Money money money
My favourite topic!
Of late, escalating fuel prices have affected our lives in one way or another. It’s a like a domino effect… so much so that we scrutinize our financial health more than ever. Recent newspaper articles on how individuals or families handle their income and expenses revealed the unhealthy trend of spending, but without satisfactory amounts for savings. Youth like us (okay, maybe we’re not getting any younger) are often caught up with what we want to buy now or next, rather than to save more for rainy days or old age. I recently splurged on a new mobile phone that costs the same amount that other people live on monthly or longer. My younger brother, Chuin, signed a 9-year loan agreement to buy a new Kelisa.
So what happened to the knowledge gained from attending Robert Kiyosaki’s Business School for Investors seminar last November? What happened to getting out of the rat race? What happened to my plan of becoming financially free before it’s too late?
Looking back just 1 year, I’ve dabbled into things that I didn’t dare to even consider when I first started working 6 years ago. It all started with Soo Ling lending me her copy of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I got hooked with his messages, his advice, his way of thought and reasoning about money. Finally somebody who could explain what’s going on in my life financially… I got really inspired and took baby steps towards a healthier financial status.
First I signed up with eCosway, a multi-level marketing (MLM) online version of Cosway. The concept was quite novel at that time coz it wasn’t about selling stuff but getting people to sign up as eCosway members and apply for credit cards co-branded with a local bank, Alliance Bank. You can swipe the card for any purchases at any where and chalk up points which are then converted into cash for the account holder and his/her uplines. Great, right? So many people I know use credit cards. And yet when I talked to them and tried to convince them to sign up and use these co-branded credit cards, people distanced themselves from me. This went on for several months, even when I was having whole-day sickness after getting pregnant. Soon enough I realized either I wasn’t a good salesperson or people fear the term MLM!
And so I put eCosway aside and went into the share market and gold market. I bought 2 ounces of gold bullion coins at USD 386/oz. I sold both earlier this year for USD 421/oz coz I anticipated the ringgit de-peg. I utterly regret it coz it went up to USD 473/oz last week!! I bought some of shares of banks and trading companies, some for long-term investments (and consistent returns) and others for short-term trading. Recent financial results were not good, and I’m facing paper loss.
The last step is setting up my own business. I think it’s quite possible once I make up my mind what I want to do. It’s not easy and it’s expensive. Mistakes can lead to failure, and that costs money. I don’t know if I could take such a risk… but without risk, how do we prosper? Hmmm…
Of late, escalating fuel prices have affected our lives in one way or another. It’s a like a domino effect… so much so that we scrutinize our financial health more than ever. Recent newspaper articles on how individuals or families handle their income and expenses revealed the unhealthy trend of spending, but without satisfactory amounts for savings. Youth like us (okay, maybe we’re not getting any younger) are often caught up with what we want to buy now or next, rather than to save more for rainy days or old age. I recently splurged on a new mobile phone that costs the same amount that other people live on monthly or longer. My younger brother, Chuin, signed a 9-year loan agreement to buy a new Kelisa.
So what happened to the knowledge gained from attending Robert Kiyosaki’s Business School for Investors seminar last November? What happened to getting out of the rat race? What happened to my plan of becoming financially free before it’s too late?
Looking back just 1 year, I’ve dabbled into things that I didn’t dare to even consider when I first started working 6 years ago. It all started with Soo Ling lending me her copy of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I got hooked with his messages, his advice, his way of thought and reasoning about money. Finally somebody who could explain what’s going on in my life financially… I got really inspired and took baby steps towards a healthier financial status.
First I signed up with eCosway, a multi-level marketing (MLM) online version of Cosway. The concept was quite novel at that time coz it wasn’t about selling stuff but getting people to sign up as eCosway members and apply for credit cards co-branded with a local bank, Alliance Bank. You can swipe the card for any purchases at any where and chalk up points which are then converted into cash for the account holder and his/her uplines. Great, right? So many people I know use credit cards. And yet when I talked to them and tried to convince them to sign up and use these co-branded credit cards, people distanced themselves from me. This went on for several months, even when I was having whole-day sickness after getting pregnant. Soon enough I realized either I wasn’t a good salesperson or people fear the term MLM!
And so I put eCosway aside and went into the share market and gold market. I bought 2 ounces of gold bullion coins at USD 386/oz. I sold both earlier this year for USD 421/oz coz I anticipated the ringgit de-peg. I utterly regret it coz it went up to USD 473/oz last week!! I bought some of shares of banks and trading companies, some for long-term investments (and consistent returns) and others for short-term trading. Recent financial results were not good, and I’m facing paper loss.
The last step is setting up my own business. I think it’s quite possible once I make up my mind what I want to do. It’s not easy and it’s expensive. Mistakes can lead to failure, and that costs money. I don’t know if I could take such a risk… but without risk, how do we prosper? Hmmm…