Thursday, October 11, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Of scams, shams and schemes - Opinion | The Star Online
Of scams, shams and schemes - Opinion | The Star Online
QUESTION TIME
Of scams, shams and schemes
QUESTION TIME
By P. GUNASEGARAM
Ten questions to ask before you put your money in the wrong place.
AH, people’s greed! It knows no bounds and everyone wants to make a quick buck with little effort.
They just can’t resist the opportunity to make easy money but too often they don’t stop to think. And they get burnt!
The sad thing is this happens over and over and over again despite all the caution that the authorities urge.
Eventually, when the scheme topples because the pyramid is teetering on the point and not resting on its base, and the sham is exposed, it’s to the authorities that the victims turn to.
So let’s not make noise when the authorities investigate money-making schemes, especially when they are too good to be true. Let the authorities investigate thoroughly because usually they investigate only after some complaints. And complaints are the first sign of trouble.
If there is absolutely nothing wrong with their business, and everything is legal and right, they will be allowed to operate again.
Nothing much would have been lost and they start again from where they left off.
But, if there is something wrong, the poker game is up and the house of cards will come tumbling down. In that case, all distraught investors can hope for is a share of whatever is left which often is not much.
There have been many kinds of scams over the years. Basically, all of them operate pretty much the same.
They actually pay out insane returns and dividends for a while and when enough people are attracted in, they disappear in a wink with all the money that people have put into the schemes, scams or shams.
And they pay attractive commission to those who get them customers.
It’s similar to stock market investors in ramped up counters: they know the fall will come but they hope to be among the first who get out before the values crumble and people start disappearing. That’s a high-risk gamble which for the most part is just not worth taking.
Here are 10 questions to ask before investing in a money-making scheme:
1. ARE the returns too good to be true?
If someone promises you 20% a year when fixed deposits pay 3%, that’s a damn good rate of return. But you need to find out what the risk is. Typically, the higher the return, the higher the risk.
2. DOES it claim to protect your capital?
If your returns are high and the scheme promises to preserve your capital, run as fast as your two legs will carry you. No one, not even the greatest investor the world has seen – Warren Buffett – can promise you that.
3. HOW is your capital protected?
If capital is protected and the return is reasonable, ask this question. If it is merely the word of the scheme or the company that is running the scheme, it will not be worth the paper it is written on if the scheme collapses and goes bust.
4. WHY does the company not make the money for itself?
If you are still convinced that they can give you such a return with no corresponding risk, ask yourself this question. They can very well borrow some money from their bank, sell all their assets or beg from their relatives if they can get that kind of returns instead of letting you make the money. Generosity like that does not exist.
5. HOW much work do you have to do?
The less work you have to do for the returns, the more suspicious you should become. If you are in direct selling, you have to work hard to get your commissions.
But if you are sitting back, kicking off your shoes and putting your feet up on the stool while watching the world go by and your money flow into your bank account, let me tell you something: It won’t last!
6. DOES it pay you when you recruit someone else into your scheme?
If it does, be very careful because that’s the classic way of spreading the scheme. You recruit someone, you get paid, your recruit gets someone, he gets paid – it spreads in geometric progression like wildfire.
But don’t forget, you most likely have not recovered your initial investment. The scam is still accumulating money and waiting for the last minute before it packs up, money and all, and flees.
7. DOES it claim that it has a proprietary product, service or method?
Oldest trick in the book, this one. They have such a fantastic advantage over the rest with this and they are so generous that they want to share it with you so that you will gain from it too. Charity from those who have not made enough money to be that charitable is rather suspect.
8. WHO are the promoters? Are they reputable people with solid track records and businesses built up through hard work? Or are they commission salesmen and saleswomen who have a glib tongue with which they smooth over the pitfalls of their so-called business?
9. HOW long have they been in business?
If they are new to the game, better be suspicious than sorry later.
There are many reputable direct sales organisations and if you are a good salesperson, you can make some money but usually they have been around for a while. I won’t name them, you know who they are.
10. HAS it started delaying payments?
Oh, poor you! If you are in it after asking all these questions and were still, well, conned, it may well be too late.
If they are delaying payments, they either got it wrong and can’t pay you or they are in the process of running and leaving you high and dry. Get the investigators in and salvage whatever you can.
Finally, remember, these scams can be quite smart, sophisticated and rather persuasive. Put them to the test by asking and answering these questions — hopefully you don’t have to answer question 10 by which time it may be too late — and we guarantee you will be safe.
Or your money back. Promise!
> P. Gunasegaram is an independent consultant and writer.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Start a Business at Home: 10 Tips for Success
Due to difficult economic times, many people seek new revenues. A valid alternative is to start a home business. However, this involves challenges and realities that must be understood before.
How to Start a Home Business
The home business has always been a way to create some extra cash. Some real benefits of these businesses are:
1. They allow a flexible schedule, whether you work part time or only for a few hours a day in your business
2. Fixed cost savings by eliminating a normal business costs such as a local income or payroll (not having employees)
3. Reduce average travel time in a business, because the company is located in your home
4. It can develop in person (physical business) and virtual (telephone, internet)
The home business has always been a way to create some extra cash. Some real benefits of these businesses are:
1. They allow a flexible schedule, whether you work part time or only for a few hours a day in your business
2. Fixed cost savings by eliminating a normal business costs such as a local income or payroll (not having employees)
3. Reduce average travel time in a business, because the company is located in your home
4. It can develop in person (physical business) and virtual (telephone, internet)
So far it seems to be an attractive business opportunity, however, the reality is that not all businesses started, succeed. Indeed, using the home as workplace, you save money and time, but some problems to face are:
1. Having a bad location significantly affects the home business
2. Do not have enough time (or have a fixed work schedule), tends to lower sales
3. The absence of a separation between home and work, can lead to personal and family problems
4. There is a tendency not to take seriously these businesses by the entrepreneur
1. Having a bad location significantly affects the home business
2. Do not have enough time (or have a fixed work schedule), tends to lower sales
3. The absence of a separation between home and work, can lead to personal and family problems
4. There is a tendency not to take seriously these businesses by the entrepreneur
Therefore, some tips for starting a successful home business are:
1. Define your resources
Before starting a home business (even before the business idea), you must define the resources available, both in terms of money, time, personnel (human resources), education and experience.
