Road to financial freedom!

How you can be richer just like the rich who are getting richer.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:08:00 +0000

Financial difficulties can lead to a lot of problems to you and the people around you. This is because life is all about money. Of course money is not everything, but everything is money. Nowadays , the moment you step out of your house, you are already spending money. You are also spending money even when you are sitting at home!

You can see that money is the most important factor in your life but not everyone is really in charge of your money. You may claim that you have no problems handling your cash flow however; you will still have the problem of not having enough money for you to spend during month end.

The rich is getting richer because of one major difference between the poor, they have prudent financial planning. With an external party or a third party handling their finance, you can rest assure that you can join the ‘rich’ category sooner that later. Nothing is impossible; being a millionaire is so common that everyone with an income can have a million dollar in liquid. The question is whether you want or you REALLY want the million dollar.

The secret to be financially independent starts with prudent financial planning. Once you understand the fundamentals of finance and understand the ‘science’ of getting money, financial freedom is on the way. Financial advisors and financial planners can certainly help you to understand the fundamentals of financial planning and customise you your million dollar roadmap.

Nevertheless, you can have the best financial planner and an excellent plan but if you do not execute your plan accordingly, you will not make any difference. You have to work closely with your financial planner and be determined with yourself. A financial plan is not a get rich scheme but merely a tool that is essential.

Why inflation rate is causing so much problem?

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:55:00 +0000

People are complaining about money everyday. People from every walks of life is complaining about not having enough money to spend. The real reason for all these complains is that many people do not know why they do not have enough money.

The real reason for not having enough money is actually because of inflation. Inflation is something that most people think they understand but in the actual fact is that they do not understand why.

A very simple way to understand inflation is to compare how many things you can buy with $100 10 years ago and now. I am very sure that you will say that you can buy more things 10 years ago than now. Now, ask this question yourself, if inflation rate is 5% annually, do you think that your pay is increasing at 5% annually? The truth is, the value of your $1 is eroding without you noticing it.

A pay increament does not mean that you can also increase your spending but a pay increament is for you to overcome the inflation rate. Let me give you a numerical example;

Inflation rate: 5%
Your pay 10 years ago: $5,000
Yearly increament: $200
Your pay now: $8,000
Inflation adjusted pay now without adding the increament: $8,114.45

From the above example, the increament is to offset the inflation rate. Hence, if there are no increament and you are still getting the same pay as what you have 10 years ago, you will have financial difficulties.

Since inflation has a negative relation with the value of money, you will need to invest your money in an asset that can give you more interest than the inflation rate. Saving your hard earned money in a bank will make you poorer and trust me, the rich and high net worth individual do not save all their money in the bank. Now, that is why the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer.

Attract lots of money now!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 03:18:00 +0000

I discovered something very phenomenal in my journey to be a multi-millionaire ( notice that I do not want to be a millionaire anymore) and a successful human being. It is called ' The Law of Attraction'. I have seen videos on Youtube about Law of Attraction and i applied the theory.

This may sound ridiculous but it happened to me. I actually eliminate all my negative thoughts and act positively as if each challenge is just another opportunity for me to make money. True enough, I made quite a lum sum of money.

Not only that, as you know, I am also undergoing my degree course on and the modules are extremely difficult. I used to think that only people who are smarter than me can pass the exams and no matter how hard i studied, I can never excel in my modules. After watching the videos on Youtube, I began to re-think my thoughts. I said to myself that I am going to pass my exams because it is easy and for me to score in my exams, I just need to study more. I also said to myself that no one in the class can score better than me.

To my astonisment, I did pass the exam and I really scored in the exam. I eliminated all the negative thoughts and made success come to me.

Now, if you want financial freedom, you and only you can make financial freedom come to you. All challenges are just for you to take advantage! Believe in 'The Law of Attraction' and you will attract wealth!

Get rich now!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:44:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered why some people out there are driving big cars, having long vacations and owning big luxurious houses? Have you asked yourself how these people achieve these goals? Can you be as successful as them? Or do you think that you cannot be like them hence no point trying?

Since young whenever I see these rich people and i asked this question to myself, " If they can do, why can't i do it? They are not super humans. I don't think they have a secret that only the rich people know about. "

In my quest to find out why some people can be successful and be millonaires, i found out one significant similarity. The similarity is that, in one way or another, all these people really plan for their life and money. All of them have their own personal banker or financial planner just so that their finances are well taken care off.

Now, do you think middle income earners need a financial planner? The answer is yes! If you engage a financial plannner, you not only get professional advice, you can even learn all the necessary steps in financial planning. All you need to do is get leverage!

