How you can start a business in a small way

by Sally Wong

It is sad that in today's world many people are getting more disillusioned with their lives and what they do for a living. Most people are caught up in a daily routine and the rat race and their lives have reduced to a robotic existence of chasing deadlines and more activities than one can fit into a day. People are so focused on surviving that they lose sight of life itself.

Undoubtedly, money is important in today's life. Without money, we cannot hope to lead a quality life with all the comforts that modern lifestyle offers today. We have to take a moment to think of better ways to make money without sacrificing the qualify of life.

The best way to do this is by taking control of your time and channelling your efforts towards a business which can contribute money. There are so many income generation opportunities today that we are almost lost in a sea of choices.

The ideal way to get started is by starting a small business right form the comforts of your home. Starting a small business does not require much capital to start with. All you need is a product or service that you can offer in exchange for money.

How to Make Money

by Sally Wong

You may heard or seen many people get lucky with money or hit the jackpot without much effort. These people if you study them closely, will seem as though they keep getting lucky again and again. These people are the minority and are rarely found. If you are one of them, please read no further as this article is not for you.

All the other regular folks who don't fall into any of the categories - welcome to the club. 99% of all people in the world belong to this category including myself. For the rest of us, the road to wealth is not an easy one. Fortunately, today we live in a world where there are countless ways of making money and creating wealth.

Start a business that matches with your personal interest.

Investment Tips - How to Invest Your Money

by Sally Wong

There are many ways that one can invest their money. A financially savvy individual must know all these different ways although it is not necessary to follow them all. Some investment strategies might work wonderfully for some people while for some other people it might not work at all. The key is in identifying the best strategies that work for you. Here we present 10 steps that you can take to best invest your money:-

Step 1: How much do you have to invest?

There are a few key questions that you must ask yourself before you can safely determine the amount of money that you intend to invest. First of all, are you going to invest a sum of money one time or are you going to invest a little every month?

Secondly, you have to ask yourself if it is going to be a short term investment or is it for long term.

GST Implementation in Malaysia

by Sally Wong

On the 1st of April 2015, Malaysia went live with its Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation throughout the country. The GST is generally looked upon by the public as something detrimental to the well-being of the people although on the same note many do agree that it is good for the country. The government on the other hand have faced tremendous amount of criticism over how it went about implementing the GST policies.

GST is one of the most popular taxation systems in the world having been adopted by over 150 countries. This taxation method is deemed to be the most fair as it is based on consumption and only applies to those who can afford such products or services. Most of the essential goods and services such as basic food items, education, transport and more are either zero rated or exempted from the tax and as such the poor and the economically challenged groups would not be affected so much by it.

Stabilize Your Current Situation Before You Invest

by Sally Wong

Before you consider investing in any type of market, you should really take a long hard look at your current situation. Investing in the future is a good thing, but clearing up bad – or potentially bad – situations in the present is more important.

Pull your credit report. You should do this once each year. It is important to know what is on your report, and to clear up any negative items on your credit report as soon as possible.

If you’ve set aside $25,000 to invest, but you have $25,000 worth of bad credit, you are better off cleaning up the credit first!

Next, look at what you are paying out each month, and get rid of expenses that are not necessary. For instance, high interest credit cards are not necessary. Pay them off and get rid of them. If you have high interest outstanding loans, pay them off as well.

Building Cash Reserves

by Eric Tan

Building a financial cushion for your business is never easy. Experts say that businesses should have anywhere from six to nine months worth of income safely stored away in the bank. 

If you're a business grossing $250,000 per month, the mere thought of saving over $1.5 million dollars in a savings account will either have you collapsing from fits of laughter or from the paralyzing panic that has just set in. 

What may be a nice well-advised idea in theory can easily be tossed right out the window when you're just barely making payroll each month. So how is a small business owner to even begin a prudent savings program for long-term success?

Managing the Bottom Line

 by Rohit Sharma - Guest Blogger

If you don't keep track of how much money you're making, you have no idea whether your business is successful or not. You can't tell how well your marketing is working. And I don't just mean you should know the amount of your total sales or gross revenue. You need to know what your net profit is. If you don't, there's no way you can know how to increase it.

