Write what you spend

When a person write their expenses and their income for personal financial review, most of them will notice that their expenses is more than the income or the expenses is too high than they expected. The person will not know where the money gone and sometimes 10 sen a day can make you lose RM 365 a year.

So how to trace where your money gone and how to cut your expenses?
One good exercise is by write all your expenses from thousand ringgit to 10 cents.

Why bother to write even the smallest amount of money?
Because when the amount of 'sen' (eg. sweet you buy from a convenient store) added up on one week can become 7 ringgit and if the seven ringgit one week for the whole year is about RM 365.

What is the effect on you if you write all your expenses?
You will become cost conscious and you can save thousand of ringgit a year.

This method require a self decipline to works and eventually you can make a saving per month and have some emergency fund, retiree saving, investment fund and become happy, healthy and wealthy.

Study loan defaulters to be blacklisted

The student who dont pay their PTPTN will be named in CTOS system. By looking at this article, even PTPTN seek help from CTOS to make the borrower pay their loans.

Recent news that the Malaysian government did not authorized CTOS will make some of people who have named in CTOS systems happy. But the most important lesson from these two story that if you want to make a loan or even borrow from someone, make sure that you pay back what you borrow. If not, the banks will not give you a loan or you will have created a bad image of yourself to the lender.

If you think you cannot pay back what you borrow, then don't borrow or make loans at all.

Who needs financial planning

Most of people said that they did not need to consult a financial planner because they think they know how to manage their own financial plan and strategy. But they did not realize that to manage it, they did not only plan but they must know the financial planning tricks and knowledge.

Most people did not have adequate financial planning knowledge and did not know how to manage their financial using the right way and have low financial IQ. They fail to manage their financial plan or like to delay managing their plan. For those who have made a draft of their plan, they fail to make an effective and suitable plan for themselves. It is because lack of financial knowledge and they did not know the suitable financial tools for them to use to make the plan works.

They need a Financial Planner that can create a plan for them that suit their needs and the financial climate and the planner can suggest suitable financial tools. Below are the type of people who need a Financial Planner:-

1. Fresh graduates who just started working.
2. Those who are getting married.
3. Someone who one to reduce their mounting debts
4. Maximizing their saving
5. Wealth creation
6. Just retired and want to plan their EPF money.

Good debts and bad debts

I have just read a good piece of writing by Pakdi. You can read it here.

Of course, there always been a good debts, and a bad debts. To simplify this:-

Good Debts
Good debt is a debt that can give you higher return that the amount of the debts that you make. This include the amount of money that you borrow plus the interest that you must pay in order to borrow the money from the banks. For example, a property or a house that you buy will increase in value in certain period of years and the value in 10 years time is higher than amount of money that you borrow from the bank. But this will depends on the market and the location of the property.

Bad Debts
Bad debt is an opposite of the good debt. It is a debt that will give you a lower return and the thing that you purchase will decrease in value. A very good example is mass production cars. After you buy the car, the car price will drop and it will be keep dropping year by year. Other example is like electrical appliances that you buy by using the plastic card, furniture and much-much more.

Thats why people are getting into deep debts because the did not manage the debts well enough and they did not know the types of debts. Mainly because of ignorance and lack of financial knowledge make them poor and getting poorer. And they blame the plastic card for all the sort of financial situation that they are in. So increase you financial knowledge and don't be like them.

Peter Lynch

Ever read Peter Lynch book?

I have read his book title Learn To Earn, A Beginners Guide to The Basics of Investing and Business. It is a perfect book for a beginner to learn the basics of investing in the stocks, and how to make your business a successful one.

This book started with an interesting introduction that will tell us the history of corporation around us and how many that really successful. It makes us open our mind that we can be an owner or own the share of the corporation and of course the public company shares.

First chapter of this book is very interesting and fascinating for me as it will tell you the short history of capitalism. Chapter 2 is all about the basic of investing that is the type of investment that you can make money from. Chapter 3 is about the lives of company on how it grows and become successful.

There a lots that you can gain by reading this book. The book are recommended for someone who wants to know what is stock market ad how to buy a share and the strategy to become a great stock picker. So buy it and this book will be a great investment for you.

Getting A Clean Credit Report

Source: Bernama

Ever wondered how banks evaluate whether a person is credit-worthy or not without the person revealing any credit information about him or her?
Or have you ever wondered how much information the bank has on a person's credit pattern?

The answer lies with the Credit Bureau and its database known as the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS), which serves as a reference point for the banks. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) explains at great length the workings of the Credit Bureau and CCRIS. Managed by Bank Negara Malaysia, the Credit Bureau was formed under the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 1958 and has been in operation since 1982.

Since then it has accumulated credit information of over five million borrowers in Malaysia. The information is obtained from more than 50 financial institutions, including commercial banks, Islamic banks, finance companies, merchant banks and other financial institutions and stored in the CCRIS. Apart from being the reference point for financial institutions to make faster and informed decisions on each potential borrower, the Credit Bureau is actually part of BNM's strategy to promote best practices in credit risk management among financial institutions.