My very good friend once told me that money earned is not money spent. The advice may be short and simple, but if you meet and really sit down with a financial planner, you can really learn a lot about money management. Of course everyone knows what is money management, but only a financial planner can further elaborate all the technicalities.

In life, everything is possible. As long as you plan for your goal, you will achieve your goal. Dare to dream but do not be a dreamer!

How important financial planning is to you?

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:14:00 +0000

Financial education is vital to everyone who has an income. I’ve met people who earn more than $25,000 a month and not all them is financially ‘stable’. Naturally if you earn more money, your expenses will also increase. However, if you have a proper financial planning, you can achieve your financial goals in time to come.

Just recently, I met with an ambitious 20 year old guy who earns $2,000 a month and dream of driving a BMW. When I asked him how he plans to buy the car, he told me that he will work very hard and save more money every month. However, when I asked him when he want to buy his first house and how he wants to retire, he told me that he has not thought about it yet and he is only concern about getting his car and lots of money.

The problem with him and many other people out there is that they do not have proper financial planning. It is proven that people who have proper financial planning will enjoy life in the future. whatever that they desire to buy, the lifestyle that they want, the education that their children will have and holidays that they want will be possible.

Can we be blamed for such bad financial planning?

Well, if you think about it properly, it is our teachers in school that we have to blame. When I was in school, all that my teachers told me is that I have to study extremely hard to get a good and high paying job. Did any of our teachers ever tell us that financial planning is very important? Did they ever tell you that even if you earn $25,000 a month, your financial freedom is guaranteed?

Your journey to riches starts here.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:10:00 +0000

Saving money can be the most difficult task a person can do. I have seen people in their 40’s that do not have savings at all. When I asked them how come they do not have any savings, their reason is that they find that their income is not enough to set aside for any savings.

The art of saving money is actually very easy. It is very important to know how much to save every month and how much savings one must have. Once you have the adequate savings in your bank, you can then accumulate wealth. Why the rich accumulate wealth so quickly is because they invest their money after they have saved enough money in their bank. Most of the times, the rich have their own personal financial planner to track their finances and advice them.

Nevertheless, you do not need a financial planner to tell you save money. If you are clueless on how much to save each month, let show you step by step with the example below.

EG 1

Norman is earning $4,500 and his wife is earning $4,000. On average, the couple would spend $7,000 a month on expenditures which includes their insurance and household expenditures. Norman and his wife are looking into accumulating their wealth and are very interested in investing their money in stocks and shares. The couple also wants to diversify their portfolio and are looking into unit trust and bond funds. Currently, they have $49,000 in their savings account and wants to find out how much is the best amount to come out for their investment.

From the above example, Norman has a savings ration of 7. (Savings divide by monthly expenditure). Savings ratio is a ratio that will tell you how many months can you depend on your savings if you get retrenched or out of job. In this case, Norman has 7 months to find a new job before he drained up his savings. From a professional point of view, Norman should invest $28,000 of his savings and maintain a savings ratio of 3.

EG 2

Kelvin is a fresh graduate who is clueless on how much he should save for any emergency uses. He has been working for 6 months and currently earns $1,600 a month. Even though he has been working for 6 months, he has not been able to save any money because he tends to spend all of them by month end. He usually keeps aside $100 but end up using that money usually at month end.

In this case, it is clear that Kelvin do not have any money management skills. As a guideline, one must save 20% of their income. Saving of money is done on the very day that you receive your pay. Therefore, Kelvin must save $320 a month and live with the rest of his pay. He has to have a budgeting system on his expenditures and be very disciplined.

To sum up, in order for you to be financially stable and accumulate wealth, you need to have good money management skills, excellent saving habits and be extremely discipline. You need to save 20% of your income every month and maintain a savings ratio of 3 to 6. I am very sure that you can achieve your financial goals if you are able to take control of your own finances. It is time for a change.

Do you want to have a debt- free life?

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:05:00 +0000

Cost of living now is increasing rapidly forcing people to work harder than ever. It is now common that people are taking up part time jobs to supplement their income. On average, almost half of an individual pay is used to pay liabilities. Banks are coming up with more and more credit products to attract more people to take up bank loans.
Credit companies are also making a lot of money collecting interest payment from their customers.

Financial problems seem to be a part of a person life now. Having debts is life. I reckon anyone who does not want their life to be debt- free and financially stable. More and more people are talking about financial freedom and dream of having a good life. However, people are earning more not to accumulate wealth but to pay debts. The golden rule for financial freedom is; you need to have money to make money.

There are many financial products that are designed for people to accumulate wealth but people are not making use of these products. People are better versed on which bank approves loans without much hassle and which department store offer instalment programs.

