Bank Persatuan:had tambah share baru untuk 2011

Anggota Lembaga Bank Persatuan melalui mesyuaratnya pada 28 Disember 2010 telah meluluskan pindaan had maksimum tambahan pelaburan syer yang baru berkuatkuasa pada 1 Januari 2011 sebagaimana berikut:-


1. Had Pelaburan Syer Anggota Sedia Ada

Anggota sedia ada dibenarkan melakukan bayaran tambahan syer keanggotaan masing-masing berdasarkan had baru seperti berikut:-

i. Anggota individu sehingga RM 2,000.00
ii. Anggota Koperasi sehingga RM 20,000.00

Penambahan jumlah syer anggota-anggota sedia ada berdasarkan had maksimum di atas adalah merupakan peruntukkan had maksimum yang baru mulai 1 Januari 2011 dan tidak mengambil kira sebarang jumlah penambahan syer yang telah dilakukan oleh anggota tersebut sebelum tarikh di atas.

2. Had Pelaburan Syer Keanggotaan Baru

Semua permohonan keanggotaan baru Bank Persatuan mulai 1 Januari 2011 hanya dibenarkan membuat pelaburan syer keanggotaan sehingga had maksimum seperti berikut:-

i. Anggota Individu sehingga RM 2,000.00
ii. Anggota Koperasi sehingga RM 30,000.00

Had maksimum pelaburan syer keanggotaan Bank Persatuan di atas adalah tertakluk kepada perubahan dari semasa ke semasa oleh Anggota Lembaga Bank Persatuan

Sumber: Laman Web BP

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The Million-Dollar Retirement Plan

Source:http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/111446/million-dollar-retirement-plan?mod=fidelity-buildingwealth
Achieving millionaire status is a noteworthy financial goal. But saving $1 million doesn't necessarily mean you are ready to retire or that you will be able to afford a lavish retirement lifestyle. Here's what it takes to save that amount over a working career and how much income you can expect a $1 million nest egg to provide in retirement.

Making your first million. Many people should be able to save $1 million for retirement if they start saving early enough. A worker who saves $5,500 per year beginning at age 30, gets a $1,500 401(k) match each year, and earns 7 percent annual returns will have $1,014,640 by age 65. However, someone who waits until age 40 to start saving will have to tuck away closer to $14,000 a year to reach $1 million by age 65, assuming the same 401(k) match and investment returns.

Those who do not get an employer 401(k) match or don't consistently save in a 401(k) plan will need to save even more on their own. "You may have to adjust for time frames when you were not contributing to your 401(k), such as when you are saving for a house or you change jobs," says Mark Fuller, president of Fuller Wealth Management in Broomfield, Colo. "Life happens, and you have got to be able to make some mid-course corrections along the way." Excessive fees and investment costs, 401(k) waiting periods and vesting schedules, and taking early 401(k) withdrawals or loans can also make it more difficult to become a millionaire. "It sounds easy and it sounds good on paper, but in actuality it is tough for people to do," says Doug Kinsey, a certified financial planner for Artifex Financial Group in Oakwood, Ohio. "People need to really keep their transaction costs to a minimum. If you shave off a couple of points a year in expenses, that goes a long way toward saving a million for retirement."

What $1 million will generate. We associate the word "millionaire" with luxury. Spread out over a 30-year retirement, $1 million will likely make you comfortable in many parts of the country, but not especially wealthy. "I have clients who have got a million dollars in retirement and they don't feel wealthy," says Jay Hutchins, a certified financial planner for The Wealth Conservatory in Lebanon, N.H. "It's not enough that you can put it in the bank and draw half a percent of income and live off it. You have to invest it and you have to take on risk." If you draw down 4 percent of your $1 million nest egg each year, you will receive about $40,000 annually for 30 years, before adjusting for inflation. To that amount you can add any Social Security or pension income you expect to receive. But you will likely need to subtract taxes, especially if most of your savings is in tax-deferred accounts including 401(k)s and IRAs, and account for inflation.

Making it last. You may have to adjust your withdrawal strategy in retirement as new expenses arise or cut back on discretionary spending such as travel or entertainment in years when your investments perform poorly. There's also inflation, which can erode your spending power in retirement. Most people have one major source of inflation-adjusted income: Social Security. Other strategies for staying ahead of inflation include holding Treasury inflation-protected securities, a government bond that promises a rate of return above inflation, certain inflation-adjusted annuity products, some exposure to stocks or stock-based mutual funds, and owning real estate. "If you're living off $50,000 a year today, once you factor inflation in there, you're going to need more in retirement," says Fuller. Depending on what you estimate your expenses will be in retirement, he says, "you need to make it a goal to have a seven-figure portfolio when you retire."

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Why Invest In Silver

Source:http://financialrich.com/2009/08/04/why-invest-in-silver/#more-113
In turbulent times, everyone is seeking precious metal as hedging against devalue dollar. Precious metal is chosen by investor due to its intrinsic value. Gold, Silver and Platinum are among them. As topic stated, I’m going to discuss about silver instead of gold. I had did some research on investing in silver after finished reading the prophecy of Robert T.Kiyosaki in his book, Increasing Your Financial IQ.
From my research, I found a few interesting facts about silver (Surprising me):

Silver is consumable industry metal :

Silver is used in electronics, such as television, cell phone, computer, batteries, jewelry, and etc. Silver is neither recycle nor reuse.

Silver is used up, gold is hoarded : 95% gold ever found is still around
300 millions ounces silver left : run out of silver by year 2020!

Silver mining : 75% of silver is a by-product of mining other metal while only 25% of silver is primary product of mining

Low supply, high demand : Price skyrocket

Extremely Undervalue : People think it should be cheap

Based on the above six facts, there are no reasons to not invest in Silver, especially low supply, high demand. I’m still finding ways to invest silver in Malaysia. Anyone has any ideas how to invest silver in Malaysia?

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Guide to investing in call warrants

Source:http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/7/business/19691801&sec=business
A key feature of Bursa Malaysia’s online game for young investors - Bursa Pursuit is providing education on adopting informed investment strategies. This third of a four-part series focuses on a key investment tool to participate in the growth of an active stock.

IN our previous articles, we talked about how companies initiated corporate actions like “share splits” and “bonus issues” that help transform a listed company’s share structure and potentially affect the returns to shareholders.

Now, let’s talk about a specific instrument that is not created or initiated by the listed company, but rather by an investment bank. Called a call warrant (or “option” outside Malaysia), this tool gives investors the right to own stocks in a company at a fraction of the share’s cost for a fixed period of time.

A call warrant is a derivative-based product that has a fixed tenure (maturity) and, if not exercised, is worthless after its expiry date. Therefore, it is essential to select a call warrant that has sufficient time before it expires to match investment targets.

While a call warrant is traded like a stock, it is not based on the company’s performance but the attractiveness of the company’s stock that is being traded on the stock market. It derives its value from the value of an underlying security stock.

A holder of a call warrant does not have any voting, shareholding or dividend rights. The investor therefore has no say in the management of the company, even though he is affected by any decisions made by the company that impacts the share price of the warrants.

As call warrants are somewhat volatile investment vehicle, it pays to understand some of the terms used.

# “Mother share”: The share on which the call warrant is based. It is also known as the underlying security.

·Expiry date or ex-date: This is a very important date to know, because if you do not redeem your call warrant before or on the expiry date, it ceases to exist.

·Exercise or strike price: It’s the stated price per share for which the mother share may be purchased or sold by the call warrant holder upon exercise of the call warrant contract.

# Settlement types: This means the type of settlement to warrant holders upon maturity i.e. physical-settled or cash-settled.

# Settlement price: This means a reference price determined by the market in which a Call Warrant is converted into cash value.

The call warrant is classified by its exercise style:

·American warrant: This call warrant can be exercised anytime before or on the stated expiry date

·European warrant: Exercise of this call warrant can be carried out only on the day of expiration.

Before investing in call warrants, there are three things you should know and watch out for:

1. Volatility of the mother share because a highly dynamic stock can make the call warrant even more volatile due to the leverage.

2. Determine the leverage based on the formula given below. This determines how much you get paid at the end and the amount you gain or lose when the price goes up or down.

3. Determine the settlement amount based on the formula given below. This determines how much you get paid upon expiry or exercise of a cash-settled call warrant

Cash Settlement formula:

(Settlement Price - Exercise price) / Entitlement Ratio} x Number of CW exercised - Exercise Expenses

4. Expiry Date: The date the call warrant closes and ceases to exist. This means that when the expiry date is due, the value of the call warrant follows the payout formula described in cash settlement formula. However, if the settlement price is less than the exercise price, the cash settlement amount is zero.

Let’s say company XYZ shares are currently priced at RM10 per share. To purchase 1,000 shares which is equivalent to 10 lots, an investor would need RM10,000. However, if the investor opted to buy a call warrant (representing one share) that was going for 50 sen per call warrant, the investor could enjoy the right to own 20,000 shares with the same RM10,000, and be highly rewarded if there is a rise in price!

Because the prices of call warrants are low, the leverage they offer is high so there is a potential for large capital gains, but also losses. While it is common for a share price and a call warrant price to move in parallel, the percentage gain (or loss) will be varied because of the formula used to determine the final payout.

To illustrate this, let’s say that share XYZ gains RM1 per share from RM10 to close at RM11. The percentage gain would be 9%.

However, with a RM1 gain in the call warrant, from 50 sen to RM1.50, the percentage gain would be 66%.

As mentioned above, the leverage call warrants offer can be high. But when the gains are big, the losses can be big too!

If the price drops by RM1, the percentage loss for the share price would be 10%, while the loss on the call warrant could drive the value close to zero. The large drop could bring the settlement price lower than the exercise price, resulting in a zero payout.

Yes, call warrants can offer a smart addition to an investor’s portfolio, but due to their risky nature, call investors need to be attentive to market movements and informed before making their investment decisions.

Happy investing!

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How to Save More Money?

Source:http://kclau.com/money-saving-tips/save-more-money/
Beside the most frequently asked question about how to make more money, this is the second financial challenge most people demands for solution. Most of the dreams you have would have most part of it linked to how much money you saved. Be it a dream to travel the world, or a dream to send your children to study oversea, a substantial amount of money saved beforehand will ensure to fulfill those dreams.

Let’s go through what I think is the three most important things that ensure you to accumulate money seriously.

Motivate your elephant early

Most people give up their long term goal for short term pleasure. You find it hard to keep those two hundred ringgits untouched at the moment you are looking at some high quality fashion at a deep discount. Almost immediately you forgot that you should have save this two hundred allocated for your annual trip savings, which is only needed ten months later.

That’s the part controlled by the elephant in your mind, which is the irrational part of your brain. Your rational part of brain is thinking that you should save RM200 for twelve months then you can treat yourself a nice trip, or whatever is your dream. But the elephant is so huge that is too hard to be controlled by your rational thinking.

That’s why you need to motivate your elephant. Make it go to the direction you want, not following where it wants. And you better motivate it early enough because accumulating money takes time. The longer time you have, the better is your chances to achieve the saving goals.

Pay yourself first

You need to make yourself the first priority. When money comes to you, you have a very important decision to make. You can give the money to other people (paying bills, shopping etc). You can also save it for yourself.

