Ever wonder why you had create a very interesting article in your blog,but when you GOOGLE it , you don't seem to find your blog anywhere in the results. This is because your site have a low page rank. Your rankings, especially for very competitive keywords are always depended on the anchor text links coming from high Google PR Sites. The more of those high PR site links you have with exact anchor text of keywords, the higher you will rank versus your competitors. If you have a no name site, and worse yet a not so high a PR, it will be very hard for you to get ranked higher. Read how to improve your Google Page Rank here (Read more inside ..)
Showing posts with label Money Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money Tips. Show all posts
A Mutual Fund is a company that pools investors' money to make multiple types of investments, known as the portfolio. Stocks, bonds, and Money Market Funds are all examples of the types of investments that may make up a mutual fund.
The Mutual Fund is managed by a professional investment manager who buys and sells securities for the most effective growth of the fund. As a mutual fund investor, you become a "Share Holder" of the mutual fund company. When there are profits you will earn dividends. When there are losses, your shares will decrease in value.
Mutual Funds are, by definition, diversified, meaning they are made up a lot of different investments. That tends to lower your risk (avoiding the old "all of your eggs in one basket" problem).
Because someone else manages them, you don't have to worry about diversifying individual investments yourself or doing your own record keeping. That makes it easier to just buy them and forget about them. That's not always the best strategy, however -- your money is in someone else's hands, after all.
Since the fund manager's compensation is based on how well the fund performs, you can be assured they will work diligently to make sure the fund performs well. Managing their fund is their full-time job!
Mutual Funds can be open-ended or closed-ended. But many people consider all Mutual Funds to be open-ended, while putting closed-ended funds in another category.
"Open-Ended" means that shares are issued in the fund (or sold back to the fund) whenever anyone wants them. With closed-ended funds, only a certain number of shares can be issued for a particular fund, and they can only be sold back to the fund when the fund itself terminates. (You can sell closed-ended funds to other investors on the secondary market, though.)
Load refers to the sales charges added to a mutual fund when you purchase it. The load charge goes to the fund salesperson as a commission and payment for their research services. Load charges can be up to 8.5% percent of the selling price and can be figured in as a front-end load (meaning you pay it when you buy the mutual fund) or a back-end load (meaning you pay when you sell the mutual fund).
Many Mutual Funds are no-load funds. Yes, that means there is no sales fee charged and the fund is direct-marketed so you can buy it without the help of a salesperson. With the wealth of information on the Internet today, it is certainly easier to make smart choices yourself to save money.
In addition to "No-Load Funds", there are also funds that charge up to 3.5% percent as a sales fee. These are called low-load funds and can still be a good deal.
Mutual Funds Fall Into Three Categories:
Equity Funds - are made up of investments of only common stock. These can be riskier (and earn more money) than other types.
Fixed-Income Funds - are made up of government and corporate securities that provide a fixed return and are usually low risk.
Balanced Funds - combine both stocks and bonds in the investment pool and offer a moderate to low risk. While low risk may sound good, it is also accompanied by lower rates of return-meaning you risk less, but your investment won't earn as much. You have to decide how much risk you're willing to take on before you invest your money.
Most of these offer 'No-Load Funds' (or sometimes low-load funds). You can find lists of mutual fund companies on the Internet and purchase shares by simply filling out an application and mailing a check. Once you are a shareholder, you will receive statements telling you how the fund is doing as well as how much your own investment is growing. You can also set up monthly bank transfers to automatically buy more shares every month.
Remember to do your research and select a Mutual Fund that fits the level of risk you are willing to take with your hard-earned cash. Then just sit back and hope for the best!
Most beginners usually get started with Adsense using sites like Blogger.com, but in order to really ramp up your Adsense income you're going to need to get your own domain. Be creative when choosing name, the name should be unique and related to the contents of your site.Having a keyword optimized domain name gives you full control of your site and gives you a potentially valuable asset you can eventually sell.
There are many places you can register domains with the most popular being Exabytes. I been hosting with Exabytes and i like them because they provide really fast and good support. Don't skimp on your webhosting. Go with the best. It can make a big difference in your website's load time, how search engines index your site, and your customer's experience. Downtime to site server can be costly if your site is high traffic and can cause a serious income loss.
(Read more inside ..)