Do you want your life to full of debt until you grow old? Do you want to take a big loan even on your child’s education? Do you want to pay for your new car cash? Do you want to buy your first big house cash?

All this are possible with the help of financial advisor or financial planner. A financial planner knows all financial products to suit your needs at the back of their head. They are trained in financial services industry and I am very certain that they will tailor your to your financial needs.

As a financial planner myself, I am proud to say that I have helped my family members to realise their financial dreams. Everyone in my family is well aware of their financial situation and is very clear on their financial goals. My goal for my family is for them to achieve their dreams fast.

Drop me an email if you want your dream to come true!

Financial freedom to those who are not lazy!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:44:00 +0000

I always tell my clients that they need to have strict money management tools to help them monitor their budget, expenditure details and daily expenditure. As we know, human beings are very lazy and they only settle for things that are easy. Managing money is not as simple as you think. It is a tedious process but it is worth the pain.

I have been tracking my daily expenditure and monthly budgeting over the past few months and I managed to save more money than I ever can imagine. Managing money is a habit that you must inculcate. If you think that you are too lazy to track your expenditure, I am sorry to say that you will be wasting a lot of opportunities.

Recently, I put myself to a test. I wanted to know how it feels like if I ever get lazy on my money management routines. I thought that I could still manage my money without having to record all my expenditures. Unfortunately, I literally overspend my budget and could not even save any money. In fact, I almost exhaust my savings accounts.

I am sure that you want some financial securities in you life. I am also very sure that everyone in the world would want to have financial freedom. All this dreams of becoming a millionaire, financial freedom day and financial abundance can be made possible if you know how to manage your money.

Money management problem is a problem that is faced by everyone in the world. However, some managed to tackle the problem resulting them to have extra money to spend on investment and accumulate more wealth.

Wealth can only be made if you have money. There is no get rich fast scheme in the world available for you. You need patience, discipline and endurance if you want to achieve your financial goals.

What are you waiting for?

Insurance planning is vital for financial security.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:20:00 +0000

The concept of insurance or wealth protection is often neglected. People are so interested on making money but often neglect the other side of the coin. However, I do not blame people who think that they do not need insurance because the industry itself does not have a very good image.

Some insurance agents can be very unreasonable and make consumers buy insurance policies that are beyond their financial capabilities. With that, people often complain that they are paying too much insurance premiums.

As a financial planner myself, I like to meet up with people and ask them about their financial situation. I often engage in conversations with strangers. One day, I took a cab with my family and I started a conversation with the taxi driver. I asked him whether he is a part- time taxi driver or he has a day job.

He told me that he has a day job at a bank as a clerk and he has to work part- time because he has to pay for his late wife medical bills. I was shocked when I heard his story and asked him more about what had happened.

He went on and told me that his wife was contracted with breast cancer and he had to pay for his wife medical bills, on top of that, he has 2 daughters who were young and still schooling. When I asked him how come he did not have any insurance coverage for his wife, he told me softly that he had overlooked on that matter.

Even after his wife’s departure, he has to have two jobs because he has to pay for his late wife’s medical bills. He advised me to get some insurance coverage and told me that a misfortune can change a man’s life.

I am sure that everyone needs some kind of insurance in their life. I am also sure that you do not want to take another job to pay off your liabilities. The only thing is to get a financial planner or an insurance agent who is reliable and responsible. Wealth accumulation is as important as wealth protection. We do not know what lies in front of us; however, we must also be responsible and anticipate what may come in the future.

Achieve your financial freedom with a customized financial planning.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:16:00 +0000

Financial freedom is something that a lot of people want to achieve in their lifetime. Having to pay all debts and liabilities, enjoying all luxuries in life and enjoy life without to worry about any financial problems. More and more people are very interested in making their financial dreams come true. There are also motivation classes which main aim is not to discourage people from thinking that getting their first million dollar is possible.

As a financial planner, I am also aware that people usually do not quantify their goals. Having a goal of becoming a millionaire is something that is achievable and not impossible. I do have clients who want me to plan their millionaire journey. Having said that, a million dollar road map is easy to develop but very difficult to follow.

Before you can be a millionaire, you need to have a very good financial planning. You need to hire a financial planner to assist you as financial planners went through series of examinations and training perfecting their financial planning skills. It is impossible to be a millionaire if you do not have a financial plan.

Seminars on how to become a millionaire do not give you customized financial plan. You can be earning $ 200,000 per annum but if there is no financial planning, you will be asset rich and liquid poor. Managing your cash flow is the most basic element in financial planning.