If you want your business to be successful, you need to make a financial plan and check it against the facts on a monthly basis, then take immediate action to correct any problems. 

Datuk Dr. Elamaran Sabapathy who is an accountant by training and is a successfully entrepreneur himself, suggests the following steps that one should take:- 

Long Term Investments for the Future

If you are ready to invest money for a future event, such as retirement or a child’s college education, you have several options. You do not have to invest in risky stocks or ventures. You can easily invest your money in ways that are very safe, which will show a decent return over a long period of time.

First consider bonds. There are various types of bonds that you can purchase. Bond’s are similar to Certificates of Deposit. Instead of being issued by banks, however, bonds are issued by the Government. Depending on the type of bonds that you buy, your initial investment may double over a specific period of time.

Mutual funds are also relatively safe. Mutual funds exist when a group of investors put their money together to buy stocks, bonds, or other investments. A fund manager typically decides how the money will be invested. All you need to do is find a reputable, qualified broker who handles mutual funds, and he or she will invest your money, along with other client’s money. Mutual funds are a bit riskier than bonds.

Investment Strategy

Because investing is not a sure thing in most cases, it is much like a game – you don’t know the outcome until the game has been played and a winner has been declared. Anytime you play almost any type of game, you have a strategy. Investing isn’t any different – you need an investment strategy.

An investment strategy is basically a plan for investing your money in various types of investments that will help you meet your financial goals in a specific amount of time. Each type of investment contains individual investments that you must choose from. A clothing store sells clothes – but those clothes consist of shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, undergarments, etc. The stock market is a type of investment, but it contains different types of stocks, which all contain different companies that you can invest in.

If you haven’t done your research, it can quickly become very confusing – simply because there are so many different types of investments and individual investments to choose from. This is where your strategy, combined with your risk tolerance and investment style all come into play.

If you are new to investments, work closely with a financial planner before making any investments. They will help you develop an investment strategy that will not only fall within the bounds of your risk tolerance and your investment style, but will also help you achieve your financial goals.

Never invest money without having a goal and a strategy for reaching that goal! This is essential. Nobody hands their money over to anyone without knowing what that money is being used for and when they will get it back! If you don’t have a goal, a plan, or a strategy, that is essentially what you are doing! Always start with a goal and a strategy for reaching that goal!

Investing Mistakes to Avoid

Along the way, you may make a few investing mistakes, however there are big mistakes that you absolutely must avoid if you are to be a successful investor. For instance, the biggest investing mistake that you could ever make is to not invest at all, or to put off investing until later. Make your money work for you – even if all you can spare is $20 a week to invest!

While not investing at all or putting off investing until later are big mistakes, investing before you are in the financial position to do so is another big mistake. Get your current financial situation in order first, and then start investing. Get your credit cleaned up, pay off high interest loans and credit cards, and put at least three months of living expenses in savings. Once this is done, you are ready to start letting your money work for you.

Don’t invest to get rich quick. That is the riskiest type of investing that there is, and you will more than likely lose. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! Instead, invest for the long term, and have the patience to weather the storms and allow your money to grow. Only invest for the short term when you know you will need the money in a short amount of time, and then stick with safe investments, such as certificates of deposit.

Investing Basics – What Are Your Investment Goals

When it comes to investing, many first time investors want to jump right in with both feet. Unfortunately, very few of those investors are successful. Investing in anything requires some degree of skill. It is important to remember that few investments are a sure thing – there is the risk of losing your money!

Before you jump right in, it is better to not only find out more about investing and how it all works, but also to determine what your goals are. What do you hope to achieve with your investments? Will you be funding a college education? Buying a home? Retiring? Before you invest a single penny, really think about what you hope to achieve with that investment. Knowing what your goal is will help you make smarter investment decisions along the way!