I wonder if we have to pay tax for the money earn from Adsense. Well I make some research on this on the net and i get a couple of useful information from Malaysian Adsense earner themselves. Some of the verdicts I found online.
The Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia stated that if the profit that gain from foreign country is exempted from tax. Which means Adsense profit no need to pay tax.
Google Inc is from United States. So its a foreign country. We no need to pay..Hurray!! If you pay tax on Google Adsense income in the US then you don't need to pay tax in Malaysia on that money because that come under a double taxation agreement
But can we file our tax under US goverment? No way!!If the work to earn the money is carried out here (building the site, maintaining the site, handling the finances, etc.) then the money can be considered earn here and hence you must pay Malaysian tax on it?
Our blogging activities is carried out in Malaysia and money also transacted into our Malaysia accounts. Mean we have to pay!!
The conclusions is, whether to pay or not to pay is up to yourself. If you are not buying into properties or car, maybe you probably will not be audited by the Inland Revenue Board. Anyway I advise you to consult your professional tax consultant.
(Read more inside ..)
I really have to recommend this book by KCLau. I bought this book yesterday it and i finish reading in just one day, too interesting to stop. Top Money Tips for Malaysians is a personal finance book that’s packed with money tips and tricks especially for Malaysians.
Most personal finance books teach you how to get your financial matters in good shape through perseverance and hard work. This book is actually not one of those.What you will learn here are simple and easy tricks that require minimum effort.
You will discover:
* How to think in terms of “money” and “time”
* How to get your first car free
* How to manoeuvre your mortgage
* How to gain the maximum from your insurance policies and many more money tips
Kclau offer down to earth advises about financial tip that is really truly applied to all Malaysians. Get a copy now from your nearest bookstore. (Read more inside ..)
If you are working on the internet and trying to make a decent income from your website then more likely than not you are aware of the Google Adsense program, which allows you to place advertisements from Google on your website and in return receive a proportion of the advertising revenue.
Problem is if you are like most people who use Google Adsense ads you are probably disappointed at the actual income that it produces on a daily basis and wonder what you are doing wrong.
Well, first of all let me tell you that there are many people just like you and although the concept of making money with Google Adsense is simple, the actual ability to make a significant income will take some work.
More importantly, you must know the basics of what makes a good website as far as Google Adsense income is concerned. There are four areas that need to be correctly carried out in order for you to make a good income with Google Adsense and these are:
1) Content
2) Keywords
3) Advert placement, size and construction
4) Traffic
Each of the area mention is equally important to increase your Adsense earning. It is possible to achieve figure even up to 5 digit a month if you manage to manipulate the 4 area above. However dont take things for granted, you might still have a long way to go before achieving that and dont give up so easily.Others have done it, why not you!
(Read more inside ..)
Found this website to check on how much your site is worth. URL is http://www.websiteoutlook.com/ . For example i put in our local newspaper website (www.thestar.com.my) see how much its worth.
WOW!! Its worth USD1.17 Million with daily ad revenue of USD1600. This is call the power of advertising!! So you think you can beat this figure?? (Read more inside ..)
I stumbled upon this site PAGERANK.INFO where you can check how is your site ranking in GOogle Search Engine. Below you can see my site ranking!
Tadaaaa... its not available. I am still very disappointed. But i sure i going to reach my target of PR 2 or 3 in next one month. After that i going to reveal the secret of doing so....STAY TUNE PEEPS!
(Read more inside ..)
Wanna share with you all. Here is a handful of the central ones. They aren't easy: this is a competitive game.
1. The key to investing is found in this rule: buy a share as though you were buying the whole company.
To do that, you have to know what the enterprise is worth. Therefore, the investor should live in the world of companies, never of mathematical formulae.
In the latest annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's company, his partner Charles Munger put it this way: "The worst decisions are often made with the most formal projections. They look so professional that you begin to believe the numbers are reality.
"You are taken in by the false precision. Business schools teach this stuff because they have to teach something."
2. A recent heresy is that market volatility equals risk. Quite the contrary!
For a serious investor, volatility creates opportunity. To use my own language, investment opportunity consists of the difference between reality and perception. High volatility increases that difference, and thus increases opportunity for the knowledgeable investor.
Mr Buffett says sardonically that he favours the dotty "efficient market theory" because it creates more opportunities for him.