One of my client, Mr Doctor (names are kept confidential), a doctor who has his own practice and earns $180,000 to $250,000 a year initially do not have any financial planning. He does have insurance policies and that was all. I had a hard time convincing him to meet me. He was very reluctant and told me that he already have a financial planner.

After much persuasion, I managed to meet him and assist him in his financial planning. I did a financial analysis on him and explained to him that financial planning is not just about insurance planning, financial planning also stresses on cash flow management, investment planning, child education planning, tax planning, estate planning and most importantly retirement planning.

After a year we had that meeting, he came back to me and told me that he now understand how important a financial plan is. He told me that he now can quantify his financial goals and he also told me confidently that he will be a millionaire in 5 years time.

I knew that after my appointment with him, he will identify his strength and weaknesses financially and able to quantify his goals. With my customized financial planning and financial planning tools, I am sure everyone will achieve their financial dreams.

Do you have any investment?

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:05:00 +0000

We always hear that it is best if we let our money work for us. The first thing that comes to our mind is investment. People are talking about investment more often now compared to 10 years ago. People are also losing more money in their investments since there are more investors as compared to 10 years ago.

So, what went wrong?

The only reason people are losing more money than what they ‘supposed’ to lose is because of lack of knowledge. I have seen people who invest thousands of dollars and do not know much about the investment. They do not know what kind of risk they are exposed to.

I have a friend who invest in anything that he thinks can give high returns. When I asked him whether he is a risk taker, he told me confidently that he is a risk taker. However, when I asked him whether he is a loss taker, he told me that no one likes to loss. In short, he is a risk taker but not a loss taker.

In reality, a person who is a risk taker must be prepared to lose money in any investment that he made. On top of that, one must be well aware of the risks that are exposed in their investment.

I would suggest that you only invest when you really know what the risks behind the particular investment are. You need to spend some time evaluating the investment that is presented to you. If you do not have the knowledge competency in the investment, I would suggest you to seek for professional help. It does not hurt to spend a bit of money in hiring a professional to assist you in your investment. At the end of the day, it is your hard earned money.

Although the mindset of the people now is better, some things just do not change. There are more and more people who have millionaire mindset but do not have a millionaire attitude. To be a millionaire, you not only have to have a millionaire mindset, you also need to adopt their attitude. One attitude of a millionaire is due diligence.

Enjoy big returns when you invest your money.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:19:00 +0000

We are in the age where there are many kinds of investment instruments that we can invest. Investment is so common that almost everyone has some kind investment in their life. Investment however is also confused with trading. Some people think that they can lose their initial capital and lose all their money in investments.

This is not true because investment generally have a long time horizon. With longer time horizon, more money can be earned from compound interest. Unlike investing in real estate, investing in any financial institutions gives you compounded interest. The rich do not get richer by investing; they get richer because they invest in a very long time horizon.

When you decide to invest your money, you must be aware that you need to commit to your investment in a long term basis. There are no short term gains in unless if you are trading.

I have a personal friend, Joseph, 38 years of age, who invested his money 8 years ago. He invested in a unit trust that gives a potential return of 5% to 20%. His initial aim was to save his money in an account that can give him more interest than what the bank is offering in a fixed deposit scheme. Just recently he drew an amount totalling up to $160,000 and used the money for his home renovation and bought a holiday for his package for him and his family to Europe. He told me he only saved $800 a month and deposited the money into the unit trust.

I am sure that you will also want that kind of money in the future. Let it be for your child’s education, a dream renovation, your dream vacation, your dream car; it all possible to achieve if you start today.

Protect your wealth!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:19:00 +0000

People are now more aware of how to make more money. They know that they will have to invest their money if they want to have more money. However, the what kind of investment instruments one must invest is still one of the more confusing things.

Some people will have a good experience investing their money but some will have very bad experience. Some can earn double of their initial capital while some lose all their money in their investment.

While many love to invest their money, not many want to protect their current income. Protecting wealth is as important as wealth accumulation. You can be earning $100,000 per annum but one accident can change everything that you earn. Wealth protection is all about risk management and insurance planning.

If you already have an insurance policy, it does not mean that you do not need any more coverage. Insurance planning is very much related to an individual life stage. For young adults who just started working, the main protection need is their income. For a young couple who have a newborn baby, their protection need is their income their baby’s protection, and their mortgages if they have any.

Wealth protection must be taken seriously and it is not something that you can skip. Insurance premiums need not be expensive if you know how to plan. The planning process can be very tedious but it is all worth it. The last thing you want is having an insurance policy that is very expensive and do not meet you needs.

How you can create wealth.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:23:00 +0000

Everything seems to be cheap nowadays. Thanks to the wide variety of credit options, people can buy anything they like even though the item is very expensive. Most people are spending almost half of their income to pay their debts. Even if the pay gets an increment, the liabilities also get an ‘increment’.