a. Money
Despite reducing its fixed costs, capital is needed for activities such as purchasing inventory, purchase of machinery, upgrading of its workspace, utility payments, etc.. The exact amount will be defined during the financial analysis to make your business plan.
b. Time
A business is a business treated poorly doomed. Daily work is required to devote to the business, even when you’re not on the counter. Consider a real way if you have the time to start a business. On average, a home business is like a part time job at least have to spend 4 hours a day.
c. Human resources
The home business are very similar to the family business, since family members involved in the business. Therefore, the starting a business should be a family decision, if this scenario happens, to be considered by the parties to enter into administration. If you have the financial resources to hire someone, we recommend hiring part time.
d. Education
In this issue, I refer specifically to management education. To manage a home business, you need to understand some basic management concepts, such as pay for products, such as determining the utility, how to handle customer service, develop a business plan, business strategies, etc..
You can check 100Negocios business courses, where he will train in the most practical and accurate on these issues.
e. Experience
Having business experience will help make enough to respond as a home business. If this is the first time that a company develops, it is recommended to minimize the investment, ie, start slowly, investing as small as possible. During this process, make many mistakes, but learn a lot from them, and will not cost you dearly. Also avoid at all costs using all its resources or high investment, if you do not have business experience.
2. What business idea fits?
Depending on the resources established in the previous section, must develop several home business ideas that suit your conditions.
Some resources for finding the best business idea are:
• List of home business ideas
• How to find profitable business ideas
• Section 100Negocios business ideas
• Profitable business in Mexico
It is very important to evaluate the first of 5 or more business ideas, and determine which best suits your available resources.
3. Make your business plan
This is where most entrepreneurs stops (and stuck). The concept of most of the business plan is a document that is long, tedious, and boring of a business. However, the reality is that the plan is more sitting representation of your business idea.
To determine whether an idea is profitable or not, the only way is to evaluate all that entails the idea that we proposed. For example, some factors to evaluate are:
• Potential suppliers
• Current Competition and close
• Cost of building an inventory
• average retail prices
• Number of people moving in front of my house
• Type of consumers (economic status, age, gender)
• Etc., etc..
Only the business plan can help you answer these questions, and to determine the most important:
• How might sell under my circumstances (at home)
• How much will it cost the business (fixed costs, commodity taxes, etc.)
• How much will I earn (yield)
You can check the course CEUN 2.0, where we show you all the steps to make your business plan, or the Alpha course, where we see how to do financial analysis to answer the above questions.
4. Investing slowly
A mistake that every new entrepreneur make when starting a home business, is launched with all their capital to build your business. One lesson I’ve learned over the years is gradually invest in the business. That is, to know what elementary or basic business needs, and do this.
For example, say you want to put a paletería at home. Have the space available, but lack backport (paint, flooring, etc..), Buy the machine to store the ice cream (and other machines), post signs and announcement out of business, buy raw materials and plastics (bottles, spoons, etc. .)
The business problem would be to invest all your money in creating a beautiful local day 1. Time passes and he realizes that it was not business as expected, but a seasonal business that sells only in hot weather. Likewise, revenues are not sufficient to sustain monthly expenses.
By investing little by little, we can realize (before using all capital), if: 1) the business can be successful and worth continuing to invest in it and 2) what they want to see the customer of this business.
In this way, we would use the minimum necessary to give attractive presentation to local, without buying the machines, invest in a product and plastics. With painting the interior and the facade, put an ad out, and fix a front desk (no tables or chairs), the investment is reduced, and we can see for a few weeks or months, how the business works.
Before starting a home business (even before the business idea), you must define the resources available, both in terms of money, time, personnel (human resources), education and experience.
a. Money
Despite reducing its fixed costs, capital is needed for activities such as purchasing inventory, purchase of machinery, upgrading of its workspace, utility payments, etc.. The exact amount will be defined during the financial analysis to make your business plan.
b. Time
A business is a business treated poorly doomed. Daily work is required to devote to the business, even when you’re not on the counter. Consider a real way if you have the time to start a business. On average, a home business is like a part time job at least have to spend 4 hours a day.
c. Human resources
The home business are very similar to the family business, since family members involved in the business. Therefore, the starting a business should be a family decision, if this scenario happens, to be considered by the parties to enter into administration. If you have the financial resources to hire someone, we recommend hiring part time.
d. Education
In this issue, I refer specifically to management education. To manage a home business, you need to understand some basic management concepts, such as pay for products, such as determining the utility, how to handle customer service, develop a business plan, business strategies, etc..
You can check 100Negocios business courses, where he will train in the most practical and accurate on these issues.
e. Experience
Having business experience will help make enough to respond as a home business. If this is the first time that a company develops, it is recommended to minimize the investment, ie, start slowly, investing as small as possible. During this process, make many mistakes, but learn a lot from them, and will not cost you dearly. Also avoid at all costs using all its resources or high investment, if you do not have business experience.
2. What business idea fits?
Depending on the resources established in the previous section, must develop several home business ideas that suit your conditions.