Many people make the mistake of paying other people first. They always put themselves at the bottom of the payees list. That’s miserable because at the end, you will only get peanuts. But how do you ensure that you save first before you spend? That’s why the next component of having an effective saving system is so crucial.

Have an effective saving system

Since you know that it is really hard to ride elephant when it senses danger, you don’t want to let it face those risky moment. Since It is your emotional part of the brain that is holding you back from your long term saving goals, you need to have a system that prevent your emotion to take part in financial decisions.

That’s why an effective saving system always works for most people. Consider the EPF. It is a forced saving scheme. You may feel a pinch when you see your salary statement every month. So much is cut away for your future retirement savings. But there is nothing you can do about it because you are forced to take part in the program.

Why not put such saving system to do more good for you? There are rational parents who take up education saving plan from insurance company almost immediately for their every newborn child. Since it is a commitment to the education funding of their children, they never fail to save and complete the tenure of the plan.

Trust me. These saving systems successfully put the elephants to sleep. Your financial decisions will no longer be distracted by it. Be creative enough, and you will be able to design your own system that works.

Conclusion

As a conclusion – to save more money, you need to start an effective saving system that pays yourself first as soon as possible.

Just start now!

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How to Strategize Against Debt

Source:Yahoo Finance
From putting spare change to work to going on a spending fast, these folks found creative ways to chop their debt.

Anna Newell Jones

Strategy: Go on a spending fast for a year
Advice: Get creative. There are endless ways to save.

I had been spending over my means for a while. Every month I was spending at least $300, overdrafting my account and feeling horrible about it.

I realized I had all these wants and it was an insatiable thing. I would say, "Oh, I love this top from Anthropologie," and then as soon as I got it everything would be great... until I wanted something else. So I knew I needed to do something drastic. And one day, it clicked.

I decided to start a spending fast for the new year, which meant no spending on anything except absolute necessities -- like my mortgage, utilities, car payments -- oh, and hair dyeing. That was one "want" that I turned into a necessity as I started to see my roots grow in.

I can't buy clothes, no coffee out, no eating out. To save money, I've done the normal budgeting things like buying generic brands of groceries. But I've also started wearing all black and dyeing my clothes to extend the color. I've been re-gifting, growing my hair long to avoid haircuts, stuffing two loads of laundry into one and eating a lot of old canned food I've found in my cupboard. I also make random stuff to sell in my spare time. I have a store at Etsy.com where I sell zombie portraits of people, super cute baby onesies and banners, tags and shipping labels.

My year-long spending fast began on January 1, and so far, I have saved $5,772.25. $4,800 of that went to credit cards and the rest will go to paying my parents back the $3,247.97 I owe them and my $10,000 in student loans.

Lance Pickett

Strategy: Live without the little things
Advice: Don't go too far -- like trying cloth diapers to save $60

My wife and I owed $18,000 in student loans, $6,000 in car loans, $2,000 in credit cards and $152,000 in my mortgage.

We were living paycheck to paycheck and I was tired of seeing my bank account zero out every month. So we wanted to get out of as much debt as possible as soon as possible. We started by saving an extra 1/12th of our total required expenses -- like mortgage, utilities and Internet -- each month, in order to have one month worth of bills saved up at the end of the year. Then we got excited and doubled that. In three years we had six months of living expenses and threw that into a high interest CD at 5%. That really got us going, seeing the money grow -- and we became obsessed with eliminating debt.

We just really took a look at what we need and only spending money on those things. I used to eat out a lot and that cost me $200 a month. Now we invite friends to "eat-in" at our house. We have a garden and purchase produce from co-op programs. Before we became debt-obsessed we would also get nice Christmas gifts for each other, but now we limit each other to $50.

Now, if there's something we want we put it on our "Dream Board," a cork board by our bedroom door that we see everyday. And it will stay there until we're debt free. It also has the loan schedule for our house, and each month we scratch off a month. Next to the schedule, we post our ultimate "want" that we agree to purchase -- with cash of course -- once our house is paid off. I have a 2010 Camaro waiting for me.

Cutting back so much has been hard, but we've learned a lot along the way. My wife learned some things are worth paying more for after trying to use cloth diapers -- which most people use as burp rags -- pinned inside training pants with plastic pants over them for our two kids, all so that she could reuse the diapers and not spend $60 a month on Pull-ups. As a result they both got horrible rashes, so we switched to a cheaper brand of regular diapers.

Altogether, we've paid off around $90,000 since 2005.

Jowharah McNeil

Strategy: Put spare change to work.
Advice: Cut back, use cash.

I was laid off for 18 months and had two credit cards to pay off, so I had to learn to be creative. My husband and I have been trying out a cash-only spending system and we're only allowed to spend $40 a week per person on non-necessities. That means once the cash is gone, it's gone -- no more spending.

While doing this strict new budget, we noticed we had a lot of loose change everywhere -- in our cars, leftover from doing laundry -- so we started collecting all the change we could find and putting it in a jar by the door. Every month, we would use whatever money is in the jar to make payments on one of the credit cards. The minimum payment is only $39, but we usually paid an extra $50 or $60 using the coins we collected so that we can get it totally paid off as soon as possible.

Since we started collecting the coins about six months ago, we've already paid more than $560 of the $1,000 balance on the card, so this is really working for us.


Brian Leigh

Strategy: Track your expenses
Advice: Don't limit yourself too much, or you will give up.

I was able to pay off $22,000 of my $35,000 in credit card debt over the past 24 months just by looking really closely at where I was spending my money.

Being young, I made foolish mistakes with my credit cards, so when I started really wanting to knock out my debt, the biggest thing for me was tracking my expenses. I started by adding up how much I had been spending on meals and found out I was spending almost $55 a week just on lunch at work.

After that, I sat down, got a little notebook and started tracking every single thing I spent money on. I did that for a couple months, and then I came up with a payment plan. After overestimating how little I could live on the first month, I decided to take small steps.

I readjusted my allowance until it worked with my lifestyle. I started to bring my lunch to work four days a week, I shopped for groceries for one week and would then eat only leftovers during the weekend. I learned how to cook and found foods -- like broccoli -- that I can use in multiple meals so I don't have to waste anything.

To make sure my money goes where I need it to go, I set up two checking accounts and two savings accounts. I deposit $250 into the first checking account every two weeks --when I get my paycheck -- to use for everyday expenses. When it runs out, I don't go out.

I put another $250 into the first savings account as an emergency fund. Every five paychecks, I remove $1,000 from this account and apply it toward my credit card debt. I deposit $100 into the second savings account every paycheck. This account is used for long term goals, like a down payment on a house or a big vacation I want to take. Everything else gets deposited into my second checking account, and my bills and rent are automatically paid out of this account. Those automatic payments include an extra $1,000 toward my non-credit card debt -- like my student loans and car loans -- every month.


Jaime Tardy

Strategy: Budget!
Advice: Save, save, save before you quit your day job.

A couple years ago, I decided I wanted to have a baby and quit my job. But there was a problem. My husband and I were in debt, and I made two-thirds of our household income. So I couldn't just quit.

I started out by sitting down and adding up all our debt -- which ended up being around $70,000. The first thing I thought was, 'Wow, we really need to start getting rid of this. We should sell our car right away.'

After some prodding, my husband got on board too. We sold his car and were able to immediately get rid of $19,000 of our total debt. After that, we knew we were totally doing this.

Craigslist and eBay became our best friends, and we sold everything from a kayak to a weight bench and a computer monitor.

My husband did some website design jobs on the side to make some extra money, and we printed out a budget each month so we knew exactly how much we could spend and what we would be spending it on.

We saved on gas costs by limiting the amount of driving we did, and we put ourselves on a grocery budget of $300 a month. On top of that, we cut out cable, lowered our phone bill as much as humanly possible and switched our car insurance twice in one year to find lower rates.

By the time I quit my job for good -- which was less than two years after I started the budget -- we had paid off $70,000 in debt and put $23,000 in the bank as an emergency fund

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Matawang Bersandarkan Emas Tidak Menjadikan Ia Islamik

Source:http://www.pakdi.net/matawang-bersandarkan-emas-tidak-menjadikan-ia-islamik/
Merujuk kepada Dinar dan Dirham Kelantan, Tun Mahathir dalam ucap utama Global Islamic Finance Forum 2010 menyatakan matawang yang bersandarkan emas hanya menjadi Islamik sekiranya ia bebas dari riba.

Saya setuju dengan kenyataan beliau kerana mata wang yang dibenarkan oleh Islam tidak terhad kepada emas semata-mata. Selain emas dan perak komoditi seperti gandum, barli, kurma dan garam juga boleh dijadikan sandaran matawang.

Apa yang penting, sebarang matawang mesti bebas dari riba. Pada zaman Rasulullah saw, kita maklum emas dan perak adalah matawang yang dipanggil dinar dan dirham, tetapi riba tetap wujud secara berleluasa sehinggalah khutbah terakhir baginda, isu riba tetap menjadi penekanan kerana riba masih belum dihapuskan sepenuhnya.

Malah, sekiranya tuan puan terlibat dengan “pelaburan emas” , hanya penjualan tunai sahaja yang halal. Sekiranya, bayar selesai emas belum terima, itu riba. Begitu juga sekiranya emas selamat diterima, tetapi bayar ansur-ansur, itu juga riba.

—
Gold Backing Of Currency Doesn’t Make It Islamic – Dr Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 (Bernama) — Backing currency with gold does not make it Islamic, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday.

He said it became Islamic only if transaction in the currency did not involve interest or riba.

“It is not the name that is important. It is the gold backing for the currency, whatever may be its name,” he said in a keynote address at the Global Islamic Finance Forum 2010 here.

He said there were repeated suggestions for the use of gold dinars, and Muslims bankers must not be moved by sentiments alone.

He said people needed also to be conscious that gold prices could change and its value in different countries would differ.

“If we use gold as a currency domestically, the purchasing power will differ with different countries. Besides that, its bulk makes it unsuitable as currency for everyday use,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said when gold was the standard by which currency was issued, it was fixed at US$36 per ounce of gold.

“Today, one ounce of gold worth US$1,400. One US dollar would be equivalent to 1/1400 ounce of gold.

“It would be very tiny if issued in coins. It is not practical to carry gold coins in the pocket,” he said.

He said the place for gold would be in the settlement of international trade as it involved large sums of money and payment in physical gold would be inconvenient because of its bulk.

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said there was a great future for Islamic finance but its success would not be because it did not involve payments of interest.

He said its future depended on ethical practices, supervision by governments, avoidance of dubious practices and products, concentration of financing of real business and rejection of betting on futures and manipulation of the market.

“Profiteering must be avoided, and there must be a limit to money creation,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said the sector had found many ways to be profitable without resorting to blatant interest charges but the conventional banks were forever coming up with banking products.

“While it is important that Islamic banks match these products, it should be very careful that the products are ethical, that they truly conform to the tenets of Islam,” he said.

He said proper regulations and supervision by inspectors who themselves must be under supervision was important if the sector was to grow and become a good alternative to the current banking system.

