AXA Affin Medical Care Plus Schedule of Benefits & Premium Table

Medical Care Plus from AXA Affin Life Insurance is a comprehensive medical rider that is designed to cover the cost of hospitalisation and surgical up to age 81 years old. AXA Affin Medical Care Plus medical rider can be purchased either attached to a level term insurance that last until 80 years old (T80) or as a non par medical rider attachable to investment-linked Life plan.

The unique features and advantages of AXA Affin Medical Care Plus medical plan is listed as below:

1. Guaranteed renewal
2. No co-insurance.
3. No lifetime limit, except for those coverage listed in the Section C of Schedule of Benefits below.
4. High annual limit, up to RM500,000.
5. A good list of panel hospitals, at least comparable to those from leading insurance companies.

How to earn side income from online surveys

Updates as of 20 Mar, 2012: New proof of payment at the end of the article!

Times are hard with the food and oil prices going up by the days. All of us are feeling the pinch and  worse thing is our pockets are shrinking while our income remain fairly stagnant for years. So, what does most of us do? It's most likely that most of us will start thinking of generating side income to supplement our income from our employment. The most common part time jobs that we can think of is normally selling unit trusts, selling insurance or even multi level marketing. Don't get me wrong! These part time jobs can be very lucrative if you really put in the effort. You might be seeing your first million if you are successful!

But, for those lazy bums like me, those part time jobs are not for me. Not that I'm not willing to put in the effort, but more of not too suitable for my personality. So for those fella who's shy and lack of initiative, so how do you generate a bit of side income while lazing at home?

Staying calm in volatile markets

Short-term losses and volatility are inevitable and investors have to live with them rather than be stifled by them, writes PETER BROOKS

THE choppy markets of the past few months may have made investors feel like they were reliving 2008 all over again. The bad news is that spikes in market volatility appear to be here to stay. The good news, however, is that there are ways to navigate safely through such times by purposefully managing our responses.

Higher volatility usually comes with higher levels of investor discomfort. Many investors consider pulling out of falling markets while those who see a buying opportunity can find it difficult to commit due to fear of mis-timing the purchase.

If higher volatility becomes the new norm, it is important for investors to better understand and take control of their investing behaviour. There are three easy strategies investors can adopt to increase their comfort in difficult markets: (i) keep the correct perspective of time horizon; (ii) rebalance assets; and (iii) keep an investment diary.

TMRewards - Earn Money with TM!

TMRewards is the latest Telekom Malaysia loyalty program which reward subscribers with one point for every RM1 spent. This loyalty program is open to consumers and businesses (by invitation only). Points accumulated can be redeemed for cash vouchers, and goods such as trolley luggage, kids toy, perfumes and etc. You can also use the points for TM bill rebate of RM5 for 500 points, subject to a maximum of RM200 bill rebate per year and only redeem once per account per month.

The great news is that if you sign up online now, you will be given for free 500 points. To sign up, just hop over to this link. All you need to register is your TM phone number and your email address.

While this doesnt qualify as a unique side income revenue stream, but at least you get something out of this loyalty program, especially the bill rebates and cash vouchers. So, register NOW since you only accumulate points for the current and future TM bills.

The Journey into Stock Investment

When i first made my investment into unit trust in mid 2008, I have the confidence that i have the necessary knowledge, know how and platform to contruct a balanced portfolio for long term investment. However, half year through the investment jorney, I have to face with the greatest financial downturn in history in the mould of 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). My balanced portfolio dived to a negative 22% territory but i stuck through it and pump in more money into my portfolio and yet still managed to achieve postive returns of 7% to date. I know that my portfolio still under perform my objective of annualized return of 8%, but unit trust investment is a long journey, so i will have to monitor and tweak the portfolio to enhance the performance in due time.

ING Prime MediPlus Rider Schedule of Benefits

As many of the consumers are aware of, ING Malaysia has a very popular standalone cashless medical card called ING MediPlus of which a patient only needs to pay a nominal fee of RM50 per admission to hospital, subject to the annual limit of his/her medical plan.

ING Malaysia has recently launched a derivative medical plan called Prime MediPlus. Prime MediPlus is a medical rider plan that can only be purchased together with investment-linked Prime Life or Prime EduLife insurance plan. You can either opt for cashless or pay-first-claim-later medical card for this medical rider plan.