In Singapore, you can buy a first hand car with just a dollar down payment. With this kind of offer, people are more tempted to buy a car even if the loan amount increases to almost half. In this country, you can even buy a hand phone on instalment basis. Practically, you can own anything that you see and like.

With liabilities almost half of an individual income, there are bound to problems. The concept of taking a debt is widely mistaken. Debts are actually taken only if one can service their loan. With this statement, of course you can expect a lot of people taking on debts because they know that they can pay. However, they will have troubles servicing their loan as time goes by.

Why?

The answer is very simple; people do not have cash flow management. If only we are taught on how to manage our cash flow in school, I am very sure that we will not have any problem handling our money.

There is no single subject in school that teaches us on wealth creation. What our teachers tell us is that we have to study very hard so that we will have a good future. Our teachers explained to us the consequences of not studying hard enough but never tell exactly how we can create wealth when we study hard.

Wealth creation is something that very complex. There are many factors contributing to an individual’s net worth. One of the golden rules is not to have a debt service ratio that is more than 45%. Personally, I would recommend one to minimise to as low as 20%. No matter how much your income can be, if your debt service ratio is high, you cannot create wealth because you will be spending too much money servicing your debts.

Now, you can also be a millionaire.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 08:10:00 +0000

Setting a goal that is quantified is very important if you want to be become a millionaire. Most of the time, people cannot become millionaire because they do not plan their goals. Your millionaire planning must be quantified so that you will not be swayed away when you have more money.

I have seen many businessmen who earn $40,000 a month and always dream that they will be a millionaire. However, these people find it hard to achieve their goal not because they do not invest their money or whatsoever, they just fail to plan. Example of plan is as follows;

Miss Frugal wants to be a millionaire. She has an income of $480,000 per annum. Despite being well to do, she managed to save $180,000 per annum because she is frugal and is a single woman.

Inflow: $40,000
Outflow: $25,000
Savings: $15,000

Time to take to be a millionaire;

ROI Amount Years

8% $180k pa 4.78
12% $180k pa 4.51
15% $180k pa 4.33
20% $180k pa 4.09

With this plan, she can roughly invest her money that will give a yield of 8%- 20% and she will be a millionaire in less than 5 years time. If she does not have her millionaire plan, she will have problem guessing when she will be a millionaire. She will also religiously save $180,000 yearly as she will be motivated.

Many people fail to be a millionaire despite having a lot of money is because they do not have a plan that they can follow. They usually plan their make their first million by thinking of how to multiply their income streams and working extremely hard. Everyone can be a millionaire. This may sound stupid but everyone can indeed be a millionaire.

Here is how;

ROI Amount Years

8% $500 a month 34.6
8% $1,000 a month 26.5
8% $1,200 a month 24.4
8% $1,500 a month 22.0

Now, ask this question to yourself, is it impossible to be a millionaire. Well, no!

Financial planning

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:37:00 +0000

I had 2 very interesting people that I met today and discussed with them about financial planning. The term financial planning itself is often misunderstood and people usually think that financial planning is a simple task and everyone can plan their own finances. Financial planning is the process of meeting your life goals through proper management of your finances. It is not an easy plan to develop if you do not have the competency and skills.

Back to the conversations that I had earlier, one of them told me that he already had his finances planned and he was very confident that he does not need my help. I knew in that instance that this guy will not know anything about his retirement planning and I asked him how much will he require if he were to retire when he reach 65 years of age.

He laughed loudly as if I was joking and told me that calculating his retirement fund is an impossible task and his plan of retirement is to acquire as much money as possible. He was not sure how much money he will require but he was certain that he was on track. He assured me that I need not worry about his retirement planning.

I admit I was a bit agitated but I told him that I can calculate his retirement fund needed. As I was explaining to him and given him the numbers, he looked flabbergasted and asked me to plan him his retirement planning immediately. I was so happy that he was willing to listen and take actions.

The other conversation that I had was with a 40 year old man. He has 3 children that he has to support and has high hopes on them. When I asked him does he have enough money to pay for his children’s higher education, his face went blank. He then told me that he should have enough and with all the study loans that are available, he has nothing to worry. This time round, my face went blank.

I asked him whether he is ready to pay his child’s educations loans for the rest of his life and his answer was very brief and simple. All he said to me was, he has no choice and if he has to work hard to pay for his children’s education, he will do it even if it means that he has to work even during his retirement years. I was moved by his paternal love and told him that he does have alternatives.

