48" is HUGE. How far is your viewing distance? If it's too near, U will be moving your head a lot to follow the action. The size of ur TV is actually only depending on ur viewing distance.

For U who have 2.6k a month extra, 7k is not a huge amount, but not small either. BUT, my question is, is it really enough?

I think, simply put, SET your LONG TERM financial goals. (Ur e.g. u save 500/month). After U have ur financial plan already rolling, U can simple SPEND ALL YOUR EXTRA. Dun need to ask anyone or let anyone tell U what to do with YOUR money =)

Italic is about buying the right product for the right usage.
e.g. butcher knife to butcher meat. Imagine using a HUGE butcher knife to cut fruit. Doesn't work very well.

BOLD is just a finance philosophy.



Basically,
Italic answers is this product right for my usage? while
BOLD answers should I buy this product?

I know what U mean right? Hahahhahaa.
Ur a funny guy xD
2.8k is a good starting salary! Haha! I started with 1.25k. Not even HALF of yours.. LOL!!

My advice is to plan your savings and investments. Manage your finances well and you'll be just fine. Make sure you don't get conned outta your $$ =). If you want to live a luxurious then a plan is essential.

Affordable? Perodua Axia.

How many yrs loan do you wanna take? Do u want a new or used car?
Your car choice will depend on these questions
This post has been edited by polkiuj: Aug 28 2014, 05:22 PM

11ft is fine hehe. In my house it's about 3-5 ft that's y I asked hehe.

Congrats on ur new tv! Glad u r enjoying it!!

1. Divide which one will make u money (investments) and lose you money (liability) and rank them

Housing Loan - RM 133k (Interest 2.85%) --> Staff Loan. - Good debt (less than ASB)
Credit Card O/S - RM 14k (Interest 15%) - VERY BAD
Credit Card O/S - RM 1.6k (Interest 12.90%) --> Convert CC into PL. - BAD
PTPTN - RM 9k (Interest 4%) - Good debt (less than ASB)
ASB Loan - RM 104k (Interest 4.85%) --> Staff Rate. - Good debt (less than ASB)
ASB - RM 30k (Total RM 130k include ASB Loan) - ~8% PA
Extra savings per month around RM500 - RM800.

14k debt @ 15% will cost u ~175 extra a month, which is really bad. I SERIOUSLY urge you to consider using the ASB to clear it.
@800 a month, you'll need about 19 months to get back to 30k. If a true emergency comes (which it rarely does), you can always get a personal loan or credit card quick cash.

My suggestion is to clear it all. This debt is not worth having. It's losing you money for no reason.

A true (normal) emergency rarely requires 30k instantly. If not instant, you can easily obtain loans.

Of course, we seeing this from the POV that u have a decent credit score.

Yea, that's Y i added the caveat at the end of my advise. It's really hard to advise given we have not enough info.

We all advise as if he were in our shoes (Navink) but that is rarely the case.


Maybe I'm naive lol but isn't that what credit cards are for? Emergencies. Since he has 16k in debt, it's better to pay it off and IF an emergency arises, he could use that credit card. That's FAR better than keeping the 16k debt (@15% interest) for an emergency "saving/investment" that only nets ~8%.



just to add: the reason for credit cards to exist is
1. to build ur credit score
2. to get benefits/discounts
3. (it's better not to use this, but...) emergency

This post has been edited by polkiuj: Sep 10 2014, 03:57 PM

That's a very good definition @j.passing.by

That's my suggestions exactly. Paying off that CC debt (for Navink) means that he still has ~14k in ASB and a full credit CC to utilize in case of emergency; i.e. lose job, medical, accident, etc. (pls dun unless really Really REALLY necessary)

Cos it just doesn't make sense to keep 30k and have a 16k debt with insanely high interest.

Other "emergencies" i can think of is if u need to move out, etc which will need a few thousand but not anywhere near 10k. I think you're pretty safe unless u have an Ah Long or something come after U.

Congrats! I hope you will enjoy ur lack of high interest debts which can allow u to focus on ur savings and investments. Don't forget to spend time with your family and friends and try not to be Uncle Scrooge hehe. =)

Maybankard 2 Platinum. Best card ever. Not so great now but still very good.

Just in case u did not know, flat rate is not the same as effective rate. Here is a simple chart for u

Flat rate of 5% is the below effective rate, depending on tenure
1 yr - 9.1%
2 yrs - 9.32%
3 yrs - 9.31%
5 yrs - 9.15%
10 yrs - 8.69%
15 yrs - 8.29%
20 yrs - 7.95%

It's still mostly above your ASB and not worth to take it to settle your loans

In this case, he has 30k worth of cash in ASB and a 16k credit card debt.

So what I meant to say was that he should use the ASB to pay of the debt instead of a personal loan.

Also, many credit cards have way lower than 18%, in his case it was 15%. If I'm not wrong, MBB2 Amex is only 8.88%.

=)

That's the banks way of suckering ppl.

Offer you a loan u don't need = free money. New sales.

Hi! Just to add, IF and only IF you are very good with your finances, you should actually go for the longest tenure and max loan. The reason being that there is semi flexi and fully flexi loans available today. The extra cash parked into these accounts can be used as EMERGENCY funds and you will still enjoy lower interests! AND your monthly repayment is lower too!

Note. That is a big IF! One of the tell tale signs that you're not really good with your finances is that you have credit card debts.



Edit: I see j.passing.by already covered this lol

This post has been edited by polkiuj: Sep 14 2014, 04:09 PM

Yup! As u said, neither is intrinsically wrong or right. It all depends on ur style. The problem with a fixed loan is that you can't save on interests unless u do a special write in (maybe). Or clear the loan.

The good thing about this flexi or semi flexi loans is that they let us keep the cash and yet still save on interest! Win win. Again, this already ASSUMES you have great financial management else it WILL be your doom. The great part about the loan is exactly as you put! It allows u to dump in ur bonuses. And the fact that your salary increases every year, u can put in more and more as you wish. Soon, your 35 year loan is actually left with only 20 years or less and you save hundreds of thousands in interest.

And the best part is that this account gives you the best 'guaranteed' interest rates ever. (Of course, your money does not grow. In this way, ur interest is interest saved rather than gained).

Sorry to hear that bro...

Err.. That's the expectation la bro. Maybe if it doesn't them it's time to change job... That's considered an increment too (if it's higher la)

If all these are effective rates, then u dun need to settle anything unless u have certain reasons to do so.

E.g. Applying for 3rd house loan and wanna get 90% loan.

If not, rejoice for ur ultra low interest rates. ASB will be the best investment without any likely risk.

I have 40 years loan. But that is just a net, to have a low monthly payment.

Since it's a full flexi loan, it won't take too long to clear it as long as my financial management is alright.

Btw ur ad is horrible. At least make it smaller and attach it in a different way, like ur sig

This post has been edited by polkiuj: Sep 19 2014, 10:20 AM