Most of us are now more concerned about the rising of housing prices in Malaysia. Sometimes, we fear that with the rise in the housing price Malaysia will affect our dream to own a house.
Well, are you thinking of applying for a housing loan in Malaysia to buy the property you dream of? But, did you know whether your application will most likely be approved or not? It’s easy. You don’t have to worry. Before applying for a housing loan, you can do some self-checking of your loan eligibility based on the Debt Service Ratio.
What Is Debt Service Ratio (DSR)?
Simply put, DSR is a calculation made based on your income and your commitments. From here, the banks will calculate your DSR and see whether you can afford the loan you are applying for. It has its own formula and keeps in mind that each banks vary its DSR limit.
In terms of a housing loan in Malaysia, this formula helps the bank to get to know your commitments which then will be considered whether you’re eligible for the loan you’re applying for.
It’s based on your monthly net income and the total commitments that you have to pay every month. For instance, your car loan, student loan, personal loan, and any other loan that you need to commit monthly for payment. The bank will see and decide whether the loan you’re taking is within your financial limit.
At the end of the day, the bank has to be very selective and careful. They’re not doing some charity work but a profitable institution. DSR is one of the main factors that banks use to determine your borrowing power.
Your DSR is then compared to the bank’s maximum DSR limit. If your DSR is within the limit, then you’re one step closer to get your housing loan approval.
Remember! Every bank has its own DSR limit. DSR is not the only criteria for a housing loan to be approved but it is one of the main factors that banks consider.
How To Calculate DSR For A Housing Loan?
As explained above, DSR is calculated based on an individual’s net income. Whatever income that you gained after the deduction of income tax and EPF, then it will be divided by your total monthly commitments such as car loan, personal loan, PTPTN (student loans), credit card bills, and the housing loan that you’re applying for. From there, it will be multiplied by 100 to obtain Debt Service Ratio in percentage.
The formula is,
DSR = (Debt / Net Income) x 100
It’s very useful for you to calculate your DSR before applying for a housing loan in Malaysia. This will help you consider whether or not you’re pursuing a housing loan application.
For a better picture, let’s take RM7,000 as your net income. Your monthly commitment in total is RM3,000 while you’re now applying for a housing loan with a monthly payment of RM1,200. Both will sum up to RM4,200.
Divide the figure (RM4,200) by RM7,000, then multiply that by 100 and your DSR is 60%. Most of the banks in Malaysia has DSR limit at 60% to 75%.
If you were to ask the average millennial about how early they would be able to retire, chances are you would get varied responses. However, it is unlikely that any of them would be aiming to retire before the age of 50.
That is where the concept of FIRE comes in.
What Is FIRE Movement?
It stands for “financial independence, retire early” and is a growing movement worldwide. In short, proponents of the movement aim to save a large portion of their income (up to 70% or even more!) and aggressively invest in order to hit a set number they feel comfortable with for retirement.
The aim is to hit this number far earlier than traditional work structures after which they become financially independent and can “retire” or pursue work or projects they are passionate about.
Proponents of this movement suggest the “4% rule” as a guideline – the goal is to accumulate 25 years’ worth of annual living expenses through various investments, and withdrawing 4% per annum, assuming it generates at least that much in passive income.
This is unlikely to diminish the portfolio, and individuals that have reached this level can be considered financially independent, with any form of employment or work now optional instead of necessary.
4 Varieties Of FIRE Movement
Fat FIRE: This allows individuals to live a more traditional or typical lifestyle, but also requires saving more than the average retirement investor. It usually allows for luxuries like fancy meals, holidays and gadgets depending on the amount saved up.
Lean FIRE: This model requires a strict commitment to follow a minimalist lifestyle with little expenditure and extreme savings. An individual can achieve this when they have saved and invested 25 times their annual expenses while also spending less than the average person.
Barista FIRE: This form refers to devotees that do not follow a set 9-to-5 job, but do work in some capacity on a part-time basis to cover necessary expenses that would otherwise have them tap into their retirement nest egg.
Coast FIRE: This can also apply to followers that have a part-time job, but who have already saved up enough to fund their retirement and living expenses (thanks to compounding investments), allowing them to “coast” towards retirement.
Julian Ng, co-founder and CEO of robo-advisor Akru, believes that the FIRE movement is intriguing and helps people think beyond the realm of what is considered financial normalcy.
“I thought it not only had interesting financial planning principles but also life angles,” he remarks, adding that FIRE devotees did not have to stick to the concept of only being able to retire when they are older.
Ng believes followers of this movement are tired of being stuck in the rat race and want to work towards other goals that offer fulfilment. Corporate highs to be replaced by personal pursuits and leisure. The latest gadgets and cars substituted with experiences and time with their loved ones.
“I think they plainly want a life. They want to spend time on things that matter like family, friends and their passions. They also value health and emotional wellbeing. In terms of bigger life philosophies, they figured out that they do not need to have caviar and business class all the way. They are a bit minimalist in that sense, although they are also financially very comfortable.”
Early Retirement?