As you can see, financial planning is very important and having a good financial plan will add leverage to your life. Leverages that can even lead you to your financial freedom.

Ignorance and lack of investment knowledge will drain your pocket.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:48:00 +0000

Investors nowadays are exposed to all kinds of investments. Some offer returns that are extremely lucrative, while others offer little or no returns. However, there are no particular kinds of investment that will give you the best returns. You may have heard from other people that are some investment that you must avoid because of the risk involve and some investment that you must invest your money on because of the returns.

Ultimately, these tips that you get or market insights that you get are just some preferences. Believe or not, all kind of investments can give you lucrative returns if you know exactly what you are investing on. You definitely know world renowned investor guru, Mr Warren Buffet, also the 2nd richest man in the world, gets his fortune from investing and trading his money in stocks and shares but this fact also do not say that you too can rich if you invest and trade your money in stocks and shares.

If you have the skills and in depth knowledge like Mr Warren Buffet, you can get ready to mark you name in one of the richest people in the world. To really make money in the stocks and shares, you need to have a due diligence. You can forget about making tons of money if you do not know anything. I suggest that you continue living your normal life because you will not lose as much money if you invest your money.

I am not discouraging you from building your fortune; I am challenging you to put in effort studying the science of investing. I have seen countless investors that do not know what they are investing on and talks as if they are really maximizing their returns. However, I could not be bothered about correcting them because they are just too ignorant. They would rather believe their broker’s tips than doing their own research and study even deeper into the finance industry. And every time they engage their broker’s service, they are paying quite a lot of money on them.

I really hope that you will not be ignorant and think that you know a lot of investment or trading because the fact is this, people take degrees to do this sort of things.

Thought of the day!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 16:26:00 +0000

I have never come across any textbook on wealth creation, money management and wealth management. Have you ever asked yourself why your teachers in school did not teach you on how to make more money?

Instead, they tell you to study hard for the exams, go to a good university and find a job. When they say job, what they really meant was jobs like lawyers, doctors, scientist, teachers and engineers. As soon as we go to school, we are basically ’programmed’ to study hard and get a good job. We already have a typical average Joe or Jane’s mindset and not a millionaire’s mindset.

1.)Go to school

2)Study hard

3)Get a diploma or degree

4)Get a ‘good’ job

Now, let’s imagine what will happen if we are taught on how to create wealth, generate more income and multiply our income streams. I’m am very sure that we will be happier now and not complaining about not making money. Now, my question to you is, can we blame our education system? Hmmm…that’s a tough one.

Give it a thought.

Achieving your financial freedom day is not easy but attainable.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:51:00 +0000

If getting rich is easy, I think there will not be any financial problems in the world. The real fact is, to be rich; you must put in more than 100% of your effort. There is nothing in this world that is easy. To achieve is your financial freedom day is not easy but is attainable.

The same goes to students who are pursuing their education, they will need to study extremely hard to excel in their studies. The long study hours and sleepless nights mugging for their exams is the activities or input for them to excel in their exams. To be a millionaire or achieving your financial freedom day, you must put in inputs.

For a student to effectively put in their inputs, they must pay attention to their lectures, complete their tutorials and communicate with their lecturers and friends. Studying extremely hard itself is not enough. In contrast to be a millionaire, your – inputs do not mean that you have to work extra hours, get a part-time job and try to increase your streams of income.

To be a millionaire, you have to start investing your money. Make your money work even harder than you. You need to maximise your income exponentially in order for you to shortcut your millionaire dream. Invest! Invest! Invest!

The above paragraph is so common in any wealth accumulation book that when anyone read this kind of book, they will be motivated and start investing. For an individual who have finance background, they will know what kind of asset to invest, what portfolio to adopt, what are the returns and risk involve, how to invest their money effectively and minimise losses. But what happen to an individual who knows nothing about investment?

Actually, what this books fail to tell you is that you have to learn how the fundamentals of investment. I also know that there are books and guides on how to invest money but these kinds of books will never tell you specifically what kind of asset class to invest.

In order to make your first million effectively, you will need to acquire some financial knowledge. Without due diligence, you can never invest your money effectively and reap big returns.

Your million dollar road map!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:23:00 +0000

In the pursuit of achieving your financial dreams, there are some changes that you will have to adapt. These changes are actually yor road map to your first million dollar. Firstly, your will power must be extremely strong. Millionaires have will power that is so strong that they can adapt to any unanticipated changes. This is true when one’s business is making a loss, having a weak will power will only make one to give up their dreams.

Becoming a millionaire is not an overnight process. It takes years of perseverance and endurance. It is not impossible to be a millionaire these days because there are so many sources or streams of income that one can have. However, this does not mean that if you have multiple streams of income, you can be a millionaire.

