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My Investing Strategy for 2012

Although the market outlook is uncertain due to the European debt crisis but I will also plan to make minimal stock investments. I will only invest my savings in high yield dividend stocks when the market plunges. I think property is the best hedge against inflation. Therefore, I will invest in a medium cost apartment soon. Besides, gold is another option to preserve our money and diversify our portfolio. It would be great if you can plan to allocate some funds for gold of 20g to 50g.

investing strategy

My recent strategy is to invest for income and capital preservation in view of the market volatility. For my unit trust investment, I will try to diversify by allocating one third of my portfolio into medium term aggressive fund. Meanwhile, for my stock portfolio, I will try to minimize my risk by investing in defensive counters which also provide dividends consistently.

February 5th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

What’s Your Expected Salary Increment for Year 2012?

Just wondering, what’s your annual increment like? Normally, the increment can range between 5-20% which depends very much on individual performance, size, nature, and culture of the company.

salary increment

However, for those skilled employees, the wages are still linked to experience, productivity and demand. Most of the organisations are still willing to offer attractive remuneration packages for candidates equipped with the desired skills. Thus, highly skilled and productive employees are more likely to earn more.

January 25th, 2012 | 2 Comments

Sensible Ways to Use Your Year End Bonus

Most of my friends plan to invest in property when received their year-end bonus. It would be great to go for property as its potential for capital appreciation and a healthy rental yield. I have been influenced by them and planned to use my future bonuses to invest in a residential property soon.

Besides that, I also plan to set aside about 30% of my monthly income to go towards stocks and unit trusts investment. According to Malaysian Employers Federation in its year 2011 MEF Salary Survey, it was reported that the year-end bonuses are reducing at the average 2.13 months forecast for executives in year 2012. Therefore, it’s time for us to spend it wisely during this recession period.

Malaysia Property Investment

You would need to have a financial plan if you have a great pool of money coming your way and you are not sure how to put it to good use. You can do this on your own or consult financial advisor for assistance.

Tips on Using Your Spare Cash

January 18th, 2012 | 2 Comments

Managing Rising Cost of Living

The concern on the rising of living cost is a global one. The living cost essentially will involve food supply, housing and transportation cost. In fact, there’re various factors that contribute to the rise in the price of goods. It is worrisome as it hurts the people, especially the poor. Besides that, increasing the fuel price is another concern as when fuel costs higher, the transportation cost will also be increased and then lead to higher price of goods and services.

living-cost

Thus, a reduction in the personal tax rates will appeal to high income earners working in Malaysia and it could attract more foreign talents to work as it will allow them to retain higher level of disposable income.

January 11th, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Performance Based Bonus

Just like last year, it’s no difference for the bonus payout time again. Staff performance appraisal and review once again will determine the level of bonus you will get. Besides that, the bonus payouts also depend on how well the firm performs. In the other words, it’s not guaranteed paid for employees.

Performance Based Bonus

However, giving out a bonus is very subjective. Therefore, it would be inevitable that employees are given a standard bonus. This is because each individual has different perceptive; your manager may rate their employees from their own sets of capabilities instead of their subordinates.

From management perspective, if the company made a profit in the last year and they’d like to recognize their potential employees by rewarding them with a bonus. However, we also know that not every employer will give 100% and sometimes it might cause employees dissatisfaction.

January 2nd, 2012 | Leave a Comment

Building Your Investment Portfolio During Recession

Smart investors can always set a small amount of money in their investment portfolio primarily poised to take advantage of dips in the market. For most of them, they will always try to hold cash about 20% to 30% of their total investment portfolio to take opportunities when there is pullback in the market.

cashisking

When a recession strikes, the asset prices such as shares market, property will fall. Normally, ordinary investor who perceive that as high risk in doing something with their cash will potentially won’t earn the modest return. The reason is they feel fearful to take the challenge and have negative thinking when market downturn.

December 6th, 2011 | 1 Comment

Taking a Loan Before Retiring

For retirees, it is best to live with cash. Wherever possible, try to pay with cash. Normally, a loan is taken to finance something that you cannot afford. So, for the retirees who do not have a steady income should avoid this kind of situation.

Sometimes, unforeseen events or emergencies may compel you to borrow. For example, an offspring may encounter financial problems and most of the parent may find it difficult to support. Or may be you start a business or invest in properties. It’s not surprising to find them applying for business or personal loans to finance their desire path. Apart from that, they might need to get housing loans from bank if they are quite active in the property market which encourages them perform buy and sell.

housing_loan

Most of the retiree nowadays will take loans to buy new cars or refinance their homes. Some of them may prefer to get a loan when purchasing big ticket items although they can afford them. This is because they think that they will be audited by the Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) if the items are paid in cash.

Generally, financial institutions deny loans to those who are not earning an income. Here are few tips to increase your chances of getting a loan before retirement age:

October 20th, 2011 | Leave a Comment