Some resources for finding the best business idea are:
• List of home business ideas
• How to find profitable business ideas
• Section 100Negocios business ideas
• Profitable business in Mexico
It is very important to evaluate the first of 5 or more business ideas, and determine which best suits your available resources.
3. Make your business plan
This is where most entrepreneurs stops (and stuck). The concept of most of the business plan is a document that is long, tedious, and boring of a business. However, the reality is that the plan is more sitting representation of your business idea.
To determine whether an idea is profitable or not, the only way is to evaluate all that entails the idea that we proposed. For example, some factors to evaluate are:
• Potential suppliers
• Current Competition and close
• Cost of building an inventory
• average retail prices
• Number of people moving in front of my house
• Type of consumers (economic status, age, gender)
• Etc., etc..
Only the business plan can help you answer these questions, and to determine the most important:
• How might sell under my circumstances (at home)
• How much will it cost the business (fixed costs, commodity taxes, etc.)
• How much will I earn (yield)
You can check the course CEUN 2.0, where we show you all the steps to make your business plan, or the Alpha course, where we see how to do financial analysis to answer the above questions.
4. Investing slowly
A mistake that every new entrepreneur make when starting a home business, is launched with all their capital to build your business. One lesson I’ve learned over the years is gradually invest in the business. That is, to know what elementary or basic business needs, and do this.
For example, say you want to put a paletería at home. Have the space available, but lack backport (paint, flooring, etc..), Buy the machine to store the ice cream (and other machines), post signs and announcement out of business, buy raw materials and plastics (bottles, spoons, etc. .)
The business problem would be to invest all your money in creating a beautiful local day 1. Time passes and he realizes that it was not business as expected, but a seasonal business that sells only in hot weather. Likewise, revenues are not sufficient to sustain monthly expenses.
By investing little by little, we can realize (before using all capital), if: 1) the business can be successful and worth continuing to invest in it and 2) what they want to see the customer of this business.
In this way, we would use the minimum necessary to give attractive presentation to local, without buying the machines, invest in a product and plastics. With painting the interior and the facade, put an ad out, and fix a front desk (no tables or chairs), the investment is reduced, and we can see for a few weeks or months, how the business works.
5. Honestly assess the location of your home
The most common problem when creating home business is to have a poor location for business idea raised. That is, we are not saying you have bad location, but the idea does not fit with the location of the house.
In developing the business plan, you need to assess whether the location is suitable or not. This can be done through an opinion poll, people who pass in front of the house, and ask if they buy X product here.
Another way to assess whether it is a good location or not, is to find a close competitor. Despite first impressions, having competition is a good sign, indicating that there is a demand in the area for the inhabitants.
6. Check that you have permission to land use
Another legal status to open a home business, is not having the permission or license commercial land use. As background, usually in homes or residential areas, register the property with a licensed residential land use, ie it tells the government that this home is for home use.
Businesses are required to have a license of commercial land use, indicating that the area is for commercial purpose. In case of not having the permit or license, you can get in trouble if the business prospers and begins to have more visits. Therefore, check your local authority or how to change the application to register a few square meters of your home for business use.
7. Does the business need parking?
Depending on the type of business, determine the need for parking. When the area is very tight, and no parking spaces, may discourage visitors to come to your home business.
This is why the shopping malls, which have enough space for visitors to park, and can enter the store, without fear that your vehicle is damaged.
Should not have parking space, but depend on it, will find solutions to improve the business, from hiring a valet parking service, rent a space near a neighbor, or modify the structure of your home.
8. Consider the area’s socioeconomic
Sometimes we are so confident that the business idea is excellent, that we forget to think about the consumer. A common mistake when starting home businesses, is not considering the socioeconomic status of the neighborhood or area where your home is located. Remember that a large percentage of their customers are people who live nearby, within 500 meters or 1 kilometer away.
Therefore, the type of business, price level, and presentation must match the socioeconomic status of the area. For example, the seafood food business (selling seafood and seafood), is a type of restaurants in the central region of Mexico, is a business of higher consumer prices. If we put a business like this, in a low-income area in the coastal zone, we may not have problems, but in the center of the Republic would be a serious mistake.
9. Two months of probation
Especially in business from home, we can quickly determine if a business will be profitable or not. Maybe in a month or two, you know if your business is profitable. That is, the rapid appreciation of the business is in a residential neighborhood. If people like, Compare rapidly. If not looks attractive, not enter the premises.
Therefore it is necessary to invest little (only in appearance) at first, and determine whether a business is attractive to the area or not. If we see that there is demand, we can use the remaining capital and efforts in shaping the shop.
10. Business on the Internet
An alternative to physical business are Internet businesses. This is a new business model, where by means of a website or a web platform, we generate revenues from sales of products and services, income, advertising, adsense, affiliate, intangible products, ebooks, courses, etc.
It is very easy to start online home business, and the costs are very low (see this article on internet business). However, it is a model that takes time to understand and generate results, it may take about 6 months to generate revenue.
The most common problem when creating home business is to have a poor location for business idea raised. That is, we are not saying you have bad location, but the idea does not fit with the location of the house.
In developing the business plan, you need to assess whether the location is suitable or not. This can be done through an opinion poll, people who pass in front of the house, and ask if they buy X product here.
Another way to assess whether it is a good location or not, is to find a close competitor. Despite first impressions, having competition is a good sign, indicating that there is a demand in the area for the inhabitants.
6. Check that you have permission to land use
Another legal status to open a home business, is not having the permission or license commercial land use. As background, usually in homes or residential areas, register the property with a licensed residential land use, ie it tells the government that this home is for home use.
Businesses are required to have a license of commercial land use, indicating that the area is for commercial purpose. In case of not having the permit or license, you can get in trouble if the business prospers and begins to have more visits. Therefore, check your local authority or how to change the application to register a few square meters of your home for business use.