Too often, people invest money with dreams of becoming rich overnight. This is possible – but it is also rare. It is usually a very bad idea to start investing with hopes of becoming rich overnight. It is safer to invest your money in such a way that it will grow slowly over time, and be used for retirement or a child’s education. However, if your investment goal is to get rich quick, you should learn as much about high-yield, short term investing as you possibly can before you invest.

Avoiding Impulse Spending

Impulse buying is a common behavior today.  If you’re reading this thinking that you aren’t susceptible to impulse buying, it’s possible you’re correct. Our culture of consumption enables us to succumb to temptation and purchase something without considering the consequences of the buy.

Impulse buying is related to anxiety and unhappiness, and controlling it could help improve your psychological well-being. To control something though, it’s important to first understand it. To understand impulse buying from a psychological perspective, we should ask the question “What motivates us to impulsively buy products?” There are in fact a number of answers to this question, and knowing them will help you make smarter, more rational decisions the next time you’re shopping or the next time you just catch yourself wanting to buy something.

To avoid impulse buying and to make unplanned purchases a thing of the past, follow these tips from a top financial expert and Certified Financial Planner, Datuk Dr. Elamaran Sabapathy.

How to get a Mortgage After Bankruptcy

Declaring bankruptcy can be a great tool if you find yourself drowning in debt. Bankruptcy is meant to help people who just cannot find another way out. It allows you to use all of your assets to pay back as much as possible over a set number of years are all at once and then start anew. When you declare bankruptcy, you free yourself from creditor and collection agency phone calls and have the chance to start over again with a fresh slate.

Well, almost. When you declare bankruptcy, it appears on your credit history that you took this action. Bankruptcy means that your lenders probably did not get back all of the money you owed them. Therefore, if future lenders see that you have declared bankruptcy in the past, you are considered to be a very high-risk candidate, because you might not have changed. Getting a mortgage after bankruptcy can be especially difficult, but there are ways to go about doing it.

Datuk Dr. Elamaran, one of Malaysia’s most sought after and successful management consultant and entrepreneur suggests the following steps:-

First, building up credit—good or bad—takes time. If you declare bankruptcy, you effectively wipe out your credit history. However, that includes any good credit you may have had as well. Therefore, you have to start from scratch. Just like a mortgage lender would consider a young adult a high-risk candidate because he or she has little credit history, you too will be considered a high-risk candidate. You can explain to your lender about how you’re going to change until you are blue in your face, but a more effective way to do that is to prove it. Build up your good credit again, and wait about two years before even considering approaching a lender regarding a mortgage.

You can also use special government programs to help you get a mortgage. Some will work with you to put less money down on your new home and to convince a lender that you should qualify, even if you have declared bankruptcy in the past. If you have a solid income now and are working to pay off debts, you can probably qualify for some of these government programs.

You can also use your current home as equity to convince a lender that you should qualify. The less money your want to borrow, the less risk you are to a lender. Therefore, if you can pay for the majority of your new home by selling your current home, your lender will be more likely to overlook the fact that you’ve declared bankruptcy in the past.

The real lesson here is that bankruptcy should not be declared lightly. You need to make absolutely sure it is the best option for you. Bankruptcy should be your last resort financially, because it will make it difficult to do things like get a mortgage in the future.

How to Retire Comfortably - 5 keys to smart financial planning for retirement

With the year coming to a close, there couldn't be a better time than now to start thinking about your personal finance. If you are planning to retire in the next few years, now is the best time for you to start getting your finances on order.

Here's what we have in our special report on retirement.

1. Five things to look at close to your retirement

The fundamental behind retiring rich is the ability to plan everything in advance and not leaving anything to chance. You will also need to review your plans every now and then to make sure that it is still relevant towards achieving your goal.If you don't have a plan, now is a good time as any to start one.