“The Islamic banking system has not yet been abused now but this does not mean it will never be abused. There are as many greedy people among Muslims as there are among the followers of other religions,” he said.

He said the executives should be well-compensated and they must never award themselves unreasonable pay, compensation and bonus.

“These are tough conditions but if they are not met then Islamic finance may meet an early grave,” Dr Mahathir said.

– BERNAMA

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First Person: Why I Never Borrow Money

Source:http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111088/first-person-why-i-never-borrow-money?mod=bb-debtmanagement
Like many 20-somethings, I made a lot of financial mistakes before I finally grew up. Nearly every dollar I spent through eight years of college and law school was borrowed before I actually earned the money to pay for it. Between student loans and credit cards, I graduated with significant debt. And the crushing weight of that debt is why I never borrow money now.

Debt Leads to Depression

This is not a scientific fact that I've verified, but rather a conclusion I drew after crawling out of debt for more than 10 years. Every time a bill arrived in the mail or someone called to ask why a payment was late, I grew more withdrawn and disheartened. I felt like a tire with a slow leak, and I often wondered if it would ever end. To borrow money is to impose upon yourself an unnecessary burden -- both financially and emotionally.

Debt Becomes a Habit

Safe within the comfortable bubble of college, the real world never intruded to remind me that borrowing money would one day lead to consequences. It was painfully easy to pull out my credit card to make a purchase or to apply for yet another student loan. The money I earned went directly to pay for the debt I had incurred, though it was never sufficient to cover all of it. It became a habit for me to use my income to pay off debt rather than to fund the necessities of life.

Debt Provides False Security

Because I knew that I had a credit card to pay for the things I wanted, there was no reason for me to stay in my dorm or apartment rather than go out with friends or to put off a purchase until I had saved the money to buy it. During those years in school, I never felt financially strapped. Then, upon graduation, the money I'd borrowed became an albatross I thought I'd never shake.

Debt Creates Stress

This seems like a given, especially if you've ever accumulated a massive amount of debt, but when you borrow money, stress is a constant companion. For years, I lived in fear of losing my home and everything else. I worried about whether I'd be able to cover utilities after paying on my debts, and I was always looking for ways to make a few extra dollars. It's no way to live.

Saving Is Rewarding

Now, when I want to buy something expensive, I save my money. My wife and I have a separate savings account that is devoted to vacations, electronics, conferences, and anything else we want to do. We don't borrow money to obtain the things we desire; we save for them until we can afford them. And it's far more satisfying than if we just plunked down our credit cards.

Saving Makes You Think

When I was borrowing money hand over fist, my purchases were never carefully considered. I took the caveman approach to spending money: Want, Find, Buy. Now that I never borrow money, every purchase gets run through my mind many times during a period of weeks or months. Often I decide it isn't worth the effort, and my money goes toward more worthy purchases.

There Are Exceptions

What if my child needed an expensive medical procedure for which I didn't have the cash? I'd borrow money. What if my car broke down and I didn't have the money to fix it? I'd probably borrow money.

There are exceptions to every rule. But my goal is to continue saving money until I've stowed enough cash in the bank to wipe out all those exceptions. In my opinion, there is no greater security on earth than the knowledge that I don't have to borrow money, ever, to take care of my family.

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Budget 2011 Highlight

Source:http://ck5354.blogspot.com/2010/10/budget-2011-highlight.html
Below are the salient points as tweeted by the PM's office:
* 1Malaysia Development Fund Bhd (1MDB) will provide RM20 million to the 1Malaysia Youth Fund. This fund will be utilised to instill the 1Malaysia spirit.
* To assist children, particularly from low-income families, excel academically, the 1MDB will provide multi-vitamins for primary school pupils.
* RM1.9 billion allocated to environmental preservation, including implementing the River of Life Programme and KL greening.
* RM70 million allocated for programs with select NGOs to help the government strengthen the family institution and address social ills e.g. baby dumping.
* RM350 million allocated to implement various programmes to combat crime, including burglary, motorcycle and car thefts.
* The government will provide an additional 25 1Malaysia clinics. Since 2009, 51 1Malaysia clinics are in operation.
* RM15.2 billion allocated to build new hospitals, increase the number of doctors and nurses as well as to obtain supplies of medicines and equipment.
* Toll rates in four highways owned by Plus Expressway Bhd will not be raised for the next five years, effective immediately.
* RM100 million allocated to implement various programmes, including resolving Orang Asli land rights and border settlement issues.
* The monthly allowance for KAFA teachers will be increased to RM800, an increase from RM500, starting January 2011.
* Effective January 2011, the monthly allowance of imam will be increased from RM450 to RM750.
*Allowances for JKKK, JKKP, JKKK Orang Asli chairmen and Tok Batin increased to RM800.
* Government to establish a 1Malaysia Smart Consumer portal to help the rakyat keep abreast with price movements of retail goods.
* RM974 million allocated as price subsidy for paddy, fertilisers and paddy seeds. RM230 million for production incentives and increasing paddy yield.
* Build and upgrade rural roads in Sabah and Sarawak with an allocation of RM2.1 billion and RM696 million in Peninsular Malaysia.
* RM2.1 billion allocated to build and upgrade rural roads in Sabah and Sarawak.
* RM6.9 billion allocated to implement basic infrastructure such as water and electricity supply as well as rural roads.
* First-time house buyers will be given stamp duty exemption of 50% on instruments of transfer on a house price not exceeding RM350,000.
* Government will extend tax relief of up to RM5,000 to help parents with expenses such as daycare, caretakers and other daily needs.
* Government will launch assistance programme to benefit 80,000 disabled individuals with an allocation of RM218 million
* In 2011, the government will allocate RM1.2 billion to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
* To develop football, the government will establish a Football Academy in Pahang with RM20 million to produce quality football players.
* For sports development and management, a sum of RM365 million is allocated to the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
* Government will allow flexibility to self-determine fully-paid maternity leave, not exceeding 90 days from the current 60 days.
* Government will provide 40 1Malaysia Taska (nurseries) to assist women to obtain quality childcare and early education for their children.
* RM30 million allocated to introduce the Single Mother Skill Incubator Programme and the Prime Entrepreneur and Women Activist Award.
* Government will enforce basic minimum wages for security guards, to between RM500 and RM700 a month depending on location.
* RM200 million from the Human Resource Development Fund to be used by companies to fund specific training programmes for their employees.
* RM200 million allocated to conduct part-time training in the evenings and weekends in selected training centres nationwide.
* 1Malaysia Training Programme will commence in January 2011 with an allocation of RM500 million.
* RM474 million provided to enhance productivity and skills of non-graduates.
* Government will also allocate RM50 million to Multimedia Development Corporation to train graduates in ICT.
* RM60 million allocated to further intensify the Industrial Skill Enhancement Programme in State Skills Development Training Centres.
* RM20 million allocated to increase PhD qualified academic staff to 75% in research universities and to 60% in other higher learning institutions.
* RM213 million allocated to enhance proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia, strengthen the English language.

* RM576 million allocated in the form of scholarships for those wishing to further their studies.

* RM250 million allocated for development expenditure to schools: religious, Chinese-type, Tamil national, missionary and government-assisted.

* The government will also strengthen the curriculum and appoint 800 pre-school graduate teachers.

* Government will increase pre-school enrolment rate to a targeted 72% by end-2011 through an additional 1,700.

* RM213 million is allocated to reward high-performance schools.

* RM6.4 billion is allocated for development expenditure to build and upgrade schools, hostels, facilities and equipment.

* Government will establish a Talent Corporation under the Prime Minister’s Office in early 2011.

* RM29.3 billion allocated for Ministry of Education, RM10.2 billionn for Ministry of Higher Education and RM627 million for Ministry of Human Resources.

* The government proposes that the rate of service tax be increased from 5% to 6%.
* RM200 million is allocated to purchase creative products such as high quality locally-produced films, dramas and documentaries.

* For Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy, RM93 million is allocated for facilities.

* RM178 million is allocated for the East Coast Economic Region projects.

* RM133 million is allocated for the Northern Corridor Economic Region.

* For Iskandar Malaysia, a sum of RM339 million is allocated.

* Corridor and regional development will be accelerated. The government has allocated RM850 million for infrastructure support.

* The Government proposes that sales tax be exempted on all types of mobile phones.

* Import duty and sales tax exemption on broadband equipment are also extended for two years until 2012.

* Multimedia Development Corridor programme allocated RM119 million. Focus is on creating an innovative digital economy.

* RM127 million to be allocated to support domestic oleo derivatives companies and RM23.3 million to expand downstream palm oil industries.

* Measures include encouraging replanting activity to replace aged trees with high quality new clones through RM297 million.

* In efforts to propel the palm oil and related products industry, several measures will be implemented.

* The government proposes that import duty on approximately 300 goods preferred by tourists and locals, at 5% to 30% be abolished.

* To support the tourism industry, the government will allocate RM100 million.

* RM3 billion eco-nature resort Nexus Karambunai, Sabah, to commence 2011.

* Infrastructure facilities to be allocated RM85 million to facilitate construction of hotels and resorts in remote areas.

* The government allocates RM3.8bn in 2011 to increase productivity and generate higher returns in the agriculture sector.

* The government will implement the Programme on Blending of Biofuels with Petroleum Diesel (B5 Programme) in June 2011.

* Malaysia is committed to reducing carbon emission intensity to preserve the environment.

* Tax exemption on income from trading of Certified Emission Reductions certificate to extend until year of assessment 2012.

* Hundred percent import duty and excise exemption for hybrid vehicles. To further encourage ownership of hybrid cars, import duty and excise duty exemption will be extended until Dec 31, 2011.

* The government is committed to develop green technology to ensure sustainable development.

* The government will allocate RM146 million to support the oil, gas and energy industry.

* A sum of RM857 million is allocated for local E&E companies to compete at the international level.

* Existing income tax relief of up to RM6,000 for employees contributions to EPF will extend to Private Pension Fund contributions.

* To revitalise capital market activities, the government will launch a Private Pension Fund in 2011.

* The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation will be provided a start-up fund amounting to RM100 million to provide soft loans.

*The government will provide Entrepreneurship Enhancement Training Programme to train 500 technopreneurs and attract more angel investors.

* Efforts will be taken to strengthen Malaysia's position as a premier Islamic capital market.

* The government will implement bold measures to revitalise the domestic capital market.

* A new landmark, Warisan Merdeka, expected to be completed in 2020, will include a 100-storey tower, the tallest in Malaysia.

* Another major project is the development of the Malaysian Rubber Board land in Sungai Buloh covering an area of 2,680 acres.

* Greater KL MRT to be implemented from 2011. When complete, public transport utilisation rate expected to rise to at least 40%.

* Another PPP project identified is the Academic Medical Centre. This project involves private investment of RM2 billion.

* Development of International Islamic University Malaysia Teaching hospital in Kuantan; Women and Children's hospital.

* Construction of a 300-megawatt Combined-Cycle Gas Power Plant in Kimanis, Sabah.

* Construction of highways such as the Ampang-Cheras-Pandan Elevated Highway.