社會新鮮人第一個基金

所謂理財，要越早越好，社會新鮮人找到工作有了收入后，要如何分配自己的資金？


專家認為，基金算是最適合社會新鮮人的投資工具。但是第一筆投資要如何下手？

根據台灣理財雜誌《Money錢》，年輕人投資前，最常犯的錯誤就是有興趣但沒有概念。

投資前，最重要的就是培養正確的觀念，不要隨意借貸、不要將賺錢的目的設定在花錢享樂。

而且投資沒有捷徑，每個人的投資都是從最基本的基金開始，然后隨著薪水增加、對基金投資更了解，才慢慢提升基金的級別，后依靠基金賺錢。

基金投資專家蕭碧燕指出，就算在市場多年，他的投資策略還是以定期定額為主，所以社會新鮮人初學基金投資，也最好從定期定額開始。

他說，定期定額，也要有正確的認知，對的市場、對的基金，加上定期定額扣款，搭配“停利不停損”的原則，才能讓基金投資無往不利。

AS 1Malaysia Declares 6.5 Sen Dividend

Amanah Saham Malaysia Berhad has declared a dividend of 6.5 cents per unit for Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) for the current financial year. The income distribution will be reinvested in the form of new units and will automatically be credited into the unitholders' accounts on October 1.

As a comparison, last year's dividend declared was 6.38 cents.


Source: ASNB

Money Jar Savings Method for Children

To teach the children about the concept of savings is like to ask them to eat vegetable or chillies. It's almost impossible! I believe most parents will agree with me that children nowadays are very tempted with all the toys and gadgets in the market today. The children will probably bugged you everyday for the toy they like, until you give in.

So, how do you solve this problem? You can either give in and buy them the toys, but for the parents, it's a losing battle for them. Once the children get their ways, they will smartly use the same method again for the things they want. Alternatively, you can teach them the concept of savings and delayed gratification. Sounds tough huh?

Here's how i do it. It's called Money Jar Savings Method. There are a few variables of Money Jar Savings method, like 3-jar system or 5-jar system. What i preach to my children is the 3-jar system. Basically, you have to prepare 3 piggy bank/jars (preferably transparent) to start the savings.

For the first jar, I will tell my children that this is for them to save for their own goodies, such as sweets, toys and gadgets. When you tell them this, I'm sure you will get them excited already! But to teach them delayed gratification, this jar will receive the smallest savings portion so that it will take a while longer to save enough for them to buy goodies. For me, I will save 20 cents a day for them.

The second jar is for them to buy their school necessities, like school bags, pencil cases, books, shoes and etc. This normally excites them as well since most of them fancies the latest bags/shoes/pencil cases to show off to other kids. For the second jar, I saved 50 cents a day for them.

And now for the third and final jar, i will tell them this savings jar is for them when they grow up. This jar is meant for long term savings for the kids. From my experience, the children will be disappointed with this third jar since they cannot visualize what's there for them and they dont understand the meaning long term savings. But, it's ok. They dont have to understand about the usefulness of the third jar. For this third jar, I saved 1 dollar for them a day.

So now you have the 3-jar savings system. The idea of having transparent jars is that the children will get to see the money grows inside the jars and this will get them excited to save more. Will this work for your children? Why don't you try it? I'm quite sure it works wonders. Of course, we as the parent should have the discipline to do the savings part.

Once you have enough savings and the jars are full, it's time for you to keep the money in the bank. One option is to keep these money in the junior savings account where you can potentially earn more interests than the normal savings accounts. To find out more about junior savings account, go here.

Comparison of Junior Savings Account

Updated 5/9/2012: Updated latest interest rates for some of the products.

As a parent myself, it is never to early to teach your children about the concept of savings. Even though the children might not understand the meaning for the savings, but if we as the parent, make savings as a part of daily fun activities, the kids will definitely enjoy it and appreciate it more. Experts have came out with many methods and systems that can encourage the children to learn the savings concept, but personally I'm practicing the Money Jar method. I will elaborate more about this Money Jar method in my next article.

So now, we've got some savings for our children and what do we do with it? Some people will invest the money in unit trusts or stock market. There's nothing wrong with this, but the savings quantum must be quite big to make a big difference. For small savings, naturally we are looking for a savings account for children.

There are plenty of children savings accounts in the market. The common features of these children/junior savings accounts are:

• Higher interest rate as compared to normal savings accounts
• Limited number of withdrawal per month
• Limited withdrawal method (normally OTC withdrawal only)
• Low account opening sum, as low as RM 1
• Rewards / Incentives, i.e. cash rewards for excellent exam results, free personal accident coverage etc.

Asset Allocation - End June 2011

Portfolio review for Q2 2011 has been way overdue and I would like to apologize for the delay in updates to my portfolio holdings and its performance.