7. Does the business need parking?
Depending on the type of business, determine the need for parking. When the area is very tight, and no parking spaces, may discourage visitors to come to your home business.
This is why the shopping malls, which have enough space for visitors to park, and can enter the store, without fear that your vehicle is damaged.
Should not have parking space, but depend on it, will find solutions to improve the business, from hiring a valet parking service, rent a space near a neighbor, or modify the structure of your home.
8. Consider the area’s socioeconomic
Sometimes we are so confident that the business idea is excellent, that we forget to think about the consumer. A common mistake when starting home businesses, is not considering the socioeconomic status of the neighborhood or area where your home is located. Remember that a large percentage of their customers are people who live nearby, within 500 meters or 1 kilometer away.
Therefore, the type of business, price level, and presentation must match the socioeconomic status of the area. For example, the seafood food business (selling seafood and seafood), is a type of restaurants in the central region of Mexico, is a business of higher consumer prices. If we put a business like this, in a low-income area in the coastal zone, we may not have problems, but in the center of the Republic would be a serious mistake.
9. Two months of probation
Especially in business from home, we can quickly determine if a business will be profitable or not. Maybe in a month or two, you know if your business is profitable. That is, the rapid appreciation of the business is in a residential neighborhood. If people like, Compare rapidly. If not looks attractive, not enter the premises.
Therefore it is necessary to invest little (only in appearance) at first, and determine whether a business is attractive to the area or not. If we see that there is demand, we can use the remaining capital and efforts in shaping the shop.
10. Business on the Internet
An alternative to physical business are Internet businesses. This is a new business model, where by means of a website or a web platform, we generate revenues from sales of products and services, income, advertising, adsense, affiliate, intangible products, ebooks, courses, etc.
It is very easy to start online home business, and the costs are very low (see this article on internet business). However, it is a model that takes time to understand and generate results, it may take about 6 months to generate revenue.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
10 Langkah Untuk Bebas Hutang
10 Langkah Untuk Bebas Hutang
Hutang kini menjadi satu penyakit berjangkit yang paling bahaya dalam masyarakat kita. Kerana hutang ramai yang hidup dalam tekanan, berserabut dan paling teruk ramai yang muflis kerananya.
Menurut kajian, hutang isi rumah yang dicatat berjumlah RM577 bilion berdasarkan statistik bulanan Bank Negara Malaysia merangkumi bebanan pinjaman kereta (RM118 bilion), pinjaman perumahan (RM225 bilion) dan pinjaman peribadi (RM22 bilion) selain anggaran hutang kad kredit (RM200 bilion).
Berita baik sekarang saya akan berkongsi dengan anda bagaimana cara untuk bebas dari hutang! Oleh itu anda mempunyai duit lebih untuk menikmati hidup yang lebih baik. Bila dah ada duit lebih barulah boleh mula simpan untuk membuat pelaburan emas pula.
Saya ada sistem sendri bagaimana untuk ‘menyerang’ hutang ini. Biasanya sistem yang mudah adalah yang terbaik. Dan saya rasa ianya termasuk cara melenyapkan hutang. Dalam masa beberapa tahun saya telah mencubanya dan ia berkesan pada saya,dan sepatutnya untuk anda juga .
Anda perlu kuatkan semangat untuk mengikuti 10 langkah bebas hutang yang berikut. Dan matlamat anda untuk bebas daripada hutang pasti akan tercapai jika anda benar-benar komited untuk menyelesaikan segala hutang kad kredit, rumah, peralatan rumah dan sebagainya.
1. PERIKSA rekod perbelanjaan untuk tempoh 12 bulan. Setahun adalah jangka masa yang tepat untuk melihat apa yang berlaku. Jadi lihat semua perbelanjaan, penyata bank, rekod buku cek, penyata kad kredit atau apa sahaja rekod yang anda ada. Dan untuk perbelanjaan yang menggunakan wang tunai, bawa buku nota untuk beberapa minggu dan tulis semua perbelanjaan anda, walaupun untuk membeli goreng pisang makcik Timah. Akhirnya, anda akan dapati betapa sedikit akan menjadi bukit. Saya telah mencubanya dan memang anda akan terkejut.
2. KIRAKAN jumlah perbelanjaan anda dalam sebulan, dengan mencampurkan semua bil yang perlu anda bayar dalam sebulan.
3. TULISKAN senarai hutang yang anda tanggung. Jangan lupa masukkan sekali ansuran rumah. Telefon bank jika anda tidak pasti berapa hutang yang anda ada.(Pastikan ada selalu kemas kinikan rekod senarai hutang ini)
4. BUAT SENARAI pembayaran minima yang perlu anda lakukan setiap bulan. Katakan anda perlu membayar RM2000 setiap bulan.
5. TENGOK BAKI yang perlu anda bayar, dengan anggapan bahawa anda membayar setiap bulan tanpa ada yang tertunggak.
6. SENARAIKAN hutang anda supaya hutang yang sedikit diatas sekali, dan yang banyak terletak dibawah. Jangan lupa senaraikan semua hutang anda. Contohnya:
1) Hutang TV RM3000
2) Hutang kad kredit RM5,000
3) Hutang kereta RM50,000
4) Hutang rumah RM100,000
7. SERANG HUTANG: Sekarang anda perlu ‘MENYERANG’ untuk membayar hutang yang sedikit dahulu. Buat keutamaan untuk habiskan hutang yang sedikit dahulu (tv?) dan akhir sekali hutang yang agak besar, contohnya kereta atau rumah.
