Personal Finance

Many people find investing difficult. Just the very idea of it is a put-off. It's always hard to get the ball rolling. Between a day-job, house chores and family commitments, it is hard to imagine finding the time to fix your financial situation, immediately. Everybody's situation is different and there is no one-size-fits-all for getting out of or improving your financial situation. Nobody can really give you straight answers for your predicament. Re-Read The Book One way o

You would be forgiven, understood even, if you said you believed in long time employment service and therefore job security. Job security encourages a better performance at work, it is argued, and employees enjoy financial security that comes in return. Nothing beats the feeling of being wanted in your job, and contributing to the financial success of a successful enterprise. Conversely, you fear the lack of job security. How will you pay your bills and mortgages if you did

You would be forgiven, understood even if you were to say that your home is an asset. The roof over your head gives you a sense of shelter, security and safety that cannot be replaced. Indeed, can you imagine, touch wood, what life would be like if you were homeless? Nothing can replace the emotional bonds that are built out with loved ones in the privacy of one’s home as well. The home is a safe space from which partnerships are formed and children find the ability to expr

There is a general tendency amongst some to exaggerate problems or otherwise to exaggerate the potential of certain investments to turn out badly. Yours truly can also be guilty in certain circumstances of being overly pessimistic. It is a habitual, factual tendency amongst some. Pessimism bias, skepticism or a tendency to see the downside in any transaction, with less or no consideration of the upside or the returns , can be a good defence mechanism in terms of everyday out

There is a general tendency amongst some to exaggerate returns or otherwise to exaggerate the potential of certain expectations to turn out well. Yours truly is also guilty of being overly optimistic. It is a habitual, factual tendency amongst some. Optimism bias, or a tendency to see the upside in any transaction, with less or no consideration of the downside or the risks, can be a boon in terms of everyday outlook in life. It can also be detrimental when trying to anticipa

All you need to know from a personal finance perspective is that you need to compound your wealth. Over a prolonged period of time, $2 becomes $4 becomes $8 becomes $16 becomes $32 becomes $64. Conversely, owing to inflation, $2 becomes $1 becomes $0.50 becomes $0.25 becomes $.125. Might as well be zero really. Yet the question from the more practically minded persons amongst us remains, how do you go about achieving this noble aim of compounding your wealth? It is all and

You're not a doctor. Much less so a geriatrician, specialising in old age. In your youth particularly, you are or otherwise may have been in the pink of health - able bodied, young, immune from illness or disease, and therefore perhaps even feeling invincible in your young age. Nothing can stop you from flying high. Yet things could possibly happen even in your youth or later years that you would never have guessed you needed to prepare for. What if you or an elder loved one

Not many people appreciate how much is wasted in, for example: high interest rate premium payments extended interest rate payment periods accepting unfavourable covenants in your loan obligations. Do you accept whatever loan obligations are provided to you by the bank? Do you find yourself unable to negotiate the terms of the loan because you do not know what to discuss about? Do you find the whole loan negotiation process one of trial and error? Debt obligations are negotiat

Weights and cardiovascular exercise are doable to some. You work certain muscle groups or pump the heart, and over time, with consistent effort and showing up, you are certain to see a certain noticeable result for your efforts. To others, even repeated physical exercise is a pain and a difficulty. You need a certain willpower it seems to get yourself off your behind, to show up at the workout facilities, that may or may not be nearby. But, as they say, if you drag yourself

At pre-twenties age group, for example, you're probably more interested about girls and guys at the bar. You're just discovering your own identity and fashion particularly is another area where you want to explore, decking yourself out in the latest trends. More improtantly, life has only just begun for you and studies are your priority at the moment anyway. You've just discovered freedom from the secondary school teachers, you may or may not already have a car to get around

You never guess right. In 2025 you thought the world markets would have a bad year, perhaps still due to covid19. In 2026 you may think the markets remain overheated and is due for a correction if not a crash. You are left in doubt. And you ne ver get the guesses right anyway? How could you? You're relying on the advice of a financial advisor, and ultimately your own gut instinct is based on the stories you hear during the course of your work and daily career. You're r

Whilst there may or may not be a general appreciation for this blog, the question that comes out at the turn of the year is whether this writer will disclose his results. After all, we are judged by the extent of weight we can attribute to the writer and the authority by which he writes. That weight and authority gives us comfort that we are listening to the right voices. And that we are chasing the right information and sources towards the right goal. Summarily, please assu

The rich are judged by how clever they are. What car they drive. What credit cards they have. The richest people are in mansions as well. One book that made the classics all those years ago, is the Millionaire Next Door. If you thought to judge your neighbour by car, credit cards and mansion, you may wish to revisit your opinions of the same. At least, that is the findings following research by certain individuals in a land far, far away. It may not even be particularly how w

Do you really need insurances? Do you really need to draft a will at a young age? Considering (critical) illness, permanent disability and life can seem morbid and downright negative. It is even harder to talk about such things with loved ones. Even if you wanted to address the matter or talk about it, the insurance companies and wills companies price their products so that they profit. There is no way that getting into such things is an advantageous deal. But is it advanta

And your belief is money just comes and goes. Between finding the spare cash, spare time and the Herculean effort... You need all the money you can get, immediately. There isn’t any opportunity to save. Aging parents, family, children and your pet dog are more important to maintain over the long term in love and perhaps even for your own peace of mind. You can always make more money later. One of the world’s bestseller books is confident it can navigate all these concerns

X.com is filled with output from established entrepreneurs. You might as well learn from them for free. Why spend your precious Ringgit on materials that you can get online on the Internet, at no cost at all? You have just got to know where to look. And figure out the stories of the different individuals. Heck, why not just follow whoever is the most active and popular at the time! The entrepreneurs there are authoritative, well established and you can get information, upd

With apologies to any visitors from the land of the free. How is it that there is so much to say about business, investment, and personal finance when all that matters in the performance of a business is the sales, revenue and bottom line?? Why overcomplicate a simply process? One of the approaches we try to practice here is to keep things simple, if possible. And to recommend books from authors with results only, perhaps. Warren Buffett recently retired from the businesss o

A foreign friend just told me he attended a destination wedding with free flowing imported champagne, all paid for with cryptocurrency. Is cryptocurrency something that you understand? It's easy to see your friends make it big on the waves of a new cryptocurrency trend, and question your very existence - what you're doing with your life, what's wrong with your financial self, and why you didn't think of investing on the fad yourself. Especially when they just served you the a

At least based on recent experience, there may be a couple of types of people that exist when it comes to investing and personal finance. There are those who are risk averse. Then there are those who believe that you should be extraordinarily optimistic towards life and its possibilities. After all, what goes around comes around. Which might you be? Every person that comes through your life has a natural disposition. You're not wrong either way - you are who you are. This

Hi there! We already have requests to hold a physical meet-up. Give you an opportunity to meet like-minded people. If you are interested to meet at some point, you could leave a note in the comments section below. Watch this space! Yours, Mr Southpaw.