by Helmi Hakim | Dec 22, 2008 | Investment
Today, I am going to illustrate to you, one key formula, that I subscribe dearly to, which I will termed it here as “The Rules Of Wealth“.
It is a formula that I adhere to, and one that have helped me in my daily life.
The Formula is
Wealth = Effort X Time X Scalability
Most of us believe that in order, for us to attain more success, we have to put in more EFFORT.
…or we have to put in more TIME.
Of course, all these will variably increase your probability of success.
You put in more effort, you get more results.
You put in more time, you get more results too.
One element, that I will like to introduce here is called, “Scalability”.
Let me illustrate…
Example, if you are a tuition teacher.
You can teach, one student at a time.
However, in order for you to make more money, you can definitely have more teaching slots, devote more time, or increase the hourly rate you charge by introducing some unique teaching experiences.
Yet, you still have so much LIMITED time and so much LIMITED energy.
Wealth = Effort X Time X Scalability
By applying the formula above, perhaps you can
1) Write a book on accelerating learning techniques, so that your book can reach the mass
2) Teach a class, consisting of MORE students, instead of personal tuition
3) Have a blog, where you can communicate your messages with thousands of your students and parents instead, one on one.
4) Delegate your work to the experts. Instead of doing all the administrative yourself, delegate all these work to others and concentrate fully on giving value to the mass.
Yup…. So, today’s formula.
Wealth = Effort X Time X Scalability
Think, how you can use this formula in your job, in your business or even in your life!
Enjoy! 🙂
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 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 | Sep 30, 2008 | Miscellaneous
In life, you get to meet 2 types of people.
1) Positive People
2) Alien Negative People
Those of you who know me, from my writing in this blog, you know, I am a SUPER POSITIVE person. 🙂
I always emphasize, that if you want to be successful in life, you must CHOOSE to surround yourself with POSITIVE people.
NEGATIVE people?
You must learn how to MANAGE them. If not you will be mismanaged
Today, I am going to dissect, a real life example, on how a positive and negative person responds to an event. name has been omitted for privacy issue
Then, you will know, why I advocate so much, the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people.
POSITIVE people shares POSITIVE energy.
Negative people stinks with negative energy.
You CHOOSE who you want to associate with!
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Statement
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Positive Person Response
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Negative Person Response
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1) I am going to invest in SRS account, to reduce my chargeable income by $10,000.
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Wow… That is a brilliant idea! How do you do that?
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Your salary got so much meh? I only earn at most $2,000 a month.
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2) I just created a blog to share financial planning tips for the public.
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Great! I will also like to create a blog like yours!
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VIRUS! Your blog no good.
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3) I am featured in a recruitment magazine.
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Wonderful. You are good in your public relations.
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Your smile looks so fake!
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4) Lets start work at 9.30am.
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On ah…We’ll work together.
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Aiyah….So early..
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5) I am expanding my clients profile to the PR market.
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Good. Same like me. Play by your strength.
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Aiyerrrrr….(with disgust look) No good.
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6) I just close a $300/mth case.
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Congrats…How do you do it? 🙂
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The person got work or not?
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7) (When I get so much rejection, and look rejected)
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Come on, Helmi, you can do it! (in an encouraging tone)
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Why? You not happy other people close case,izzit?
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8) I am taking my CFP program,so that I can do better financial planning for my clients.
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Great. We must continue to upgrade ourself.
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All these, you DON’T need. (..and he will look at you like, he knows everything)
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9) After I complete my CFP program in 3 years,I am going to help the community by writing a book on financial planning.
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Yes. You can do it.
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No. You cannot. You don’t have the experience.
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Yeah…It’s REAL LIFE situation.it is not fairy tale
Okay…So now, we know, we establish the fact that, we cannot avoid NEGATIVE people ENTIRELY.
They are everywhere.
They will criticise you, try to bring you down because of their OWN comfort zone.
They are not “comfortable” when you work harder to attain greater success than them.
Negative critics and comments were bottled out, to pull you back to THEIR comfort zone which is not to attain success.
So…. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Well, remember, the formula, I advocate, E+R=O.
Event + Response = Outcome
Hmmm, seems you heed my advice, and you tried your best, to think POSITIVELY, yet you still feel that their remark HURTS so much.
Try this wonderful tip, I learnt from an Asian netpreneur,Dr Irfan Khairi in his Malay motivational book.
When other people criticize you, either in front of you,or behind your back, you….
Forgive them.
FORGIVE THOSE WHO CRITICS YOU, because they do not see your effort in upgrading yourself, for the near future. After you FORGIVE them, continue your effort to reach more success.
I guess, if you read, Western motivational articles, you will see them lambasting negative people.
Yeah… Lets CHOOSE the Asian approach. 🙂
So next time, when someone utters something negative to you,just FORGIVE them,and continue to work hard to achieve greater success.
It will lift off the burden load from your shoulder and you will feel more enthusiastic,more energetic, refresh to continue your MISSION to be successful in every of your endeavour.
TRY IT! 🙂
by Helmi Hakim | May 23, 2008 | Miscellaneous, Motivation
I feel very angry.
Someone has been spreading rumours about me that, I am trying to steal other people staffs and getting them to be my personal assistants.
Haiz… I hate to deal with these NEGATIVE people who spread lies, and I really hope, they will put a STOP to it.
If you are reading my blog at this very moment, I have to tell you straight, that your action is sincerely UNAPPRECIATED.
I dont know who spread these type of rumours, and I guess, I have to deal with it.
I recommend them, to read the theory law of reciprocity here.
I can go on, nagging about negativity, yet remember, E + R = O ?
I guess, its a waste of my time AND ENERGY, to deal with negative people.
By dealing with them, I am putting myself down to their level, and I would never want, to put myself to a level, where putting down others is synonymous with their lifestyle.
Remember, my post on “NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT!”.?
I am so used to think positively and to think negatively NEEDS DOUBLE MY ENERGY!
hahahahhh…I feel like like filling up a jigsaw puzzle.
huhhhh……Feel better now, after letting my negative energy out.:)
Btw, I will like to share with you something positive now.
I have to thank my client, Kak Fardah for sharing this with me.
Thank you soooo…much… Your email came when I much need it!
Guess, blessing from God. 🙂
40 Tips For A Better Life
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.. Buy a lock if you have to.
3.. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, ‘My purpose is to __________ today.’
5. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of warm water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20.. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don’t have to win every argument.. Agree to disagree..
22. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
23. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?’
26. Forgive everyone for everything.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. GOD heals almost everything.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
31. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
33. The best is yet to come.
34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
35. Do the right thing!
36.. Call your family often. (Or email them to death!!!) =)
37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.
38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don’t want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about.
May your troubles be less, May your blessings be more, May nothing but happiness come through your door!.