UNDERSTANDING CCRIS

Whenever a person borrows money from a financial institution or holds a credit card, the information will be relayed to the CCRIS. The details, among others, include personal particulars such as name, identity card number and address, and details of credit account such as the type of credit facility, credit limit, outstanding balance, conduct of account and status of legal action, if any.To verify against the personal particulars, a cross reference is made with the National Registration Department and the Companies Commission of Malaysia.The information stored in CCRIS will then be made available to financial institutions upon request.Since many borrow money from financial institutions in one way or another, this may make a person wonder whether the personal details are secure and will only be used for the purpose of evaluating the person's credit application or reviewing credit status.


THE SECURITY ISSUES

The credit information provided by the Credit Bureau to any financial institution is classified as secret.The financial institutions are required to observe the provision of banking secrecy under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act, 1989 (BAFIA) and the Islamic Banking Act, 1983 (IBA). The information is strictly for credit evaluation purposes only and the financial institutions are not allowed to divulge them to any other parties except in the course of court proceedings between the person and the financial institution or when it is authorized under any Federal law to be revealed to the police. Thus, it can be rest assured that the information will not be used for unsolicited marketing or product promotion. In addition to laws, the CCRIS records all requests for the credit report in detail.For instance, the CCRIS records the details of the bank requesting for the information, the officer making the request and the time of access. By doing this, the Credit Bureau and the internal auditors of the respective financial institutions can track down who has sought information on any particular borrower.


ACCESSING THE CREDIT INFORMATION

The information in CCRIS is not the privilege of financial institutions only. The borrowers too have the right to obtain the information as well. And this has been made possible since 2002 following a change in the law initiated by BNM. To obtain a credit report, one has to fill up a Credit Report Request form available at the Credit Bureau office or can be downloaded from its website at http://creditbureau.bnm.gov.my. The completed form need to be submitted together with a copy of identity card and two other supporting documents such as driving licence or utility bills for verification. It normally takes a month for the Credit Bureau to process any such request. Upon obtaining the credit report, any discrepancies in the information can be rectified by filling up a Request for Data Review form. Each discrepancy has to be listed clearly and the request for change must be supported with facts. The Credit Bureau will then investigate and notify the financial institution concerned.

If the financial institution finds that the disputed information has been inaccurately relayed to the Credit Bureau, it must make amendment and send it back to the Credit Bureau. The Credit Bureau only provides factual information on a person's credit history without passing judgment on the person's credit worthiness. It's totally up to the respective financial institution to decide whether to approve the loan application or not. Thus, if one bank rejects the loan application, it does not mean that the other banks will follow suit because each bank has its own credit evaluation system.

The banks, nonetheless, will make decisions based on the credit report that sometimes can adversely affect a person's application especially if it's tainted with poor payment records like late payment or worst, non-payment of loans. If a person's credit report falls in this undesired category, the person should contact the financial institution and discuss the possibility of rescheduling the payments. Once the account is regularized, it will reflect an improved position and improve the chances of securing the much-needed loan. Meanwhile, there is another source of credit information available in the market commonly used by financial institutions. It is widely known as CTOS.

Unlike CCRIS, CTOS collects data from publications or advertisements or based upon searches normally deemed reliable. Thus, the data accumulated by CTOS may not be up to date or exhaustive like the one collected by CCRIS but the financial institutions still refer to them in evaluating credit worthiness of any potential borrower.

Financial Books

Last Saturday weeks, I have been book shopping with lots of Financial ad Self Help books in the shopping list. I have been looking around in the net such as BicaraJutawan.com and Personal Money magazine to find a good books to read.

The book that make us buy all this genre of books is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

I think all people in the world of investing, tax planning, real estate and business know who is this guy. The book is really interesting and is easy to read as he tells the reader on he he learn to make money from his rich dad. He receive advice from both of his dad. The rich dad is his best friend's father and the poor dad is his own father. This books tell you the mindset to become a rich person by comparing the advice given by both dad.

The other books that we purchased in this Rich Dad series are Cashflow Quadrant ad Retire Rich Retire Young.

I really recommend you all to read these book as it will educate you to think like a rich person and finally you will become one.

Financial Planning in General

Financial Planning is all about planning your finance. It is all about money from the money you earn and the money you spent. Generally, financial planning involves taking a broad view on personal financial status covering many areas of wealth management, and then going a step-by-step process to solve financial problems and achieve financial goals.

Below is the element of financial planning:

1. Cashflow management:
• Know your current net worth. Generally your asset minus your liabilities.
• Eliminating bad debts.
• Frequently save some of the money you own.
• Budgeting
2. Investment Planning
• Consider where to put your saving. Better place your saving where the money retur or the dividend is high, for bumiputera, ASB is oe of the bes choice around
3. Insurance Planning
• Ensure all your asset and family are well protected with suitable insurance.
4. Tax Planning
• This involves strategies to make the most of your income, stocks, real estate, property under the local tax regime.
5. Retirement Planning
• Surely you want to retire rich and not retire poor. You also don't want to work if your age is 6o++. This is important aspect of financial planning and somehow many people did not think for the future.
6. Estate Planning
• An estate planning or a will can provide financial security for your family, ensure your property is preserved and passed to beneficiary and avoid disrepute. For muslim, you can hire a will planner so the Will is in accordance syara'.
  

