Mutual Fund

There are more than 7,700 mutual funds on the market and for over hundred for public mutual fund. Therefore, it is no surprise that investors feel confused when making any investment decisions. We need to consider many factors when choosing a mutual fund: past performance, internal rate of return, management fee and tenure .However which factors are the most important when making a decision?

First of all, investors should begin the investment process by shopping for funds based on ratings and also some specific criteria. However, it’s better to first understand your investment objectives and which types of funds will help you meet your financial goals. Most of the investment goals are enhancing their retirement live, set up emergency fund, and also shelter their portfolio income from taxation, cover life expenses such as pay off credit card debt , children education fund and etc.

Here are few steps we need to take when evaluating which investments are the best fit to our investment goal.

• Understand the purpose of investing

Before making any investment decision, we should understand what we are hoping to accomplish with the investments. Some of them will wish to enhance the income or reserve the principal while others wish to raise fund for retirement. Without a good understanding of why you are investing, it’s impossible to determine where to allocate portfolio and which funds should we choose. However we are no need to worry about how to invest our fund as it is managed by professional management team.

• Determine the best asset for investment goal

As investment vehicle have different feature and characteristic, there is no one-size-fits-all investment strategy. We have to consider our own situation before you determine the asset. There are certainly people with situations that are quite different from the average person in their peer group in that same age band. For example, retirees traditionally put more money into bonds (fixed income securities) than stocks to transfer risk or speculation to reserve capital. However, if a retiree has a spouse whose pension covers most of the couple’s living expenses, the person are more willing to allocate more in stocks because he or she opined that they can afford high risk.

• Watch the expenses.

Many investors are busy focusing on investment vehicles performance and overlook the expense ratios of their funds. These expense ratios include fund’s management, administrative, marketing and operating costs. High expense will lower the rate of return of the fund. According to Morningstar’s research it showed a direct relationship between lower expenses and better performance. Because of the expense ratios approximately small, (average stock fund being under 1 percent), investors often underestimate and ignore their significance. And therefore, they will earn lower profit. In addition, fund expense ratios are wrapped into the data in a fund’s prospectus. It is not surprise that investors often don’t know how much they are paying for any particular fund.

In conclusion, we need to make any investment decision with forethought and planning. Think twice and always evaluate the risk and return of the investment vehicle. Dollar averaging technique is more preferred if the investors are risk-averse.

Credit card

Recently, Malaysia citizen are carrying credit card debt from month to month. They opine that it is a responsible way to manage their finances. In fact, they do not notice that carrying credit card debt means they are going to pay more for items than what item actually cost. The cost is in the form of interest and in case of a late payment will be charged extra fees.

Once the debt is constantly growing, it can also mean that eventually the credit card owner will no longer be able to afford the skyrocketing debt and it will gradually damage his or her ability to take out other forms of credit such as house financing. Bank will blacklist those people who cannot pay off their debt for each month and therefore they are restricted to borrow loan to buy houses or any capital asset.

Most of us complain that the unmanaged credit card debt will continue to haunt every step you take and even spell disaster to our beloved family. It may sound like an intimidating task, but it can be solved with effectively. To pay off your debt effectively, there is some few strategies you can follow:

• Pay off debt with the highest interest ratefirst

Most of the credit card debtors have this common sense, but it’s something that a lot of people forget. For example, if one credit line is charging you annual interest rate with 12% while another credit line is charging you 9%, just focus on the card debt that falls under 12% interest rate. It is suggested that we only touch the other debt after we pay it off 12% interest rate debt. This solution can help you save more money without paying more interest to the high interest bearing debt (12%) in future.

• Pay more than minimum payment

Credit card companies love the customers who pay their credit card installment by every month. At that rate, you’re mostly paying off interest and barely scratching the surface of your principal. Therefore, you have to look at your most recent credit card statements to get exact figure on what your monthly interest is. After that, you can try to make a budget proposal (see how much you spend each day) and use a part of your saving to pay more to your credit card debt. This can ensure that you will save a lot of money because you do not need to pay interest rate in the long term.

• Compare Credit Card

There is no two credit cards are alike. Every card has different features and benefits. However before you bury yourself in a mountain of credit card brochures, you can make a credit card comparison yourself(There is a plenty of credit card comparison website) . For me, I prefer I-money website as there is comparison tool which can accurately sniff around the most suitable card for me.

In a nutshell, credit card should be used wisely. If not we will be facing a big trouble and also spell disaster to our family.