As compared to my portfolio in Q1 2011, there is some minor changes to the fund compositions in my Q2 2011 portfolio. I've switched my OSK-UOB Asian Growth Opportunities Fund (AGO) to OSK-UOB Resources Fund (RESO) as I feel that AGO fund is too volatile for my liking, even though i was making some profit on this fund. I've decided to concentrate my Asia Pacific ex-Japan exposure to only a single fund, Public Far East Select Fund (PFES).

Since I've switched to OSK-UOB Resources Fund (RESO), this fund will be my main fund for exposure to resources sector, although the resources exposure is limited to AP ex-Japan region, as compared to the global nature of previous holding of Pacific Global Agriculture, Infrastructure & Resources Fund (GAIR). I've disposed off GAIR fund in Q2 due to lack of performance as well as limited fund size.

The music will stop

I would like to share an article that I came across regarding the madness of property prices in Malaysia currently. As more and more property launches come with exorbitant prices that are beyond the income level of many workers particularly in key cities of Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru, my gut feeling is that the property market is in a bubble stage and might see some softening moving forward.

So, for those who are highly leveraged with housing loans, do have a good read on the article and reflect on what the writer who has seen the ups and downs of property cycles is saying.

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ASW 2020 Declares Dividend 6.5 cents per unit for FY 2011

Amanah Saham Malaysia Berhad has declared a dividend of 6.5 cents per unit for Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) for the current financial year. The income distribution will be reinvested in the form of new units and will automatically be credited into the unitholders' accounts on September 1.


As a comparison, last year's dividend declared was 6.35 cents.


Source: China Press, Business Times

ManuCare100 Schedule of Benefits & Premium

ManuCare100 is a comprehensive medical card that is designed to cover the cost of hospitalisation and surgical up to age 100 years old. The medical coverage can be extended to include spouse or children (1 month - next birthday 22) or both into this plan. You have the option to attach Outpatient Benefits to ManuCare100, which includes additional coverage on day care/surgery benefit, home nursing care benefit and outpatient treatment coverage for kidney dialysis, cancer and stroke.

ManuCare100 and Outpatient Benefits can be purchased either as a standalone medical plan or as a non par medical rider attachable to any Traditional Life plan, and either with co-insurance or without co-insurance. If you select the plan with co-insurance, the co-insurance will be 10% of total expenses with the minimum of RM300 and maximum of RM1,500. If the room and board is exceeeded, the co-insurance is 20% of total expenses with the minimum of RM300 and maximum RM3,000.

In the sections below, you will find the schedule of benefits, and premium table for stand alone medical card for insured, insured & children, insured & spouse and insured & family. You will also find the premium table for medical rider (attached to life policy) for insured, insured & children, insured & spouse and insured & family.

Cash Back Credit Card Comparison

Since the introduction of government service tax of RM50 per credit card last year, many credit card issuers have introduced cash rebate credit cards to offset the effect of such service tax. Generally, there are 2 trends for cash rebate credit card. One group of banks came out with cash rebate credit card with high rebate percentage (mainly up to 5% rebates) for certain category of spending but with a maximum rebates per month of typically RM50, while the remaining banks have cash rebate card with low rebate percentage but with no rebates cap.

With so many cash rebate credit cards introduced in the market, consumers are spoilt with choices. One point to note is that there is NO best cash rebate credit card in the market. The best cash rebate credit card is the one which gives you the maximum rebates depending on your monthly spending. Therefore, before selecting any cash rebate card, you should list out what are your expenses per month and how much do you spend for each of these categories.

The following table compares the features of some of the popular cash rebate credit cards in the market. Only credit cards which feature permenant rebates are included in the comparison. Those credit cards with cash rebates time-limited promotions will be excluded. The information published below shall be updated from time to time to reflect changes to the card features.

基不可失．變中求變 確保基金表現不變

06文：伍咏敏


投資單位信託基金時，最重要的因素是“獲獎基金”嗎？要怎么做才能確保自己的基金能夠持續生財？

專家指出，不時檢討自己的基金投資組合是必要，因為基金不會在自己所設定的投資期限內，保持不變。檢討基金投資組合，不是基于“為什么”而是“何時”。

《個人理財》雜誌指出，若定期對自己的基金投資組合做出檢討並調整，進而可讓自己的財務目標保持在原定的軌道上。

一般上，基金投資者可以遵循5個條件的轉變，檢討個人的單位信託投資組合。


（一）投資目的和風險承受度

專家說，一旦投資目標或風險承受度改變，就必須調整投資組合。

“一開始，您可能以創造財富為目標，投資在基金，因此願意承擔風險。但是，當您年紀漸漸提升，越來越接近退休年齡時，投資目標就會不同，如從創富變成保本，這時風險承受度也會跟著降低。”