Reminder to Shah Alam Community

Assalamualaikum wbr and Good Day!

Do you know that if you fail to pay the summons from Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam, your name will be listed in the Credit Tip Off Service (CTOS)??? So folks, if you have received this summons from this council, please act accordingly, pay before the due date or else you'll be facing problem for your loan application in future.

Do you know what is CTOS? Where to check? Who to refer to? You can get more information from their website www.ctos.com.my

Adios.....
Zul B M
zul_hami@yahoo.com

Al Rajhi Charge Card-i

Assalamualaikum wbr and Good Day!

Almost all banks in the country have Master Card or Visa credit cards. Some offer life membership and some offer 3 years free membership and discounted rates for the following years. Even some bank is offering a gift to give away upon approval. Yes, there are many ways how these banks promote their product and sometime we could not resist declining the offer. And it is not surprising that some Malaysian have more than three credit cards! We sometimes fail to identify which credit card give better facilities and whether they have hidden agenda which sometime the marketing people would not tell us.

What I’m trying to tell here is about a new product available in the market which a bit different from the credit card but has the same function. This is a charge card from Al Rajhi Bank. Some people fail to differentiate between credit card and a charge card. The main different is the credit card can be paid 5% from the total usage whereas the charge card, you have to pay in full the total amount due as stated in the monthly statement.

An Al Rajhi Charge Card-I offers you all the convenience of a card with none of the pitfalls of credit. And it provides peace-of-mind in knowing that all Al Rajhi Bank’s product protects you under the principles enshrined in the Syariah.

The Al Rajhi Charge Card-I is a way to pay for things online, over the phone and at millions of Visa accepted locations worldwide. And because there is no interest charge, you avoid the compounding effect on your outstanding balance.

Al Rajhi Charge Card-I offers:

• Up to 55 days of cost free funds.

• 24 hour ATM access at Al Rajhi Bank ATMs and ATMs displaying Visa PLUS signs.

• Acceptance at millions of Visa outlets worldwide

• A visa Wave feature for faster, secure and contact less transactions

• Monthly statement to track your spending

• Internationally Syariah compliant.

• You can withdraw 50% from your credit limit for cash advance. The RM10 for every withdrawal for domestic (Al Rajhi Bank ATMs outlet) or the amount charged by the correspondence banks.

There will be no late payment penalty as you have to pay the total amount dues.

You will be 55 days interest free. How does it work? Let say, you have made a RM 3,000 transaction from 1^st April to 30^th April for the cash advance and retail transaction using your charge card. The statement date will reach you by early May and the RM 3,000 is due on the 26 May 2007, which gave you 26 days from the statement date (in this case the statement date is 1^st May) to pay the full amount. Failing which, the usage of the charge card will be interrupted and you have another 29 days to pay in full the RM 3000. The 1^st 26 days plus 29 days period is the total 55 days interest free which you won’t be charged for any late payment.

Beyond the 55 days, the bank will take legal action against you for failing to pay the total amount due and whatever amount incurred for getting back their monies. So, to avoid interruption in your card usage, please make a payment in full before the due date.

Requirement:-

• Open to Malaysians aged 21 and above

• Minimum monthly income of RM1,500

• A copy of NRIC or Military ID or Police ID, and the latest 2 months pay slip, and Bank Statement and EA Form.

You can download the application form from their website at www.alrajhibank.com.my

It is good for a Muslim as this card is prohibited for any unlawful activities or those contravening to the Shariah principles including but not limited to illegal online banking, betting or gambling!!

I hope this write up will help you to understand some of the important information on terms and condition of the Al Rajhi Charge Card-i.

Thanks,

Zul B M

zul_hami@yahoo.com

Intro

Assalamualaikum wbr and Good Day,

Well, when we talk about financial product available in the market, we tend to find the best product offered by the commercial banks. We found out there are a lot of offers from housing to personal loans and not to forget the credit cards. In my honest opinion, these are the loans everybody is looking for to cope up with our financial situation in supporting our needs to have a better life.

Without the knowledge about the terms and conditions of each loans, we are confuse which is the best product to choose and we are easy to be influenced by the wrong explanation and advice from the marketing agents/sales executive from the commercial banks. Every and each agents will say that their product is the best in the market. Their lowest rate, their longest tenure and other facilities which sometimes could influence us to choose the wrong products beyond our needs.

So what should we do? Who should we refer to? The best person to refer to is the independent financial planner which he/she does not refer to only one product from only a bank or he/she does not represent from any of the commercial banks or insurance company. AND the most important thing is he or she is the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) from Suruhanjaya Sekuriti or Security Commissioner of Malaysia AND a member of Financial Planning Association Malaysia (FPAM). You can find a lot of useful hints and infos available once you browse to www.sc.com.my

I'm a not a Certified Financial Planner but I have my personal financial planner to advice me to manage my financial planning. To know more about the financial planning, feel free to get some useful infos from my website www.asasteguh.com

Thank you

Zul B M