3. As to growth versus value, Mr Buffett observes that "value" should include projected growth, notably "growth at a reasonable price" or Garp.
He looks for companies with a business "moat" around them that should have steady, reasonably predictable growth.
Perhaps a better phraseology for the growth versus value dichotomy might be "high growth" versus "bargain hunting". The analytical techniques, and investor temperaments, in the two approaches are quite different. One calls for a futurologist, the other for an accountant.
That said, for a taxpaying investor long-term growth is more convenient and more tax-efficient than seeking one bargain after another.
4. High technology, most emerging markets, leveraged buyouts, real estate and other hard to appraise exotica might as well not exist for Mr Buffett.
He follows the safest approach: stick to what you know best. However, many approaches are valid. Your advantage will be the extent to which your knowledge of a valid situation exceeds the market's.
It makes little difference how broad your knowledge is. One correct investment decision is as valuable as another. Mr Buffett says that one should only seek a handful of really big ideas in one's investing career. The key is to be right when you do decide, not to flutter about spreading yourself thin.
5. Investing in bad industries, or turnarounds, usually doesn't work.
A skilled surgeon can excise a tumour but to revive a moribund patient requires a magician. The princess hopes that when she kisses the toad a beautiful prince will spring up. In fact, alas, she will probably end up awash in toads.
6. Businesses that generate cash that they can reinvest at high rates of return over long periods are particularly attractive holdings.
Low-margin businesses that periodically call for more cash from their investors, which they can only invest at a modest rate of return, are a dismal affair. Differently put, if all else is the same, feel free to marry an heiress rather than a pauper.
It could be better value afterwards than it was before. The greatest stocks may go up 20 or even 100 times in a generation or two.
Peter Lynch, who built up Fidelity's Magellan fund, points out that the deluded policy of "rebalancing" more or less automatically because a stock has risen is a lot like pulling out the flowers in the garden and watering the weeds. Don't do it!
1. The key to investing is found in this rule: buy a share as though you were buying the whole company.
To do that, you have to know what the enterprise is worth. Therefore, the investor should live in the world of companies, never of mathematical formulae.
In the latest annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's company, his partner Charles Munger put it this way: "The worst decisions are often made with the most formal projections. They look so professional that you begin to believe the numbers are reality.
"You are taken in by the false precision. Business schools teach this stuff because they have to teach something."
2. A recent heresy is that market volatility equals risk. Quite the contrary!
For a serious investor, volatility creates opportunity. To use my own language, investment opportunity consists of the difference between reality and perception. High volatility increases that difference, and thus increases opportunity for the knowledgeable investor.
Mr Buffett says sardonically that he favours the dotty "efficient market theory" because it creates more opportunities for him.
3. As to growth versus value, Mr Buffett observes that "value" should include projected growth, notably "growth at a reasonable price" or Garp.
He looks for companies with a business "moat" around them that should have steady, reasonably predictable growth.
Perhaps a better phraseology for the growth versus value dichotomy might be "high growth" versus "bargain hunting". The analytical techniques, and investor temperaments, in the two approaches are quite different. One calls for a futurologist, the other for an accountant.
That said, for a taxpaying investor long-term growth is more convenient and more tax-efficient than seeking one bargain after another.
4. High technology, most emerging markets, leveraged buyouts, real estate and other hard to appraise exotica might as well not exist for Mr Buffett.
He follows the safest approach: stick to what you know best. However, many approaches are valid. Your advantage will be the extent to which your knowledge of a valid situation exceeds the market's.
It makes little difference how broad your knowledge is. One correct investment decision is as valuable as another. Mr Buffett says that one should only seek a handful of really big ideas in one's investing career. The key is to be right when you do decide, not to flutter about spreading yourself thin.
5. Investing in bad industries, or turnarounds, usually doesn't work.
A skilled surgeon can excise a tumour but to revive a moribund patient requires a magician. The princess hopes that when she kisses the toad a beautiful prince will spring up. In fact, alas, she will probably end up awash in toads.
6. Businesses that generate cash that they can reinvest at high rates of return over long periods are particularly attractive holdings.
Low-margin businesses that periodically call for more cash from their investors, which they can only invest at a modest rate of return, are a dismal affair. Differently put, if all else is the same, feel free to marry an heiress rather than a pauper.
