Does financial security simply mean not having to worry about money? That's too simple to define such a broad meaning of "financial security". You might not have to worry about money during a great time where jobs are everywhere, and your country's economy is doing very well, and earning money is so easy. But will you start worrying when it is recession time? Would you worry about money if your family members were hit by a deadly disease? Would you worry about money if suddenly you are unable to climb ...

It is undeniable that the living expenses in Malaysia are getting higher at a much faster rate, although inflation reports that the rate is low. Feeling the pressure of petrol subsidy cut, and rising cost of almost everything, from toll charges to hawker food - life is definitely getting harder. Humans are extremely flexible. We can cope with the situation with some compromise and sacrifice. When money is no longer enough, we can always find ways to cut some expenses. Being frugal simply means living below your means. However, less ...

How much is your current income being deferred for future consumption? 10%? 20%? or more? [HTML1]

After a heavy meal at a local nasi kandar restaurant, I bought 10 sen of Hacks (yes, the candy). I still remember that I could get 3 candies for 10 sen. Later on, it is 5 candies for 20 sen. It has been a long time I didn't spend money on candy. So I asked the cashier in case it is more expensive already. And it is lucky that I asked, because it is selling 2 for 10 sen nowadays. The price rise 50% after 20 years. That's inflation! However, ...

Introduction An economic recession is simply defined as a significant decline in the economic activity spread across the economy that usually lasts more than a few months. More economically speaking, a recession is a decline in a country's Gross Domestic Product or a negative real economic growth for two or more successive quarters in a year. The latter is a widely known definition of recessions as well as a widely-accepted one. A severe or long recession is referred to as an economic depression. A devastating breakdown of an economy (essentially, a severe ...

Introduction Do you find yourself spending more than you earn? Yet when you look back, you find that you actually spent that money on something that you could have done without. Worse still, you spent that money on someone you did not necessarily have to please. How can you avoid spending the money that you do not have, thus reducing incidences of overspending? Read on to find out. Photo by gwen 10 Examples how you can overspend unnecessarily A fresh graduate decides to buy ...

Introduction EPF was started for the sole purpose of forcing employees to set aside a certain percentage of their income for their retirement. It was generally perceived that if the contributions were to be used for other purposes, this would have a detrimental impact on the size of the retirement nest egg. However, using these contributions to finance outstanding housing loans is also another form of long term saving as the property is likely to appreciate after the mortgage is settled. This article discusses how you can utilize your ...

It is now the beginning of the year. I have realized that the longer I stay in financial industry, doing business is easier than ever. As usual, I am now opening up vacancies to recruit new comers to join me and prosper in this industry. Because time limit is a factor, I can only personally train five people in a year. If you are interested to join me, please follow through this article. I will show you why financial planner is one of the best overall job. A job that ...

In order to be smart and calculative in personal finance matters, understanding the time value of money is an essential part of the learning process. I will be posting a series of computation methods related to time value of money on every Wednesday. Today, we will learn to calculate the actual effective annual rate (EAR). Common Problems If you have deposit money in a Fixed Deposit (FD) account, most like you was asked about the term of your deposit - 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or longer? ...

In order to be smart and calculative in personal finance matters, understanding the time value of money is an essential part of the learning process. I will be posting a series of computation methods related to time value of money on every Wednesday. Today, we will learn to calculate the total retirement fund in the EPF (Employee Provident Fund).  In this case, we have to make some assumptions in order to compute the value the amount of deposit will increase over time at a constant rate (the normal salary increment rate)interest ...