According to Malaysian law, the minimum age of retirement of an employee in the private sector is 60 years of age. There have been calls to raise this number to 65, meaning that the average person could potentially work for over 40 years before calling it quits – hardly a tantalising prospect to most people.
Although following the FIRE movement potentially offers a way out for weary millennials, not everyone is specifically aiming for an early retirement.
“Personally, I’m aiming for the FI part of FIRE as I don’t plan to retire early,” says Leigh, the founder of popular investing blog Dividend Magic, who aims to have a passive income of RM36,000 a year, most of which is derived from various investment dividends.
“I lived a pretty frugal lifestyle even before learning of FIRE. These habits have been instilled in me since a young age and I have actually been telling myself to spend more often, but on things that genuinely bring me joy. And it will have to be happiness that lasts,” he adds.
This is a notion shared by Lee Sheung Un, communications officer of Affin Hwang Asset Management, who describes himself as a subscriber to a milder version of FIRE.
“Early retirement is not the end goal for me, but rather achieving financial independence,” he says.
“Personally, I aim to save at least 40% of my monthly income which is not quite close to the FIRE benchmark to save at least 70%. I am sure it is possible if I really tried, but I also like spending on my own comfort to save time and avoid stressing about the small things.”
To the average person, the idea of retiring early may sound good on paper, but it is not surprising that many FIRE devotees are not just looking to coast through the rest of their life. Rather, they are aiming for the freedom and time that financial independence unlocks to be able to pursue what fulfils them.
Achieving FIRE In Malaysia?
As a concept originating in the West, the burning question for many will be whether it is possible to achieve financial independence in Malaysia.
“FIRE is not realistic for people living in countries with a wide wealth gap,” sighs Suraya Zainudin, the founder of personal finance website RinggitOhRinggit.com.
“Mathematically and statistically speaking, the structure simply does not allow the majority of people to reach their financial goals, even modest ones. Unfortunately, Malaysia is one of those countries.”
However, Leigh believes that FIRE is definitely possible but that it is not for everyone as it can be hard or too intensive to keep up with.
“We live in a world of spending and instant gratification. Getting a new phone, signing up for gym memberships all costs money. Not everyone is willing to grind all day and put a hold on spending. And a huge problem in Malaysia is that people are not investing,” he observes.
And while not everyone may be cut out for the FIRE movement, the philosophies and beliefs around it can help to cultivate a healthier understanding and relationship with money, as well as a way to escape traditional ways of thinking.
FIRE Movement: Theory And Reality
The points highlighted above shows how investment formulas are great in theory – but we know real life works out differently. Things start to fall apart when you are faced with unexpected expenses, for example.
What happens if you are suddenly responsible for another dependent – a child, or parent? Or if you lose your job or become incapacitated?
On the positive side, the financial dynamics might change because you inherit a windfall or enjoy a rapid increase in earnings. Any of these instances will alter the time it takes you to reach your desired retirement age.
Neil Walton, Head of Investment Solutions says: “We know the concept of FIRE has spurred some to consider downsizing, retiring, investing and changing their lives. But even for those who do not intend to do anything so radical, FIRE provides a useful blueprint for planning. Good investment will sit on a good financial plan, and that is inevitably about building investments over time to provide an income in the future.”
Money doesn’t disappear overnight but often it’s the case of losing one dollar at a time. It may not seem like a big deal when you order a Mocha Frappuccino, have a dessert in a nice cafe or subscribing for a long-waited movie, but every little item adds up in the long run.
Being a millennial as well as a licensed financial planner, there are many financial traps I’ve also succumbed to, and now would like to remind myself (and you too) to stay away from.
1. Instagrammable Lifestyle
A cup of RM20 Coffee, a plate of RM30 Big Breakfast, a slice of RM20 cake, these are perfect elements to form a likeable photo, but these are also killing our bank accounts. When we chase a materialistic lifestyle, we might lose control of our finances.
2. Crazy Shopping When There Is A Sale
Looking for SALE is an easy job in this e-commerce era. You might wonder why buying things on sale is an issue? This is because no matter how great the bargain, if you purchased something you aren’t going to use, you’re just throwing away your money!
Ask yourself, “Do I really need this and will be using this frequently?” or “I’m just buying it because it’s on sale?”
3. Subscription Trap
The most common marketing strategy nowadays is to encourage consumers to sign up for a “free” trial. You only need to activate the trial by putting in your credit card details to enjoy the service.
The companies are hoping that people will forget to cancel, and then the monthly payments will just get charged to our account. And way too often, that’s exactly what happens. This happened to me before, and probably has to you as well.
The effective way to avoid this is to ask ourselves: do we truly need things like movie subscription, music services or fancy gym memberships that keep us paying for months? Reconsider to see if there are cheaper ways of doing the same thing and if the subscriptions are necessary for you.
4. Full Allocation Of Salary While Planning To ‘Save Later’
RM300 for the latest flagship handphone, RM100 for a mobile plan, RM200 for a gym membership, RM1,000 for the dream car… who says millennials don’t plan for their finances? We have our monthly salary “100% well-allocated” into different expenses. However, we might just be forgetful about one thing: Savings.
