by Helmi Hakim | Apr 24, 2013 | Insurance, Investment, Miscellaneous, Motivation
Alhamdulillah Wa Shukrillah…. I have finally graduated with Bachelor Of Science (Hons) in Banking and Wealth Management, University Of Wales, UK, with first class honours. 🙂
It has been an uphill task thus far, juggling appointments with clients and school, but a rewarding and satisfying one.
I have made great friends along the way and learnt what it takes to be an empathic, professional and competent financial planner. Now, I have the time and resources to share what I learnt, and apply it fully onto my 600+ clients. Till then, I shall wait patiently, for our convocation in November 2013. Insya’Allah… 🙂
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. 🙂
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
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.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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! 🙁
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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 13, 2011 | Insurance
Note: This is a touchy issue, and may touch the raw nerves of a few people. If you will like to clarify on the matter, do it in a tactful and respectable manner at https://helmihakim.com/insurance/is-there-such-thing-as-halal-insurance-in-singapore/.
My blog attracts hundreds of visitors every single day and it is open for all.
………………………………………………………………….
First and foremost, I will like to make it clear that, I try not to touch on this issue, as 70% of my RSS subscribers are Non Muslims riskofhighunsubscriberate, but I will like to offer my transparent perspective on this. (this might be an interesting read for you too)
I am not an ustaz or a religious leader. Neither am I, a scholar or an academician.
…but I do qualify myself, as a Malay/Muslim financial consultant in Singapore. In my 4 years of practice, I have done 4 death claims, and numerous hospitalisation claims. All are Muslims. I talk to people on the ground, every single day on financial planning.
The question that I will like to answer today, is there such a thing as halal insurance in Singapore?
There are many strong views on this, and all are entitled to your opinion. I am offering you mine. You can subscribe to it or you can choose to reject it….but do read on….
1) Takaful Plans
In Singapore, you might have heard about Takaful plans. Takaful plans are offered by 2 entities, a cooperative and a commercial bank.
Unlike Takaful plans in Malaysia, Indonesia or other Muslim countries, Takaful plans in Singapore, is basically an investment plan also known as Investment Linked Policies. It is an investment plan that invests your money in a fund, called Takaful fund. It is a shariah compliant fund and the plan comes with insurance coverage. Should death, total permanent disability or 30 critical illnesses were to strike, halal money from the Takaful proceeds will be given to the beneficiaries.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Takaful is good, but not for all. This is because, Takaful is an investment plan. A responsible financial consultant, will not recommend an investment plan, to a conservative 50 year old Pakcik (uncle), looking forward for his retirement.
Neither, will he recommend the investment plan, for one who has a short term horizon of say, 5 years or one who is risk averse.
Nor, will he treats Takaful investment plan, as a “one size fits all solution” to all his clients, because Takaful investment plan does not cover many things, example, hospitalisation.
He must educate his clients, that Takaful is an investment plan, that offers coverage and returns subject to the performance of the fund. ifnotyoulosemoneyclientwillfindyoulater
In Singapore, under section 27 of the financial advisors act, a financial advisor must determine the “risk profile” of the client before recommending him, financial instruments. If our client are able to take a bit of risk, Takaful investment plan is the solution to it.
So, if one is risk averse, how do we go about it?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2) Cooperative insurance is the alternative.
When I recommend a life insurance policy to a client, I will give him choices. How do you want to get yourself covered?
Takaful Investment Plan with coverage? OR….. Cooperative Life Insurance?
There is a fatwa by MUIS, specially for the Muslim community in Singapore, on the permissibility of getting cooperative insurance in Singapore.
https://www.muis.gov.sg/officeofthemufti/Fatwa/Malay-Skim-Insuran-berkumpulan
Excerp from the fatwa,
“(i) Insurans yang ditadbirkan oleh syarikat kerjasama yang dianggotai oleh semua anggota-anggotanya untuk menjaga maslahat mereka dan apa yang diperlukan oleh anggota-anggotanya dari segi bantuan dan perkhidmatan, adalah seperkara yang diakui oleh syarak dan ia dari jenis bantu-membantu dalam kebajikan.
(ii) Begitu juga insurans syarikat mirip kerjasama (kooperatif) bagi maslahat masyarakat umum dan apa yang termasuk di dalamnya dari perkara seperti pengangguran, keuzuran, umur tua, kemalangan waktu bekerja dan yang seumpamanya, pihak konferensi telah memutuskan jenis insurans seperti ini adalah diharuskan. Dari itu ternyata bahawa insurans jenis kooperatif sahajalah yang dibolehkan oleh persidangan ulama antarabangsa itu.
Ini bererti juga bahawa insurans yang dikelolakan oleh syarikat-syarikat swasta yang bertujuan untuk mendapat keuntungan peribadi atau untuk faedah segelintir manusia telah tidak dapat pengakuan daripada para ulama yang menyertai persidangan Islam antarabangsa ini.”
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I shall not go in details, the need of having such fatwa in Singapore. Nevertheless, this fatwa is helpful, to serve as an advice, for many Singaporean Muslims, in need of insurance, but do not know if they can get it.
Hospitalisation bills are enormously expensive? If no insurance, how?
Takaful Investment Plans are good, but I am risk averse. I need insurance, how?
Car insurance in Singapore is mandatory? If no insurance, how?
Answer: If you are living in Singapore, and you need insurances that Takaful Investment Plan does not offer, like hospitalisation insurance, car insurance, business insurance, mortgage protection insurance, property insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, Do Get It From A Cooperative.
At the end of the day, the choice is yours! Wassalam….. 🙂