8. PRINSIP 10%: Pada langkah Nombor 4, anda telah kirakan jumlah minima hutang yang perlu anda bayar setiap bulan iaitu RM2000. Sematkan di minda anda untuk tambahkan sebanyak 10% daripada jumlah tersebut, iaitu RM200!
9. GANDAKAN: Untuk mempunyai tambahan RM200 untuk membayar hutang, kurangkan RM200 daripada perbelanjaan, dan simpan untuk membayar hutang. Cuba fikirkan semua cara untuk mengumpulkan RM200 ini. Anda perlu berbincang dengan keluarga anda apa yang perlu dan tidak perlu dibeli. Contohnya jika anda selalu makan diluar, cuba kurangkan. Jika anda merokok, cuba berhenti. Jika anda berusaha, pastinya anda temui jalan untuk jimatkan paling kurang RM200 sebulan.
10. BEBASKAN: Gunakan wang tambahan RM200 ini untuk membayar hutang No.1 anda yang kecil dahulu. Jika anda membayar RM100 sebelum ini, sekarang anda bayar RM300 (RM100+RM200). Apabila habis hutang pertama, gunakan RM300 untuk tambahkan bayaran kepada hutang kedua. Jika sebelum ini anda membayar RM200 untuk hutang kedua, anda bayar RM500 (RM200+RM300) selepas hutang pertama habis. Ianya akan memberikan impak maksima untuk melangsaikan hutang anda dengan cepat. Teruskan penambahan sehingga ke senarai yang terakhir.
Dengan cara ini anda akan bebas dari hutang dalam masa beberapa tahun. Ianya tidak mudah tetapi paling kurang anda sudah mempunyai sistem untuk bebas daripada hutang. Kelebihan daripada sistem ini bermula hanya daripada RM200 yang anda jimatkan, dan ianya bertambah sebaik sahaja hutang pertama anda habis.
Saya sendiri telah gunakan teknik bebas hutang ini dengan jayanya dan sekarang saya mahu anda mencubanya. Dan jangan lupa untuk menyimpan duit di ASB sebaik sahaja anda bebas dari hutang! Bila anda dah ada RM 20,000 dalam ASB itu bermakna anda sudah layak untuk ke tahap seterusnya dalam KEBEBASAN KEWANGAN! Hubungi saya dan saya akan kongsikan bagaimana dengan RM 20,000 itu anda akan menjana Income Pasif secara bulanan sepanjang hidup anda!
Jangan lupa berikan komen di blog ini jika anda mendapat sebarang hasil daripada teknik ini. See ya!
P/S : Jika anda masih tidak dapat menjimatkan RM 200 sebulan pada Langkah ke-8,apa yang perlu anda lakukan adalah mencari lebihan/income tambahan RM 200 sebulan.
Hutang kini menjadi satu penyakit berjangkit yang paling bahaya dalam masyarakat kita. Kerana hutang ramai yang hidup dalam tekanan, berserabut dan paling teruk ramai yang muflis kerananya.
Menurut kajian, hutang isi rumah yang dicatat berjumlah RM577 bilion berdasarkan statistik bulanan Bank Negara Malaysia merangkumi bebanan pinjaman kereta (RM118 bilion), pinjaman perumahan (RM225 bilion) dan pinjaman peribadi (RM22 bilion) selain anggaran hutang kad kredit (RM200 bilion).
Berita baik sekarang saya akan berkongsi dengan anda bagaimana cara untuk bebas dari hutang! Oleh itu anda mempunyai duit lebih untuk menikmati hidup yang lebih baik. Bila dah ada duit lebih barulah boleh mula simpan untuk membuat pelaburan emas pula.
Saya ada sistem sendri bagaimana untuk ‘menyerang’ hutang ini. Biasanya sistem yang mudah adalah yang terbaik. Dan saya rasa ianya termasuk cara melenyapkan hutang. Dalam masa beberapa tahun saya telah mencubanya dan ia berkesan pada saya,dan sepatutnya untuk anda juga .
Anda perlu kuatkan semangat untuk mengikuti 10 langkah bebas hutang yang berikut. Dan matlamat anda untuk bebas daripada hutang pasti akan tercapai jika anda benar-benar komited untuk menyelesaikan segala hutang kad kredit, rumah, peralatan rumah dan sebagainya.
1. PERIKSA rekod perbelanjaan untuk tempoh 12 bulan. Setahun adalah jangka masa yang tepat untuk melihat apa yang berlaku. Jadi lihat semua perbelanjaan, penyata bank, rekod buku cek, penyata kad kredit atau apa sahaja rekod yang anda ada. Dan untuk perbelanjaan yang menggunakan wang tunai, bawa buku nota untuk beberapa minggu dan tulis semua perbelanjaan anda, walaupun untuk membeli goreng pisang makcik Timah. Akhirnya, anda akan dapati betapa sedikit akan menjadi bukit. Saya telah mencubanya dan memang anda akan terkejut.
2. KIRAKAN jumlah perbelanjaan anda dalam sebulan, dengan mencampurkan semua bil yang perlu anda bayar dalam sebulan.
3. TULISKAN senarai hutang yang anda tanggung. Jangan lupa masukkan sekali ansuran rumah. Telefon bank jika anda tidak pasti berapa hutang yang anda ada.(Pastikan ada selalu kemas kinikan rekod senarai hutang ini)
4. BUAT SENARAI pembayaran minima yang perlu anda lakukan setiap bulan. Katakan anda perlu membayar RM2000 setiap bulan.
5. TENGOK BAKI yang perlu anda bayar, dengan anggapan bahawa anda membayar setiap bulan tanpa ada yang tertunggak.
6. SENARAIKAN hutang anda supaya hutang yang sedikit diatas sekali, dan yang banyak terletak dibawah. Jangan lupa senaraikan semua hutang anda. Contohnya:
1) Hutang TV RM3000
2) Hutang kad kredit RM5,000
3) Hutang kereta RM50,000
4) Hutang rumah RM100,000
7. SERANG HUTANG: Sekarang anda perlu ‘MENYERANG’ untuk membayar hutang yang sedikit dahulu. Buat keutamaan untuk habiskan hutang yang sedikit dahulu (tv?) dan akhir sekali hutang yang agak besar, contohnya kereta atau rumah.