The more we earn, the more we save? Unfortunately, it’s usually not the case. The first time I received my salary, I told myself to save up at least 10% every month. One year passed, I was still saving the same amount even though my salary was up more than 10%. I thought it’s due to the market inflation, so I couldn’t save more.
In the end, I realised it’s due to my own “Lifestyle Inflation”.
5. Using Credit Cards For Daily Expenses
Don’t you feel it’s cool to just swipe a card/scan a code and get what you want? While we are living in an era where cashless payments are unavoidable, but the credit card is not our only choice.
When you use your credit cards to cover the shortfalls in your spending, you can eventually run up a huge amount of debt. Besides, people tend to spend more when they are paying with credit cards. Don’t forget, you still have your debit card!
6. Making Financial Choices Out Of FOMO
Another common trap I face is to make a financial decision out of the fear of missing out (FOMO). When we are afraid, we might not consider all of the options available, and might end up making a costly mistake. Besides, millennials tend to have peer pressure to take a big financial step, from buying a new car to purchasing a home to getting married or having a child.
Just stop! Take a deep breath and think whether you are ready for these moves. Rushing to accomplish these might not benefit you financially.
7. Simply Investing And Chasing Quick Gains
We are lucky as we have easy access to investment information compared to our parents. However, simply investing without knowledge, time and discipline can be a financial killer of our hard-earned money. I have seen some of my friends chase after quick huge gains from investments without paying attention to the risks involved.
It would be folly for us to buy a stock or a property and just pray that it would “go up” without careful analysis. If you have no time to do this, it’s advisable to engage experts to help you instead.
8. Thinking We Will Be Forever Young
Many young Malaysians don’t even think about retirement:
In our 20s, we think retirement is far away, YOLO!
In our 30s, we enter a different life stage, buying a house, getting married, etc, and often we lack funds to save for the future.
In our 40s, we need to provide more for the family, e.g. children’s education fund.
Commonly but sadly, people only recognise their retirement needs in their 50s, which is probably already too late. A warm reminder: the youngest millennials are already 24 years old now, and the eldest are already 39 years old.
Another major misconception many of us have is that we choose not to buy insurance in order to save money. But this isn’t a wise financial decision. What makes a millennial so confident to think we are risk-proof from medical conditions or personal accidents?
9. Travel Plans Are Done! How About Your Financial Plan?
Image from icharts.net
Planning for travel is always in our top bucket list, but how about our own financial plan? We spend countless hours scrolling through social media feeds, spend thousands of ringgit on getting the latest gadgets, but setting aside two hours to engage with a professional on planning our finances is rarely in the plan.
We need this “financial waze” to lead us towards our financial goals in life. Without a financial plan, our financial future is unsecured as we are uncertain what is going on right now and where are we heading to.
10. We Don’t Ask For Help And Choose To Ignore
I don’t mean you should borrow money from your friends or relatives. However, most of us will be facing financial problems that we can’t handle well, for example budgeting problems or major financial decisions to make. Don’t try to adopt an “ostrich policy” and pray the problems would resolved by itself.
Many of us get trapped because we don’t pay much attention to our finances. Every month we receive our pay cheque, pay the bills, and then spend what’s left over (if there’s anything). I understand that money is a taboo subject and we feel ashamed when we’re struggling. But there is so much help out there! Tell someone you trust or talk to a licensed financial planner to let them guide you.
It is important to have an informed financial plan that can help us millennials achieve financial success. Remember, managing your finance is managing your life.
Starting by monitoring all the seemingly small expenses. Think carefully before adding new debt, keep in mind that being able to make a payment (swiping your credit card) isn’t the same as being able to afford the purchase. Don’t fulfill your current desire by sacrificing your future funds.
If you make saving a monthly priority and get the help from a licensed financial planner to work out your plan, you are more likely to enjoy life more abundantly.
If you’ve spent time to finish reading this, take charge of your life by taking charge of your finances now. Have your personalised financial plan today!
About the Author
Ocean Pon is a Licensed Financial Planner with Finwealth Management Sdn Bhd.
We at Smart Investor and Finwealth is committed to help you better manage your financials. Get a free consultation from an expert by filling in your details here: https://www.smartinvestor.com.my/SIxFinwealth
As the head of your family and business venture, you are being looked up to as the leader of your family and also the companies you are managing. As a business leader, planning well for the future is something that is expected of you and your management team. As the head of your family, you are expected to exercise the same standard when you plan for your personal wealth transfer as well as your business succession.
When we talk about business estate planning, there is a popular Chinese saying that you may have heard before. It says that a family’s wealth will not last beyond three generations!
Interestingly, the Americans also have a similar expression, “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”.
Backed By Research
A ground-breaking study conducted by a wealth consultancy firm The Williams Group which involves 3,200 families over a 20-year period, found that 70% of the families tend to lose their fortune by the second generation, while nine in ten families lose it by the third generation!
The popular explanation behind this phenomenon is that, the first generation works hard to accumulate the wealth. The second generation while growing up, sees their parents’ struggles and have a good understanding of the value of sacrifice and hard work. They appreciate the frugal aspects of their lives growing up and will more likely hold on to their parents’ wealth.
