This should be read after consuming Part 1.  If you had, welcome back. This is part 2 of a deep study of 2023 SAI letter which writes about 6 factors that impact total returns of a stock investment. Of which, we covered the first 3 of the 6 factors and they are:  Factor 1: Dividend Yields Factor 2: EPS Growth  Factor 3: Changes in PE Multiples “Factor 2: EPS Growth” is the key driver among the first 3 factors studied. There are several reasons for this. First, a stock can only pay out sustainable growth in dividends (Factor 1: Dividend Yields) if it continues to increase its e ..read more

What is wealth? At this junction, most of us aren’t financially literate. Financial terms like assets, liabilities, equity, profit margins, cash flows, … etc seem foreign. Coupled with a mixture of human behaviour and societal beliefs, it’s a lot easier to define one’s level of wealth based on possessions that could be seen, felt and touched. Such includes perceptions like:  a. He lives in a RM 2 million semi-D in a nice neighbourhood. Rich. b. He drives a RM 500k sports car. Rich.  c. He has 10 investment properties to his name. Rich.  d. He runs several businesses with combin ..read more

Netflix Inc (Netflix) offers subscriptions where members enjoy TV series, games, and films across a wide range of genres and languages as much as they want, at any where, any time in 190+ countries worldwide. As I write, Netflix is valued at US$ 293.4 billion in market capitalisation. In this article, I’ll share 5 major things that I discovered after studying Netflix’s annual reports. They are as follows:  1. Geographical Markets Netflix began renting DVDs by mail in 1997. Then, it went public in 2002. Netflix subsequently introduced streaming in 2007, offering members unlimited access t ..read more

Let’s say we have Ryan and Mia, husband and wife.  They are Malaysians, non-Muslims, and reside in Malaysia. Ryan earns RM 11k in monthly income as a project engineer. Mia earns RM 5k a month as a school teacher. They co-own and live in their RM 900k home, where their mortgage outstanding is RM 800k and their monthly installments is RM 4k presently. In addition, they each own a full-paid car, have their own savings and EPF accounts and have no other debts apart from their home mortgage.  Question 1: Will Mia Inherit Ryan’s Estates Automatically if he Passes on? In short, the answer i ..read more

Here is a situation.  Assuming that you’re a tenant who rents a condominium unit at RM 2k / month presently. 2 months before the tenancy expires, your landlord wishes to hike up 10% of your current rent to RM 2.2k / month. So, what could you do? Are there other options than to extend your rent at RM 2.2k / month?  As I write, I’m a homeowner, a landlord and also a tenant.  Such allows me to view this situation from multiple angles. For a start, irregards to one’s position, be it a landlord or a tenant, all of us want a good deal. No one likes to be taken for a ride. Landlords wa ..read more

A few months ago, the team from Philip Capital Singapore visited me in Taipei. It was a memorable encounter, not just because of the productive discussions we had, but also due to a fascinating observation by one of their members, George. As we conversed in a blend of Mandarin and English, George remarked, “Taiwanese like how we can speak a sentence with mixed language.“ This comment struck a chord with me, highlighting a cultural phenomenon even more apparent in Malaysia. In Malaysia, it’s quite common to mix languages within a single sentence, seamlessly integrating Hokkien, English, and Ma ..read more

Before I begin, I like to briefly explain how a REIT earns income.  Take IGB REIT as an example.  It owns two retail malls in KL namely, MidValley Megamall and the Gardens. For years, they earn recurring rental income from 700+ commercial tenants such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, GSC and so on. Of which, they incur costs to maintain & upkeep the two properties, administration costs and interest costs. Its proceeds are income that can be distributed to IGB REIT’s unitholders.  As a Malaysia-listed REIT (M-REIT), IGB REIT could distribute >90% of its income to its unitholders ..read more

Now, let’s assume the following:  You are 27 this year earning RM 5k a month. You spend RM 4k a month and this includes:  1. RM 1.5k a month in mortgage installment or rent.  2. RM 0.5k a month in car loan installment.  3. RM 2.0k a month in other living expenses.  This means you could save RM 1k a month or RM 12k a year.  So, the question is: “Is it possible to have the ability to retire at 45?”. The answer depends on several main factors. I’ll list them down and share what their impacts are towards attaining financial abundance. They include:  1. Income ..read more

Finally, it’s here.  Our EPF has been restructured to having 3 accounts:  1. Akaun Persaraan  2. Akaun Sejahtera 3. Akaun Fleksibel  From now onwards, our EPF contributions will be split based on this ratio:  1. Akaun Persaraan (75%)  2. Akaun Sejahtera (15%) 3. Akaun Fleksibel (10%) As the EPF had offered a detailed explanation on how it works very clearly, I will not dwell on its mechanism. Rather, I like to touch on the option to perform the one-off “Initial Amount Transfer” into Akaun Fleksibel. Here, I’ll share both pros and cons so that we can decide for ..read more

Last week, I was in Singapore for a short holiday. I went to Kinokuniya and there was “Strictly Business”, an autobiography written on Kwek Leng Beng.  From a Malaysian perspective, I’m sure we’re familiar with Quek Leng Chan, the businessman who had co-founded the Hong Leong Group. Both Quek and Kwek are first cousins. In this book, Kwek candidly shares his beginnings, ascension to building a global real estate company, and mistakes made along the way. To me, I found it to be entertaining and a suitable business read.  Here, I’ll share some of my takeaways from this book:  ..read more