While everybody is concern about making money and expanding their businesses, they often forget the single most important change that they will have to adapt to be a millionaire; effective cash flow management. Having an effective cash flow management can double up your dream to be a millionaire.

Of course there are many out there that are selling cash flow management products that can help you but all these products are useless if you do not follow them. The problem with having an effective cash flow management is that it is too time consuming and tedious.

When you know how to handle your cash flow, naturally you will want to increase your knowledge on finance. You will learn more in depth about investing your money and how to protect your money. Risk management and investment planning will be your concern now as your goal is to grow your money through the most effective investment vehicle and how to protect your income if anything happen to you.

As you can see, just dreaming to be a millionaire is not enough. There are many other factors contributing to your success. If you do not have the desire to learn, you may as well forget your dream to be a millionaire and continue living your normal live just like the many other average Joes and Janes everywhere in the world.

Rising standard of living and you.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:08:00 +0000

Our standard of living has gone up so high that life has been very competitive. More and more people are talking about high paying jobs, bigger cars, long vacations, 5- star hotels, diamond rings, exquisite dining and many other luxuries. However, what people had failed to talk is how much their income has rose. Does it tally with the high inflation rate and high standard of living? Are they having too many debts?

With debt easily bought by people, there are bound to be many problems. People will start paying debt and not saving money. I have seen people whose debts are more than 50% of their income. . I also met people that do not have savings and have two kids that are growing. Still, they still want buy more debts. In Singapore, one of the many reasons why people cannot get rich is because most people are stuck with debts that are more than 50% of their income. . All this financial problems are very common, and these are the setbacks that you have that will hinder you from achieving your financial goals

The common luxury that many people in Singapore buy is car loans. Almost all Singaporean wants to own a car. Well, the car dealers are not helping either; they come up with attractive ways for consumer to buy debts. With as low as $1, you can drive a car home in Singapore.

I am not saying that you cannot buy a car, dream of luxuries and increase your asset. What I want to tell you is that you must not forget the reason why you are working and why must you avoid having too much debts

Personally, I save 40% of my income without fail. It is not an easy task but I just have to do it. What I did was that I have a budgeting plan that is realistic and I track whatever that I buy. It took my 8 months to perfect my budgeting skills and spending pattern but it was all worth it.

I am not suggesting that you must have the same saving habits as mine. However, financial experts suggest that 10% of your income should be saved. Anything less than that, you are gone. It is better to start small than just planning for the day that you will start saving. If you have dreams of having your financial freedom day, you must start with saving your money. Saving money is your key to your financial freedom.

Quantifying your retirement goals.

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:20:00 +0000

If you are not working to be a millionaire, you should at least work to have a comfortable retirement years. With the advancement of medical technologies, human beings are expected to live longer. When you live longer, it also means that you will need more money for your retirement.

Retirement funding is a no joke process. One must quantify their retirement goals and must be aware of their retirement fund. It is too late to plan for your retirement if you have reached 50 and above. Hence, retirement planning should start as soon as one starts too have an income.

As a financial planner, I met with a lot of people that do not think that retirement is important. Most of them think that they should settle their current financial problem first, and then they will look at their retirement needs. The more you procrastinate on your retirement goals, the more difficult for you to reach your retirement goals.

Let me give an example:

Eugene is 42 years old who earns $40,000 annually. His current investments are worth $50,000. He plans to retire in 20 years time and expected to live until the age of 85. He also indicated that he will need 60% of his last drawn income for retirement.

Assumptions:

• Investment rate of return before retirement: 8% pa
• Investment rate of return after retirement : 5% pa
• Inflation rate : 2%
• Wage growth rate: 3%

Therefore;
• First year retirement income : $43, 346
• Resources needed to fund retirement income : $738, 318
• Projected value of current resources at retirement : $238,048
• Retirement fund shortfall : $505,207
• Annual funding required at the end of each year: $11,041

As you can see, Eugene needs additional $505,207 for his retirement and he is required to have $11, 041 yearly to accommodate his retirement shortfall. This yearly funding cannot be achieved just by savings alone, it also needs some investments.

If you plan later, your yearly funding will get more and sometimes, it will be impossible to get that amount. When you cannot meet your yearly retirement funding, your retirement years will not be an enjoyable one and it will be too late for you to regret. I am sure that you do not want to work all your life.

Note: Calculations were made on a financial calculator.

Cash flow problems?

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:50:00 +0000

Have you heard of this phrase, ‘Good things will come only to those who wait’? In your journey to become a millionaire, you have to delay your gratification. You have to live by your needs and delay almost all your wants. We all know we must let our money work for us. The more money we have, the better.

