In my early years I invested almost completely in shares as Malaysia market was really undervalued in 1998 public bank was rm 1 only.

I made money on my first 2 properties but at that time my first property was giving 11% net yield and the second was 7% net yield. I sold it when net yield was less then 3% about 7 years ago.

I lost money on my 3rd property as originally bought it as a personal residence but changed my mind and lost about 100k in terms of interest and transfer fees.

For the last 7 years besides shares I also invested in US ETFs.

Last year I started in unit trust as I felt that US ETFs and Malaysia individual shares will not give such good returns anymore.

There is no magic bullet in investment. An investment is only good when valuations are low and prospects look good. So can't say unit trust, shares, properties or REITs are better it depends on today's valuation and future growth prospects.

Property was good when rental yield was at 7% to 11%. Today it is something like 1% to 2%.

Local shares was good when Malaysia economy was growing 8% and the unit trust industry was growing as they were injecting funds into our capital markets. Unit trust only started getting popular in the late 90s.

US ETFs were good in the last 10 years as there was a big correction in 2008. Earning yields were high today is super low.

Am restructuring my portfolio based on unit trust as I feel that is the way of the future as they able to make money in a flat or falling market. (As I have no idea how to do that)

At the end of the day the most important investment should be yourself as a direct salary icreases gives the fastest cashflow increase.

I estimate my investment returns was about 6 to 8% over the years hard to say as need to remove my savings to calculate actual return. My net worth increase has been about 14% for about 20 years so you can see half the increase was from salary.

Last year my returns was a out 7.5% but my targeted returns at reitirement is about 6%.

I did marry late because of that I could save more. You're right marriage and kids will suck your capital for investment. I don't have kids but I do have enough cashflow to support two kids till University perhaps going to a twinning program.

If you marry late you have more money the bad thing is you're very old when your children grow up like me when I get kids. There was an article I read on someone's blog on what happens if you marry earlier or later with the actual numbers perhaps you can search the web for it.

Your partner makes a big difference in you life make sure she is frugal too. The other big factor is who you mix with if you have high spending friends it is unlikely you can save much.

Actually I am going to start a blog to share my experiences as a pet project am targeting September for it to be out. Hopefully you will check it out when it's out.

By the way all the above are just my personal opinions for education only please consult a licensee financial planner if you want advice based on your personal situation.

Some pointers would be

1. Buy some books on it as I couldn't find any free impartial advice on the web. The books authors make money from the book so they can be impartial in their advice
2. You don't have to buy everything from one asset management company you can mix and match
3. Don't just buy one fund at a time buy a portfolio of funds from different asset classes to diversify

Will put more info on my blog will I have time to put together my thoughts

Also be very careful about opening a business I invested in 3 lost my money in all 3 as basically as a silent investor either the business will flop or the working partner would most probably cheat you as he is doing all the work. You also have to work out the figure properly.

Don't really know your actual situation but some things to consider would be that in all investments you have to know what is the key driver of growth(no growth means the investment won't go up) And what are the risk

1. An S&P 500 ETF is betting on the US economy

https://www.morningstar.com/articles/962169...ns-2020-edition

10 year nominal returns forecast by vanguard for the us economy is I thinK 3.5 to 5.5. You have to make your own decision in what you believe the growth would be as different companies forecast different amount I use Vanguard as I own vanguard ETFs.

2. A global index fund is betting on the global economy

I think the above article might have some forecast on global returns also but I think it's better then the US.

For me I am reducing my exposure to the US but not completely moving out as I also need to think of currency risk. What happens if the ringgit appreciates against USD in the next ten years. A 5.5% upside for me is not enough for me to top up my investment in the US as for me I would want at least another 2% more premium for currency risk. This year for my US portfolio I will most probably reduce my US exposure and put my money in other regions which have lower valuations.

A lot of people are of the opinion that the US market is overvalued

Besides currency risk as more people index something might happen no one knows as there has never been so much money in index funds before. Will there be am indexing bubble?