However, the third generation do not appreciate the struggles and sacrifices of the previous generations. Therefore, they are more carefree and more likely to spend the wealth easily and may end up squandering the inherited wealth.
There is a shining example that comes to mind when we talk about planning for your business succession and holding on to your accumulated wealth to benefit the future generations. He is IKEA’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad. When this highly respected business leader died in 2018 at the age of 91, he was ranked No. 8 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This is thanks to his control of IKEA’s global retail empire that was valued at US$58.7 billion. Interestingly, his wealth will not be dissipated because of a carefully designed and well-thought through wealth preservation strategy that he had put in place to secure the longterm survival of the IKEA business empire.
According to a media report, most IKEA stores are owned by the Stichting Ingka Foundation, a Dutch entity with the purpose of donating to charity and supporting innovation in design, according to its founding statute. Meanwhile IKEA’s trademarks, brand and concept were placed under the ultimate control of Vaduz, a Liechtenstein-based Interogo Foundation whose subsidiary, Inter Ikea, is the global IKEA franchisor. “Interogo Foundation is managed by a Foundation Council, consisting of at least two members and a Supervisory Council, as a principle consisting of seven members.”
This was disclosed by Anders Bylund, Interogo’s head of communications. He was also quoted as saying, “The Kamprad family members in the supervisory councils have been and shall always be in minority.”
Meanwhile, Stichting Ingka Foundation, is only partly philanthropic. Its statutes allow for profits to be reinvested in the company, according to Per Heggenes, the chief executive of the IKEA Foundation.
This smartly designed strategy put in place by Kamprad was designed to ensure that IKEA, is not in the hands of his family members, and thus would long outlive its founder. Trust experts say that the set-up ensures IKEA’s business continuity by making it impossible for any individual, whether a manager or heir, to assume control after Kamprad’s death.
It Can Be Done
You can also be the real king or queen of your family’s wealth kingdom just like Ingvar Kamprad, once you have come up with your very own comprehensive personal and business estate planning.
With an intelligently designed estate plan, your wealth can be fortified with a “legal castle” to shield your wealth from all creditors and vultures, as well as to avoid the probable ugly family feuds and disputes, which will tear up and destroy your family’s wealth kingdom. Your legal fort can be watertight against all types of claims and risks, including director’s or professional liabilities.
By utilising well established and advanced legal means and structures to hold the ownership of the bulk of your wealth, you will be able to perpetuate your family’s wealth kingdom, and escape the curse of family wealth being dissipated by the third generation!
You will also be able to protect the interest and well-beings of your beneficiaries and descendants. You get to enjoy serenity and inner peace knowing that when the time comes, your family’s wealth kingdom is intact and it serves the needs of your loved ones.
Let them thrive from the blessings of your wealth kingdom, rather than suffer from the curse of inadequate planning. Your descendants will come to admire and respect your vision and the decisiveness in getting a comprehensive family’s wealth succession plan, just like the late Mr Ingvar Kamprad.
About the Author
Lee Khee Chuan holds a B.A. from National University of Singapore and a chartered financial consultant (ChFC), chartered life underwriter (CLU), CFP professional, and Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) USA. He is also a licensed financial adviser representative with more than 25 years’ experience in estate planning. He shares a lot more valuable insights at www.estateplanningmalaysia.com
Many people do not see the importance of insurance until they need it, or until it is too late for them to do anything with it, and what’s worse, many considers it an unnecessary expense. In reality, however, insurance is more than that – it is a useful financial tool that forms part of our wealth management planning.
Starting Out
Our financial needs, income and liabilities vary at different stage of our life, as shown above. Those who are young and single who have just started their working life in their 20s are only interested in investment to grow whatever little money that they have.
Although it is good to have the desire to start accumulating wealth early, many of them are unaware that the risk of falling ill can happen any time while accumulating wealth.
Thus, at that particular age, they should also look into wealth protection. If they are still single, they should at least have healthcare planning.
What is healthcare planning? Is it just a medical card? When someone is sick and have to be admitted to the hospital, do they stay for a longer period of time, or do they recuperate at home?
For instance, a cancer patient who is undergoing treatment at the hospital might be required to stay at the hospital for a certain period of time. Even after being discharged, they will still be required to go for follow-up treatments, and all in all, the recovery period could take up to a year or more.
There is a possibility that they might not be able to work like before, and thus, their income will be affected. In cases of major illnesses, besides medical expenses, many will find themselves having to spend their money on daily sustenance, alternative therapies, supplements, and sometimes they might even require a caretaker.
A complete healthcare plan should include a medical card and critical illness coverage. Do remember that a medical card solely pays for hospital expenses while critical illness insurance pays a lump sum when one is diagnosed with any of the critical illnesses listed.
A patient can use this lumpsum amount to cover their daily needs resulting from the loss of income as well as for alternative treatments.
