by Helmi Hakim | Oct 8, 2012 | Insurance, Investment, Miscellaneous
My friend always tell me, “You all Malay, very lucky one….. We, Chinese ar, our wedding can cost $50,000 – $60,000…… Our life savings all gone….”
I used to agree with them, until I plan for my own one…. but now, I have a come back line, ” Ya lah….But you all can cover back your costs wat….”
lolz….. I have been procrastinating to post my rough calculation on the cost of Malay wedding in Singapore. But for the benefit of all, below is the extract from my own financial plan, just for my side of the wedding held under my HDB blk, not inclusive my future wife’s side……. 🙂
If you are planning to get married in a few years time, going to get married, just gotten married, already few years in marriage, do call me for a FREE financial planning advice. I will be very happy to assist you! 🙂
****UPDATES on 8th August 2013****: The post that I created was a year ago, on 8th October 2012. Alhamdulillah, most of the costs, remained intact, as I have made my downpayment, reservation fees at that point of time. However, certain expenses can only be confirmed closer to my wedding date, thus I update them in the costs allocation table above using the red fonts.
As most of you are aware, there is this thing called inflation. Which means, costs of wedding rise year by year. I will advice you to go down to the wedding expo, and confirm with the pertinent vendors, on the specific prices involved. The wedding costs, that I computed above is the exact costs, that I incurred for my wedding. You have the autonomy and flexibility to adjust accordingly. Enjoy the process, like the way, I do. 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Jul 1, 2012 | Investment
These past few months, I received smses, and msges asking me, if I have purchased my Danga Bay property in Malaysia.
My answer is NO. Here are the reasons.
1) Instable political landscape in Malaysia
Strong governance is very important in a country that you will like to invest in. The recent Bersih rally, worries me a lot. Roads are blocked and businesses suffered. Police officers were beaten up and their patrol car overturned.
I believe, the opposition parties have a stake on this rally, and they will continue to push for such rallies in the future. They will make Malaysians angry with the current government. When people are angry, they will venge it on the streets. When people venge it on the streets, it will get ugly. I am expecting more demonstrations in the future.
This type of democracy is unhealthy. Foreign investors like me, will not want to invest in countries with disastrous political turmoil.
2) Crime rates
Everytime, I flipped the papers, watch the tv for news, it is always about crimes in Malaysia.
You can take a look here. http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=379757725412953
When such things occur, I don’t feel safe. I don’t feel secure. It will not stop me from visiting Malaysia, as a tourist, but as an investor, I will think 2,3 or 4 times, before making an investment decision.
Hope, my explanation clarifies.
by Helmi Hakim | Feb 13, 2012 | Investment
Past few days, there is a problem with my server, and my site was brought down….. headache
I emailed the server technicians in US, and was told one of my old sites (I host a few websites with them), was unsafe, and because of that, they have to bring down all my sites, including http://www.helmihakim.com …
Imagine the stress, that I have…. Smses from clients, emails from those who advertise their web on my sites started to stream in, asking me, what happened exactly. :/
This is when, I suddenly remembered, the famous theory of diversification. 🙂
Thus, what I did, is that I get another web hosting company from Singapore to host http://www.helmihakim.com … I DIVERSIFY my risk. Should my old server went down, my lovely, informative and exciting blog will still be live.… Conversely, if my new server is down, other sites on my old server are still fully operational.
So, again, the famous theory of diversification. 🙂
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Today, I am going to share with you a simple diversification strategy to invest in funds based on your age.
“If you are 20 years old, you have some money to invest. You can put 20% of your money in bonds and 80% in equities.
If you are 50 years old, you have some money to invest. You can put 50% of your money in bonds and 50% in equities.
If you are 70 years old, you have some money to invest. You can put 70% of your money in bonds and 30% in equities.”
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So you see, the younger, you are, the more money, you can put in equities because, you can take risk and have a longer investment time horizon. This is just a simple strategy that you can employ….but of course, if you want to get a detailed risk profiling assessment of yourself, it is best to consult your financial consultant. Enjoy your day! 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Dec 9, 2011 | Investment, Miscellaneous, Motivation
Few days back, I received a whatsapp message from my girlfriend.
She was talking about buying a beautiful eyeshadow, which was on sale at Tampines Point.
