Thanks Eddie...

Eddie is one of our senior consultants at LVG Consultants. Thanks Eddie for your contribution on the 4-Step Success Strategy:

1. Journey (or time period)
Unit trust investment is not meant for short-term gain. The recommended time period is three to five years.

2. Discipline
Consider investing regularly. This way, the investor rides both the ups and downs of the market to optimise their returns. This investing strategy is known as “Ringgit Cost Averaging”.

3. Monitoring and review
Engage a professional consultant or advisor who can constantly keep you updated with market developments as well as your investment portfolio. The advisor should offer a solid investment
strategy for the medium to long term period.

4. Taking action
Decide in advance what action must be taken when:

• the investment returns target is met
• market conditions indicate change, either for an upturn or downturn
• your risk profile changes
• your financial goal changes

A classic .... do you agree?

This to me is one of those classic newspaper headlines. It poses the question can you retire? It's an interesting article with very staggering statistics. But sad to say, just next to the headline we see that Malaysia is celebrating it's 5o years of independence! Well my assumption is that the country's independence does not equal an individual's financial independence.

Well, I guess there's not much to write about, my work needs to carry on. May we build upon our vision of building a financial fortress in every home. Possibly we can change that heading to "Most Malaysians are well on their way to financial security & independence"

Planning for the kids education funding

Recently I met a few people who wanted to start their children's education funding program. So I asked them how old their kids were and almost all did not answer "newborn" baby. Why I want to highlight this is because if your kids is already one year old, what did you do for the last one year for him or her.

It's funny to me sometimes to think that we all read and know about the importance of education, we also know that the prices are not coming down, so what more does it take to just get started on the savings. My guess is, it's a long way to go right! 18 to 20 years from now is a long time ... are you sure. Don't get caught.

I got this idea from one of the books I read. The way to plan for the long term, is to not call it long term ... but rather a few short months. For example, for a 5 year plan, call it your 60 short months plan. If you start doing this and implemented it on paper ... i can bet you see results.

When I implemented this idea, I got sick to the stomach to realize how much time I have wasted. More like, how many years that is. You see, once you quantify it into monthly blocks, you can see it very clearly and it stares right back at you, if you don't do anything.

So now for me planning has become easy. Well, at least the planning part ... implementation is another skill to be mastered. So back to the question of wanting to start that education or college fund for the kids. Let's just take my examples this time round.

I've got 3 kids, Amira is 10, Amir is 7 and the last girl, Aldelia is 5. Now lets say we plan for Amira. She's got another 8 to 9 years before she comes to me and ask for that money I promised for her to go to college. I sure am going to feel pressured and I want to be able to tell her .... ok darling.

So say 8 years, still quite a long time. Now you break it to months ... it's only 96 short months. Oh man! Now with that you draw up in an excel spreadsheet and line up the boxed and put it at a visible place. Every month that you put aside the money, you can cross off the box. Now you can not only see it, but feel how you are progressing each month. Believe me it is effective.

Financial planning may seem like a complex subject with the stock market, unpredictable returns, complex products and so on. But the bottom line is this my friends ..... it's not how much you earn, it's how much you put aside for the later use of those money. That's basically the basics. Then we can talk about the complex structures and returns.

I do hope all of you will get started with this simple idea.

Do you see more months or more money at the end of the months.

Humanizing Insurance & Takaful

When eTiQa launched the new branding with it's value proposition to "humanizing insurance", some people may have questioned what it means. It is really about going back to the basics and the core foundation of the insurance business, which is people. It is the reason we exist and it is also the reason why we must progress to strengthen this core value.

Yes, the insurance industry has been under attack for many years and has carried with it a "perceived" bad connotation to both the industry and it's people. Little do we realize that this industry has been around for a very long time. It has survived the test of time because for one, insurance companies are very conservative. But that alone is not enough. Insurance companies must honor the contracts with it's policy holders. If this does not hold true, how long would an entity be able to continue as a going concern. Yes, maybe there is very little publicity when claim are paid out. But there are reasons behind this. As you may imagine, not many families want to announce such a sensitive situation. Imagine the devastation ones family goes through. Even with a claim that comes in to elevate the situation of the family, having it publicized would be the last thing on their mind. Wouldn't it be the same for you?

Making a difference

It's not how much you accomplish in life that really counts,
but how much you give to others.

It's not how high you build your dreams that makes a difference,
but how high your faith can climb.

It's not how many goals you can reach, but how many lives you can touch.

It's not who you know that matters, but who you are inside.

Believe in the impossible, hold tight to the incredible, and live each day to its fullest potential.

You can make a difference to your world.