Having a Family
Happy cheerful Asian family dad, mom and kids having fun and using digital tablet video call on sofa at house. Self-isolation, stay at home, social distancing, quarantine for coronavirus prevention.
Thirties is the age where many people choose to start a family. At this phase of life, having children will also mean creating an education fund and protecting the family income and assets.
This is the period when you need to look into family income protection to take care of your most important responsibility – your loved ones. Should anything unfortunate happen to you, you can rest easy knowing that they will be well taken care of.
That being said, their financial needs – including their daily expenses and funds for their education – need to be calculated. The amount required might be several million ringgit, and most people in their 30s do not have such a large amount of money available.
In this instance, the cheapest tool is to purchase an insurance for the required sum, which will provide a peace of mind with the knowledge that in case of any tragedy, your loved ones will be protected.
Take this case study as an example. Mr Tan, 33, is married with two children aged two and five; his wife is a homemaker. Mr Tan, whose monthly disposable income is RM5,000, is the sole breadwinner of the family, and since this is the case, he is worried about his family’s wellbeing should anything happen to him.
He has estimated that his family needs RM60,000 a year, and wants to ensure that his family is provided for until his youngest child is 22 years old. To achieve this, he would therefore require 20 years’ worth of funds amounting to RM1.2 mil.
At 33, Mr Tan does not have that much savings. His house may be worth RM1.2 mil, but his family will still need to live in it. Therefore, having a life insurance coverage of RM1.2 mil to cover this risk would be the most effective financial tool.
Bear in mind that we should review our insurance policies every 5-10 years as our financial status and priorities change. 40-50s is the prime time where we have more assets and liabilities, as well as changes to our lifestyle as we move into our retirement years.
It is also the time when our income is more stable and we have excess funds to prepare for our golden years.
Preparing for Golden Years
We would want to enjoy our retirement days without worrying about whether there is sufficient money to tide us through the years. If we prepare well in our 40s or even earlier, we would not need to worry about risks or expenses that might take away our retirement funds.
Someone once asked, “What and how to prepare financially in order to enjoy the golden years?” Well, there are three types of expenses that we need to prepare for post-retirement, namely
Daily living expenses (which can be from our EPF fund that many of us have accumulated during our working years);
Maintenance or medical expenses; and
Happy fund.
Advancements in science has led to an extended life expectancy rate, but while people are now living longer, many are still unaware that older medical plans only insure a person up to the age of 70. Medical hospitalisation is becoming very costly, and therefore, we need to ensure that our healthcare insurance plan covers us until are 80, at the very least.
Furthermore, as we age, there will be an increased risk of developing health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. Such health conditions require daily medication which is not covered by medical cards and will eat into our retirement funds.
On top of the daily medications, there will also be other supplements and nutritional needs required to promote better health. These are the maintenance expenses that need to be taken into consideration as well.
To enjoy our retirement years to the fullest, we need to have a certain amount of money to do the ‘fun’ stuff like travelling and indulging in hobbies. We should start accumulating our lifestyle or ‘happy’ fund as early as possible by growing our wealth through unit trusts, shares and saving plans.
How we choose from the different wealth accumulation tools will depend on our risk appetite and duration of investment.
Financial planning at different stages of life is important. Insurance is one of the cheapest tools to manage risk and is only one of the many financial planning tools out there today.
In addition to protecting your wealth, there are other financial tools in the market, each with its own purpose such as accumulating and growing wealth through savings and investments; and wealth distribution though estate planning.
About the Author
Andrea Siew is an Approved Financial Adviser with Harveston Wealth Management Sdn Bhd.
My wife and I are both accountants. We have two children, one of them is a child with special needs. I’ve always known the importance of getting our family’s financial planning done, but never quite came around to it due to our busy schedule.
We were lucky to have met Pauline, our Financial Planner. She was interested in finding out our goals and how she could help us to achieve them. After taking the time to understand us, she helped us in assessing where we are now and what actions we need to do in order to achieve our goals. She helped us to come up with our financial plan.
I’m very happy that we engaged Pauline for her services. Truth be told, it is actually a tedious process to get the plan done. It requires perseverance and knowing how to go through each of the steps. Luckily, with Pauline’s help, she guided us through it and gave us the options and suggestions which helped us a lot during our financial planning journey.
Once we have completed our financial plan, we now know our financial standing, and what our spending is like. When we first saw our cash flow, we were surprised that we have been running a deficit. Within a month, Pauline helped us to identify the key areas which can be improved.
Through financial planning, we also realized that some of our insurance plans did not match with our family’s needs. Pauline was non-biased and was very objective in her advice to us. She helped us to streamline and optimize our current policies to meet our objectives. With this, we are able to save a substantial amount of money on insurance premiums alone.
Pauline also helped us with our estate planning. We initially had our Wills and Trust drawn up. After reviewing it, we realized there were many areas that were left hanging and no longer matched our needs. Pauline highlighted the areas which we never considered before and it was extremely helpful for my wife and me to consider restructuring our Will and Trust.
This was especially true for our special needs child. This area has always been a major concern for us as we want to ensure that both our children are taken care of, in the event something happens to us.