Being frugal is not an easy task. In fact, it can affect your lifestyle. Nevertheless, being frugal gives you big rewards in the future. One of the first steps to be a millionaire is to be frugal. If you cannot live like that, your journey to be a millionaire can take much longer.

The idea of being frugal is simply how you manage your cash flow. Managing cash flow is one of the most difficult and tedious tasks to do. It requires you to be discipline, honest and patient. You have to monitor your balance sheet, cash flow statement, monthly budgeting, annual budgeting and daily expenditures. Basically, you have to know exactly how much money go in and go out. Every single cents count.

The idea is to create awareness on how you spend your money. If you know exactly how much you spend and how much you are left with, you can end up saving up more money. You can reach your financial goals within a shorter period of time only when you have a prefect cash flow management system.

The daily updating is the one that make your financial goals faster. When you are actually recording and tracking whatever you buy, you will realise that you are spending too much money on something or not. With all the technology now, tracking on what you buy can be tricky.

I personally have a good cash flow management and been saving 20% more of what I have been saving. I did not do this overnight; I took 4 months to perfect my cash flow management skills even though I have all the tools. As you can see, managing cash flow is not easy but it is worth the pain.

You will become frugal automatically when you monitor and track your expenditures. If you need any help or advice on how to manage your cash flow, do drop me an email.

All financial goals must be quantified!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:50:00 +0000

With the ever competitive market, one must be aware of their industry players. Upgrading one’s skills and education is far more demanding then many years ago. To stay competitive in the market, one must be well- equipped. As a financial planner, I too want to always edge out my competitors.

As financial planning is growing it’s popularity, I have no problem looking for my competitors. Financial planners around Singapore always have road shows in shopping malls to attract clients. Well, what I did was very simple, I went to one of the road show; get a financial planner to advice me on my financial goals.

At the beginning of the meeting, the financial planner was very accommodating with all the available products. He then asked me my financial goals and quantified my goals. To my surprise, he did not quantify my goals accurately and made a lot of assumptions. He did not even have a financial consultant calculator with him.

I thought to myself that I should give him another chance and set up another appointment. On the second appointment, I gave him all my financial details and goals. Again, to my astonishment, he did not bring a finanicial consultant calculator and made assumptions. I then asked him how much it will be enough for me to retire.

Immediately he told me that my retirement is around $1million. He said that will be a save amount to consider. To prove that his assumption is wrong, I asked him to calculate for me why he said that it’s around $1 million not other value. All he can tell me was that retirement fund is difficult to calculate.

I am sure as hell that retirement fund can be calculated. There is a way to do it. Firstly, you have to know what is your annual income expected when you retire. This amount is calculated by your current annual income. Then you need to calculate how much is the total retirement fund needed, the available resources and funds, and then get the retirement fund needed. All this values are calculated in future values and can only be calculated with a financial consultant calculator.

If your current or future financial planner do not use this method to calculate your retirement account and do not have a financial consultant calculator, I think you should not listen to his advice as it is based on assumptions, not real facts.

Investment is more than just risks and returns!

noreply@blogger.com (azrin) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:38:00 +0000

In the world of knowledge based economy, information can be passed faster than a speeding train. Information can be attained from mediums like internet, calls, sms and newspaper etc. With all these information available at the tip of your fingertips, buying and selling of your investment is done faster.

However, some of this news can be fact and some are just speculations. Speculations can be the market’s greatest enemy. Half of the time, people buy and sell their investment because of market speculations. ‘Hot’ tips are very common among investors. These ‘hot’ tips sometime kill investors as they do not actually analyse the tips that they got.

Brokers and bankers are famous people for investors with little or no knowledge about investment to get tips from. Whatever that brokers and bankers share to investors will be regarded as a hot and valuable. investors react to these ‘tips’ almost instantaneously hoping that they will not lose money or hoping that they will gain a large amount of returns. At the end of the day, investing on an asset is based on who gets the best ‘tips’ and which brokers or bankers are the most credible.

Investing on an asset is actually more than science. You will need to do a lot of research and acquire some skills on technical and fundamental analysis. There are a lot of things that you must do before you invest your money. It is your hard earned money at the end of the day. Investing your money on an asset is not about ‘parking’ your money in an asset and pray that it will grow!

Does this mean that you can never be rich and can never invest your money because you do not know how to? The answer is no!

There are courses, seminars and people who actually can help you to invest your money. This help you get will also incur some costs but it is an investment if you think about it. In order to be success in your investments, you need to know the science of it. The more in- depth you know about the investing, the less money you can avoid to lose. Investment is more than just risks and returns!