Well, ASB is the best risk adjusted investment out there. If you have max out, then you will need other options. Well below is several investment option, no recommendations since I don't know how risk adverse are you. Look through the list and see if anything particular interests you.

1. Fixed Deposit - Well everyone knows this, risk free but you only get about 2.8% to 3.3% per year, barely keeping up with inflation. You can get 4%-5% with foreign fixed deposit, but these have currency conversion risk and charges.

2. Share market - This option will need a lot of study and stock selection, if you have time to learn all about it, it could be rewarding, as the gains are not limited. However it is quite risky as share prices can drop significantly. Many a fortune was made and lost in the share market.

If you want stable income you can consider REITs which is paying 7%-8+% in dividends a year and is actually quite stable. If you ignore the market prices (prices can come down!) and just collect dividends then it could be a good income generator for a long time.

3. Unit Trust - If you want others to do your investing works for you, then you can consider unit trusts. There are loads out there, but not everyone is good, there are some real bad ones as well. If you want to select good funds choose those which fits your risk, chose from the 10% in at least 5 years of history. Unit trust funds are capable of 20%-30% profit a year but is ALSO capable of losing up to 50% in bad economic times.

Alternatively you can consider guaranteed fund, but these usually perform on par with bond funds. However there is very little risk, at worst you get your money back, with no earnings.

4. Bond Funds - Commercial and government debts. If you want another source of stable income, bond funds are less volatile than other share funds. expect to get about 5%-6% for good quality bond funds, and 7%-9% for emerging market funds but at considerably more risk. However bond funds rarely drops more than 10% in bad times.

5. Property - Property with good location can be a a good income generator provided you get at least 6-7% yield. If you did not pay for an overpriced property, with the yield above, your property loan can be fully serviced by your tenant. At the end of your loan period, you get the property for free, and bonus for capital appreciation. However there are risk of your property not rented out and if you choose to buy in a poor area.

6. Well the final option is to dump more money with ASNB with the 6% return annually. But that is boring.

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Added on September 28, 2010, 9:43 amlook at the reply above, see if anything interest you and you would like to know better.

This post has been edited by gark: Sep 28 2010, 09:54 AM

I am waiting too... . So far no crash but the price appreciation has slowed down. The last property I bought is yielding about 8% for me.

Not worth it to clear your property loan. You save at interest rate of about 4.8%-5%, but instead you can get a semi-guaranteed 6% from ASN. Furthermore the loan interest amount can offset your rental income (for the same property only, if you stay yourself, no savings!), so you can save on your income tax. If you have extra money consider to invest in a secondary property instead. Property type depend on your investment.

Landed houses - Very bad yield (~2-3%), the best appreciation if the location is good.
Apartment/Condo - Good yield (~6%-8%), lower appreciation, older condo don't appreciate much.
Shophouse/Lot - Medium Yield, medium appreciation. Highly dependent on the economy.

This post has been edited by gark: Oct 4 2010, 09:03 AM

My my, what rude words. You are asking him to PM you, if you are not promoting, just write the info you wish to help in the forum for the benefit of all. And also you are implying you work in a bank, and by giving some information on the so called savings plan, you can affect your bank's profitability? Most bank/insurance post details of such plans on their website, what is so secret about it? In fact most banks/insurance have better profit selling savings plans than deposits. I pity the bank that hire you.

This post has been edited by gark: Oct 17 2010, 02:58 PM

Replied to this exact same question in the fund investment thread, please look there.

When I graduated, for my first job, I was taking public transport, then when I have saved enough put in very little money for a very old car (2-3 month's salary). Few years later was given company car, so I haven't bought a car since that day. Every couple of years, was transferred to elsewhere and get new car. Yes it is hard life, but depending if you are willing to do it.

You don't have to struggle to buy a car, just buy what you need ie. transportation. An older car can also get you to where you want to go similar to a new car. When I have my old beat up car, I couldn't care less what people think of it, I only want it to transport me to where I want to go. So as long as it gets me to my destination, who cares how it looks like.

This post has been edited by gark: Dec 1 2010, 06:12 PM

Make resolution also must use mathematics, if your pay is RM 1648 p/m nett, then RM 1,648 x 12 months = RM 19,776. Lets say excluding bonus (because it is not certain), if you don't eat and stay in the street also not enough for you to save 20k per year.