7. Don't sell a great stock just because it has doubled.
It could be better value afterwards than it was before. The greatest stocks may go up 20 or even 100 times in a generation or two.
Peter Lynch, who built up Fidelity's Magellan fund, points out that the deluded policy of "rebalancing" more or less automatically because a stock has risen is a lot like pulling out the flowers in the garden and watering the weeds. Don't do it!
8. A grave corporate folly is offering your own underpriced stock for the fully valued stock of an acquisition candidate.
In that scenario, instead of paying 50p for £1 of value, you are paying £1 for 50p of value. Lunacy! Still, such situations are often generated by the megalomania of chief executives.
"We are bound to have inflation, given current policies. There are a lot of incentives for politicians in all countries to inflate their currencies," Mr Buffett says.
10. To do superlatively well, an investor, like a company manager, must be a fanatic.
By relentless concentration, Mr Buffett has moved billions of dollars from other people's pockets into his own. Alas, he doesn't enjoy what money can buy. He's a miser.
Once, offered a glass of good wine at a dinner, he said: "Just hand me the money." So, it may be helpful in business terms to be that focused, but not necessarily in human terms.
Still, to preserve capital, which is difficult, one should understand the principles, and Mr Buffett's are all good ones.
"The Midas Touch" by John Train is published by Harriman House. Mr Train founded Train Smith Investment Counsel and he has written hundreds of columns for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Forbes magazine. Apart from "The Midas Touch", his best-selling books include "The Craft of Investing", "The Money Masters" and "The New Money Masters".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/5708407/How-to-invest-like-Warren-Buffett.html
(Read more inside ..)
In that scenario, instead of paying 50p for £1 of value, you are paying £1 for 50p of value. Lunacy! Still, such situations are often generated by the megalomania of chief executives.
9. Avoid long-term bonds.
"We are bound to have inflation, given current policies. There are a lot of incentives for politicians in all countries to inflate their currencies," Mr Buffett says.
10. To do superlatively well, an investor, like a company manager, must be a fanatic.
By relentless concentration, Mr Buffett has moved billions of dollars from other people's pockets into his own. Alas, he doesn't enjoy what money can buy. He's a miser.
Once, offered a glass of good wine at a dinner, he said: "Just hand me the money." So, it may be helpful in business terms to be that focused, but not necessarily in human terms.
Still, to preserve capital, which is difficult, one should understand the principles, and Mr Buffett's are all good ones.
"The Midas Touch" by John Train is published by Harriman House. Mr Train founded Train Smith Investment Counsel and he has written hundreds of columns for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Forbes magazine. Apart from "The Midas Touch", his best-selling books include "The Craft of Investing", "The Money Masters" and "The New Money Masters".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/5708407/How-to-invest-like-Warren-Buffett.html
1. Content
Content plays a major role in getting blog readers. Your content must be interesting, informative, focus, and helpful.Content must be unique too as people easily search for your unique content using search engine. You also can contribute article to Squidoo Lens. The outcome would be increase in back links and traffics.
2. Blog template
Choose a suitable template that reflects blogger's aesthetic. Birds of a feather flock together, you will attract similar kind of people to stay. It could be a good topic to discuss on how you choose the template and how it has brought to you either in traffic or readership. You lead the conversion !
3. Social blogger community
Bloggers have the tendency to follow on blogs that improve their template, widgets, good content to improve their content/ pagerank/ tips/ tricks, etc. Conversion is high in this area. Some of the social blogger communities are blogcatalog.com and bloggerunited.com
4. Traffic analytics
Analyse the traffic, understand why they leave and the reason they stay on. Readership retention is very important. Google analytics is a good tool in this area. By understanding your customers, you could write relevant articles, launch campaigns, and selling relevant ads.
5. Digg and stumbleupon, etc
Needless to say, you should have familiarize yourself with these services, which expose your blog and articles to the broad internet world. Now you have the traffic, and you need much effort to convert and retain them.
6. RSS and Freebies
Everyone enjoys freebies but not everyone loves RSS feed. IT is your job to discover freebies and tie it with RSS feed. Conversion rate is high. I have a post which introduce free magazine, and it is one of the top visited post i have. By the way, i am looking for a RSS function that allows me to let readers to register for RSS and get a freebie after that, any idea? Can feedburner does that? Read this: The Secret: Increase traffic by RSS submission, FREE !
