by Helmi Hakim | Dec 11, 2008 | Insurance, Investment, Miscellaneous
I am the type of person who loves to write poems….motivational of nature…
and songs…. yes…. malay love songs….
Its a natural gift that I possess waiting to be unleash at the right time… 🙂
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Now….I will like to share with you a poem or creed that I have just created..
Enjoy….
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Helmi Hakim, The Financial Consultant
When people ask me, what are you doing for a living?
I answer them that I am running my own business.
When people ask me, what business are you in?
I tell them that….
I am in a business of providing
– shelter to the innocent widows
– bread and butter for the hungry children
– medical care for the appreciating minds
– university education for the upcoming leaders
– comfortable retirement for the relieving many
I am in the business of empowering people like YOU with choices in life….
CHOICES that will lead you to your destinies using vehicles, far, far better than convention…
You will reach your destination fast, & you will reach your destination safely.
As you establish your relationship with me…
you realise how easy and effortlessly,
the plans that you take up from me,
complements your existing lifestyle.
You thank me profusely for my service,
& you thank yourself, that you
have taken that little, extra effort to call me….
Call me now, & we will see how I can help you. 🙂
Helmi Hakim
+65 96520134
www.helmihakim.com
by Helmi Hakim | Dec 4, 2008 | Insurance, Investment
I have lots of clients who have the “intent” to start up, a business venture….
…. selling handbags….selling burgers…. selling health products….
A lot of interesting, fun and lovely ideas…. 🙂
Some seeked my point of view, if they should sell away their house, to fund their dream business…
Some seeked my point of view, if they should quit their job, to start their dream business…
Some seeked my “money”, as a form of capital to start their dream business… 😛
I met a lot of entrepreneurial people.
My advice to all is that, if you want to set up your own business, you need to have contingency funds that can last you at least for 1 year.
You need to have enough money in your bank account that can last you 1 year, if your business doesn’t generate money.
If not, don’t even think of quitting your job, to start that very business that you aspire.
Yes…Have at least 1 year of contingency funds.
When I met my clients, I will always do the cashflow statement for them.
I will highlight to all these entrepreneurs to be, to have at least 12X their total outflow.
Yes…12X….
Of course, there is really more planning need to be done like, him or herself having enough critical illness coverage…etc2…
That’s where customized planning comes in.
Btw, if you need any help in terms of financial advice, drop me an email or call me for appointment.
I will be happy to assist you! 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Nov 11, 2008 | Insurance, Investment
I am very sad, that in the mark of the technical crisis in Singapore, many people are facing dire financial difficulties.
While the rich are facing ENORMOUS financial opportunities.
Some people whom I dont know, out of a sudden, get my hp number and asked if can borrow money. gheeidontlikethiskindofpopularity
Old friends whom I have not contacted for over 10 years,suddenly try to befriend and get close to me in hope for some bucks to spare.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, if you are reading my blog, please, i beg you please LISTEN to me.
(Real life picture taken in Singapore, YES IN SINGAPORE! I try to cover the unit no)
You have to learn to manage your finance well.
The responsibility is on YOU.
If you do not know how, get a ahlong FINANCIAL PLANNER like us to help you out.
We can help you to MANAGE your money, not we GIVE you money.
In the wake of these incidences, I have come out with 6 Rules Of Thumb that I always advise my client to follow, when it comes to MANAGING THEIR MONEY.
1) Save at least 10% of your monthly income
This is a good start to SAVINGS.
Usually, I will analyze whether my client do have a habit of savings or not by asking simple questions like,
“For these past few months, how much savings have you done CONSISTENTLY, i mean, you put your money in there, and you never take out?“.
“For the next 12 months, do you need to use that money,that you have saved?”
If they do not have this habit of savings, 10% is definitely a GOOD START.
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2) Life Insurance Cover Must Be At Least 10 Times Your Annual Income
People get insurance mainly because of 2 main reasons
-Income replacement
Should critical illness like heart attack, cancer, were to occur, or you were downed by permanent disability, you will lose your source of income.