“這就是你要檢討自己的投資組合的時候了。”

此外，專家也披露，當人生有些轉變，如放棄了工作，自立門戶做生意，所面對的風險更大，就要考慮降低基金的風險了。

一般人的風險承受度，每5年會改變，但也受促每2年進行測試一次。

基不可失．信託基金多樣化分散投資風險

專家指出，單位信託基金本身就是一種多樣化的投資工具，因此投資在基金可以取得分散風險的效果。


但，不同基金性質不一樣，投資效果也會有異。因此，基金投資者還可以在各種風險程度的基金間，作出選擇，進一步強化所擁有基金組合的多元化。

任何投資活動，都有風險，所以投資最基本策略就是要降低投資風險。而投資組合多樣化或分散投資，就是降低風險最普通的技巧。

專家指出，分散投資主要有3種方式，即橫向多樣化（Horizontal Diversification）、縱向多樣化（Vertical Diversification）和地理多樣化（Geographical Diversification）。

橫向多樣化策略是指通過不同投資工具來分散投資風險。一般上，組合里包括股票、債券、固定收入、現金、房產和單位基金信託等。


投資不同類型


縱向多樣化策略則是在同一種投資工具中，選擇投資條件不一樣的產品。舉例，購買股票時，可以分成上市公司規模大或小、公司上市地點和公司主要業務等。

地理多樣化策略，就是選擇投資在不同國家的投資工具，通過不同的地理因素分散投資風險。

《個人理財》資料顯示，若您持有表現不錯的股票型基金，而且回酬相當不錯，就不需要再投資另一個差不多相同性質的基金。

要分散風險，可以選擇其他類型基金，比如主要投資活動是以地理為考量的基金。

若是債券基金，則可以不同期限的債券作風險分散的動作。

債券有分短期和長期，也有分不同發行商，如政府債券、企業債券、投資級別、回酬和國際債券。

專家也指出，債券級別不同，也可分散風險，因為低級別的債券，回酬更高，惟風險也更高。

文章来源：中国报

How do you make money when there’s a property bubble?

There’s a definite price bubble growing in the real estate arena in Klang valley to say the least. With the reports from various financial dailies showing strong or overwhelming growth in the nation as well as new and bold land acquisitions by several large developers, things are definitely gearing up for 2011. Without doubt, more prime located properties will be launched, and the prices are definitely on the upside.


As a matter of fact, just the other day, I was at an auction for a residential property auctioned for RM500K. To my surprise, it looked more like a night market than a high court auction. Never have I seen so many people so anxious to plough their money into properties before. There were more than 30 people in the courtroom! What baffled me was that most of the properties in fairly good locations were bid up and bought at above market value prices! The property auction I attended went for RM800K. For the life of me, I cannot understand the rational behind their actions.

I also experienced and heard of similar cases in the secondary market. Just the other day, I stumbled across a good deal in the market. It was a small residential property in USJ that was going for a reasonably good price. When I showed up for the viewing, there were more than 15 prospective buyers and real estate agents cramped up in the living room of the unit! From my observation, property prices in several hot spot areas such as Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Damansara, Bangsar, Subang, Petaling Jaya, USJ and Kota Kemuning, have increase by an average of 40% to 60% in the past seven months (since May 2010).

It’s true, the market is hot and it will only get hotter. Bank Negara’s implementation of the 70% capping on the loan-to-value (LTV) was in reaction to the tremendous increase in real estate transactions in the past six months. However, the question is, will it be enough to slow down the current market momentum?

The question one should ask is “What can a person do, in a situation like this?”

Comparison of Gold Savings Account

Updates (as of 6 Nov): New price difference % calculated and updated data in table.

In times of hyper inflation or economic turmoil, people are turning to gold investments as a safe heaven. For the past few years of high commodity prices, gold has been a darling of investing communities. Various vehicles of gold investments, such as gold ETF, gold bullion, gold future and gold savings accounts have been launched to attract new customers who want to ride the rising waves of gold investments.

For small time investors in Malaysia, one practical way to kick start your gold investment is via gold savings account. It is basically a deposit account where the money you deposit is used to purchase units (grams) of physical gold. With gold savings account, you do not earn interest but you might profit from the rising gold prices. Of course, with any other investments, there are terms and conditions; and associated fees attached to this account.