7. Widgets
Widgets represent the functionality of your blog. A set of widgets with proper arrangement will promote your posts and ease the registration to become RSS reader or blog follower. Read this: The Secret: 6 widgets in my blog that increase traffic ! Remember, conversion rate is THE thing.
8. Comments
Comment in relevant topics on other blogs with your own, distinctive view. You will get what you want at the end.
9. Become blog follower.
Howto ? There is a widget in Blogger, add yourself to become a follower, by the way, bloggers can get to know how many blogs under you and in return they might become your follower too.
10. Twitter
Twitter is the latest trend of the online communnity in getting readership. Try to convert them with your updates. Check out the widget i put up in my blog, it is at the most right side bar. I got a number of followers from there
(Read more inside ..)
Another way to increase traffic to your website for free is to submit your blog url to all major RSS directories using a software call RSS SUBMIT PRO. THis software is free to use, easy to install an use. you can download the software below
RSS SUBMIT PRO DOWNLOAD
(Read more inside ..)
What is RSS?
RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It is a way to easily distribute a list of headlines, update notices, and sometimes content to a wide number of people. It is used by computer programs that organize those headlines and notices for easy reading.What problem does RSS solve?
Most people are interested in many websites whose content changes on an unpredictable schedule. Examples of such websites are news sites, community and religious organization information pages, product information pages, medical websites, and weblogs. Repeatedly checking each website to see if there is any new content can be very tedious. Email notification of changes was an early solution to this problem. Unfortunately, when you receive email notifications from multiple websites they are usually disorganized and can get overwhelming, and are often mistaken for spam.
RSS is a better way to be notified of new and changed content. Notifications of changes to multiple websites are handled easily, and the results are presented to you well organized and distinct from email.
How does RSS work?
RSS works by having the website author maintain a list of notifications on their website in a standard way. This list of notifications is called an "RSS Feed". People who are interested in finding out the latest headlines or changes can check this list. Special computer programs called "RSS aggregators" have been developed that automatically access the RSS feeds of websites you care about on your behalf and organize the results for you. (RSS feeds and aggregators are also sometimes called "RSS Channels" and "RSS Readers".) Producing an RSS feed is very simple and hundreds of thousands of websites now provide this feature, including major news organizations like the New York Times, the BBC, and Reuters, as well as many weblogs.
What information does RSS provide?
RSS provides very basic information to do its notification. It is made up of a list of items presented in order from newest to oldest. Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item along with a more complete description and a link to a web page with the actual information being described. Sometimes this description is the full information you want to read (such as the content of a weblog post) and sometimes it is just a summary.How do I find out if a website has an RSS feed?
It is getting more and more common for websites to have RSS feeds. They usually indicate the existence of the feed on the home page or main news page with a link to "RSS", or sometimes by displaying an orange button with the letters "XML" or "RSS". RSS feeds are also often found via a "Syndicate This" link. Text "RSS" links sometimes (there are lots of variations) point to a web page explaining the nature of the RSS feeds provided and how to find them. The buttons are often linked directly to the RSS feed file itself. Once you know the URL of an RSS feed, you can provide that address to an RSS aggregator program and have the aggregator monitor the feed for you. Many RSS aggregators come preconfigured with a list to choose from of RSS feed URLs for popular news websites. (Read more inside ..)
When you finished building your website, the next thing you need to do is to let people know that your site existed. Therefore your site must be searchable through the search engine. Below are list of search engine submission page for your URL
You have to be patient after submitted your URL, because your site is not going to show up in their search straight away. Probably you have to wait for days or even weeks, but dont give up and at the same time continue adding contents to your site because the more contents you have, the higher will be your ranking.
If you sell other people’s stuff on the internet without any purchase of the physical product or service, no order fulfilment, no liability and no stock holding then you are both considered an affiliate. They are an affiliate to you and you are an affiliate to them. This is one of the most effective ways of making money on the internet and was the real trigger for me to see how easy it could be to make a lot of money very easily. There is very little for you to do other than market your affiliates hence the naming of this emerging industry of Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate marketing is where you, the website owner, sell products and services of companies you have decided to affiliate with (partner up in other words) in return for a commission.
