Let’s say, you’re now in your 40s.  Years ago, you bought a property for RM 300k where you funded your purchase with RM 30k in down payment and RM 270k in home mortgage. Your mortgage installment is RM 1,200 a month. In addition, you incur RM 500 per month on a list of property-related expenses: service fees, sinking funds, land & assessment taxes, insurance, and repair & maintenance.  Today, your property is worth RM 500k. You owe RM 200k in mortgage balance. You earn RM 1,400 a month in rental income from the property. Also, you make RM 200k a year in employment + business ..read more

There is a saying – “Investing is simple but not easy.” Lately, I have a new revelation on this.  First, is investing simple?  To me, I would say yes as I have been investing for years.  The recipe book is simple:  Find great businesses.  Buy them when they are undervalued.  Hold onto them for the long-term.  That’s it – My playbook to a 6-figure portfolio. All I do is the basics and dividends continue to pour in.  But then, the question is: “Why is investing not easy?”.  As an educator, I wonder this myself. I have spoken to many and g ..read more

Lately, we conducted a short survey on Dividend Investing.  From our participants, we learnt that the top obstacles to investing for dividend income are as follows:  Don’t know what stocks to buy Don’t know where to start Don’t know when to buy Don’t have time to study investments Don’t have loads of capital to generate meaningful dividends.  In response, I’ll like to address the above by introducing “Dividend Investing” to you in the format of 5W1H. Of which, you’ll have a better idea on how dividend investing works and if such is suitable for you. Also, we’ll show you how y ..read more

Amazon.com Inc (Amazon) is a US-listed company that sells millions of products via its websites, mobile apps, Alexa, devices, streaming and also physical stores. It allows sellers to sell their products and authors, musicians, filmmakers and as well as app developers to publish their content. Amazon Prime, its membership program offers fast and free shipping on millions of items and access to content like award-winning movies and series. Amazon separates all these businesses in two business segments: (1) North America and (2) International.  In addition, Amazon serves developers and enter ..read more

Tesla manufactures electric vehicles (EVs) under the Tesla brand, energy storage products under Powerwall and Megapack brands and solar panel and solar roof and offer services related to its products. Here, in this article, I’ll summarise the company’s key operating and financial data so that one could decide on Tesla as an investment independently. Thus, the 5 things to know are as follows: #1: Production Facilities Today, Tesla manufactures EVs in four production facilities:  Facility 1: The Fremont Factory  Tesla launched the Model S in June 2012 and Model X in September 2015 in ..read more

During Chinese New Year, I visited a relative for a quick catch up. In the midst of our conversation, he casually remarked on property prices and how his kids can afford them by their own means in the near future.  Personally, I know he’s not alone in this. Today, it’s a shared concern for parents as they genuinely want the best for their children. Nice houses that are situated in nice neighbourhoods in the Klang Valley would cost at least RM 500k-RM 1m. This can be daunting especially when starting salaries for professionals is below RM 5k a month.  So, is my relative doing enough ..read more

In the span of 12 years, I’ve had the privilege of conducting over 600 free webinars on a myriad of money topics, opening the doors of financial wisdom to the public. The journey has been nothing short of enlightening, not just for the attendees but for me as well, as each session unraveled new insights into the complex world of personal finance.  However, it was the day after one such webinar that I encountered a request that would add a new layer to my understanding of human interaction. An attendee sent me an email, not with feedback or a question, but with a request for proof of atten ..read more

Let’s talk about the world’s greatest investors.  First, we have Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha. Then, next in line would be the late Charlie Munger, Buffett’s partner. Together, they transformed Berkshire Hathaway into a US$ 880 billion conglomerate today. Subsequently, we do have Benjamin Graham, Philip Fisher, Peter Lynch … and so on and so forth.  They all seem to be smart and accomplished.  And if you’re a woman, it’s easy to think that men are better at investing for the names mentioned are all men.  But here, what if today, you’re a woman and you don’t consider ..read more

Lately, I have just revised my will document.  This is done as my previous will was automatically nullified due to my marriage. Back then, I wrote my will as a single, in his 20s, had less wealth and was “super new” to estate planning. So, my previous will was simply an instruction guide to split up and distribute my assets to my beneficiaries. That was it.  But now, it’s a different ball game.  In my 30s, I have more financial assets. But also, I do have my challenges, which includes aging parents and starting a new family. Hence, there is a great need in my circumstance to rev ..read more

For years, we’d talked about how we can earn more, save more, lower debt and invest better. This is so that we could build ourselves a financially richer life.  But, what about donating and being generous? Well, to be honest, I’m not exactly the type that is into charity and social works. Sure, I made regular but insignificant contributions to church. Apart from them, I thought little about it.  That is until two years ago, when I was introduced to Daniel Tan, the Founder of Yayasan Generasi Gemilang (GG), a foundation that focuses on improving both the literacy and nutrition levels ..read more