Currently, there are 5 commercial banks in Malaysia that offer gold savings account as below:

1. Maybank Gold Investment Account (MBB GIA)
2. Public Bank Gold Investment Account (PBB GIA)
3. CIMB Gold Deposit Account (CIMB GDA)
4. UOB Gold Savings Account (UOB GSA)
5. KFH Gold Account-i

Get 5% Rebate With OCBC Titanium Credit Card

Since the introduction of government service tax for credit cards, cash rebate credit cards have been mushrooming every now and then. OCBC reintroduced their OCBC Titanium cash rebate credit card with 5% cash rebate for petrol/gas, dining, utility bills and groceries expenses. For other transactions, a 1% cash rebate will be given as well.

Even though OCBC Titanium credit card has been launched a while ago, I still think it is one of the "must have" credit card in view of the advantages of this credit card as below:

• 5% cash rebates for petrol/gas, dining, utility bills and grocery expenses, subject to merchant category code as listed here.
• 1% cash rebate for all other transactions.
• Maximum of RM50 cash rebates per billing cycle.
• RM50 government service tax is waived if you spend > RM10,000 per year per principal card.
• RM25 government service tax is waived if you spend > RM25,000 per year per supplementary card.
• Zero annual fees for principal & supplementary cards if you swipe the card at least 12 times a year.
• Free access to Plaza Premium Lounge in KLIA for yourself if you charge > RM3,000 for air ticket & travel packages.
• Other standard privileges as listed here.

Since the 5% cash rebate is given based on the merchant category code rather than across the board, I'm compiling the list of merchants that have been proved to provide 5% cash rebate when you use OCBC Titanium cash rebate credit card in these stores. This list will be updated from time to time to reflect the cash rebates experience by OCBC Titanium cash rebate credit card holders.

PRUhealth Medical Card Schedule of Benefits & Premium Table

PRUhealth is a comprehensive regular premium medical card/rider that can be attached to PRUlink or PRUmy child investment-linked insurance policies from Prudential Malaysia. This medical rider can be purchased by people from 1 to 70 years old next birthday and expires at age 70/80/100, depending on your choice. It rewards the policy holders with No Claims Bonus (NCB) of up to RM500 if there is no medical claims for the policy year. The amount rewarded for NCB will be then used to purchased units in the investment funds linked to your insurance policy. You can also purchase PRUhealth with deductible option of RM3,000 or RM10,000.

You can enhance your medical coverage by attaching other riders (with extra premium) to the PRUhealth medical card as follow:

1. PRUannual limit waiver: With this rider, you can claim exceeding your annual limit, of which the amount exceeding the annual limit will be subjected to 10% coinsurance fees (except room & board cost). This rider is only available for PRUhealth plan 200/300/400 only.
2. PRUmedic overseas: With this rider, you can opt for second opinion or treatment in Singapore, China and Hong Kong for conditions related to cancer surgery, neurosurgery, coronary artery bypass, heart valve surgery and kidney/lung/liver/heart/pancreas/bone marrow transplant.
3. PRUmedic auto upgrade: With this rider, your medical plan will be automatically upgraded to the next medical plan on the 5th and 10th medical rider anniversary. For example, if you purchased PRUhealth 100, on the 6th year, your plan with be auto upgrade to PRUhealth 150. On the 11th year, your plan with be auto upgrade to PRUhealth 200.
4. PRUmedic retirement: This rider is available for those who purchase PRUhealth plan with deductible option. Upon retirement at age 55 next birthday, the deductible option with be auto converted to coinsurance.

ING MediPlus Medical Card Schedule of Benefits & Premium Table - V2

Sometime in 2010, ING revised their medical plans to enhance the annual claims limit with significant premium increment. Since ING is a prominent player in the medical insurance industry, the huge premium increment is a significant development and might lead other insurance companies to fllow suit. This will not be beneficial to the consumers.

If you compare the old medical plan here, there is an increment of 20% of premium for a 30 year old male who purchased the IMPlus 2 cashless medical plan, in exchange for a mere 10,000 increment in annual limit. This does not sound like a good deal for the consumers to me!

Detailed schedule of benefits and premium table for the revised ING MediPlus medical plans are as follow:

What Do We Have to Know About Medical Insurance?

Recently, I was doing some research on the cost of insurance comparison for some of the medical card/insurance available in the market today and i stumbled upon this document. This document was compiled by one of the financial planning company and it was dated 14 September, 2010. So i guess, the medical insurance comparisons they made should be still relevant at the moment.