The reason why this industry has exploded over the last 5 years is because the whole process can be automated. To become a reseller of someone’s goods or services in the past required an initial phone call, a few meetings, a draft contract and then a final contract agreeing the terms and conditions. This cost a lot of time and money in lost productivity and professional fees.
How It Works
This is the basics:
- You see a product or service on the web that you wish to sell. So you look for the link on the site that says “Affiliates”, “Affiliate Sign Up”, “Partner Program”, “Make Money With Us” or something like that and click on it.
- They will tell you what commission you can earn if you sell their stuff. If you like what they’re offering you can click further on to an Affiliate Sign Up Form where they will ask you the basics such as name, address etc plus also how you wish to get paid i.e. cheque, direct transfer, paypal etc. So you sign up.
- After sign up you are directed to a page which gives you your all important Affiliate Link”. This is a unique domain name which is related to you.
- You include this unique link on your website and when anyone clicks through your link, buy product from the company and then you will get the commission
Google Adsense was started in May 2003 and it enabled website owners to display advertiser’s adverts who had signed up to Google Adwords. It has revolutionised the way advertising is conducted on the internet. You no longer need to approach individual advertisers to get them to advertise on your site and implement some kind of payment system because Google does this all for you.
All you need to do is sign up, generate some code by pointing and clicking your mouse and then copying and pasting this code in to your site. Then you will get an advert that looks like:
Google pays you a percentage of whatever the advertiser has to pay. So if an advertiser in the UK
This is one of the most frustrating thing about Google Adsense but also quite a challenging sport! You have no control over what is displayed on your site or what you get paid. This is all up to google. The only choices you have are:
1. How many ads appear on your site
2. Where they appear
3. What colours the ads are
4. The content around the adverts
And that’s it. This is why it is an art form. Subtle changes can yield massive results. Google gets robots to “read” your site and guess what your site is about and then add adverts they think are relevant to your site. All you can do is 1 to 4 above to make the right adverts appear so you get paid well.
In order to start earning money from advertisers, you need to have a website to publish about something. Website with only advertisement or search panel will not work with Google Adsense. Therefore you need to know what are you going to blog about. The topic that you choose must be something you are passionate about (for eg it is your hobbies). Below are some ideas to help you get started
· Making Money
· Property Investment
· Expensive hobbies like golf
· Antiques
· Raising Finance/Debt solutions
· Internet Marketing
· Stocks & Shares
· Beauty & Cosmetic Surgery
· Marraiga Dating & Sex tips
· Science Fiction such as Star Trek memorabilia
· Classic or modified cars
· Boating & Yachting
· Fishing & Angling
· Hollywood & Celebrity Gossip
· Coin & Stamp Collections and latest prices
· Aeroplane and train spotting clubs
· Weight Loss
· eBay
· Cult or fad stuff like scientology
· Exercise, health and keeping fit
· Fashion & Clothing
· Specific businesses such as farming, car retailing etc. where there are trade journals already in existence
· Interior decorating
· Casino and card game clubs and tips
· Other gambling sites such as horse racing or dogs
· Self development and Psychology
· Religious groups and communities with a fund raising element
· Pet sites specific to a type of pet or breed
· Student sites to help with coursework
· Cooking
· How to be a writer
· Infertility
· Computer Hardware & Software
· Movies or even a specific movie (I love scarface!)
· Music – Fan sites for individual artists
· Wedding planning and weddings in general
· Parenting and baby sites
Its my intention to publish my internet income every month after i really establish the site contents.I hope i can get this site to rank better on the three major search engine (google,yahoo & msn).Do follow me from time to time on how to increase your site traffic. (Read more inside ..)
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How do you make sure the money you earn does not disappear or get frittered away? How can you see your money grow steadily over the years, accumulating and expanding so you eventually experience a creation of real wealth instead of constantly having to make ends meet? Getting on top of your finances is not difficult but in addition to having good feng shui, you do need to follow smart advice, exercise discipline in the way you organize your cash flow and be alert to investing your surplus money. LILLIAN TOO suggests some ways to be smart with your money.Begin your year with a firm resolution to focus unwaveringly on managing your money. Aspire to become rich and start taking control of your finances and do so in a conscious and serious manner. You need to have an attitude of respect towards money that is neither overly emotional nor excessively detached.