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You Don’t Need A Broker: 9 Keys to Investing Successfully On Your Own

Source:http://millionairemommynextdoor.com/
I’m sure there are investment brokers worth their high commissions and fees, but I haven’t experienced one. I burned through five brokers before realizing that no one cares as much about my money and my future as I do. Brokers are salespeople. Naturally, they care more about their bottom line than mine.

Most people I coach don’t realize that they’ve been paying a 5-6% sales commission every time they buy new mutual fund shares because the commission is built into the price, making it difficult for the investor to “see” it. And paying a sales commission has nothing to do with the performance of a fund; you aren’t buying a better fund simply by virtue of paying more for it.

Each year, I’d compare my broker-managed portfolio’s performance with the stock market indexes (Wilshire 5000, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, MSCI EAFE, etc.). I found that despite paying a decent sum to brokers for their expertise, my portfolio usually under-performed the standard index benchmarks. In 1999, I decide that it was worth my time and energy to learn how to manage my own investment portfolio. My efforts have paid off very handsomely. Here’s a down-n-dirty summary of what I’ve learned:

1. Start Today

Start as early as possible to take advantage of the astounding power of compounding growth. By reinvesting the gains you receive from the money you invest, you can double your money in less than eight years assuming a 10% average annual return. Take a look at the following example, then try this calculator to see how much postponing your savings plan could cost you.

Start Now:
Save $10,000 per year for 30 years
@ 10% annual rate of return
= $1,809,434 ending balance

Start Later
Postpone saving for 10 years, then save $10,000 per year for 20 years
@ 10% annual rate of return
= $630,025 ending balance

Cost of waiting = $1,179,409

2. Put Your Investment Contributions on Auto-Pilot

Instruct your bank to automatically transfer at least 10-20% of your gross income to your investment account each month. If you don’t think you can afford to do this then you can’t afford your lifestyle! Get creative, cut expenses elsewhere, and start paying yourself first.

3. Maximize Retirement Account Contributions

How taxes are applied to an investment can make a big difference in the long run. There are tax advantages to retirement accounts which is why (in most cases) you should maximize your contributions to these accounts first, then add to your taxable accounts. Additionally, some employers match your contributions — which equals free money. This calculator compares a normal taxable investment to two common tax advantaged situations: 1) an investment where taxes are deferred until withdrawals are made, and 2) an investment where taxes are paid on money that goes into the account but all withdrawals are tax free.

4. Be Mindful of Fees and Do It Yourself

Invest $10,000 each year and use a broker to place your order and you might pay $575 per year in sales commissions. Alternatively, learn to place investment orders yourself and your commission savings, compounding 10% annually, would be an extra $104,042 in your pocket in 30 years. Invest in a low-cost equity portfolio using no-load mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and index funds. Even a small difference in the fees you pay on your investments add up over time. Use this calculator to see how different fees can impact your investment returns.

5. Diversify and Build a Balanced Portfolio

Speculative investments are like eggs: when they fall, they make a mess. Don’t place your bet on a single stock or sector. Spread your risk into a variety of market caps and styles as well as domestic, foreign and emerging markets. Proper diversification helps your portfolio weather any ups and downs the market can take. Asset allocation accounts for 94% of the variation in portfolio returns, while market timing and stock picks account for only 6% (Gary Brinson, Randolph Hood and Gilbert Beebower). Review and rebalance your portfolio annually to maintain your desired allocation percentages. The Asset Allocator calculator is designed to help you create a balanced portfolio of investments. Your age, ability to tolerate risk, and several other factors are used to calculate a desirable mix of stocks, bonds and cash.

6. Don’t Invest Money You Can’t Afford To Lose

Rises and falls in the stock market are normal and frequent. Don’t invest your emergency fund into the stock market because you don’t know when you’ll need to use it. Money you may need within the next few years doesn’t belong in the stock market either. Investing for portfolio growth is your long-term goal.

7. Cover Your Ass

Protect your growing wealth with adequate insurance. The number one cause of bankruptcy is major medical expenses. In addition to medical insurance, consider coverage for disability, life (consider a term policy rather than whole life), auto, homeowner/renter, business, and personal liability. Buy policies with the highest deductible you could afford to cover from your emergency fund — and invest what you save from the reduced rates.

8. Understand Your Assets and Liabilities

Most people consider the home they live in as an asset but the truth is, it’s a liability. And if you are counting on future home appreciation, it’s speculation. Stop thinking of your home as a savings account. Don’t believe the sales-pressure hype that homeownership is your best investment: you’re spending money on a property that isn’t producing income. If you insist on owning real estate as a part of your investment portfolio, buy an investment property that produces a positive monthly cash flow.

If you’re finding it difficult to squeeze your budget for investment contributions, downsize to a smaller home. Invest any remaining home equity, plus your new-found monthly savings, into your long-term-growth portfolio.

9. Don’t Invest Until You Understand

Question every piece of advice you are given through the filter of “what’s in it for them?” Unfortunately, there is no shortage of people who are skilled at separating you from your hard-earned money. It pays to be suspicious. If you aren’t committed to learning how to self-manage your investments, consider hiring a FEE-ONLY financial adviser (rather than a commissioned-sales broker) to assist you.

What I’ve offered today is a summary. I’ve shared my opinions and experiences. But don’t just take my word; ask questions and read investing books and web sites. Learn about different investing strategies and styles, assess your own personal risk tolerance, make a plan, then stick to it. Use your head — not your emotions — to guide your decisions. Practice investing first, using virtual online applications (not real money), as you wean off of your high-commission broker.

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Five Quick Ways to Bankrupt Yourself

Source:http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-110806-6784-1-five-quick-ways-to-bankrupt-yourself?ywaad=ad0035&nc
It's always been easy to go bankrupt but the recession made it that much easier, with 15 million people unemployed and struggling to pay their bills.

An astonishing 1.5 million people went bankrupt in the past year, up 20 percent from a year earlier.

"It's easier than most people realize," said Samir Kothari, co-founder of BillShrink.com, a site that helps people find the best, most cost-effective providers for everyday services like cellphones, cable, credit cards and gas.

"There is a general lack of financial discipline in the way people live their lives, manage their money and plan -- not that they don't do it well, but rather that they don't do it at all," Kothari said.

Remember the days when Intuit's Quicken and Microsoft Money software for managing your personal finances became popular? Millions of people bought the software, but as it turns out, they were used about as often as infomercial exercise equipment: Only about 10 percent of the people who bought it actually used it.

toilet_money_bucket_red_200.jpg
©Getty Images/CNBC.com
A how-to guide for bankruptcy, Step 1: Pour all of your money down the toilet.

"There was already a minority of people buying it to help manage their money -- and even those who bought it aren't using it!" Kothari said.

To help illustrate the point -- and maybe help a few people avoid becoming a statistic, here are five quick ways to bankrupt yourself:

1. Doing the Plastic Shuffle

The single best way to go bankrupt is to bury yourself in credit-card debt.

Our parents didn't have the option to rack up tens of thousands in credit-card debt -- credit cards didn't really become widely used until the 1960s. But for today's generation, it's an easy -- and common -- way for people to live above their means.

Transferring balances to a lower annual interest rate can be helpful if used sparingly, and in conjunction with a plan to pay it off, but chronic transferring often just masks a bigger problem.

"People think it will all just work out somehow. They think: 'I'll get a raise. I'll get a good tax refund,'" Kothari explained. "These things are not based on logic but on people being very optimistic about life -- defying reality. I think that's what gets people into trouble."

With the new credit-card legislation, lenders are now required to print on each statement the amount of time it would take to pay off the bill by only paying the minimum, and how much you'll ultimately be paying after all that interest.

"Imagine if you see that it will take you 17 years to pay off your bill!" Kothari exclaimed. "That should help shock America into realizing the trouble with living a reckless credit-card kind of spending game," Kothari said.

2. Assuming Insurance Will Cover Your Medical Bills

So, maybe you budget. You make an allowance for food, clothes, beer.

But do you have an allowance for medical costs?

Here's why you should: The No. 1 cause of bankruptcy is medical bills.

Harvard researchers found that 62 percent of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. Even more disturbing: 78 percent of those were people who had insurance.

"Things happen. Surprises happen," Kothari said. "And people don't prepare for the unexpected. They don't have a mindset of, 'How do I prepare myself for the unexpected?'"

Of course, the best medicine is to not get sick. And to that goal, you can do your best to lead a healthy lifestyle. But you also need to live a healthy "fiscal lifestyle," Kothari said -- make sure you're saving every month and building a cushion for the unexpected.

"Then you can be more resilient when life happens," he said.

3. Taking Out Advances on Your Paycheck

So you think just this one time, because you really really have to, it's OK to take an advance or loan on your paycheck?

Sounds like somebody needs a timeout!

If you need to get your paycheck money before it's due, there is some seriously fuzzy math going on.

"Payday loans are financial products that keep you in the poor house," BillShrink says.

When our parents were running short ahead of payday, they did things like split a can of beans for dinner and save the steak for when they're more financially secure.

These are humbling experiences but they build solid financial habits -- not to mention provide great stories they can proceed to repeat to their children 1,489 times throughout their lifetime.

Your parents' stories don't always work to scare you into managing your money better. But here's something that might: Fees on paycheck advances and loans make credit-card interest rates look like chump change.

BillShrink estimates that, when you factor in all the fees, the interest rate is 911 percent for a one-week loan, 456 percent for a two-week loan and 212 percent for a one-month loan.

4. Keeping Up With the Joneses

A huge part of the nation's money problems today are psychological: You see your neighbor, who you know doesn't make as much as you, just bought a luxury car.

How can he afford it, you wonder.

What most people often don't realize is -- he can't.

So you just sit there and think about how much you want it. You convince yourself that if he can afford it, so can you. And then, you just hit the breaking point -- and you buy it.

"There's a strong association between materialistic possessions and status," Kothari says. "Remember 'he who dies with the most toys wins?'"

From new houses and cars to the latest gadgets or exotic vacation destination, it's all very tempting to want to either keep up with -- or outdo your neighbor.

"People think that stuff matters to other people more than it really does," Kothari says.

Here's a statistic to keep in mind the next time you get neighbor envy: There are approximately 181 million people with credit cards in this country and more than half of them carry a balance.

So maybe next time you ask yourself, "How can he afford it?" you can also ask, "Is he one of the 100 million who carry a balance on their credit cards?"

And remember: Whatever you buy is on your credit card -- not his. Before you make a big purchase, make sure you've got the cash in the bank to back it up.

Maybe he should be keeping up with you!

5. Overestimating the Value of an Expensive Degree

The more education you have, the higher your pay, right?

Wrong.

When people take out student loans, few do the math to see what the average salary will be after graduation -- and how long it will take to pay off their loans.

They just assume that someone else has probably already crunched the numbers, making sure the cost of the degree is proportionate to the salary. They assume that because they've invested in education instead of, say, a new pair of shoes or golf clubs that their money was spent wisely.

Well guess what? Those people already got the first question wrong -- before even signing up for the class.

"The for-profit education sector is really, really big industry with huge advertising budgets," Kothari says. "They'll have a guy who says he graduated and now he makes $200,000 a year -- if you compare data on average salary, I'm sure it's not aligned with some of those marketing claims," Kothari said. "They're just selling a product."