From the document, there are a few interesting notes that i should highlight:

• Medical insurance attached with an Investment Linked plan as a rider offers LEVEL premium: This means, as a consumer, you will pay FIX premium through out the tenure, for your investment-linked insurance, unless the units in your investment-linked insurance are not enough to cover the rise in cost of insurance for the riders attached to your policy.
• One does not need to disclose his/her medical history if it happened more than 10 years ago: This is new to me! If there are some insurance agents out there, please confirm whether this is true!
• It is always a wiser choice to purchase medical benefit under an Investment Linked plan because it gives some returns at any point in time whereas there is no return if one buys standalone medical plan: This is a good reminder to potential customers out there scouting for medical cards

UPDATED: Allianz Powerlink MediCover Schedule of Benefits & Premium Table

MediCover is the hospitalization and surgical/medical plan rider within Allianz Powerlink investment-linked life policy. This ILP has been pretty popular lately due to its affordability. Some of the selling points for this MediCover medical plan are:

1. Coverage until 80 years old - which is more than sufficient for most people.
2. No co-insurance within the limit of room & board rate
3. 10 times lifetime limit
4. Outpatient cancer & kidney dialysis treatment subject to annual limit
5. Maximum 150 days of hospitalization in normal ward
6. Affordable cost of insurance - at the publishing time, this MediCover medical plan charges one of the lowest fees for medical coverage. However, this cost of insurance is not guaranteed to be level premium.

Better to Rent or Buy a Property Now?

With the ever escalating property prices in Malaysia nowadays, a lot of genuine property buyers (especially first time buyers) must be wondering: should i buy or rent a property in view of sky high property prices? You must have read or heard a zillion arguments on why you should buy a property NOW because there's an old saying that property prices will only stagnant and not go down even during economic downturn.

To be fair, I'll try to weigh the advantages of buying and renting a property and form a conclusion at the end of the article based on my own opinion. Take these opinions with a pinch of salt and draw your own conclusion on whether buying or renting a property is more apt for you.

Here's why you should buy a property now:

忙碌了一輩子，大家來到退休時，都希望自己能夠輕鬆沒煩惱地享受自由的生活。


但想要沒煩惱，就要事前準備，因為今天的規劃，能夠換來他日的幸福。

退休前后的生活會有很大轉變，尤其收入會減少，因此，退休前即要減輕債務，又得準備退休后的開銷。

做好安排，才能確保退休后，沒有工作收入的情況下，有效使用退休金，避免短期內就消耗完。

只需在退休前，完成6件事，退休生活就能安穩無憂慮。


（一）優先清除債務

若能夠在退休前，就把所有債務清還，是最理想的情況。而且，償還債務次序以利率最高的債務優先，如信用卡債務。

退休生活，應當輕鬆自在進行自己喜歡的活動，不應該為了債務而煩惱，而且確保老本不會被債務侵蝕掉。

但理財師說，若退休前已把貸款納入退休開銷預算，貸款其實還不算可怕。

假設一個人的貸款會在他60歲時屆滿，加上已做出預備，則無大礙。但如汽車貸款，就不應該在55歲的退休年齡申請了，若要買車，儘量用現金。　

一般上，退休者也很難再獲得貸款，因為金融機構很少批准貸款給沒有收入來源的人士。

與時拼經．樂齡銀行戶頭價更高 年利息較高

退休不是人生的結束，而是另一生活里程碑的開始，那備好的籌碼又要如何運用才足以應付那麼長的老年時期？

考的是應對智慧。

風險承擔能力偏低，失去工作能力的老人們已無法從頭來過，又要應付通脹，又要為養老金築起防衛牆。

年利息較普通戶頭來得高的樂齡儲蓄戶頭或定期存款戶頭（簡稱定存），也許是退休財務規劃的另一個不錯選擇。

通常退休時，老人都會一次性取得一筆可觀的退休金，那該怎么確保這筆錢足以應付通脹、貶值及這么長的退休生活費？

邁利財務規劃董事經理張梅香在回答《中國報》記者提問時指出：“如何規劃退休后所獲得的那一大筆錢是非常重要的，但還是那句老話，別將所有的雞蛋放在同個籃子里。”