BUT, your expenses continue. The proceeds from your insurance policies helps to pay off your expenses.
-Assets Protection
Should death were to occur, all your mortgages will be paid for from your insurance proceeds.
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3) Have 3 to 6 Months of Estimated Expenses In Your Emergency Funds
If you are an employee, in the event of retrenchment, it will take you about 3-6 months for you to find a new job.
If you are an employer,a business owner, and your business winds up, it will take you longer, perhaps 6 months to look for new projects or find a job.
In this climate of uncertainty, I will strongly recommend you to have at least 6 months to 1 year of emergency funds.
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4) For your retirement income, you need 70 -80% of your last drawn salary
This goes by the assumption that your expenses, will be lower when you retire.
In financial planning, we called this younoneedtospendsomuch replacement ratio method.
We assume major expenses like mortgage and work related have been settled by then.
However, this rule is not applicable to everyone.
You need to account for holiday expenses, and perhaps SHOPPING freely because you have more time when you retire.
I always tell my client, “The more you have for your retirement, the better!“
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5) The percentage of your portfolio to be invested in equity should be 100 minus your age
In this time of uncertainty, it is BEST to stay invested.
Some people asked me, “How much money should I put into equities, and how much bonds?”
This is a simple formula to follow.
Example, a 30 year old guy.
As a rule of thumb, take 100- 30.
So 70% of his savings should be placed in equities and 30% in bonds.
Of course, this is just a simplified way of analysing the client.A detailed check will ensued.
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6) Your home loan repayments should not exceed 33% of your monthly income
When you earn $6000 a month, it is okay to spend $2000 on mortgage.
But when you income grows,you upgrade to a more expensive or bigger house, most of your income will go to the house which do not generate income (Personal Use Assets) and less into investments and savings.
The lesser, the loan repayment per month the better.
You should avoid a situation where half of your monthly income, goes out to pay loan.
Like that, jialatla you cannot afford to be sick…. sure die….
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Wokei….. So now, you can gauge yourself whether you conform to this simple 6 rules of thumb in managing you money.
However, I need to make an exclusion here.
I believe 20% of you may have a lifestyle that is different from the norm.
Rest, follow these thumb rule and call me at 96520134 should you be imbued in more queries.
Financial Planning is the way to go! 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Oct 30, 2008 | Insurance, Investment
If you read my prior posts,you have learnt how to create your own personal cashflow statement and your personal balance sheet.
Today, I am going to touch on 8 FINANCIAL RATIOS that you can use to interpret your current financial standing.
I have created a mindmap, to help me recall the financial ratios.
1) Basic Liquidity Ratio
Cash/Near Cash
Monthly expenses
You must have a basic liquidity ratio of 3-6 times. It signifies your ability to pay for your expenses if anything were to happen to you.
2) Liquid Assets To Networth Ratio
Cash/Near Cash
Networth
Measures the proportion of networth an individual have in terms of cash or near cash. You need to have at least 15%.
3) Debt To Assets Ratio
Total Liabilities
Total Assets
You need to have less than 50%. If you have more than 50%, you do not have enough assets to pay off your total debts.
4) Solvency Ratio
Networth
Total Assets
It measures the long term solvency problem. The higher, the ratio, the better.
5) Debt Service Ratio
Total Debt Yearly Repayment
Annualised Take Home Pay
This ratio measures the proportion of take home income, used to make regular payment of debts. If it is lower than 35%, means HEALTHY.
6) Non Mortgage Debt Service Ratio
Total Non Mortgage Debt Yearly Repayment
Annualised Take Home Pay
This ratio measures the proportion of “take home income” used for regular payments of non mortgage debts.If it is lower than 15%, means HEALTHY.
7) Investment Assets To Net Worth Ratio
Invested Assets
Networth
This ratio compares teh value of invested assets with networth. If it is more than 50%, means HEALTHY.
8) Savings Ratio
Savings
Gross Income
This ratio calculate the proportion of your income, you set up for savings. You need to save at least 10% of your gross income.