So do your homework -- before you go to school.

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The 10 Biggest Myths About Gold

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704394704575496200661947896.html?partner=yahoofinance
Gold has been the investment phenomenon of the past decade. It hit a new high of $1,278 an ounce this week. In the past 10 years, investors in gold have made nearly five times their money. Over the same time, Wall Street has gone sideways.

But few investments seem to attract more myths and hokum than gold and other precious metals. At the risk of inflaming those on both sides of the issue, here are 10:

1. "Gold is overvalued."

As gold reaches historic highs, Brett Arends attempts to dispel some of the myths about the yellow metal.

How can anyone know this? Nobody even knows what gold is worth, so it's impossible to say with any confidence that it's overvalued (or undervalued, for that matter). Some perfectly intelligent people, such as Dylan Grice, a strategist at SG Securities, argue that when compared to the ballooning money supply, gold is still low by historic standards. And even if gold is in a bubble today, it may have a long way to go. As I've pointed out earlier this year, as our accompanying chart shows, at a comparable stage Nasdaq (1998) and real estate (2003) still had a couple of years to run.

2. "The smart money got out of gold a long time ago."

Really? People have been saying that for at least five years. Yet hedge-fund honcho John Paulson has got nearly $4 billion of his firm's money in the SPDR Gold Trust exchange-traded fund. George Soros has $650 million in the ETF. Every month Bank of America/Merrill Lynch conducts a survey of the world's top fund managers. About six years ago, when gold was around $400 an ounce, I suggested they started asking the money managers about gold. Initially they got few responses. Few cared enough even to venture an opinion. More recently, while interest has risen, the skepticism has remained. For the last two and a half years, apart from a brief moment in early 2009, money managers have pretty consistently told the interviewers that gold was overvalued, and usually by a wide margin. During that time it's risen from around $850 an ounce to nearly $1,300.

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3. Gold is a "safe haven."

Remind me never to buy life insurance, or a new set of brakes, from someone who thinks this metal is "safe." From 1980 to 2000, it lost more than four-fifths of its purchasing power. During the 2008 crash, it fell by nearly a third. If that's safe, I'd hate to see volatile. Gold is just an asset, like anything else.

4. "Gold is 'real' money, while money created by government or society is just paper or 'fiat' money."

What nonsense. The only thing that makes anything "money" is that other people—meaning "society"—accept it as such. A fund manager was recently telling me about someone she knew who bribed his way out of a crisis in Africa with bottles of liquor. She pointed out that, if society really fell apart, the best "money" would be the things people need—like food, cigarettes, and liquor. (My tip for Armageddon? Stock up on Charmin Ultra Soft. You'll be amazed how valuable it becomes when we're down to leaves.)

5. "Gold stocks are a more profitable way to invest in gold than the metal."

The most dangerous tense on Wall Street is the perpetual present. The reality: Gold stocks are sometimes more profitable, and sometimes less so. It all depends on the price you pay. For years, many big mining stocks were overvalued. The metal was a better bet. But during the 2008 crash, gold stocks plummeted even further than the metal. That left them an absolute steal. Anyone who bought the big miners at the lows has more than doubled their money in two years, and anyone who bought the small ones has quadrupled it.

6. "Small gold-mining stocks are risky."

Sure, any individual mining stock is very risky. (Even one like NovaGold Resources, which I recommended earlier this year. Proceed with caution.) But a broad basket of small mining stocks—such as that tracked by the Market Vectors Junior Gold Mine ETF—will be much less so. And indeed, depending on the price you pay, small miners will at times offer a much better bet than bigger companies or the metal. (See point 5, above.) Knowing the way the fund industry works, in a gold boom the small fry will probably be the last ones to get scooped up—suggesting they offer a leveraged play.

7. "Gold is a much better investment than other precious metals."

Really? Why? Once again, it all depends on the price. Over long periods, silver and platinum seem to have marched in the same direction as gold. Over 20 years, silver has beaten gold by 25%, platinum by 5%. But it hasn't been a steady move. At different points one metal has risen much higher, while another has been left behind. You could have made much better money taking advantage of these moves. There are now ETFs that invest in silver (iShares Silver Trust) and platinum (Physical Platinum Shares). You aren't always stuck with just gold.

8. "Gold is a great investment because it has kept its purchasing power over thousands of years."

Bah. It's hard to believe serious people repeat this. We can't even get reliable information from 50 years ago, let alone from ancient Rome. Did a toga under Caesar really cost one ounce of gold, the same as a man's suit today? Some claim it did. But what kind of toga? And what kind of suit? I can buy a suit for $300. There is a widely circulated claim that in the Bible an ounce of gold bought "300 loaves of bread." One hesitates to assert a negative, but I have looked, and I have asked informed sources, and no one has so far been able to produce the relevant Biblical reference. If anyone has it, please forward it to me. Furthermore, even if gold had "kept its purchasing power over 3,000 years," that would merely mean it produced a real, inflation-adjusted return of 0%. Inflation-protected government bonds will give you inflation plus 2%.

9. "Gold mutual funds are pretty much the same."

Not a chance. You need to look under the hood. Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining isn't even a gold fund anymore; Morningstar moved it to the "natural resources" category, because it invests in general mining and related activities as well. Most "gold" mutual funds don't even invest in gold itself, just the equities of mining companies—further evidence that gold is scarcely over-owned. Morningstar analyst Janet Yang says that two which invest in both stocks and metal are First Eagle Gold and Fidelity Select Gold. Other funds also vary in style. Oppenheimer Gold & Special Minerals, for example, tends to own a lot of smaller mining stocks, and to invest in silver and platinum miners as well as gold. U.S. Global Precious Minerals Fund focuses on smaller mining stocks.

10. "You should always have 7% of your portfolio in gold for security."

This has become a shibboleth. But why 7%? If the other 93% of your portfolio collapses, that 7% isn't going to help much, even if it, say, doubles in price. As usual, these things depend on the price you pay. Personally, if I thought the gold boom were going to continue, I'd rather bet by risking a smaller amount in high-octane, out-of-the-money call options on the SPDR Gold ETF or maybe the Market Vectors Junior Gold Mine ETF. Those give you the right to buy into the fund later at a fixed price if it booms. You only have to put a limited amount down. If prices don't move, or fall, you will lose that small stake. But if prices skyrocket, you can make many times your bet. As an illustration: SPDR Gold Trust is at $125 a share. The $150 call options, good until January 2012, cost $6.50 per share. Your downside is limited.

Read more...

Advice for the 'Poor Rich'

Source:http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110801/advice-for-the-poor-rich?mod=bb-budgeting
Everybody hates Todd Henderson.
In case you haven't heard, he's the University of Chicago law professor who unwisely blogged last week about his financial woes in a post headlined "We Are the Super Rich."

Mr. Henderson and his wife, an oncologist, make more than $250,000 a year, and apparently they're struggling to get by. If President Barack Obama gets his wicked way, and tax rates rise for those earning more than $250,000 a year, Mr. Henderson says it will mean real sacrifice in his family.

It's too easy to pelt Mr. Henderson with rotten eggs, as so many have now done. (He yanked the post, but way too late—and on the Internet, one's blunders never die.) But can we, instead, give him some useful advice?

Sure.

Adjust your expectations. "I can show you a client of mine right now who lives in a suburb of Chicago, he's a doctor, makes $350,000 a year, and he routinely racks up $25,000 on his credit cards," says Michael Kalscheur, a financial planner at Castle Wealth Advisors in Indianapolis. The reason? Too many people have "unrealistic expectations," says Mr. Kalscheur. They figure they should be vacationing in Italy, driving expensive cars, the whole deal. "We need to knock him upside the head. He's got to stop spending money." Every financial planner will tell you the same thing: The real challenge is tackling the psychology.

Refinance your mortgage. I have no idea how big and expensive your home is, but you can now get a 30 year jumbo mortgage at around 5.3%. Even on a $1 million loan that comes to $5,500 a month, and it's tax deductible. If your home is so expensive that you can't even afford it at these rates, you can't afford it. Sell it and move somewhere more affordable. If you're underwater on the mortgage, talk to the bank. Forget about "equity," which may not exist, and look at the cashflow.

Get a grip on your discretionary spending. Carry a pocket notebook with you for a month, and write down everything you spend. Get your wife and children to do the same. It will help you understand where your money is going. Almost every financial planner will tell you that this is invariably a huge eye-opener. As Jonathan Sard, a financial advisor in Atlanta, says, you may find you spend $100 in Target every time you go in for lightbulbs, or spend $300 taking your kids to a White Sox game. With everyone it's different, but you need to know where the losses are. If writing everything down is too much of a challenge: Junk the plastic, and just carry cash. This is instant budgeting. If you carry $500 a month, that's all you can spend.

Stop blaming the government. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a household earning $265,000 a year is in the top 20% in the country, and one earning $395,000 is in the top 10%. (The relevant thresholds are $190,000 and $290,000, respectively. And those figures were from 2007, a more prosperous time). So you're near the top of the tree in the richest country in history. At the same time, contrary to what you seem to think, federal taxes are not extortionate by modern historical standards. According to the CBO, families in the top 20% pay average federal taxes of 25.1%. The figure in President Reagan's final year in office: 25.6%.

Think about relocating. No kidding. It's not about how much you earn, it's about how much you get to keep, and if you are paying too much to live in an expensive town like Chicago, you may be much better off earning less somewhere cheaper. You and your wife both have highly portable jobs. According to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index, someone earning $350,000 in Chicago could get the same standard of living on just $230,000 a year in, say, Austin, Texas or Cincinnati.

Reconsider the investments. You say you're putting money into the stock market each month, even though you are paying off huge student loans. You need to do the math. If your investments are through a 401(k), they make sense: They're saving you taxes, maybe taking advantage of a company match. But if they are in addition to your 401(k) plan, they may not make sense right now. You are probably better off using the money to pay down that debt.

Rethink the two cars. Are you leasing them? How much are they costing you a month? This is one of the biggest ways middle class families blow their cash. I can't believe the number of people who think these moving white elephants are a status symbol. When I see an expensive car go by, all it tells me is that the owner is (a) insecure and (b) has no sense. These days you can get a decent set of wheels for a lot less than $10,000. Buy used. Pay cash. Run it till it dies.

Rethink the schools. You're sending your children to private school. But how much is it costing you? I take your point about terrible local public schools, but can you move to a neighborhood with better public schools? Or downscale to less-expensive schools?

Talk to a tax accountant. You say you're using TurboTax. With your income, you might benefit from some professional assistance. Are there deductions you can take that you're not using? Are you subject to Alternative Minimum Tax? Should you make your fourth quarter state and federal tax payments before Dec. 31? You may be able to help your financial position.

Go after all the little costs. You're hemorrhaging money. Get the kids to mow the lawn or do it yourself. Bake your own bread. Cook your own meals. Buy generic brands and bulk brands. Go to Costco, Sam's Club and other discount clubs. Junk the landline. Junk cable for Netflix. Rethink your banking: You're probably bleeding money through needless "fees" every month. Forget the "conspicuous consumption." Go for the conspicuous unconsumption. Brag about how little you spend. Find new ways to avoid spending money.