Have reasonable expectations, then only work towards them. I suggest you take 20% of your net pay as a target, which is more reasonable and not get over your head on savings. For you, expect to save RM 1,648 x 12 x 20% = RM 3,955.20. If you achieve better than that amount it is reasonably good already. Aim to save at least 20% is good enough.

Please snap back to reality... unless the only other way is to increase your pay, by taking overtime, 2nd jobs or your own side business.

For you, it will be better to save up the the money, put into ASB and then when you have enough, withdraw and continue your studies and get a Degree either in CS or IT. The best investment is in yourself, for it will help you for the rest of your life. You shoudl really think about getting a side job to increase your income. Even if you graduated from this thing you are doing now the pay scale starts only at 1.1-1.3k per month.

Forget about car, property or other luxury as you cannot afford them, save every single sen you can and then use it to improve your life. Then, when the money comes pouring in, then only you worry on where to invest.

Don't throw your future away from all these 'peer' pressure. No one can help you but yourself.

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Added on December 20, 2010, 12:55 pmIf you purchase a property worth RM 300k, it will wipe out your savings (you still need extra 20k for DP) and also your RM 1000 per month extra will be all used up for the property loan, you will have almost no savings then. In fact you will need to cut out all your other spending to get another RM 300to add to your loan amount. This means no more going out and spending, you will be enslaved to the bank.

Loan 270k @ BLR-1.5%, 40 years = RM 1,257 per month.

With your salary, why must you target expensive property? If you purchase more towards your means, lets say 150k-200k, your finances will be in a much better shape.

Nowadays all the youngsters wants to get up fast and spend beyond their means and most end up badly in debt, which takes years to clear. Don't fall into the trap yah? Use debt responsibly.

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Added on December 20, 2010, 12:58 pmIf the property is being rented, all your money in FD/ASB/UT. If the property is for own stay, you may put into your home loan if you choose. You sound like a Robin Liew.

This post has been edited by gark: Dec 20 2010, 01:12 PM

The house should not matter too as well, you should not think about it until you have sort out your life. You need to use all of your savings to get a degree, it will be the stepping stone to higher paying wages/career. Wouldn't RM 2.5k-3k IT exec salary sounds better than 1.2k for a an assistant health inspector? It will also be a much better way to advance your career. Save every single sen you can, and invest in yourself.

Even after you have graduated, you don't want to work, with at least some capital, you can start your own business.

Your priority :
Priority 1 : Education (Degree)
Priority 2 : Look at priority 1
Priority 3 : Food, (then look at priority 1)

Open as many bank accounts as you want, it does not matter.

Getting a degree does not mean that you cannot work with the government. In fact if you have a degree then you can straight away jump to rank U41 (or something like that) with a much much higher paying salary. Once you have your degree, you can have your freedom to work either in private or public service. Even if you work in the government, there is a glass ceiling which you cannot cross (maximum level) unless you have minimum requirements (degree).

You can choose your career no matter what or where, just understand that a degree is just a stepping stone and glass ceiling breaker, you don't have to necessary apply what you learn.

If you are bonded for 5 years, the best way is to take a part time degree, offered by many local institutions. Govt job is 9-5 job so you will find plenty of time to go to classes. Yes govt job is easier to apply loan, but with your lower salary can you afford anything much? What is spending 2-3 years in night classes for your degree compared to the 30 year career you will going through until you retire? Think long and hard. You do not need to think of other stuff such as house, car and so on. Once you get into the debt cycle, it is hard to get out.

Hmm, you can try to talk to your banker to refinance/remortgage your car and/or house to have a longer term loan, or if your house appreciated, you can increase the loan amount. This will either lower your monthly payment or you can draw extra cash from your property.

For example if you bought the house at 200k with 90% financing, now the house appreciated to 250k, then you can withdraw additional money by increasing your house financing amount but still within the 90%. Or if you negotiate to have 20 year loan convert to 30 year, similarly your monthly payment will be less.

Use the extra money to settle your credit card debt, then your personal loan, and hopefully when you are debt free only then you consider saving for your needs by 2012. Don't try to save when you have a lot of high interest debts, you will end up losing more money.

