Hanson is a very experienced financial practitioner in Malaysia. He blogs at RinggitChannel. I enjoy reading his articles. Thanks Hanson for forking out the time to give us some money tips. Here is the interview:
1. Please briefly introduce yourself and how & why you get involved in the financial planning business?
I was an accountant before joining the insurance industry. Frankly speaking when someone asked me to join the industry, I straight away agreed because I was looking for something challenging to do. I saw people diverse background made it in this industry and I was fascinated by the tremendous leverage the business offered as compared to working as an employee. I remember a successful insurance manager once ask, ” what is the difference between a person who earns 3k a month and a person who earns 30k a month?” and everybody answered ” money!, or 27k difference”.
His answer was “time”. In one year the 30k guy earns the 3k guys 10 year income. i was stunned!. I had decided to look for ways not to sell my time for money. Thus embarking in a career in sales.
2. What’s the benefits you get from this business? How it can help a person to build a long term career?
This career allows me to pursue my quest. I have a keen interest in personal development. I believe what I lack and the world lacks is ‘the right type of education’. It breaks my heart when I see people who thinks the world is a place of scarcity, where abundance is right in front of their eyes. I do have my own limitations, I am also in the journey of this awareness. I reckon the insurance career is one of the most complete personal development program/career there is. It requires self management, leadership skills, and communication skills.
It is also a business which does not require much capital, no debtors, no creditors, no stocks, no product shortage and no fixed operation hours or rules. In other words, it is low risk and highly flexible. Income will comensurate with the level of self management attained. Of course, if you are unable to manage yourself then employment is still the best. All businesses requires a certain degree of self management.
3. Can you give the 3 most important “money tips” to our readers?
I do not have any great tips on money, but the usual ones:
a) savings is a habit, if can’t get to it, treat it like an expenses,
d) Invest heavily in your own education. Income will rise in tandem with education. The distinction here is ” the right type of education”
c) strive for excellence in your own field/interest. – if you are a humble rojak seller, sell the best rojak in town and you will be a millionaire, agree?
4. What’s the best 3 articles or most popular articles published at Ringgit Channel?
Ringgitchannel is a experimental blog. I wrote what I felt like writing. it will be revampt soon. I am not telling yet, but will be something really different. I am waiting for feedbacks from readers on my blog. So far nothing, so I reckon it is not really what I want. What I want is more interaction. However I fell encouraged by the readers and traffic generated.
If you are interested to follow Hanson’s footstep, shoot him an email at hanson [at] ringgitchannel [dot] com, or add him in the facebook.
I would like to take this opportunity to urge any new entrepreneur-to-be to contact me (if you are in Penang) or Hanson (in Klang Valley) if you want to know more about this industry. I still have one spot left for the one who is committed to build a career in financial service industry. Learn why finanical planner is the hottest job.