I’m glad we did our financial plan with Pauline. Once you are her client, she puts your interest first and lets you know the best way to manage your finances even if it means she’s not going to get anything out of the recommendation.
This is what I call “professional” and doing her business with “passion” and “from the heart”. She is also very detailed and tactful on how best to resolve the issues by giving us options for us to consider.
The best thing about getting my family’s financial planning, is that me and my wife are clear on what our needs are and how much we need to save to achieve our goals. We no longer need to second guess like before. After going through this process, I feel that having a financial plan is very important. Especially if you have a family to take care of, or if you are unsure whether you are saving enough for the future.
About the Author
Pauline Teoh loves to coach busy professionals to achieve their financial independence. She is a Licensed Financial Planner, Childpreneur Coach and is an expert in Risk Management, Investment Planning and Estate Planning
“Losing your loved ones is tough, but having a financial planner in your life does help”
I am Monica, a widow aged 52 years old. I came from a poor family and didn’t know anything about finance or money management when I was growing up. I have been working hard with my late husband Andy, in the trading business for the past 20 years and we managed to grow our assets along the way.
Initially we thought that buying a simple life insurance is all there is to financial planning. That was until I was introduced to Stanley back in 2013.
We were skeptical and delayed our meeting with him as we thought he is another salesman coming over to sell financial products. I am a person who does not believe in investment and financial planning. Instead I believed that holding cash is the right thing to do.
Stanley spent many hours meeting us and patiently listening to our financial concerns. He is then able to understand and identify our life and financial goals. Stanley shows the financial pitfalls that we are facing and help us to visualize our cash flow and net worth at that time, while being able to identify our financial gap and estate planning concerns on multiple different scenarios.
After his careful review, he restructured our existing insurance portfolio and managed to increase my late husband’s insurance coverage substantially from what we have based on our limited cash flow. His integrity and process-oriented independent review, and ability to access all types of financial products in the market really impressed us.
Stanley also advised us to set up a complete testamentary trust in our will for resource preservation. Using resource liquidation strategy, we are able to avoid estate shrinkage and potential resource squandering by anybody who is not good at financial management. I am fortunate to follow the advice from Stanley which makes the estate execution process very efficient.
My husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017 and passed away a year later. Stanley did a good job with timely and efficient claims process. I was able to sail through the difficult period smoothly. He even visited my late husband almost every week in the hospital and accompany us until his last breath. Some of the big insurance policies that we bought a few months before the diagnosis date, Stanley is able to help us claim the insurance payout within a short period of time.
Our family benefited a lot from the insurance payouts. We managed to pay off our mortgages and ensure that our children’s tertiary education is fully funded. Our life and dignity is improved by using the resource optimisation strategy recommended by Stanley on a conservative money management. I am holding a well-diversified investment portfolio and received timely fixed payment to cover our living expenses. We are also being updated regularly on the market’s movement.
I am glad that Stanley is also able to provide my children with solid financial knowledge. Now all my children have graduated and they are back at my company to help me run the business. Stanley also provided my children with tips on business resource optimisation strategy to weather the pandemic and it has helped us tremendously.
I am comfortable knowing that we have a financial peace of mind under Stanley’sgood hands. We are very much on track to achieve our family’s financial goals!
About the Author
Stanley Hon is Practice Group Director at FA Advisory Sdn Bhd. He is a Licensed Financial Adviser, MDRT & Speaker, Will & Trust Specialist.
Anwar reached out to me in 2018 as he needed help with his personal finances. As the only son in his family, he was the executor of his late father’s inheritance. His father passed away many years ago due to cancer, and he remembered clearly the financial drain from cancer treatment.
34-year-old Anwar is a lecturer at one of Malaysia’s largest universities. His wife is a housewife taking care of their two children, aged 7 and 4.
“Although my father’s death hit us badly, we were thankful that he did not leave us with massive medical bills. This is because our prudent father had a healthy emergency fund,” shared Anwar.
Being the main breadwinner of his own growing family, he needed to prepare for such emergencies. Just like his father, he wanted to ensure that his wife and children are well-provided for in case anything happened to him.
Anwar’s father was a banker and had taught his children about saving money. Anwar also has a keen interest in personal finance and investment, and had read books and attended a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) course from a financial guru.
However, he found that the information was too overwhelming and didn’t know where to start with regards to his own personal finances. Having been approached by unit trust and insurance agents, he was wary as he recalled, “They were more interested in pushing their products for commission rather than to put a roadmap and direction for me to achieve my financial goals”.
Here are the 3 values of a full financial planning.
1. An Expression Of Love
Anwar and his wife know how dire their financial situation will be if Anwar passes away prematurely. People tend to forget verbal reminders easily. But if it is written in the form of a will, wishes, hopes and dreams; it helps tremendously.
Furthermore, the engagement allows him to translate his expression of love, his long-term and short-term goals into actions, and not just a wish. During our discussion, one of Anwar’s goals is to support his wife’s pastry business once his financial situation has improved.