2. It's not too late to start thinking about investing

We spoke to a top financial expert Datuk Elamaran Sabapathy who offered his insights on investments strategies for retirees. According to Datuk Elamaran, an investor should have a healthy appetite for risk but at the same time not to take too high a risk with their hard-earned savings. Datuk Elamaran also added that when building a conservative investment portfolio, it's important to take a look at your overall investment plan and your risk profile. "It's all about creating a plan, balancing risk with the need for security,"

3.Calculate your expenses

Some of the common issues usually faced by retirees is that they are worried about not having enough money to cover their monthly expenses; others are worried that their retirement savings could be depleted by health care costs or inflation. In other words, many are worried about their retirement futures.

4. Figuring out where to live in retirement

Start talking with your spouse or partner about what life might look like in retirement. Do you want to stay in your house, or move to a place where it's warmer?

5. Clear your debt

The settlement of any existing debt should be first and foremost before you retire. This is crucial as we achieve a clean slate and spend our retirement in complete peace of mind. So before you retire, you should aim to settle all your outstanding debts.​

Monetary Finances between the Poor and the Rich

Money, money, money… This is the cause of all that is material but the reason why man struggles so hard. The value of money is so unstoppable now. It is so important though people always try to claim that it is not that so much important. The fact is so clear that money matters… a lot.
 

Around the world, money determines the status of a country in the international scene. The rich ones are of course- powerful. Those which are poor are usually the subject of oppression and discrimination. Even within a country, there is a big deal between rich families and the masses. Sad to say, the gap is so big. We could claim that equality exists but there are so many obvious reasons telling us that it does not. How come many stay on the street begging for alms when many just spend to waste their financial resources?

Money is the cause of imbalance. The world has in it a promise of equality but it seems strange. Third world countries have difficult times to finance all their affairs especially education and health aspects are neglected. For other rich countries, people live with comfort and the value of their piece of coin is as much as the value of the third world’s 12 hours.

This uneven distribution of wealth and finances greatly affect all. Some countries could finance big and expensive events for a night. It may include welcoming so many guests and showing off the riches of a place. For the poorest, their government could barely prioritize their basic needs over military equipment. According to statistics, there are an overwhelming number of hungry people most especially children. This is not overwhelming but a kick on our hearts.

Countries are creating a community of amity. They share what they have while others seek the help they needed. Why some countries’ finance not suffices their people’s mere existence? This is the saddest question to answer. Why? It is because the answer is still unknown. On the other hand, poor countries do not seem to find means to escape the pity of big countries. They just live with donations. Low financial capacity is often coupled with blaming the society for all the misfortune. The point we want to stress out is, let us not let personal inadequacies to vanish into thin air. Does a poor country strive for its personal wealth? Let us say not necessarily finances.

There is a lot of wealth around us. They come in beautiful forms but we just think money conquers all.

Dealing with others

In all application of magnetism to persons, you are urged to remember that your very first goal, always and preeminently, is an agreeable feeling within their minds. You should never try to induce a person to act your way until you have thoroughly established in him a good feeling toward yourself. 

This is the prime initial step. When such a condition has been secured, you are then ready for the magnetic assault and then only.

When you are dealing with other people, endeavoring magnetically to win them to your wish, you should summon the general magnetic feeling within yourself, will them to do as you desire, and at the same time think of them as already consenting and acting. 

Your inner condition should be perfectly calm, buoyant, hopeful, whatever the external means employed, your mind should be concentrated upon the thing desired, and its accomplishment should be thought of as now secured. The response of the person may be delayed, but this should not discourage you, for some minds do not take suggestions (those of your unspoken will are referred to) quickly, and they do not act instantly upon their own thought. 

It is invariably best to induce people to believe that they are acting on their personal impulse or judgment; they should be made to feel perfectly free, not at all coerced, and that they are doing their own will rather than yours simply because they wish so to do.

We may summarize all these suggestions in the words of a distinguished scientific writer:

"Life is not a bully who swaggers out into the open universe, upsetting the laws of energy in all directions, but rather a consummate strategist, who, sitting in his secret chamber over his wires, directs the movements of a great army." This is a good description of magnetism.

The success-magnetism assumption: We are now ready for the great assumption-principle of magnetism in applied life.

Think of every goal as already reached, of every undertaking as already achieved.