Oh, and one more thing. Never, ever, ever again blog about how hard it is to live on $300,000 or $350,000 a year at a time when one middle-aged man in four can't find a full-time job, and one in five can't find any job at all.

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Koperasi Wahida HPA-Info

Sumber:kowahida.blogspot.com
Pada 23.09.2010, Mesyuarat ALK Koperasi Wahida HPA Berhad telah memutuskan untuk membuka semula penebusan saham koperasi kepada semua ahli hpa yang belum mendaftar menjadi anggota Koperasi Wahida HPA Berhad dan anggota yang telah mendaftar sebagai anggota Koperasi Wahida HPA Berhad berkuatkuasa pada 24.09.2010, .JUMLAH PENEBUSAN TERKINI YANG DIBUKA ADALAH SEBANYAK RM 662,781.00Penambahan saham.

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Kalau Melabur Jangan Sampai Rugi

Source:http://www.pakdi.net/kalau-melabur-jangan-sampai-rugi/

“Di mana saya patut melabur?”

“Ok kah saya melabur di sini?”

“Adakah saya membuat keputusan pelaburan yang betul?”

Barangkali itu adalah persoalan-persoalan yang sering keluar dalam pemikiran kita semua apabila kita melabur, apatah lagi kalau kita baru hendak memulakan pelaburan.

Pertama, kita kena faham prinsip asas pelaburan yang paling penting iaitu jangan rugi. Pelabur yang bijak adalah pelabur yang tahu bagaimana untuk memastikan modalnya kekal. Maksudnya, kalau pelabur itu memulakan pelaburannya sebanyak RM 100, dia mesti cuba sedaya upaya agar nilai RM 100 itu kekal.

Betul, pelaburan juga datang dengan kos. Komisyen broker, ejen, guaman, spread, cukai dan sebagainya. Ini juga mesti diambil kira oleh kita semua. Maka, sekiranya sejurus selepas kita beli sesuatu produk pelaburan dan kita dapati kita tidak boleh terus menjualnya kembali paling kurang dengan harga kos, itu bermaksud kita dalam posisi rugi. Pelaburan kita telah rugi.

Justeru, kita perlu merangka plan pelaburan yang tepat untuk memastikan kerugian awal sebegitu dapat dikurangkan ke jumlah yang paling minima.

Di Malaysia, ada 2 penanda aras yang sangat sesuai untuk kita semua. Penanda aras yang dimaksudkan adalah:

1. Kadar pulangan fixed deposit (FD) / mudharabah di bank-bank yang ketika ini dalam sekitar 3-4% setahun.

2. Kadar pulangan Tabung Haji / ASB yang ketika ini dalam sekitar 5-7%.

Sudah tentu untuk individu yang mempunyai net-worth yang tinggi dan juga institusi pelaburan adalah dengan merujuk kadar pulangan bon / sukuk yang bertaraf AAA.

Instrumen kewangan yang disebut ini adalah instrumen kewangan yang mempunyai risiko yang rendah (secara umumnya). Justeru, modal pelaburan kita selalunya kekal dan kerugian tidak berlaku dengan mudah.

Jadi sekiranya kita mahu memulakan pelaburan di tempat lain kita perlu pastikan adakah kita boleh dapat lebih dari pulangan 3% di FD / mudharabah atau lebih dari 5-7% di Tabung Haji / ASB.

Ingat, RM 100 yang kita letak di FD / mudharabah membolehkan kita mendapat RM 3 dan menjadikan nilai pelaburan kita menjadi RM 103.

Kalau kita melabur RM 100 dan setahun kemudian nilainya menjadi RM 94 misalnya, itu bermakna kita sedang kerugian dan kita perlu menilai balik pelan pelaburan kita.

Harus kita ingat, sekiranya kita tidak berjaya mendapat pulangan melebihi dua penanda aras ini secara konsisten, maka kita perlu melihat kembali pelan pelaburan kita. Adakah kita telah melabur dengan pengetahuan dan kemahiran yang betul?

Adalah lebih baik kita meletakkan sahaja duit kita dalam FD / Mudharabah, Tabung Haji / ASB kalau pelaburan kita di tempat lain sentiasa rugi.

Ingat, prinsip utama ini sentiasa, jangan rugi.

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Tip Jika Terlibat Kemalangan dan Membuat Tuntutan Takaful / Insurans

Source:www.afyan.com


Sebelum Kemalangan (ketika mengambil polisi takaful)

1. Kita tidak tahu bila akan berlaku kemalangan, jadi ini adalah panduan ketika mengambil polisi takaful. Kalau kita tahu bila akan berlaku kemalanga, tentu syarikat-syarikat takaful terpaksa gulung tikar. Untuk panduan sebelum mengambil polisi takaful, boleh rujuk ke 9 Perkara Yang Perlu Anda Tahu Sebelum Memperbaharui Roadtax Kenderaan di dalam nota sebelum ini.
2. Pastikan jumlah perlindungan yang kita ambil mencukupi. Sebaik-baiknya, ambillah perlindungan berdasarkan harga pasaran. Sekiranya kita mengambil perlindungan di bawah harga pasaran, kelak akan menimbulkan masalah untuk membuat tuntutan. Contoh, kereta saudara sepatutnya dilindungi dengan harga pasaran RM 100,000 tetapi saudara hanya mengambil perlindungan RM 80,00 sahaja. Maka apabila berlau tuntutan kelak, saudara hanya layak 80% sahaja daripada nilai tuntutan. Sekiranya jumlah kerosakan RM 10, 00, saudara hanya layak RM 8000 sahaja, RM 2000 saudara terpaksa membayar sendiri.
3. Pastikan mengambil polisi perlindungan “comprehensive” atau menyeluruh. Jika mengambil “third party claim” atau perlindungan pihak ketiga, janganlah menyesal sekiranya berlaku kemalangan. Pernah terjadi seorang pelanggan saya yang mengambil polisi sebegini dengan dan berkata “insya-Allah tidak akan kemalangan”. Beberapa minggu sebelum polisinya tamat, keretanya kemalangan teruk! Janganlah ia berlaku ke atas tuan-tuan sekalipun hutang kereta sudah selesai. Beringat sebelum kena.
4. Perlindungan asas hanya untuk body atau badan kereta sahaja serta enjin. Ia tidak termasuk radio dan kaset, cermin hadapan atau windscreeen, additional driver (pemandu tambahan), bencana alam dan sebagainya. Jadi pilihlah yang sewajarnya. Dan semestinya ada premium tambahan untuk perlindungan tambahan. Umpama kita membeli nasi lemak. Nasi lemak biasa harganya RM 1.50, dengan ikan bilis, telur, sambal dan timun. Jika inginkan sotong, udang atau ayam, tentulah kita perlu membayar lebih, bukan?
5. Sebaiknya polisi tambahan cermin, kerana ia paling berisiko untuk retak dan pecah. Saya sendiri pernah mengalaminya; cermin kereta saya dipecahkan dan ia tiada perlindungan tersebut. (baca: http://afyan.com/ver1/pencuri-bodoh/). Ketika itu, Selepas kejadian tersebut, setiap kali pembaharuan pilisi, saya pastikan akan ada perlindungan untuk cermin, tetapi selepas itu tidak pula ia pecah ;)
6. Satu lagi perlindungan tambahan yang perlu ialah; pemandu kedua atau second driver. Selalunya ia diberikan percuma. Ia bagi memudahkan proses tuntutan sekiranya kemalangan berlaku ketika pemandu kedua yang membawa kenderaan. Selalunya pasangan. Jika tidak, seandainya pemandu lain yang membawa kereta dan kemalangan, prosesnya agak leceh dan kemungkinan akan dikenakan bayaran tambahan.
7. Perlindungan tambahan untuk bencana alam elok untuk mereka yang berada di kawasan-kawasan yang berisiko banjir seperti di Pantai Timur Semenanjung. Tapi sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, kawasan-kawasan bandar seperti Kuala Lumpur pun mengalami banjir. Malah tempat tinggi pun banjir; Kota Tinggi, Johor (orang Johor jangan marah ya..)
8. Ambil nombor telefon wakil atau ejen atau talian panas hotline syarikat takaful. Ia bertujuan untuk memastikan nombor-nombor ini mudah dihubungi apabila berlaku kemalangan. Ia bertujuan untuk memudahkan proses seterusnya kerana berdasarkan pengalaman saya, para pelanggan saya akan panik apabila berlaku kemalangan, walaupun sudah diberikan panduan umum semasa mengambil polisi. Jika tuan-tuan mengambil polisi takaful dengan saya, saya bersedia menerima panggilan tersebut. (Sempat lagi promosi tuuu….)

Ini pula adalah tip dan panduan ketika kemalangan berlaku, di tempat kejadian.

1. Pertama sekali, jangan panik.
2. Kedua pun jangan panik.Kerana situasi ini akan menyebabkan kita menggelabah dan membuat tindakan yang tidak sewajarnya.
3. Ketiga; jangan sekali-kali panik. Tip ini terpaksa diulang sebanyak tiga kali kerana sekiranya berlaku panik, 100 tip yang akan datang pun tiada berguna lagi.
4. Jika melibatkan pihak lain, elakkan berbincang (baca: bergaduh) tentang topik-topik seperti: “Salah Siapa”, “Aku Tidak Bersalah”, “Kamulah Puncanya!”, “Bukan Salah Ibu Mengandung” dan sebagainya. Sebenarnya perbincangan (baca: pergaduhan) tentang topik tersebut tidak akan membuahkan hasil kepada kedua-dua belah pihak, malah mengusutkan keadaan. Sebaiknya saling memberi kerjasama bak kata Wonder Pet, “Apa yang penting? Kerjasama!!”.
5. Sekiranya melibatkan kemalangan jiwa atau kecederaan fizikal, hubungi 999 dengan segera untuk mendapatkan ambulan. Sila simpan nombor 999 ini, walaupun saranan ini lucu kedengarannya. Sekiranya panik, nombor semudah 123 pun sukar untuk diingati.
6. Ambil maklumat semua yang terlibat di dalam kemalangan. Maklumat-maklumat seperti nombor kenderaan, nama pemilik, nombor telefon amat membantu untuk memudahkan untuk ke membuat tuntutan. Juga maklumat tentang syarikat takaful / insurans masing-masing. Beri kerjasama kepada rakan-rakan baru tuan-tuan di tempat kemalangan. Ingat kembali pesanan Wonder Pet!
7. Buat lakaran kasar tentang lokasi tempat kejadian dan lokasi kenderaan sebelum dan selepas kemalangan. Jika ada kamera adalah lebih baik. Itulah gunanya kamera di telefon tuan-tuan. Sekali lagi pesanan Wonder Pet digunakan di sini bagi memudahkan proses selanjutnya. Beri kerjasama kepada semua yang terlibat untuk mengambil gambar.
8. Ketika ini, akan tibalah berbondong-bondong lori tunda yang “menawarkan” janji-janji manis kepada tuan-tuan, sebaiknya elakkanlah. Pernah seorang pelanggan saya, akibat terlalu panik, menerima “janji manis” tersebut sekalipun pernah diberitahu jangan berbuat demikian ketika mengambil polisi. Selepas kereta tersebut diperoleh kembali, didapati beberapa bahagian yang ditukar dengan “spare part” palsu. Saya mengesyaki ia ditukar untuk mengaut keuntungan kerana kebetulan kereta tersebut kereta baru. Apabila ditanyakan kepada bengkel, katanya ia diterima dalam keadaan tersebut daripada pihak lain iaitu lori tunda. Dalam keadaan ini agak sukar untuk mencari pihak lori tunda kerana mereka menjalankan secara “freelance” dan bukan bengkel panel.
9. Sebaiknya hubungi syarikat takaful / insurans untuk mendapatkan lori tunda daripada bengkel yang bertauliah. Di peringkat ini, kerjasama daripada ejen / wakil takaful amat diperlukan untuk melicinkan proses.
10. Kemudian, laporkan kejadian tersebut kepada pihak polis dalam tempoh 24 jam. Pastikan balai polis tersebut adalah balai polis yang “menjaga” kawasan di mana berlakunya kemalangan tersebut. Saya sendiri pernah mengalaminya sendiri, kejadian berlaku di lebuh raya. Selepas keluar daripada exit, saya dapatkan balai polis terdekat daripada exit tersebut. Rupa-rupanya balai tersebut tidak boleh menerima laporan kerana tidak “menjaga” kawasan tempat saya kemalangan.
11. Laporkan juga kemalangan tersebut kepada pihak syarikat takaful sekalipun tidak berniat untuk membuat tuntutan. Ia bagi memudahkan proses tuntutan sekiranya ada selepas itu.