8. PRINSIP 10%: Pada langkah Nombor 4, anda telah kirakan jumlah minima hutang yang perlu anda bayar setiap bulan iaitu RM2000. Sematkan di minda anda untuk tambahkan sebanyak 10% daripada jumlah tersebut, iaitu RM200!
9. GANDAKAN: Untuk mempunyai tambahan RM200 untuk membayar hutang, kurangkan RM200 daripada perbelanjaan, dan simpan untuk membayar hutang. Cuba fikirkan semua cara untuk mengumpulkan RM200 ini. Anda perlu berbincang dengan keluarga anda apa yang perlu dan tidak perlu dibeli. Contohnya jika anda selalu makan diluar, cuba kurangkan. Jika anda merokok, cuba berhenti. Jika anda berusaha, pastinya anda temui jalan untuk jimatkan paling kurang RM200 sebulan.
10. BEBASKAN: Gunakan wang tambahan RM200 ini untuk membayar hutang No.1 anda yang kecil dahulu. Jika anda membayar RM100 sebelum ini, sekarang anda bayar RM300 (RM100+RM200). Apabila habis hutang pertama, gunakan RM300 untuk tambahkan bayaran kepada hutang kedua. Jika sebelum ini anda membayar RM200 untuk hutang kedua, anda bayar RM500 (RM200+RM300) selepas hutang pertama habis. Ianya akan memberikan impak maksima untuk melangsaikan hutang anda dengan cepat. Teruskan penambahan sehingga ke senarai yang terakhir.
Dengan cara ini anda akan bebas dari hutang dalam masa beberapa tahun. Ianya tidak mudah tetapi paling kurang anda sudah mempunyai sistem untuk bebas daripada hutang. Kelebihan daripada sistem ini bermula hanya daripada RM200 yang anda jimatkan, dan ianya bertambah sebaik sahaja hutang pertama anda habis.
Saya sendiri telah gunakan teknik bebas hutang ini dengan jayanya dan sekarang saya mahu anda mencubanya. Dan jangan lupa untuk menyimpan duit di ASB sebaik sahaja anda bebas dari hutang! Bila anda dah ada RM 20,000 dalam ASB itu bermakna anda sudah layak untuk ke tahap seterusnya dalam KEBEBASAN KEWANGAN! Hubungi saya dan saya akan kongsikan bagaimana dengan RM 20,000 itu anda akan menjana Income Pasif secara bulanan sepanjang hidup anda!
Jangan lupa berikan komen di blog ini jika anda mendapat sebarang hasil daripada teknik ini. See ya!
P/S : Jika anda masih tidak dapat menjimatkan RM 200 sebulan pada Langkah ke-8,apa yang perlu anda lakukan adalah mencari lebihan/income tambahan RM 200 sebulan.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
There’s Rich, Then There’s Monte Carlo Rich
There’s Rich, Then There’s Monte Carlo Rich
When it comes to living the high life, the super wealthy do it like no one else.
Monte Carlo is fantastic this time of year. It’s warm and sunny but not too hot. Just warm enough for the beautiful people to start parading around all over town wearing almost nothing but their carefully honed physiques and whatever baubles they have recently acquired. Monte Carlo, I’m sure I don’t have to tell anyone, is where the rich come to play, and where the gold-diggers search for prey.
It’s where people go to be seen and to see. Me? I’m neither gold digger nor rich enough to be targeted. So I fall into the category of watchers. I’m here for research.
I enjoy sitting at my usual table at Café de Paris (booked months in advance) sipping my exorbitant hot mocha and just watching the decadence of luxury parading all around me. There is the middle-aged, morbidly obese Russian with his early-20s girlfriend who’s wearing nothing but a bikini and a diamond-clasp Crocodile Birkin. Over there’s the young Arab prince with a bevy of ultra sexy model-types sipping Cristal at 10am. And there’s the heavily botoxed octogenarian heiress with her pocket sized Chihuahua and brazillian sun-bronzed Adonis stepping out of the Maybach right into Van Cleef and Arpels.
The scent of money is everywhere in the air and the usual standards of wealth don’t apply. On one of my visits here I was with someone whom I regard as a very wealthy fellow Malaysian, and even he told me he felt insignificant against the opulence of this utopia for the moneyed class. You think you’ve seen wealth with your Mercedes Benz, your First Class Jet setting and your 6-star resorts? Well, as Ronald Reagan once famously said “You ain’t seen nothing yet”.
A whole new level of wealth exists beyond the ken of most of us mere mortals, and every year at around this time they come out in force in Monte Carlo. Meet the Super Yacht set. So you have a 70ft boat with a couple of nicely appointed rooms on board for your occasional island hops around Langkawi or Redang and you think you’ve arrived? Think again. Here, if you own anything less than a 100 footer, you may as well just own a tugboat. ‘The Monte Super Yachts’ are in a league of their own. The Monte Carlo Yachting set are those who are so fabulously and securely rich that to speak of cost and bank balances is, to them, vulgar. (After all, having to actually think about how much one spends is very middle-class isn’t it?)