她說，樂齡儲蓄或定存戶頭或是其中不錯的選擇，畢竟風險相對較低，老人或可將大部分存入此戶頭。

綜合資料后發現，樂齡銀行戶頭整體利息（最低介于0.1%至2.8%），比較起市場上普通的儲蓄戶頭（最低介于0.1%至約0.9%）年利息相對來得較可觀。

就以最具看頭的艾芬銀行樂齡戶頭為例，只需區區5000令吉的開戶頭要求，就可享有高達2.8%的最低年利息，存放50萬令吉及以上，享有的年利息更可高達3.1%。

比較起普通的存款戶頭，需存放1000令吉以上方享有0.25%年利息，有者存款額更需1萬令吉及以上才會發給0.1%的年利息，樂齡銀行戶頭顯然更具吸引力。

基不可失．定期定額懶人投資法

文：伍咏敏


相信不少人聽過“定期定額”投資法，基金投資者對這種策略尤其熟悉，然而又有多少人會採用這種策略去投資呢？

定期定額投資是好方法，但需要長時間，而且目標不能在短期內隨意更改。

雖然大家都知道定期定額投資法，是好方法卻不願意遵循，因為它有2個缺點，一是需要長時間才能看出效果；二來投資回酬率不夠高。不少人投資時，缺乏耐心。

惟專家指出，有紀律的定期定額投資法，是最簡單的長期累積財富法。

若沒有太多時間放在投資活動上，卻又想通過一些投資工具讓自己的財富增值，只要設定長期目標及衡量自己所能承擔的風險后，定期定額投資法就是一種懶人投資法，定能為您帶來想要的回酬。

定期定額投資法能在長時間內，平均一個人的投資成本，而且經過長時間，通過市場起伏累積一定單位數量。

所累積的單位在長期內增值后，個人財富也會隨著增加。

雖說，定期定額投資法是最簡單的長期累積財富法，但一碰上金融風暴，股市動盪，投資者就反應過敏。

像美國次級房貸金融危機引發的連鎖效應，使得2008年全球金融市場的投資信心不振，甚至開始懷疑定期定額投資法還能繼續嗎？

Asset Allocation - End of March

Portfolio review for Q1 2011 has been way overdue and I would like to apologize for the delay in updates to my portfolio holdings and its performance. Based on my investment objectives for 2011, I've made significant changes to my unit trust portfolio.

At the beginning of the year, I've sold of Hwang-DBS Global Emerging Fund (HGEMF), Pheim Income Fund (PIF), Hong Leong Global Value Fund (GVF) and AmOasis Global Islamic Equity Fund (AmOasis) even though the first two funds have been generating positive returns to me. I've sold off HGEMF and bought AmGlobal Emerging Markets Opportunities (AmGEMO) because its comparative performance to HGEMF but with much lower sales charge at 2% on Fundsupermart online platform. I've also sold off PIF to concentrate on PB Fixed Income (PBFI) and AmDynamic Bond (AmDynamic) funds as my core fixed income holdings. As for GVF and AmOasis, I've hold these two funds for two and three years respectively and they have been underperforming their peers in the global equity and global islamic equity funds. Therefore, I sold off these funds at a small loss.

Battle of the Online Unit Trust Platform - Fundsupermart Malaysia vs eUnitTrust

I'm have been an active users for both online unit trust platform available in Malaysia currently - Fundsupermart Malaysia (FSM) and eUnitTrust (eUT) for the past two years. Both platforms offer the sales of selected unit trust funds with discounted sales charges. Typically, the sales charge for equity funds sold in these platforms, and the sales charge for fixed income funds ranges from 0 - 1.5%.

However, I prefer FSM over eUT for the few reasons highlighted below:

1. Promotions: FSM always have thematic promotions for funds with even lower sales charge (1 - 1.5% for equity funds) from time to time. I have yet to see eUT platform offer such promotion.
2. User-friendly platform: The whole web site is fairly easy to use for an average computer literate user. For eUT, the layout seems to be cluttered and "old fashioned".
3. Wide selection of funds: Admittedly both platforms have quite similar range of funds available online. As of to date, FSM has 147 funds and eUT has 143 funds for sales online.
4. Payment methods: FSM offers wider range of payment method, ranging from Cash Management fund, cheque deposit, funds transfer and Internet bill payment. Currently, you can directly pay for your purchases from your CIMB and HLB bank account. eUT does not offer Internet bill payment facility.
5. Live Help: If you need help, just buzz Live Help for real time help from FSM helpdesk. I find this very useful especially for beginners where you will get help from a person, rather than just shooting email to support.
6. Research: FSM chunk out tons of research reports and papers to analyze current economic and market conditions. Admittedly, some of the papers are skewed towards promoting their funds/investment themes. But, hey it's a willing seller willing buyer market here....so no offence to me!
7. Forum: FSM has an online forum where fellow investors can discuss and share their knowledge on investment topics, although the forum is currently not as active. eUT does not have such feature.