After the third year of our advisory engagement, Anwar manages to make his wife’s goal into a reality. (You can check it out on Instagram Pastreen; it’s really delicious)
2. Aligning Strategy With Financial Goals
We provided insights to help him map out the strategies to reduce the Debt-to-Service Ratio (DSR), ideal asset allocations for his financial resources and guidance on financial products he should consider getting with the time horizon he needed in order to achieve his financial goals.
Since he was willing to start early, he will have more options and opportunities to optimise his wealth. As his financial planner, my role is to guide him with the options available so that he can take ownership in his financial planning by making an informed decision.
Anwar now understands the importance of building a healthy cashflow, and how to lead his ideal life within his means.
3. Financial Needs And Wants
A common situation is the relationship between savings for building cash reserves and other goals in life such as buying an asset. Many are unsure if they are over-committing one financial goal at the expense of another.
With a holistic financial plan, we can see how extra commitments will affect other financial goals. It helps to adjust our actions, weighing the pros and cons before deciding. Most importantly, it is a tool to effectively communicate your financial situations and life goals.
Conclusion
Anwar is a real-life story of “It is not about how much income you make, but how well you manage your income”. Without a roadmap and direction, we might spend unnecessarily and make poor financial decisions. Financial mistakes are painful.
Similar to inflation, financial goals and financial freedom are a challenge to understand and to manage, because it is intangible. Only after acknowledging what an ideal life is, you can move on to support your goals in life.
About the Author
Saidah Asilah started her career as a graduate trainee with Securities Commission Malaysia. Then, with a deep interest in investments, she furthered her studies in MSc in International Business and Emerging Markets, graduating in 2013 from The University of Edinburgh, UK. She is a Licensed Financial Planner, CFP Professional & IFP Certificant and describes herself as a multi-talented adventurer with a positive impact to whomever she meets. She can be contacted at saidah@wealthvantage.com.my.
We at Smart Investor and Wealth Vantage is committed to help you better manage your financials. Get a free consultation from an expert by filling in your details here: https://www.smartinvestor.com.my/SIxWealthVantage
Based on the OECD/INFE 2020 International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy that included 26 countries, Malaysia was ranked third highest behaviour score after Slovenia and Indonesia. This ranking was achieved thanks to three common, prudent financial planning behaviours that emerged in the survey answers, including saving and long-term planning, making considered purchases and keeping track of cash flow.
However, Malaysia was also placed in the bottom tier in the section of financial knowledge. The report also highlighted that globally, youths (defined as those aged 18-29) have a lower financial literacy score compared to middle-aged individuals (30-59 years old), of which a similar trend was seen in Malaysia as well.
Thus, I would like to take some time to share about costly mistakes that you should avoid in your financial planning journey, especially for the younger generation to take note of!
1. Ignorance
Ignoring the basic knowledge about invest and power of compounding is like ignoring the blinking fuel light on your dashboard while driving! In the worst scenario, ignoring this indicator may result in your car inadvertently stopping in the middle of nowhere after running out of fuel. Not a pleasant situation to be in!
In financial planning, you may end up paying a huge price in the future because you will not be able to get back time which is essential to growing your personal financial assets through your active income period, either via employment, business or investments.
The first step you must take is to accept your current financial situation, no matter what level you are currently at. This is just like the example above, where you can drive your car to the nearest petrol station to refuel before continuing your journey. Just do not run out of fuel!
Once your financial situation is assessed either by doing it yourself or getting professional assistance, identify several steps you can take towards your goal such as starting to put aside savings regularly, monitoring your cashflows, and identifying investment assets that are suitable for your risk appetite in order to build and grow your wealth.
2. Procrastination
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Procrastination tends to occur when we would rather do other things instead of what we actually need to do. Thinking that reviewing and planning your finances is something that can be delayed or put off to a later date is actually a very common problem.
In investing, this will translate to you needing to save a higher amount each month due to the shorter investment horizon, compared to another individual who started earlier than you. The cost of procrastination may not bite you early on, but its effects can be far reaching in the future!
This can also apply to insurance planning – some individuals may have certain conditions excluded or charged more on their premiums should they want to apply for and purchase health insurance at a later stage. As their health is not in as good a condition as it was when they were much younger, naturally the price will increase.
Therefore, it is advisable to get insurance early on with appropriate coverage when you are young. Review your insurance needs annually or whenever there are changes to your lifestyle. After all, any medical emergency can wipe out your savings in an instant so always be prepared!
3. Fear
Some individuals may have adopted the wrong beliefs or have misconceptions about investing, creating their own meaning out of their own experiences or that of others. That may also be the reason why some of them tend to keep most of their wealth in their bank accounts, or at best, fixed deposits. Although they would rather opt for certainty in life, the only thing that is certain is change.
What is more important for you is to implement proper diversification in your portfolio, being disciplined and focused on consistent savings, and growing your wealth in order to reach your long-term financial goals.
Do you worry that you might not have enough financial resources to fund your retirement in 320 years’ time? Or would you rather worry about the short-term fluctuations in your investment portfolio during periods of market volatility?
You cannot turn back the clock if you do not have enough savings in your retirement age, so it is wise to maintain a long-term perspective when looking at investing.