Celcom

Nitrogen, water and oxygen are three essential elements that we need in Earth. We cannot even live when we lack each of them. The same can be said of three elements of the broadband – higher speed, better stability and more seamless. Recently, most people work in a high paced environment.  All things happen fast and you can’t be thrown by unexpected interruptions. You should be able to shift gears quickly. And now, celcom broadband plan will take you to enjoy everything you want to do with 20 x faster than before.

“Quit living in the stone age.” is a quote which shows sarcasm to the people who didn’t have I-phone. Some of them complain that every time Apple announces a new I-Phone, it must be the most expensive phone. They always curious about the manufacturers charge a significant premium for I-phone and make it unaffordable for some less financially sophisticated person. Now, CELCOM is the saviour. You will get a huge saving with the perfect celcom plan to buy I-Phone 5s. There is no upfront cash payment, 0% interest in installment and also no processing fee.

Recently, Celcom has offered a great promotion for their internet plan. Through celcom internet plan, you just need to pay RM25 to enjoy the internet connection for whole month. However, the quota of internet connection is limited. You still can enjoy the internet connection but the speed will decrease significantly. Once you sign up the celcom First plan, you will get connected with seamless even in the remotest corner of the globe.

卡奴

在这个瞬息万变的城市里，许多人不论任何阶级的人士都拥有至少一张信用卡(credit card)。信用卡到底是有什么魔力，可以让大家都沉溺在这个沼泽里，让人无法自拔呢？有些人认为信用卡的好处不计其数，例如：

• 少欠人情 ： 现代人通常比较少有储蓄的好习惯，当他们身上有钱，他们都把它花光。他们都是抱着赚到的钱是拿来花的，如果现在不花，难道要等到死的时候才花吗？正所谓，人在天堂，钱在银行。当遇到急需现金以解燃眉之急时，如果向亲朋好友难免不好意思开口，而且有些亲戚还会给脸色你看，甚至落井下石

• 相对安全: 有些人认为每天带着重重的现金不但对身体是个负担，而且还随时惹祸上身（被打劫）。如果是信用卡被盗或者丢失了，我们可以第一时间挂失，然后把信用卡的服务暂停，避免损失惨重。

• 累积个人信用记录：使用多信用卡，而且准时交monthly installment,会提高信用额度及信用度。有些银行也会通过个人信用度作为借钱买房子或者买产业的考量。所以这是尤其重要的因素啊！

虽然信用卡 （credit card malaysia）好处繁多，可是却有一部分人却被信用卡诱惑，成为卡奴。为什么会这样呢？只需要三个字就能形容 ：自制力！你是不是看见信用卡里有钱想买什么就买什么呢？你是不是因为还不起而觉得信用card不是什么好东西呢？你是不是一直在找提额资料，且又怕上当受骗！你是不是因为看到了一个非常吸引的广告而知道信用卡可以提额！你是不是因为还不起卡而想用提高额度来解决这个难题！你是不是一直在还最低的额度，甚至有逾期！ 恭喜你，你已经成为确确实实的卡奴了。。。。。。

我个人认为，信用卡好处很多，可是信用卡只能给有自制力的人使用，假若这张卡交给了没自制力的人手上，将会带来灾难，甚至牵涉到家人帮他们还卡债，让他们活在痛苦不堪的家庭里。

Budget 2015

High living costs is always the biggest concern for Malaysia citizens as we know Goods and Services Tax (GST) implemented next year will exhaust their savings and also their household disposable income.

Top of Malaysians’ wish list in Budget 2015 is the hope that Government will do more for them rather than just give out one-off cash handouts, as many of them fear that they will be stroked by higher cost of living and may have to look for part-time to cover the increasing costs of goods and services. They opined that implementation of GST spell disaster to lower and middle income classes and they cannot afford sky-rocketing price of goods.

In Budget 2014, each of Malaysian citizens received financial assistance of RM250 each to help them on the rising cost of living. According to the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) cash handout scheme, any household with a monthly income of below RM3,000 will receive a financial aid payment of RM650. As what government promised that BR1M will continue in Budget 2015 which will be tabled by Prime Minister and Finance Minister inside Budget 2015 this Friday (10/10/2015). Despite government ensure that inflation in Malaysia is under control, Malaysians are becoming increasingly over the cost of goods in relation to wages.

Gradually, Malaysia will lead to wage price-spiral situation- workers will ask for higher wages when price of goods increases. Once firms cannot cover their cost of production, they will increase the price of goods further. Therefore, it is commonly to see that price of goods in Malaysia always sky-rocketing. Some of them even complain that even the prices of mobile plan such as celcom plan increases as well.

In a nutshell, Government should develop some effective solution to curb the high rising cost living of Malaysia citizens. We hope that what we get from the government is not the only one-off thing and hope that the increase in the assistance is balanced to cover the expensive goods.