As she knew that I am a prudent and careful buyer, also a voracious saver, she asked me for help……. She asked me to motivate her, not to succumb to the temptation of forking out HUGE dollars from her wallet, to buy the beautiful eyeshadow……..shehasmanyofit
Did I succeed to convince her? The answer is a miserable, NO! 🙁
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Today, I am going to share with you, simple yet pragmatic strategies on how, I curb myself from squandering and spending all my money on things that, I may not need.
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Strategy No 1: Stop before you buy
The first strategy to curb yourself from spending is to procrastinate in buying…
Keep telling yourself, that you are going to buy the stuffs that you are looking at, the next following day.
I assure you that you will soon forget about it. 🙂
Tell yourself, “Do I really need this?”
How many hours, must I work to get back this money? How much is it worth, if i invest it @10%/annum in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years?
Strategy No 2: Pay yourself first
When you get your income, pay your personal savings plan first. You can instruct bank to do an automatic deduction to your personal savings plan. You can get endowment plans, or invest in funds, stocks or commodities like gold…
By setting aside that money for savings seperately, you will reduce the tendency to spend all that you have at once… 🙂
Strategy No 3: Destroy all credit cards except one. and pay full balance on time
Have you ever wonder, why the banks keep offering you attractive freebies, reward points and rebates if you sign up for their credit cards?
It is because, they know, when you have a credit card, you will tend to spend MORE when you have access to this easy credit…. They want you, to owe them money and pay interest…
My recommendation for you, is that, only keep one credit card for use, and pay the full balance on time….
That’s it!!! I hope, the 3 strategies, that I share with you, will be of much help for you to curb yourselves from spending over your limits…. 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Nov 15, 2011 | Investment
Example, you are an investor. You invest your $10,000 in a financial instrument, giving you 9% interest, compounded on annual basis for 10 years. How much will you get, at the end of the 10 years?
If you are a financial planner, like me, you will definitely reach out your financial calculator and punch in these figures, to get the answers. idoiteveryday
Set: End
n: 10
i%: 9
PV: -10,000
FV: Solve
…..and in an instance, you will get $23,673.63
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In my “financial planning for wealth manager” (catered for high networth individual) class, I learnt to calculate the answers, without using a financial calculator. You can use a normal, scientific calculator to get the answers.
How do you do that?
You can calculate it this way…..Use this formula….. Principal (1+interest)number of years
Just take 10,000 (1+0.09)10 = $23,673.63
Easy right?
For now, just remember this formula. In the next blog post, I will share with you the intricate mechanics of this formula. Share this blog post, if you find it useful! 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | Nov 7, 2011 | Investment
I have some clients, who asked me, “Financial Consultant, Helmi Hakim….I want to buy a car. Should I pay it in full OR take a car loan?”
Well…If you have been reading my blog, for the past few years, you know, that I have been advocating that buying a car, can be both an asset or a liability.It depends on your situation. You can read more here.
But, now, let us focus on the question. The question is, “Should you pay your car in full OR take a car loan?”
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My answer: It depends.
To know, whether you should pay your car in full or take a loan, you will need to calculate the “effective interest rate” of your car loan.
“If you can invest your money, and get higher returns than the effective interest rate of your car loan, you should invest your cash and take a car loan.
If the effective interest rate of your car loan is higher than your investment return, you should use your cash to pay off the car ASAP.”
I will give an example to illustrate my point.
Car HP (Hire Purchase)
Price: $65,000
Less Deposit 15,000
HP Principal 50,000
Example, the car, that you will like to buy costs $65,000. You pay a deposit, of $15,000. So, you will be left with an outstanding hire purchase principal of $50,000.
If your car loan interest is 5% “Flat” for 5 years,
Add Hire Purchase Interest
$50,000 X 5% X 5 = $12,500
Total Amount Payable Including Interest = $62,500
Monthly Instalments= $62,500/ (5 years X 12 months) = $1041.67 per month
You need to pay a monthly instalment of $1041.67 for 5 years.
So, how do we calculate the “effective interest rate” of your car loan from here?
Take Out A Financial Calculator.
Key in this input. Solve for i (interest).
PMT = -1041.67
PV= +50,000
n= 12 X 5
i = ???
Solve for i and you will get 0.762817% interest per month. Multiply it by 12 months, and you will get the effective interest rate of your car loan, which is 9.15% per annum.
It means, if you have $50,000 cash right now, and your investment skills allow you to generate investment returns of more than 9.15% per annum, then you should not pay your car in full.
However, if you cannot get such a spectacular return, it is best, that you pay off your car loan as soon as possible. Hope my sharing helps! Click share if you find it useful! 🙂