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Kadar pembiayaan rumah kekal 90%

Source:utusan online
KUALA LUMPUR 21 Sept. - Bagi memastikan golongan muda dan berpendapatan rendah mampu memiliki rumah sendiri, kerajaan membuat keputusan untuk mengekalkan pembiayaan rumah kepada 90 peratus.

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata, kadar pembiayaan rumah itu kekal untuk pembelian bagi rumah pertama dan kedua sahaja.

Beliau berkata, kerajaan juga tidak berhasrat mengurangkan kadar pinjaman perumahan daripada 90 peratus kepada 80 peratus pada masa ini.

"Bagi pembeli yang sudah memiliki beberapa buah rumah dan berhasrat untuk membeli rumah lagi, kemungkinan jumlah pinjaman akan dikurangkan kepada 80 peratus sebagaimana dicadangkan," katanya kepada pemberita selepas mendengar taklimat Lembaga Pengarah Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) di sini, hari ini.

Beliau berkata demikian bagi mengulas cadangan BNM yang mahu mengkaji semula cadangan supaya bank-bank tempatan mengurangkan pinjaman perumahan daripada 90 peratus kepada 80 peratus.

Namun, cadangan itu mendapat bantahan daripada beberapa pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang melihat ia akan menjejaskan peluang golongan muda untuk memiliki rumah.

Malah, ada gesaan supaya BNM menangguhkan cadangan menurunkan nisbah pinjaman berbanding nilai (LVR) pajakan sesuatu hartanah kepada 80 peratus.

Dalam pada itu, Perdana Menteri berkata, kerajaan mengambil sikap terbuka berkenaan cadangan untuk membenarkan ringgit diniagakan di luar pesisir, 12 tahun selepas ia dihentikan.

Ringgit kini diniagakan pada paras tinggi dalam tempoh 13 tahun pada RM3.10 berbanding dolar Amerika Syarikat.

"Ringgit kita mengukuh seiring dengan asas-asas ekonomi yang menggalakkan dan ini tidak menyebabkan sebarang kesan teruk pada perdagangan dan pelaburan ke Malaysia," kata Najib.

Beliau berkata, kerajaan akan mengambil beberapa langkah serta mengkaji secara mendalam sebelum rancangan ringgit diniagakan.

Katanya, kerajaan sentiasa berhati-hati dengan langkah tersebut agar kesan krisis kewangan 1997 tidak berulang di samping menjejaskan nilai ringgit yang dilihat begitu kukuh ketika ini.

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10 Reasons To Buy a Home-Yahoo Finance

Source:http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/110685/10-reasons-to-buy-a-home;_ylt=ApNb62Jt0CnS2txcwUHdZwlO7sMF;_ylu=X3oDMTE5dmh0aG1oBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN3ZWVrZW5kRWRpdGlvbgRzbGsDd2h5YnV5aW5nYWhv?mod=realestate-buy

Enough with the doom and gloom about homeownership.

Sure, maybe there's more pain to come in the housing market. But when Time magazine starts running covers that declare "Owning a home may no longer make economic sense," it's time to say: Enough is enough. This is what "capitulation" looks like. Everyone has given up.


After all, at the peak of the bubble five years ago, Time had a different take. "Home Sweet Home," declared its cover then, as it celebrated the boom and asked: "Will your house make your rich?"

But it's not enough just to be contrarian. So here are 10 reasons why it's good to buy a home.

1. You can get a good deal. Especially if you play hardball. This is a buyer's market. Most of the other buyers have now vanished, as the tax credits on purchases have just expired. We're four to five years into the biggest housing bust in modern history. And prices have come down a long way— about 30% from their peak, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices in 20 big cities. Yes, it's mixed. New York is only down 20%. Arizona has halved. Will prices fall further? Sure, they could. You'll never catch the bottom. It doesn't really matter so much in the long haul.

Where is fair value? Fund manager Jeremy Grantham at GMO, who predicted the bust with remarkable accuracy, said two years ago that home prices needed to fall another 17% to reach fair value in relation to household incomes. Case-Shiller since then: Down 18%.

2. Mortgages are cheap. You can get a 30-year loan for around 4.3%. What's not to like? These are the lowest rates on record. As recently as two years ago they were about 6.3%. That drop slashes your monthly repayment by a fifth. If inflation picks up, you won't see these mortgage rates again in your lifetime. And if we get deflation, and rates fall further, you can refi.

3. You'll save on taxes. You can deduct the mortgage interest from your income taxes. You can deduct your real estate taxes. And you'll get a tax break on capital gains—if any—when you sell. Sure, you'll need to do your math. You'll only get the income tax break if you itemize your deductions, and many people may be better off taking the standard deduction instead. The breaks are more valuable the more you earn, and the bigger your mortgage. But many people will find that these tax breaks mean owning costs them less, often a lot less, than renting.

4. It'll be yours. You can have the kitchen and bathrooms you want. You can move the walls, build an extension—zoning permitted—or paint everything bright orange. Few landlords are so indulgent; for renters, these types of changes are often impossible. You'll feel better about your own place if you own it than if you rent. Many years ago, when I was working for a political campaign in England, I toured a working-class northern town. Mrs. Thatcher had just begun selling off public housing to the tenants. "You can tell the ones that have been bought," said my local guide. "They've painted the front door. It's the first thing people do when they buy." It was a small sign that said something big.

5. You'll get a better home. In many parts of the country it can be really hard to find a good rental. All the best places are sold as condos. Money talks. Once again, this is a case by case issue: In Miami right now there are so many vacant luxury condos that owners will rent them out for a fraction of the cost of owning. But few places are so favored. Generally speaking, if you want the best home in the best neighborhood, you're better off buying.

6. It offers some inflation protection. No, it's not perfect. But studies by Professor Karl "Chip" Case (of Case-Shiller), and others, suggest that over the long-term housing has tended to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year. That's valuable inflation insurance, especially if you're young and raising a family and thinking about the next 30 or 40 years. In the recent past, inflation-protected government bonds, or TIPS, offered an easier form of inflation insurance. But yields there have plummeted of late. That also makes homeownership look a little better by contrast.

7. It's risk capital. No, your home isn't the stock market and you shouldn't view it as the way to get rich. But if the economy does surprise us all and start booming, sooner or later real estate prices will head up again, too. One lesson from the last few years is that stocks are incredibly hard for most normal people to own in large quantities—for practical as well as psychological reasons. Equity in a home is another way of linking part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy—if it happens—and still managing to sleep at night.

8. It's forced savings. If you can rent an apartment for $2,000 month instead of buying one for $2,400 a month, renting may make sense. But will you save that $400 for your future? A lot of people won't. Most, I dare say. Once again, you have to do your math, but the part of your mortgage payment that goes to principal repayment isn't a cost. You're just paying yourself by building equity. As a forced monthly saving, it's a good discipline.

9. There is a lot to choose from. There is a glut of homes in most of the country. The National Association of Realtors puts the current inventory at around 4 million homes. That's below last year's peak, but well above typical levels, and enough for about a year's worth of sales. More keeping coming onto the market, too, as the banks slowly unload their inventory of unsold properties. That means great choice, as well as great prices.

10. Sooner or later, the market will clear. Demand and supply will meet. The population is forecast to grow by more than 100 million people over the next 40 years. That means maybe 40 million new households looking for homes. Meanwhile, this housing glut will work itself out. Many of the homes will be bought. But many more will simply be destroyed—either deliberately, or by inaction. This is already happening. Even two years ago, when I toured the housing slump in western Florida, I saw bankrupt condo developments that were fast becoming derelict. And, finally, a lot of the "glut" simply won't matter: It's concentrated in a few areas, like Florida and Nevada. Unless you live there, the glut won't have any long-term impact on housing supply in your town.

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DANA PELABURAN AL-HUSNA AGIH KEUNTUNGAN 18.20% BAGI TAHUN 2007

DANA PELABURAN AL-HUSNA AGIH KEUNTUNGAN 18.20% BAGI TAHUN 2007

4 Feb 2008 - Dana pelaburan al-husna yang diuruskan oleh bahagian pelaburan Koperasi Belia Islam Malaysia Berhad telah berjaya mengagihkan keuntungan sebanyak 18.20% bagi tahun 2007 kepada para pelabur.

Keuntungan ini diagihkan 3 kali iaitu untuk tempoh pelaburan Januari – April 2007 sebanyak 7.57%, Mei – Ogos 2007 sebanyak 7.08% dan September – Disember 2007 sebanyak 3.55%. Jumlah keuntungan yang telah diagihkan bagi tempoh setahun tersebut ialah sebanyak RM152,405.38.

Berakhir 31 Disember 2007, dana pelaburan ini telah berjaya dikumpulkan sebanyak RM1,031,753.00. Sepanjang tahun 2007, peluang-peluang pelaburan yang baik dan menarik banyak diperolehi oleh KBI di samping kedudukan pasaran saham Malaysia yang kukuh telah membantu KBI untuk membuat keuntungan melalui pelaburan ini.

Peluang pelaburan ini masih terbuka dan KBI amat mengalu-alukan penyertaan daripada semua umat Islam di Malaysia terutamanya anggota-anggota sedia ada KBI untuk melabur di dalam dana ini. Pihak pengurusan KBI akan terus berusaha bagi memastikan para pelabur memperolehi pulangan yang menarik melalui pelaburan di dalam dana ini. "
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LTAT

Source:http://www.ltat.org.my/webltat/index.html
1. Apa itu LTAT?

* Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera atau singkatannya LTAT ialah sebuah badan berkanun kerajaan yang telah ditubuhkan melalui akta parlimen, Akta 101, 1973 bagi mengadakan faedah-faedah persaraan dan faedah-faedah lain kepada anggota lain-lain pangkat dan satu skim simpanan kepada pegawai-pegawai Angkatan Tentera Malaysia dan Anggota Kerahan Angkatan Sukarela.

2. Siapakah pencarum wajib?

* - Anggota Lain-Lain Pangkat Angkatan Tentera Malaysia.
- Kadar caruman 10% dari gaji bulanan + 15% sumbangan Kerajaan. Jumlah yang dikreditkan dalam akaun pencarum setiap bulan ialah bersamaan 25% gaji bulanan.

3. Siapakah pencarum sukarela?

* - Pegawai-pegawai Tetap Angkatan Tentera Malaysia termasuk Anggota LLP yang ditauliahkan.
- Anggota Kerahan Sepenuh Masa (AKAS).
- Kadar caruman minimum RM 25.00 dengan gandaan RM 5.00 sehingga maksimum RM 750.00 sebulan.
- Tiada sumbangan Kerajaan.
- Keahlian adalah secara memohon kepada LTAT.

4. Apakah faedah-faedah utama menjadi pencarum wajib dan pencarum sukarela?

* - Pencarum akan menerima dividen dan bonus tahunan yang akan dikreditkan terus ke dalam Akaun pencarum pada penghujung tahun.
- Dividen dan bonus ini dikompaunkan kepada jumlah caruman pencarum untuk menjadi jumlah caruman terkumpul.
- Caruman kepada LTAT tidak dikenakan cukai pendapatan.
- Khairat Kematian akan diberikan kepada waris bagi pencarum yang meninggal dunia semasa dalam perkhidmatan.
- Faedah Hilangupaya akan diberikan kepada pencarum yang diberhentikan dari perkhidmatan kerana kecacatan tubuh badan atau akal fikiran yang berkekalan.
- Pengeluaran caruman dilakukan secara sekaligus.
- Pengeluaran sebahagian caruman untuk menampung kos pembelian rumah atau tanah kediaman yang pertama.

5. Bagaimanakah dividen atau bonus ditentukan oleh LTAT?

* Kadar dividen dan bonus, jika ada, akan ditetapkan oleh Lembaga Pengarah LTAT dengan nasihat Panel Pelaburan, Aktuari Kerajaan dan Kementerian Kewangan. Kadar dividen dan bonus tahunan yang ditetapkan adalah berdasarkan kepada keuntungan pelaburan LTAT bagi tahun berkenaan.

6. Apakah faedah-faedah sampingan sebagai pencarum?

* LTAT sentiasa berusaha mengenalpasti faedah baru yang boleh mendatangkan manafaat kepada pencarum atau keluarga atau warisnya.

Diantara faedah-faedah sampingan yang telah diwujudkan ialah:
- Menawarkan anggota-anggota ATM/bekas tentera untuk membeli rumah-rumah kos rendah yang dibangunkan melalui anak-anak syarikat,
- Anugerah Kecemerlangan Akademik ATM bagi anak-anak anggota yang sedang berkhidmat (dengan kerjasama Kementah),
- Anugerah Wira Niaga (dengan kerjasama Affin Bank Berhad, PERHEBAT dan Boustead Holdings Berhad),
- Yayasan Warisan Perajurit (YWP) ditubuhkan oleh kumpulan syarikat LTAT, bagi menyediakan biasiswa kecil untuk kecemerlangan akademi anak-anak ATM bagi peperiksaan UPSR, PMR, IPTA serta biasiswa bagi melanjutkan pelajaran di University of Nottingham Malaysia dan bagi anak-anak bekas tentera bagi peperiksaan UPSR dan PMR.

Beberapa faedah sampingan baru sedang di dalam kajian pada masa ini dan akan diperkenalkan bila tiba masanya.

7. Bagaimana cara menjadi pencarum wajib?

* Anggota Angkatan Tentera Malaysia Lain-lain Pangkat akan menjadi pencarum secara automatik setelah mereka menamatkan latihan dan diserapkan ke dalam perkhidmatan tetap. Potongan caruman diterima oleh LTAT dari UGAT.

8. Bagaimana cara menjadi pencarum sukarela?

* Pegawai-pegawai Angkatan Tentera Malaysia dan Anggota Kerahan Sepenuh Masa(AKAS) boleh memohon untuk menjadi pencarum sukarela dengan mengisi borang yang disediakan . Borang ini boleh diperolehi secara percuma di Pejabat LTAT atau melalui kemudahan muat turun borang dalam Laman Web LTAT.

9. Berapa lamakah permohonan untuk menjadi ahli ini diluluskan?

* - Bagi pencarum wajib keahliannya adalah automatik apabila diserapkan ke dalam perkhidmatan tetap dan berkuatkuasa apabila potongan caruman dimajukan kepada LTAT oleh pihak UGAT.
- Bagi pencarum sukarela permohonan mereka diluluskan dengan serta merta setelah borang permohonan diterima oleh LTAT dan berkuatkuasa apabila wang caruman dimajukan kepada LTAT oleh pihak UGAT.

10. Adakah LTAT menghantarkan penyata tahunan kepada pencarum?

* LTAT mengedarkan Penyata mengenai caruman bulanan kepada pencarum-pencarumnya dua kali setahun melalui khidmat Hantaran Semboyan (KHS) dengan menggunakan kod unit yang dibekalkan oleh UGAT.

- Penyata Pertengahan Tahun berakhir 30 Jun menunjukkan caruman atau simpanan dari bulan Januari hingga Jun.
- Penyata Akhir Tahun berakhir 31 Disember memaparkan caruman kumulatif dari bulan Januari hingga Disember bagi tahun berkenaan berserta maklumat mengenai dividen dan bonus yang dikreditkan.
- Bagi pencarum wajib yang ditauliahkan penyata caruman akan dikirimkan hanya di atas permintaan pencarum berkenaan.

11. Bilakah caruman boleh dikeluarkan?

* Caruman bagi pencarum wajib termasuk caruman anggota yang ditauliahkan boleh dikeluarkan:

- apabila pencarum meninggal dunia; atau
- 1 bulan setelah pencarum diberhentikan dari perkhidmatan; atau
- pencarum mencapai usia 50 tahun.

Bagi pencarum sukarela, pengeluaran simpanan boleh dibuat pada bila-bila masa dan mereka diberi kelonggaran untuk menjadi ahli bagi kali kedua walaupun telah membuat pengeluaran kali pertama.

12. Bagaimana caruman dibayar balik?

* Apabila seorang pencarum layak mengeluarkan caruman atau simpanannya, bayaran balik itu dibuat dengan bayaran sekaligus.

13. Adakah LTAT mengambil masa yang lama untuk membuat pembayaran?

* Pembayaran dibuat dalam masa 24 jam hari bekerja setelah LTAT menerima dokumen yang lengkap dari Kementerian Pertahanan.

14. Berapakah jumlah yang akan dibayar balik oleh LTAT?

* Jumlah wang yang akan dibayar balik bergantung kepada keadaan berikut:

- Mereka yang berpencen akan menerima bahagian Caruman Ahli termasuk keuntungan terkumpul ke atas caruman mereka sahaja. Caruman Kerajaan beserta keuntungan terkumpul akan dikembalikan kepada Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen (KWAP). Ahli akan dibayar pencen bulanan oleh Kerajaan.
- Mereka yang tidak berpencen akan menerima bahagian Caruman Ahli dan Caruman Kerajaan termasuk keuntungan terkumpul bagi kedua-duanya.
- Hutang piutang kepada Kerajaan, jika ada, akan dipotong oleh LTAT sebelum pembayaran balik dibuat berdasarkan Sijil Penyelesaian Hutang Kerajaan yang diterima dari Jabatan Arah Urusan Gaji Angkatan Tentera.
- Jika pencarum diberhentikan perkhidmatan kerana hilang keupayaan akal atau jasmani yang berkekalan, mereka akan menerima bahagian Caruman Ahli termasuk keuntungan terkumpul ditambah dengan Faedah Hilangupaya. Caruman Kerajaan akan dikembalikan kepada KWAP.
- Jika pencarum meninggal dunia semasa dalam perkhidmatan, waris mereka akan menerima jumlah seperti pencarum yang berpencen ditambah dengan Khairat Kematian.

15. Berapakah jumlah bayaran Skim Khairat Kematian atau Faedah Hilangupaya?

* Jumlah pemberian di bawah Skim Khairat Kematian dan Faedah Hilangupaya adalah berasaskan satu rumusan (formula) yang mengambilkira:

- Lama tempoh perkhidmatan pencarum (diambil kira daripada tarikh keahlian pencarum di LTAT sehingga tarikh pencarum meninggal dunia atau tarikh pemberhentian perkhidmatan atas sebab hilang upaya.)
- Jumlah caruman terkumpul beliau.

Daripada butiran ini barulah jumlahnya dapat dihitungkan.

16. Bagaimanakah cara memohon mengeluarkan caruman?

* Jika syarat pengeluaran dipenuhi, permohonan untuk mengeluarkan caruman dibuat dengan melengkapkan borang LTAT/PWCA/14-2/1 yang boleh diperolehi secara percuma semasa menjalani Dokumentasi Akhir di KEMENTAH atau melalui kemudahan muat turun borang dalam Laman Web LTAT. Pastikan maklumat diri dan alamat pos yang lengkap dan tepat supaya penyerahan cek tidak tergendala.

17. Jika pencarum meninggal dunia bagaimanakah wang carumannya dikeluarkan?

* Penama atau waris pencarum boleh memohon untuk mengeluarkan caruman dengan menggunakan dokumen berikut:

- Borang LTAT / PWCA / 14-2/2 (Borang Kenyataan Waris) yang boleh diperolehi secara percuma di Pejabat LTAT atau melalui kemudahan muat turun borang dalam Laman Web LTAT.
- Salinan Fotostat kad pengenalan pewaris/penama dan lain-lain yang berkaitan.

18. Bagaimanakah pewaris atau penama mengetahui tentang caruman atau simpanan yang berada di LTAT?

* Pihak Penama atau Waris akan dihubungi. Oleh yang demikian amatlah penting maklumat waris atau penama yang kemaskini dimaklumkan kepada Jabatan Rekod dan Pencen Kementerian Pertahanan dan pencarum-pencarum diminta mengemaskini maklumat waris mereka di LTAT.

19. Adakah pembayaran balik dibuat dengan wang tunai atau cek?

* Pencarum boleh membuat pilihan pembayaran balik wang caruman LTAT seperti berikut:

- Serahan Kaunter - Pengambilan cek di kaunter LTAT
- Pos - Cek pembayaran diposkan terus ke alamat pencarum melalui pos berdaftar.
- Kredit Akaun - LTAT mengkreditkan terus pembayaran ke dalam akaun pencarum.

20. Apakah dokumen yang diperlukan untuk menunaikan cek pengeluaran dari LTAT?

* Kemukakan dokumen-dokumen berikut kepada Cawangan Affin Bank Berhad di mana pengeluaran wang akan dibuat:

- Buku Perakuan Perkhidmatan (BAT D 92)
- Kad Pengenalan Awam Pencarum atau waris/penama.

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