So end of the day you have to evaluate for yourself
1. Do you think the global economy and the us economy is overvalued or undervalued
2. Do you think there will be earnings growth
3. What are the risk involved and are you getting a premium in return for the risk you're taking
4. Do take into account what we call black swan events, like perhaps an indexing bubble meaning you should have some stuff in non equity markets for cashfow. It might take 15 years to recover from a major crash.

Also another thing is if you have dependents it might not be such a good idea to have an overseas account. If something happens to you, your dependents would have to fly over to UK and appoint a UK lawyer to get a probate. The lawyer might cost more then your investments. If you have a large amount there you might have to be estate duty too.

I hope I haven't confused you didn’t really answer your question but would like to give you some info instead.

Will most probably be starting it at the beginning of next year as a bit busy with some personal hobbies at the moment. Will keep you updated.

It would be really nice to know how us Malaysian financial goals change by age and life stage. It would be really nice and appreciated if you participate. I will summarize the data every time 10 people participate

Question a. Gender
1. Male
2. Female

Question b. What are your financial goals
1. Buy a car
2. Budget for a wedding
3. Buy a house
4. Plan and budget for retirement
5. Plan and budget for child expenses
6. Plan and budget for a child's further education
7. Plan and budget to start a business
8. Others (please elaborate)

Question c. What is your age group
1. Below 25
2. 25-30
2. 36-40
3. 41-45
4. 46-50
5. Above 50

Question d. Life stage
1. Single/Divorced with no dependents
2. Married without kids and don't plan to have kids
3. Married with kids
4. Married and planning to have kids

Answer can be like
a. 2 b. 3,5,6,8 (take care of my parents) c. 4 d. 2


Thanks.

This post has been edited by mmweric: May 28 2020, 01:01 PM

Oops missed out that option

It can go either way depending on who you marry.

This post has been edited by mmweric: May 30 2020, 06:32 PM

Well most people who have loads of money like 100M would at least like their net investable assets to be same year after year after taking into account inflation. So a minimum return of at least 1% above inflation rate would still be required

I agree with you if you already have high assets and a high income no reason to take any debt. If you don't have anything sometimes you might have to take
some risk and debt especially if you want to open a business.

Most people who start a business when they are young have no choice but to borrow from friends and relatives. Small amounts maybe like 30k for a small business. If you need larger amounts then you would need investors.

I have been an investor in businesses before and I have run business for other people with P&L responsibility. My observation why people fail is because people open a business which they are not familiar with. Those which I have seen successful consist of people who have already about 8 to 15 years experience in a similar industry, Sales and mkt experience, P&L responsibility and people management skills.

As most people do not have the relevant skills it is not surprising 90% of businesses fail.

If you do have the experience then it makes sense to borrow as normally you wouldn't open the business unless you already had a contract to sustain your cashflow but you only need to borrow after you get the contract as a bridging loan to perhaps run the project as distributors will not give you 100% credit the first time you do business with them even if they have been friends with you for like 20 years.

This post has been edited by mmweric: Jun 30 2020, 03:08 PM

As someone who retired at 42 I aim for about 2.5% above inflation so if inflation is 3.5% then 6%. But I generally spend only 1.5%.

You should always look at the real rate or return and not absolute return for example in Singapore you would need a lower rate of return as inflation there is lower.

If I am not wrong epf target is 2% above inflation with a 3 year rolling target but they have been consistently performing better then that. So for me an equivalent return to epf is good enough.

No difference whether you're big or small. When you're big small guys will come along and try to undercut you and the customers will use the small guy to push down your price. Sometimes your ex-staff becomes the small guy too.

Customers squeeze you because they either have KPIs or they want to be more profitable so don't take it personally.

I have been on both sides both sides always have problems but it always is better to be bigger with a longer runway for mistakes

Haha definitely true