Every summer these money minters will make their individual grand entrances , sailing into the coast of this principality with their mighty vessels. Like birds of paradise displaying their plumes, these super yachts will be moored in all their majesty within sight of each other and just a short boat ride from the shore. Beachgoers would gawk at their splendor and tourists on miniboats would sail past while snapping as many photos as they can. On board, the fortunate occupants are sipping daiquiris and champagne, quite enjoying the attention while trying inconspicuously to eye the competition around them. (Being super rich apparently doesn’t cure you from trying to keep up with the Joneses)
Over the years I’ve become familiar with some of these Super Yachts, having been invited on some of them for lunches, dinners and the occasional weekend pool party. I remember my first time on the Alpha Nero, an 82-meter floating palace that has an infinity pool on its rear deck. It was a pool, by the way, that changes from sea water to fresh at the press of a button with a floor that can hydraulically be raised to become a helipad at the press of another. If that’s not enough to bowl you over, consider this: it has seven suites, three separate dining areas, a grand piano, theatre, dance floor, gym, and a beauty salon all finished in exotic Italian marbles, goat skin wall panels, and touches of sycamore, Makassar and mahogany. Its hull stores three tenders (smaller boats) and four jet skis in case you are bored floating in luxury and have a need for speed. Even the playing cards are from Hermes!
A friend of mine chartered one of the yachts for the whole summer last year and I spent a few days on board. The yacht had 15 lavishly decorated staterooms each with its own bath, satellite TV and digital film library of more than 500 films. At the top deck was a Jacuzzi and open-air bar that’s manned by one of the 50 staff and crew members employed on board full time. It was a luxury experience to end all others, except that because vessels like those often played host to holidaying Hollywood celebrities, one would every now and then be bugged by pesky paparazzi helicopters whizzing overhead trying to get a sellable photograph. Evidently I was a disappointment to them as none of my photos surfaced anywhere. Oh well.
Every now and then a big-name yacht would sail in and even the other super yachts would have to concede their superiority. Like the Qatar premier’s seven-storey royal-blue beauty named Al Mirqab or that famous Russian billionaire’s 500 footer named Eclipse that is widely rumoured to have cost more than $300mil (RM1192bil) to build and features among other things its own missile defence system and a ‘snow room’ in case you ever get tired of the scorching sun and feel like a quick frolic in –you guessed it- snow.
Obscene wealth? Well that’s Monte Carlo for you. Only here it’s not obscene, it’s just day to day living. Taking a $250 (RM993) helicopter ride instead of a taxi for that 45-minute drive between Nice and Monaco is as common here as people taking the airport shuttle in other parts of the world. The extravagance in every single mundane thing will soon have you losing your sense of worth and your grasp of the value of money.
I love luxury, but Monte Carlo gets a bit much even for me. I can do one week at most. Then I’d need to get back to my nasi lemak and roti canai for less than RM20, just to touch base with reality again. And sometimes enjoying that kind of food in a tugboat around Langkawi or Redang is really perfectly enough. Until I miss the decadence again, anyway.
■ Snobama thinks a freezer and some shaved ice is cheaper than a snow-room.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Retire young by investing in properties
Retire young by investing in properties
How to retire in less than five years by accumulating good debts of more than RM3 million through property investmentsPosted Date: Oct 15, 2009By: Milan Doshi | ||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||
|
How to retire in less than five years by accumulating good debts of more than RM3 million through property investmentsThursday, June 7, 2012
Which Came First--- The Happiness Or The Success?
Which Came First--- The Happiness Or The Success?
What’s the deal with happiness and success?
Why is it that we live in such an amazing world, filled with blessings and opportunities, yet so few are happy?
You owe it to yourself and those who love you to be happy. You want to be successful for yourself and those who support and adore you. How do you do this? Where do you start? What comes first—happiness or success?
Studies show that it’s not an either/or situation. Happiness and success are connected in interesting and often counterintuitive ways. Talking about how success leads to happiness ignores half of the story. There is increasing scientific evidence that increasing happiness leads to success.
Let’s take this to trading and look for ways that success and happiness can be achieved and integrated. What can you do to get and keep both?
1. Talk to other traders. As a trader, you often feel isolated and alone. You think that no one really understands you or what you do. Get a trading buddy that you trust and can share with during the trading day. It really does help with the loneliness, and you might even teach each other something that can lead to profits. This leads to a bond of sharing that causes you to feel happy.
2. Have at least one person in your private life that supports you, no matter what happens during the trading day. This helps you get to the point where you feel loved and accepted whether you are winning or losing. When you get this kind of nurturing from another person, you feel happy and safe.
3. Make sure that you have other activities outside of trading. Exercising to a sweat is a fabulous way to stay happy and centered---and you can detox your body in the process. The happier you are, the more you will want to be happy. Exercise and activities that bring joy to you are self-reinforcing.
4. Resolve any and all conflicts in your life as quickly as possible. You will feel like a weight has been lifted from you. Talk it out, get it over with and let it go. If you do not resolve conflicts, they can turn into soap opera dramas and you will act them out on the stage of the financial markets. You will not be happy with the results. Why? Because the markets don’t know you. They don’t care about your conflicts and dramas. They see these as weaknesses and will exploit them. They see you as weak and attack you by taking your money. This is a self-sabotaging cycle that leads to more and more losses. Now, you are playing in the big bad markets and acting out your emotions of anger, abandonment, resentment or sadness. The markets will give you more of what you already have—misery. If you resolve your personal dramas, you approach the markets in a happier state of mind. You telegraph happiness into the markets and they leave you alone to do trade your plan and make money. Markets see happiness and positivity as something they really don’t want to mess with. Sadness and desperation---yes—they can and do mess with that.
5. Help others. When you are in a good mood, you are more likely to display what psychologists call "prosocial behavior." Help other traders if they ask for help. Help other people who genuinely need help. Be generous with your time and money. What you give comes back to you, often in ways that you least expect.