Give yourself a head start. Learn how to gain the right knowledge through reading, attending seminars or seeking out financial professionals such as licensed financial planner to guide you. These avenues will greatly help you with overcoming fear of volatility and taking advantage of it to grow your retirement nest egg or reaching other financial goals you may have.
In conclusion, the three mistakes to avoid in your financial planning journey (especially among the younger generation) is to get rid of your ignorance, overcome procrastination and conquer your fears.
It is important to start taking smaller steps as early as possible to improve your financial literacy, and start to save and invest regularly to enjoy your financial planning journey with more confidence. Your future self will be very grateful!
About the Author
Goh Chee Yong is a licensed financial planner under Capital Markets Services Representative License (CMSRL) and Bank Negara approved Financial Advisor Representative (FAR). Prior to becoming a financial advisor, he spent eight years working in Big 4 audit firms and multinational corporations. He can be contacted at cygoh@imaxfinancial.com.my
In the traditional context, the word “retirement” means withdrawing from one’s active working life. However, in today’s modern world, the concept of retirement goes beyond its literal interpretation, with more individuals now viewing retirement as the dawn of a new chapter in their lives.
A meaningful retirement should be one that affords you peace of mind without the worries of financial concerns. Only then would you be able to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour.
However, an ideal retirement does not happen overnight. Just as building strong body muscles requires us to work out in a dedicated and consistent manner over time, the same principle applies to retirement too. When we want to build strong wealth muscles, there needs to be a continuous effort over a long period of time.
What is the right long-term strategy for our retirement planning to achieve our desired retirement lifestyle? The answer will form a clear blueprint to lead us towards a successful retirement path.
If it sounds straightforward, why aren’t more people committing towards this?
Financial Planning: The Starting Point For Retirement Planning
The biggest mistake one can make in retirement planning is thinking that we do not need to have a plan. Contrary to common belief, financial planning is not exclusively for the wealthy alone. Our financial planning journey is a lifelong marathon to uncover different needs, new opportunities and specific challenges that may arise at different stages of life.
A comprehensive financial roadmap will give us more clarity on our current financial situation so that we are able to identify the gaps and address them as we work towards achieving our financial goals.
Time Waits For No Man
People have all sorts of reasons for not planning retirement properly, with the most common excuse being – “I am too busy and have no time!”
I’m sure all of us are guilty of spending time on unproductive pursuits such as our social media activities or watching too much TV. Doesn’t it seem like a sorry excuse that we cannot plan for the rest of our lives because we have no time?
When we let retirement happen on its own, there is a real risk of running out of money before our time is up! Do we really want to live our golden years tightening our belts and scrimping on every sen daily?
The Sooner, The Better
It’s time to face reality and not let excuses hold us back any longer. If you are in your mid-20s, this is the best time to start as your young age affords the benefit of the compounding effect. If you are in your 30s, it is all the more critical to commence your retirement planning without further delay.
Once you are in your 40s, you will need to work harder to reach your retirement goals which will get increasingly challenging to execute if you wait until your 50s. Financial mistakes may still have a chance to be fixed even at this critical stage.
As a baby step, we can start by tracking our own expenses as we need to know where our money goes before we can have better control of our finances. As the saying goes “if we do not manage money, money will end up managing us instead”.
The Sandwich Generation
The dilemma faced by many Malaysians nowadays is that parents jeopardise their retirement for the sake of their children’s education, while the younger generation also risk their financial security to fund their parents’ retirement in return. This is an unhealthy financial cycle, leaving parents at an increased risk of a stressful retired life.
The younger generation themselves are struggling with the burdens of financial commitments brought about by the escalating cost of living and high levels of debt.
Mindsets need to change so that aging parents do not place excessive financial expectations on their children. At the same time, young adults need to have better financial literacy to plan their money matters better.
Many Hands Make Light Work
If the task at hand gets too overwhelming for us to tackle on our own, it is always a good idea to seek assistance. Many people already have their hands full managing their day-to-day or monthly financial affairs, what more to sit down and seriously plan for their retirement!
Help is always readily available in the form of professional advice and proper guidance to achieve your financial goals. Everyone has their own special skills and abilities; focus on your expertise to continue earning your active income while leveraging on a licensed financial planner’s know-how to help you grow your wealth.
In the past, retirement planning was hardly the norm and people went about their lives rarely thinking about it, only to deal with the situation when it happens. We cannot afford to adopt this outlook in this day and age where things around us are changing at a rapid pace, and taking a passive stance on our retirement is a huge gamble.
It is never too early to have a solid plan and a clear vision on how to work towards it with the right strategies.
One small step for our retirement, a giant leap for financial independence.
About the Author
Chan Li Yun is a Licensed Financial Planner with Finwealth Management Sdn Bhd and would like to assist others to improve their standard of living with proper wealth management planning. She can be contacted at liyun@finwealth.com.my
We at Smart Investor and Finwealth is committed to help you better manage your financials. Get a free consultation from an expert by filling in your details here: https://www.smartinvestor.com.my/SIxFinwealth