This post has been edited by gark: Jan 8 2011, 04:20 PM

1. Look at your employment contract, if it does not bar you from a second job, please go ahead. Some contract states that no side/second job is allowed. If you end up breaching the employment contract then it will be worse.
2. If you are allowed to have a second job, go ahead, no one will look down on you. In fact a lot will look up to you. Fresh grad nowadays does not understand the need for hard work.

You are pretty much on the right track. For your house you might want to consider a lower priced unit perhaps. You can get pretty good apartments in PJ/Subang area for about 250K-300K. In lieu of your rental you can use it to finance your property for 30 years. That way you do not lose on your savings and can continue to accumulate. If you wish for bigger things, then that is risk you must take.

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Added on February 14, 2011, 7:04 pmYou already know your problem. So act on it.

This post has been edited by gark: Feb 14 2011, 07:05 PM

Don't worry on the PTPTN loan as the interest rate is low, just pay the minimum amount like RM 50 per month. Continue to invest in ASB until you hit max 200K, then only put your money in the PTPTN loan and/or other investments. Consider putting more into ASB (the maximum you can afford) until you have maxed it, the sooner the better then let it breed until you retire.

This post has been edited by gark: Mar 15 2011, 05:46 PM

When I used to work in Penang, I travel back to KL once every 2 weeks. 6.30 pm leave Penang Workplace on Friday reach KL house at 11.00 pm, then on Monday leave KL at 4.00 am reach workplace at Penang at 8.30 am. But very tiring, sleep 1/2 hour at Tapah & also consume a lot of red bulls... . But that is the price to pay...

There are many other investment options which are have good performance if you are willing to learn. But if you expect to be spoon fed, then stick to FD. The world is your oyster, never limit yourself to what you can't get. For me I never bother with any of ASN's products.

Life is never fair, if you want to be fair there will be no rich and poor people. If one opportunity is not available to you, why you do not choose to work harder for other opportunities? I am sure that you are capable of finding other investment in you have the patience and passion. I believe that my investments have exceeded ASNB's dividend yield, although I have work way harder to achieve it, I am satisfied. Why bother with all the restrictions, queues and disappointment? Heck, even some REITS pay higher yearly dividend than AS1M with almost similar risk (as long you don't sell).

This post has been edited by gark: Mar 22 2011, 12:36 PM

Just use standard retirement calculators on the web, they will give you enough information to plan for your retirement. For the retirement calculation, you can plan for the following.

1. Estimated monthly expenses you will need, including medical, food, lodging, travel etc.
2. Years to retirement, add inflation (I use 5%). The length of retirement is irrelevant as my asset should yield income perpetually. Later can pass on to your kids.
3. You will get the total amount you need ( I need multi-million ). I also use 4% yield for calculation for perpetual income.
4. From there you can calculate your earnings yield (I use 8%), and the amount of money invested over time.

Saving earlier is much better as you will allow the magic of compounding to start earlier. Then you can enjoy your later working life in peace as you no longer worry about retirement.

This post has been edited by gark: May 16 2011, 01:19 PM

Wow, too conservative for me.. it's like buying a car. Personally for me, 30% DP, loan period 15-20 years. Make sure the rental is able to cover the loan if you get the right location. Results = free house financed by your tenant.

This post has been edited by gark: Jun 30 2011, 01:26 PM

Because.... at loan of 7 years, you cannot breakeven with the rental rate. Below is a example of a "real" property.

Example : Apartment Price RM 400,000 (furnished) paid with RM 120,000 d/p and 280,000 loan @ BLR-2%
Gross Rental : RM 2,800 / month
Net Rental : = (2,850-300) * 10/12 = RM 2,125 / month

If you choose 5 years loan, loan repayment per month = RM 5,176 (how to cover loan???)
If you choose 7 years loan , loan repayment per month = RM 3,847 (also not enough... )
If you choose 15 years loan, loan repayment per month = RM 2,093 (you don't need to pay a single cent. )

Multiple up, and you can get as many 'free' apartments as you can afford to loan. Well, it depends where you are staying in the klang valley, 2.5x annual salary for someone starting to work, can't even get you a cheap low cost (but not subsidized) apartment/flat.

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Added on July 1, 2011, 10:16 amCorrection, my tenant is the 'slave' to the bank for 15 years.

This post has been edited by gark: Jul 1 2011, 10:18 AM