6. Eat food that elevates your mood. Food changes the chemical transmitters in your brain. Fish, chicken, beans and tofu contain tyrosine that leads to increased mental alertness. The folic acid in a glass of orange juice or a cup or spinach has antidepressant effects. Selenium in brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and tuna fish boosts happiness. Avoid fried food, junk food and most fast foods. They may feel “comforting” at the time, but are nothing but a quick fix that makes you fat and clogs your arteries. Blood must flow freely to the brain for peak performance, and clogged arteries block this flow of blood and oxygen.
7. Be more playful and creative. The brain thrives on novelty. Getting away from your daily routine causes new pathways to form in the brain. Even simple things like drying yourself differently after a shower or bath (first notice how you dry yourself the same way every time, then do it differently. It may surprise you and wake up your brain). Trading is an extension of the games we played as children. The best traders I know excel at some sport or game- chess, racquetball, dancing or poker. Playing games or sports causes the brain to make new connections. When the brain makes new connections it is better able to perform complex tasks like trading. Playfulness and competition enable you to develop your own edge in the markets.
The way you think about happiness and success profoundly affects your life. If you think that success mainly leads to happiness then you focus more on success to the exclusion of happiness. You assume that, once you are successful, you will be happy.
Research shows that the instruction is to pursue both—not one to the exclusion of the other. Feeling better in the moment is not only more pleasant but it will open your brain to opportunities in your trading, your play and your relationships. Recognizing and taking these opportunities will lead you to success and happiness—not necessarily in that order—but you will eventually get both!
Thanks and Good Trading!
Janice Dorn,M.D., Ph.D.
Why is it that we live in such an amazing world, filled with blessings and opportunities, yet so few are happy?
You owe it to yourself and those who love you to be happy. You want to be successful for yourself and those who support and adore you. How do you do this? Where do you start? What comes first—happiness or success?
Studies show that it’s not an either/or situation. Happiness and success are connected in interesting and often counterintuitive ways. Talking about how success leads to happiness ignores half of the story. There is increasing scientific evidence that increasing happiness leads to success.
Let’s take this to trading and look for ways that success and happiness can be achieved and integrated. What can you do to get and keep both?
1. Talk to other traders. As a trader, you often feel isolated and alone. You think that no one really understands you or what you do. Get a trading buddy that you trust and can share with during the trading day. It really does help with the loneliness, and you might even teach each other something that can lead to profits. This leads to a bond of sharing that causes you to feel happy.
2. Have at least one person in your private life that supports you, no matter what happens during the trading day. This helps you get to the point where you feel loved and accepted whether you are winning or losing. When you get this kind of nurturing from another person, you feel happy and safe.
3. Make sure that you have other activities outside of trading. Exercising to a sweat is a fabulous way to stay happy and centered---and you can detox your body in the process. The happier you are, the more you will want to be happy. Exercise and activities that bring joy to you are self-reinforcing.
4. Resolve any and all conflicts in your life as quickly as possible. You will feel like a weight has been lifted from you. Talk it out, get it over with and let it go. If you do not resolve conflicts, they can turn into soap opera dramas and you will act them out on the stage of the financial markets. You will not be happy with the results. Why? Because the markets don’t know you. They don’t care about your conflicts and dramas. They see these as weaknesses and will exploit them. They see you as weak and attack you by taking your money. This is a self-sabotaging cycle that leads to more and more losses. Now, you are playing in the big bad markets and acting out your emotions of anger, abandonment, resentment or sadness. The markets will give you more of what you already have—misery. If you resolve your personal dramas, you approach the markets in a happier state of mind. You telegraph happiness into the markets and they leave you alone to do trade your plan and make money. Markets see happiness and positivity as something they really don’t want to mess with. Sadness and desperation---yes—they can and do mess with that.
5. Help others. When you are in a good mood, you are more likely to display what psychologists call "prosocial behavior." Help other traders if they ask for help. Help other people who genuinely need help. Be generous with your time and money. What you give comes back to you, often in ways that you least expect.
6. Eat food that elevates your mood. Food changes the chemical transmitters in your brain. Fish, chicken, beans and tofu contain tyrosine that leads to increased mental alertness. The folic acid in a glass of orange juice or a cup or spinach has antidepressant effects. Selenium in brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and tuna fish boosts happiness. Avoid fried food, junk food and most fast foods. They may feel “comforting” at the time, but are nothing but a quick fix that makes you fat and clogs your arteries. Blood must flow freely to the brain for peak performance, and clogged arteries block this flow of blood and oxygen.
7. Be more playful and creative. The brain thrives on novelty. Getting away from your daily routine causes new pathways to form in the brain. Even simple things like drying yourself differently after a shower or bath (first notice how you dry yourself the same way every time, then do it differently. It may surprise you and wake up your brain). Trading is an extension of the games we played as children. The best traders I know excel at some sport or game- chess, racquetball, dancing or poker. Playing games or sports causes the brain to make new connections. When the brain makes new connections it is better able to perform complex tasks like trading. Playfulness and competition enable you to develop your own edge in the markets.
The way you think about happiness and success profoundly affects your life. If you think that success mainly leads to happiness then you focus more on success to the exclusion of happiness. You assume that, once you are successful, you will be happy.
Research shows that the instruction is to pursue both—not one to the exclusion of the other. Feeling better in the moment is not only more pleasant but it will open your brain to opportunities in your trading, your play and your relationships. Recognizing and taking these opportunities will lead you to success and happiness—not necessarily in that order—but you will eventually get both!
Thanks and Good Trading!
Janice Dorn,M.D., Ph.D.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)