Malaysia Financial Blogger | Financial Freedom Ideas | imDavidLee.Com

Affordable Housing for Malaysians

Skyrocketing property prices in recent times have raised much concern among home purchasers especially those in the middle to lower income groups. The current prices of many upcoming developments are mostly in the high end range with prices starting from RM500k up to several millions.

The escalating property prices have more or less prompted the call for affordable housing. In an uncertain economic environment where living costs are on the rise, affordability is the main concern for any house buyer.

For the average working group, a property unit which is sold for between RM50k and RM250k is considered affordable. Anything beyond that price will be considered out of their range of affordability due to the lower income.

Why are property prices becoming out of reach to the home purchaser? The logic is simple. Every year , the average salary increment is at a rate of about 5-10% but in comparison, property prices increase by more than 10-20% each year, double that of the salary increment. This naturally causes a disparity of income growth versus property prices, thus making home ownership unattainable to many people.

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Why Do We Need Mortgage Refinancing?

There’re a lot of reasons for you to refinance your home loan. Most of the people do refinancing is to reduce their monthly repayments; some might want to consolidate their outstanding balance; and some just want to quit from the current mortgage that’s costing them too much.

One of the reasons that I like the most is to save money. It can be achieved by:

• Getting a lower interest rate to reduce the monthly mortgage payment. It can increase your cash flow, so you will have more money available to do other things.

• Cash out money for debt consolidating, house renovation or child education. Besides that, the money also can be used for investment purpose as the housing loan interest rates lower than personal loans or credit card cash advances.

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Being Employed vs Self Employed

Being employed or to run your own business, which one is better? To me, there’s no definite answer. It’s how you view it. However, there’s one common factor between them i.e. no matter whether you are an employee or an employer you will face risks.

There’re a lot of people who asked me, why do you want to set up your own business? Between being employed and to run a business, which has the higher risks? During our school years, we are told by our teachers and parents to study hard so that we can secure a good job in the future. If that is so, then why should we start a business? Thus, there is no right or wrong answer to this issue. Everyone deserves a life of his or her own choice.

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Why You Should Invest in Indonesia?

The market outlook is bright for the most nations in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is one of the biggest economies with the population of about 240 million people. The World Bank has forecasted the country will grow at 6.2% this year. Indonesia is a county that can be very crucial in the global economy. By the end of the decade, its position can be raised to the 10th largest economy and by 2030; it could be the top 5.

According to Fitch Ratings, Indonesia’s investment grade rating has been upgraded from BB- to BBB+.

During the global recession of 2008/2009, Indonesia economy grew at 6.2% in 2008 and 4.5% in 2009. Real GDP has been growing at 5% to 6% annually since 2002. Therefore, we can see that the Indonesia market grow at steady rate even in economic crisis.

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Planning is the Key to Dream House

Today, our lifestyle is much more different than our parent’s era. Most people will now look towards aesthetic and stylish design house to suit their lifestyle preferences. Often, it can also burn a hole in our pocket.

However, you must ask yourself whether your budget is sufficient for such living? We must plan for some funds to make the dream comes true. Before getting any results, it’s good to have proper planning. It is a process when you would make your decisions, taking into account how you are living your life at that moment.

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