If you want to accumulate wealth, you must first establish the right attitude towards money! Understand that it is a tool and you are in control. You must never allow the management of money to overwhelm you. Let it be a natural part of your life, one of the skills you need to develop and absorb into your daily rituals of living so it becomes second nature to you.
Begin by getting a good idea of your current financial situation. Know the kind of budget you live under. Train your mind to think in a quantitative way, putting numbers to all your thoughts and ideas about everything to do with your money situation. You cannot be clever about money until you know the parameters of your financial situation.
Once you know what the overall position of your income and expense sides, you can start to think strategically about your money. This is the start of dreaming dreams and formulating strategies inside your head. Hazy goals eventually become clearer and this starts you on the road towards becoming financially savvy.
Start With Your Saving Potential
You begin by developing the saving habit. Amass some equity! The first goal is to endeavour never to be in the red in terms of cash management. Never allow yourself to run out of cash. Let this be the golden rule by which you live.
From here you will be in a comfortable position to make an estimate of how much you can save. Saving is a magic word in financial management and this requires you to quantify just two numbers; the first is your combined on-hand income; and the second is an accurate estimate of what you need to spend to adequately cover all the needs of your life. Do not forget to set aside a little something for special indulgences and little luxuries. When you undertake a disciplined assessment of your financial situation, you are much better equipped to know if your combined incomes (for couples) are adequate for the both of you. Put another way, it also shows if you are living beyond your means.
An Exercise In Budgeting
Budgeting is the first step in creating the habit of keeping track of your spending. This implies taking control of your money. You need to do this if you want to save and be able to invest. This is how wealth accumulation begins, by first creating some personal equity!
Next you need to extend your time horizon. Look beyond your current situation and see if you can work out how much money will be coming in and how much going out over an extended period of time, for instance 12 months. Include holidays and other anticipated expenditures. This is to see if your lifestyle is costing you in excess of what you earn.
Being clever about money requires you to think beyond conventional logic. If you find that you never seem to have enough money at the end of each month because the cost of living has overtaken your earnings, you should start shopping for more financially attractive deals on all your big expenditures.
Expanding Your Income Base
In addition to looking for opportunities to expand your income base, also shop around for better buys and bargain deals. For instance, you can make it a habit to only shop for clothes and other luxuries during sales and to buy your necessities such as monthly groceries from warehouse outlets a little way out of town. You will be surprised how much you can “save” when you really put your mind to it. This does not mean you need to give up on things that make you happy; it means you start to shop smart.
To guard against impulse purchases, it is a good idea to pay cash for all major buys. We are usually more careful when we use real cash instead of plastic. Using the credit card especially when you own multiple credit cards makes it harder for you to keep track of your expenditures, so make the effort not to get addicted to your cards.
When You Have Surplus Money
If your income situation allows you to save, it means your financial position is healthy.
Once you have a little equity built up, start looking for ways to make your money work for you. Do not be satisfied with merely earning interest from the bank. There are ways of getting a higher return on your money and the way to find out how is to be on the lookout. Start by having a chat with your friendly banker about the different deposit plans they offer.
Buying Your First Property Your first serious investment should be some kind of landed property. This is a really big deal because wealth creation in your life starts with accumulating assets and the first real asset in anyone’s life is the home they live in.
You will need to amass some equity to buy a house or apartment, at least enough to take advantage of easy house loans being offered by banks these days. If you have a steady job and you have at least a good thirty years more to your working life, you will find banks more than happy to offer you financing that will help you purchase your own home.
If you do not already own the home you are living in, you should definitely consider buying property to live in. Owner-occupied homes are easy to get financing for and in 2008 the earth element (which means property) represents wealth creation. So this is a good year to buy property.
Here’s a tip. Borrow as much of the cost of the house as you can, and go for the longest tenure. This way the equity you need as down payment will be less. I would say that it is not difficult to find banks willing to finance from 70 to 80 percent of house purchase price especially when they are in a “good” location. Remember to put top priority on location. Buy from reputable developers or if you are buying from an individual owner, make sure you invite your banker to give you an assessment of how much the bank values the property at. This is because the loan they will be willing to give you depends on their valuation of the property and not necessarily on the price you pay. As for tenure, it makes sense to stretch out the loan as much as you can so that monthly repayments are easier on you.
