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! 🙂
p.s. By the way, if you wish to discover a simple & halal way to create a positive monthly cashflow and calculate your net worth for FREE, then please click here…
I have given some deep thoughts on the recent events that have impacted investors in Singapore, particularly those who have invested in DBS High Notes and the infamous, Lehman Brothers mini”bonds”.
I finally reached to a simple solution to all these avoidable bullshit chaos.
The solution is…..
Islamic Finance.
Islamic Finance ensures TRANSPARENCY.
There seems to be lacking of transparency, in the promotion of these investments.
People are unsure on what they invest in and just relied on “trust” from the banks.
Some of the great, great structures of Islamic finance to ensure transparency and equality are….
1) Prohibition of Investments In Companies whose primary business includes Forbidden Products
If you invest in Islamic investments products, you know where your money goes to.
Transparency is uphold, as the Shariah prohibits investments in companies whose primary business include forbidden products such as alcohol,drugs,pork,tobacco and weapon production.
Many financial institutions have a religious board to monitor and ensure strict compliance is in place.
2) Prohibition of Gharar
Gharar means sale of probable items whose existence or characteristics are not certain,due to the risky nature which makes the trade similar to gambling.
Examples of Gharar include the sale of fish in the sea, an unborn calf in its mother’s womb, unripened fruits on the trees, etc.
All such cases involve the sale of an item which may or may not exist.
In such circumstances, the fish in the sea may never be caught, the calf may be still-born, and the fruits may never ripen.
In all such cases, it is in the best interest of the trading parties to be very SPECIFIC about what is being sold and for what price.
In today’s modern context, gharar can be eliminated from contracts by carefully stating the object of sale and the price to eliminate unnnecessary ambiguities.
There must be FULL DISCLOSURE by both parties.
3) Prohibition of Riba/Usury
In Islam, the charging of interest, or riba, is strictly prohibited.
Any return on investments should be in proportion with the profits of a business and not through guaranteed interest rate.
If the investments on the pertaining business where its business profit is high, the investor/lender will get a higher return of their investments.
Conversely, if the business profit is low, the investor/lender will also get a lower return of their investments.
The risk is shared by both the principal investor and the receiver (enterprise).
Riba is prohibited to prevent unfair exploitation by one party, who owns the money or capital.
Its fundamental reasoning is ”equality of compensation”.
It’s noble aim is to prevent the investors/lenders from charging interest excessively regardless of the performance of the business venture they have invested in.
With these features in Islamic Financial Products, I am confident that peddling of ambiguous products can be entirely eliminated, if not reduced.
Insyallah! 🙂
p.s. By the way, if you wish to discover a simple & halal way to create a positive monthly cashflow and calculate your net worth for FREE, then please click here…
I have came across a number of people whom lack of ambition.
For what, earn so much money?
For what, work so hard?
For what, save so much?
For what, spend so little?
For what, aim too high?
For what, dream too big?
For what….. the list never ends….
and…the “most common” EXCUSE?
Balanced life… walaocrapsia
I am going to be a bit direct here and trash all these as a pile of garbage.
As Barack Obama said, “we can disagree without being disagreeable…”
I agree to the proposition of “balanced life” but it doesnt mean we should sacrifice our goals, our values, our beliefs and our ideologies.
It came hand in hand, together compact as a system.
A system that imbued deep in our heart, and shape the actions we take every day….
I feel a bit discomfort, for some who lead life aimlessly in a wrongfully, presumed context of “balanced life”…
My goodness…
It is indefinitely unacceptable….
Balanced life means you have time for your work, have quality time for your family……and definitely have time to do things that you are very passionate in…
To lead life aimlessly with the you feel shiok feeling, is totally unacceptable…
Ladies and gentlemen, LIVE YOUR DREAMS! 🙂
p.s. By the way, if you wish to discover a simple & halal way to create a positive monthly cashflow and calculate your net worth for FREE, then please click here…
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 younoneedtospendsomuchreplacement 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! 🙂
p.s. By the way, if you wish to discover a simple & halal way to create a positive monthly cashflow and calculate your net worth for FREE, then please click here…
p.s. By the way, if you wish to discover a simple & halal way to create a positive monthly cashflow and calculate your net worth for FREE, then please click here…
Finally, the inspiring and candid Obama won his presidency, to champion the rights and restore the dignity of right thinking Americans.
I applaud his proposal to withdraw American troops from Iraq in 16 months and his less aggressive proposition on tax cuts.
The war founded by Bush is all along for a wrong, unfounded, baseless reason.
George Bush DEFIES the UN consensus not to attack Iraq, and adopts a defiant, unilateral approach.
George W Bush laments the need to attack Iraq, due to its possesion of “WMD”, Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Till date no nuclear weapon has been found, and there is absolutely no correlation between Iraq or Saddam administration to Osama Bin Laden.
Thousands of innocent civilians killed, later simply dismissed of as “collateral damages” and trillions of American tax payers money all spend on a WRONG reason.
Americans need a GREAT leader, and with Obama, many positive changes will come our way.
1) Stronger US Dollar
This is due to savings from their their army pullout from Iraq.
Generally under Democratic presidents, in particular Obama, there will be efforts to increase government spending to stimulate certain sectors or reflate the economy.
Enough said… Congrats Obama! …. 🙂
P.S: Do download his victory speech here… Very Inspiring! 🙂
p.s. By the way, if you wish to discover a simple & halal way to create a positive monthly cashflow and calculate your net worth for FREE, then please click here…
A certified financial consultant, Helmi Hakim has won praise for his patience, perseverance and practicality when solving his clients’ financial concerns. For more information on how you can manage your finances better, contact Helmi Hakim at 96520134.
