Malaysia Financial Blogger | Financial Freedom Ideas | imDavidLee.Com

How to Calculate Our SOCSO?

As everybody known, SOCSO is just like a general insurance for employees; made compulsory by the government. However, you won’t get it back at the later stage as EPF does. Do you know how to calculate it? SOCSO contribution is different from EPF deduction and it’s based on the SOCSO table. And, the highest SOCSO deduction for employee is only RM14.75.

Your salary, overtime payments, commission, allowances will be taken into account for the purposes of SOCSO contribution.

For example:

Salary = RM 2000.00
Overtime Payments = RM 200.00
Allowances = RM 50.00

Total Salary = RM 2250.00

I this scenario, do you know how much SOCSO should be deducted from your salary?

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How To Calculate Your EPF Dividend?

As everybody known, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) declared 5.65% of dividend for the financial year 2009. In order to be smart and calculative in personal finance matters, understanding the calculation of EPF dividend is an essential part of the learning process.

EPF’s dividend calculation is not that straight forward. I’m sure still many of you do not know how to calculate EPF dividend. Most of the people will take the total contribution of that particular account and just multiply with 5.65% dividend. If you’re one of them, then this is a good chance for you to learn from mistake.

The following is my calculation of the dividend:

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50% Stamp Duty Waiver For House Purchased

Now I only realize that there’ll have 50% stamp duty exemption on transfer for the purchasing house which costing not more than RM250,000. This stamp duty will be charged on any loan agreement that is executed between buyer and bank. However, it’s only applicable not later than 31st December 2010.

If you are the first time home buyer and plan to buy a house at price RM260k. Then, it’s advisable to make it below RM250k to eligible for the 50% stamp duty exemption. Previously, if let say your house cost RM250k, then stamp duty will be RM4k which calculated as below:

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Can Seller Cancel A Property Deal After Receiving Booking Fee?

I am wondering whether seller has the right to cancel a property deal after receiving the booking fee from the buyer. This may happen as seller found higher offer later on.

Generally speaking, the seller can’t do that. A booking fee is an offer to purchase. A booking fee of 1% is legally binding on seller and buyer, forming the contract. And, there is no cooling-off period unless it is in writing. The buyer can lodge a report to prohibit the seller from dealing with another party.

However, sometimes it’s depend on the certain agreement that seller have made with the buyer. For example, if the seller refuses to deal with the buyer, then you need to compensate the buyer a certain amount of money. So, make sure that the you as the buyer must keep the receipt as you can go back on your word once the seller confiscate the booking fee. Else, the seller has to double pay the booking fee to you.

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Difference Between MRTA vs MLTA

Basically, both are the Mortgage Life Insurances which pay off the outstanding loan balance in the event that the borrower dies or suffers from total and permanent disability before the loan is fully settled.

MRTA known as Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance whereas MLTA is Mortgage Level Term Assurance. Normally, it can be purchased from any banks. MRTA is an insurance policy and has become a common and acceptable policy that adds to your mortgage loan. The premium is paid upfront in one lump sum.

The borrower can choose the amount and tenure of the coverage. The amount of premium will be determined by his age mostly. To the borrower this is relatively a hassle free, affordable and necessary policy.

However, MRTA has a reducing premium over time, as you pay your loan, the amount you owe the bank would reduce and the amount you need to be insured for would also be reduced. So, for me it is an expense item as you don’t get a single cent out of it in the end.

MLTA is slightly different from MRTA as it offers an alternative for a borrower who is looking for a life insurance which offers protection, savings and returns.

The premium is paid on a monthly, quarterly, half yearly or yearly basis and the policy holder can choose to have a wider coverage other than death and total and permanent disability.

Below is the comparison between MLTA vs MRTA:

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How to Use Maybank eFixed Deposit Online?

Maybank eFD provides convenient way for FD account holder to make Fixed Deposit placements online. All transactions are real time. But, there’ll no certificate be issued.

So, if you are willing to open Maybank eFD, then you just login to Maybank2u.com. Click on Accounts & Banking and you will see Fixed Deposits. Then, click on Make an eFixed Deposit placement. Next, you can select eFixed Deposit type (Maybank Conventional Fixed Deposit or Maybank GIA Mudharabah or Murabahah Deposit Account MDA-i).

After that, please select term of your eFD. So there’s 1 - 60 months.

Please make sure that know the FD rates before you do the placement so you won’t feel regret later. So, below are the latest FD rates:

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MBA Course - Worth It Or Not?

After conducted a few survey about MBA course, I found that quite a great number of Malaysian do not agree that MBA can guarantee career success. Many said that the value of it is exaggerated.

I have few friends who graduated oversea and comes back to Malaysia to work and deserves the low pay. I can see that almost 50% of them rather prefer get posted to other countries like Singapore to work in MNCs. This is because they will be more appreciated and paid based on their qualifications.

However, most companies will pay more for a person who is ambitious, and a proven track record of performance or learning. I believe that if you’re young with MBA paired with reasonable work experiences, solid education and good communication skills then it’s extremely convincing proof of a potential performer.

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