You will find that what you have to pay in renting living premises is lower than monthly mortgage payments, so make sure you do your sums to make sure you can afford the repayments. Owning your own house of course holds out the promise of long term capital gain. Your house is sure to worth more than what you pay for it if you think long term. As for the repayments, these become less painful as your earning capacity improves. (Read more inside ..)
This article is contributed by Jacquelyn Sarah Wong, the co-author of The Secrets to Writing an eBook in Three Easy Steps. If you are a parent yourself, please make sure you check out Jacquelyn’s new blog WParent.com (Wise Parenting Guide). There are a lot of parenting tips you don’t want to miss.
Are you working sorely for the money? Do you stick to your job even though you do not like what you are doing just because of the money? Answering yes means you are definitely a slave to your job because of money.
People fall into their jobs or profession due to a lot of factors. Some that comes to mind are:
There is an urgent or desperate need to work and earn an income immediately regardless of the work nature.
Not having the resources (money) to pursue a higher level of education. I come across this case a lot when I interview people. Normally they come from the rural areas and come from large families. The parents tend to be farmers or low-income earners and they only manage to complete secondary school (Form Five level with SPM qualification). Unless they get a scholarship or government study loan, they would not be able to further their studies.
Not having the proper career guidance before choosing a certain profession.
To fulfill the parents expectations or influenced by the parent’s traditional values of getting a good education and getting a good, stable paying job (e.g. doctor, teacher, engineer).
Not having the wisdom or willpower to switch jobs or profession.
The above are just to name a few factors on why some people are working at a job that does not suit or make them happy. In the end, the only thing holding them back is the salary or benefits they are getting from the job.
Money does matter
If the pay is good then it somehow compensates for working or doing a job that you dislike. If the pay is so good or good enough then it makes it more difficult to change actually. Money can be the main factor for sticking to a certain job or career.
The truth is, life will not be easy without money. Unless you have no desire for all of life’s comforts and conveniences, only then you don’t have to work so hard to accumulate it. However, you still need some money to cover your basic living needs.
Of course there is nothing wrong to crave and want nice things (not necessarily material things) in life as long as we do not hurt anyone along the way. For all the hard work and efforts that you have put in, you will at least get immense self-satisfaction from what your money can buy. In addition, the money can afford you other important things like supporting your family, get a better healthcare, ensure a secure retirement, etc. Therefore, if you do happen to fall into this situation, remember that it is not as bad as having no job (like being laid-off) and no income.
(Read more inside ..)
by KCLau
The best investment comes in many forms. I was frequently asked this same question over and over again. Let’s see how some successful people answer the same question:
Ask a Successful businessman
On page 45 of Personal Money Issue #93 May 2009, Lim Chung Chun, the co-founder of iFast Corp Pte. Ltd. said,
“My best investment has been in iFAST. This has been my single-biggest investment and the most profitable so far.”
iFast is a multi-national investment services provider that has presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and India.
A successful businessman invest a lot in his own business. Ask Ray Kroc about his best investment, I bet he will say “McDonald”!
Ask a Successful Architect
On page 47 of Personal Money Issue #88 December 2008, Zaini Zainul said,
“I concentrate on real estate. I guess that, being an architect, it is what I know best. I don’t play in the stock market, as there are short-term success and risk involved.”
Zaini is a very successful architect who designed the Perbadanan Putrajaya Complex and Putrajaya Shangri-La Hotel at Putrajaya.
Ask a CEO
On page 43 of Personal Money Issue #92 April 2009, Mohamed Akwal Sultan, CEO of the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) said,
“I have a couple of good investments. One of the best happened when I first started working. I took a small loan to buy Amanah Saham Nasional unit trust way back in 1982. I’ve not touched that amount, and the compounding effect and accumulation of dividends have ballooned into quite a comfortable sum now”
You are a successful person in the Employee Quadrant when you become a CEO of a company. When you are focusing on your job and career and being a passive investor, unit trust may be the best investment for you.
What is my best investment?
My best investment so far is my life insurance agency business and this personal finance blog. I invested some money and a lot of time in these two. Both businesses give me regular streams of income. Although the income generated are not totally passive, but they allow me not to work for months without worrying about income loss.
What is the best investment for you?
From the examples above, it is apparent that there is no such thing as “the best investment” that suits everyone.
The best investment for you is something you
are passionate about
can leverage on
have total control
(Read more inside ..)