I suggest you create your cashflow statement and your personal balance sheet and try the ratio out!
Its fun! Try it! 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Oct 29, 2008 | Insurance, Investment, Miscellaneous
Time do fly very fast.
…and I realised, I have contributed over 200 posts in this blog.
Phew…I feel that is really a feat.
It is very easy to create a blog, but to maintain it, you need patience, you need energy and you need a DIEING INTEREST to share your knowledge with the public.
Today’s post, I will like to share with you on what is a contract and what constitutes a contract.
I remembered learning about contractual law while studying one of my favourite modules, Business Law back in Ngee Ann Polytechnic and I revisit this this theory again, while studying for my (BICP) Basic Insurance Concepts and Principles examination.
…and now,I am taking my first module for my CFP course, Foundations In Financial Planning, I am visiting this concept again.
So…again, what exactly constitutes a VALID contract?
For a contract to be valid, there must be 4 things.
1) Offer
Example: I OFFER you to take up insurance.
2) Acceptance
Example: You ACCEPT by signing the contract.
3) Intention To Create Legal Relation
Example: You understand that I am your FINANCIAL ADVISOR and you are my CLIENT.
4) Consideration
Example: You pay the premium to me in EXCHANGE for your coverage.
So in order for a contract to be legally binding, these 4 elements must be imminent.
Any one of the elements missing, the contract is VOIDABLE.
Think of all the contracts that you have signed…. Is it binding? 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Aug 9, 2008 | Insurance, Investment
I was invited to contribute my thoughts for Personal Finance Blog Carnival.
The question goes…
“What is the single most important lesson you learnt in personal finance?”
Here are my thoughts 🙂
Managing your personal finance is the responsibility of every individual.
Be it, if you are a student, an employee, a business person, a full time investor, EVERYONE, I meant all of us, has the inherent responsibility to manage our finance well.
The most important lesson, I learnt in personal finance, boils down to setting financial goals.
In my capacity as a financial associate in Singapore, I get to talk to lots of people, every single day.
I realise most of them have an insurance plan, have an endowment plan, have an investment linked policy, yet many do not set that OBJECTIVES for having those plans.
When asked, “Why do you get that endowment plan?”
Most will answer, “For savings purpose.”
When pressed for specific objectives, most will retort, “Don’t know. Just savings”.
You need to set your objectives right.
You need to set up your objectives clear.
A soccer player can’t score goals, if he does not know where his goal post is.
An athlete in the Olympics cannot win the game, if he is not clear on the perquisites to winning.
You get life insurance, for your coverage against death, permanent disability and 30 critical illnesses.
You save your money in the bank as a form of contingency funds for emergency use or for your everyday use.
You save your money in endowments, in investment linked products for child’s university education, for your retirement or simply to improve your living standards in the future.
The goal, the time frame and where you money is allocated to; everything is instrumental to your financial success.
Being clear of what exactly you want, and how much exactly you need, will help you in achieving your financial goals.
When setting financial goals, I always share with my clients this simple acronym, simple formula, which I termed as SMART.
Your goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
1) Specific.
What is your OBJECTIVE of getting that savings plan?
How much money exactly, do you want to accumulate?
2) Measurable
Your goal must be measurable.
If your child is 8 years old, and 10 years later, she wants to go to a local university; do you have at least $84,000 for her 3 years university education?
3) Attainable
When you identify the goals that are important to you, you must find ways to make them come true.
Align yourself with professionals to ATTAIN your goals.
Align with people who already achieved the outcome you want, and learn from them.
4) Realistic
If you have been saving only $100 per month, to save $1000 per month in an endowment plan now, may seems farfetched.
Unrealistic.
Set yourself, a realistic goal.
5) Timely
When exactly do you need, the money that you has saved?
10 years? 15 years? 20 years?
You decide!
So, just remember, setting financial goals are important, and when you set those goals, make sure it is SMART financial goals.
Thank you. We will catch up soon. 🙂
