The Official Helmi Hakim Website

As you know, in my profession as a financial associate, I get to do financial planning for a lot of people.

It is a special privilege for me, as directly or indirectly, I get to see EXPLICITLY on how the rich and the poor managed their finance.

I realised, its not really how much you earned, that matters. Rather, it is how much you SAVED. One of the tools that enables me to see vividly, interpret the current financial standing of my clients, is the usage of cashflow statement.

I feel sad that a lot of people out there, GROSSLY mismanaged their finance….especially the young ones…. (my age group)

They got the concept, “Why need to save? Got money…ENJOY first….Savings? Do it later!”

They dine REGULARLY at places like Swensen, like Eatzy where it is “normal” to pay $30 for a single meal and drink coffee at places like Starbucks, like Coffee Bean where average cup of coffee cost $7. (You can go on weekly basis with your friends and families, but certainly NOT AND NEVER everydayla)

It is OKAY for them to pay to club, enjoying the occasional “booze”, yet “savings” seems like a jargon to the ear.

These detrimental pitfalls are really doing BAD for many. If you are in your 20s, let me elucidate to you, what will soon be your IMMEDIATE financial commitments in the NEAR future. You got to start planning!

1) Marriage

You need to set aside (depending on your race), at least $30,000 for marriage.

2) House

You need to set aside 20% downpayment for your house. For a 4 room HDB flat which cost $300,000, you need $60,000. You gotta asked yourself, how long will you want to stay with your parents? Come on….

3) Honeymoon

Depending on where’s your honeymoon destination, you gotta plan for it financially. If you dont have money, how to enjoy? You need at least $10,000.

I have not add in other additional commitments, that will just crop out, (married people got more expenses) but just by these “confirm to come” expenses, it already totalled up to about $100,000.

It is EASY to say, save later….enjoy first….be smoothened by instant gratification….So….EASY!!! Let us do simple maths calculation on this amount.

Example you are 23 years old. Want to get married in 5 years. You need to save at least $20,000/year, which is close to $2000/mth. BUT WHAT IF YOU PROCRASTINATE?

You DELAY….and you continue to delay…..The amount that you need per month,simply just gets HIGHER and HIGHER. That is very, very BAD!!!

Come on guyz…..You gotta plan for it!

My other related posts that may interest you:

• Should You Take Housing Loan or Pay Your HDB House In Full If You Got The Money?
• Save Your Money As Early As Possible…
• Parkinson’s Law In Finance