreciated!

However, just incase my question is applicable here im giving it a try anyway:

Due to the nature of my business(sole-proprietor) my annual income is approx 45-60k that comes in 'seasons'. There are times where my bank account has zero transactions whatsoever for 3-4 months. As im -considering- a 750k first home at the moment, I am concerned if banks would only give loan based on monthly income and not annual.

Ive asked around and done some reading and find that for someone with my annual salary it would only be logical for me to settle for a 450k range home.

Apologies if im posting this in the wrong section.

Eh, dont buta respect me coz i made U , that's my bad - i should have put up some links for U to read about these stuff.
1. General (asset allocation, asset classes, etc): http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/690951/+1850

2. REITs http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1993103/+102 & http://mreit.reitdata.com/ & this forum's own REITs topic / thread under Stocks (http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1993103/+1000)

3. Gold in LYN forum: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2106439

Other than the above, try Google
eg for Asset Allocation: http://www.google.com.my/#hl=en&gs_nf=1&cp...cfb8f30c6857c39

Hope the above helps more than

This post has been edited by wongmunkeong: Feb 28 2012, 06:44 AM

i'm sorry this is such a basic question,

referring to general investment accounts, lets say I deposit rm500 for 1 month tenure.

at the end of the tenure, that means i can withdraw the money?

what if i want to put in again some money, that means i need to renew?

can i just put in RM1500 for a 3 month tenure? or i need to put in rm500 each month?

An emergency fund should be placed in a high interest bearing savings account. Usually this is used in instances only of emergency and not for your monthly expenditure. However what amounts to an emergency differs from one to another (for me it is a job loss or a major car breakdown or unexpected medical fees not covered by insurance)

There are many investment vehicles, all with different risks. My advice would be to pick 2 types of investment with different risk profiles and study it thoroughly. When you are more knowledgeable about an investment, the risk is lessened and can be calculated. Read from the internet, consult with your friends, mentors, professionals. Then start small. Eg if you are interested in shares, read up on it and start by buying 1 lot. Books written by Kiyosaki are good inspirational reads but they don't deal with the specifics. You need to deal with specifics.

Eg. If you want to go into property, you should know the process of buying a property, the different types of property, the initial investment and the cost of upkeep, the location, the return etc. Even after 5 years of learning about property investment, I am still learning something new about it because it is an evolving industry.

hi there, i would like to give you a suggestion that take a saving plan from insurance company especially for you at aged 25. With the return is slightly higher than you put in bank and easy to withdraw out. You can contact me for more info if you are keen.