The only disadvantage of both platforms is the limited selection of funds from popular fund houses such as Public Mutual, Hwang-DBS, MAAKL Mutual and etc. These fund houses focuses their selling efforts via their agents and hence the lack of motivation to offer online discounted sales charge.

So, why pay 5 - 6.5% sales charge where you can get most of the funds online at 2% sales charge or even lower? Remember, the basic rule of investments: keep the investment costs as low as possible to stay profitable!

UPDATES: Procedure to stamp tenancy agreement

When a house is rented out, the house owner should draft two copies of tenancy agreement (one original copy and another duplicate copy) between himself and the tenant. If there's a group of people going to rent your house, you should elect one responsible person as the "leader". The house owner should attach a list of inventories in the house and the identification card of the "leader" together with the tenancy agreement to be stamped in Inland Revenue Department (Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri).

Great Eastern Smart Medic Medical Card Schedule of Benefits and Premium Table

Updated 10 December 2012: Increased overall lifetime limit to 10x of annual limit.

Smart Medic is the comprehensive medical rider (aka medical card) for investment-linked insurance plans from Great Eastern which protects you medically until you are 80 years old next birthday.

One of the unique selling point for Great Eastern Smart Medic is the no claims increment of annual limit. This means that if you dont claim for medical expenses every 3 policy years, your annual limit will be increased 10%.

The table below will explain the no claims increment of annual limit, assuming that one purchased a SM 200 medical plan.

Wealth is what you save, not what you spend

We all may not be millionaires but there are plenty of financial and life-planning secrets we can learn from the well-heeled.


Most people know that wealth in the U.S. is in the hands of a small percentage of the total population. And, today, most of those folks with a net worth of $1 million or more have earned it themselves.

They’re mostly entrepreneurs who create everything from high-speed networks to garbage haulers. They dig ditches and build houses and grow corn and make jewelry. They deal stamps or coins or artwork and control pests and cut lawns. They also cure people and give them new teeth. Others will defend their neighbors or even feed them.

And they’re not big spenders. In fact, most of those with big bucks live well under their means — think about Warren Buffet still living in that modest Omaha home — and they put their money instead toward investments that help them stockpile more wealth.

“Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend,” according to Thomas Stanley and William Danko, the authors of the seminal tome on America’s wealthy “The Millionaire Next Door,” first published in 1996.

“It is seldom luck or inheritance or advanced degrees or even intelligence that enables people to amass fortunes,” the authors wrote. “Wealth is more often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and, most of all, self discipline.”

UPDATES: AIA Excelcare Plus and Medicare Plus Medical Card Schedule of Benefits and Premium Table

Below is the schedule of benefits and premium table for AIA Excelcare Plus(ECP) and Medicare Plus(MCP) medical plan. MCP basically extends the benefits of ECP medical plan by having larger coverage/allowance for kidney dialysis, cancer treatment, daily cash allowance at general hospital, daily guardian benefits, emergency accidental outpatient treatment, and emergency evacuation benefit. The additional benefit for MCP if compared to just ECP only is the coverage for home nursing care.

ECP and MCP medical plans now cover the package for the whole family, insured & spouse only, male insured and children only, and female insured and children only. The schedule of benefits for ECP and MCP medical plans for family related packages are the same as normal single person package, but the premium charged will be different as listed below.

The following information is valid as of today.

Updates: Added ECP premium tables for male, female and family related medical plans and also added ECP and MCP premium tables for family related plans.

Financial Review - Year 2010

It's a new year and a good time to look back over the year of 2010 to review our financial standings, i.e. what we have done great and what needs improvement. Here's the review for my financial situation:

The Great Stuffs:

1. Expenses: Compared to year 2009, expenses decreased 2.3% despite the ever increasing inflation. This is a great achievement!
2. Savings: Compared to year 2009, savings increased 25% over the year of 2010. Again, this is great achievement despite the meagre increment and higher inflation in the year 2010.
3. Investments: A superb year in investments overall (especially local stocks/funds), thanks to the great rally of stock markets for most part of the year 2010.

The Not-So-Great Stuffs:

1. Overseas Investments: Returns have been relatively flat or slightly negative, mainly due to currency appreciation of Ringgit that diminished most of the returns of foreign funds which are usually dominated in USD.
2. Over cautious: I have been too pessimistic over the stock market rally for the past year, and too profit far too early. I should have also allocate more money for stocks rather than bonds.

Changes for Year 2011:
I expect year 2011 to be much more volatile with higher downside risks, mainly due to the long running rally over the past year. With this investment perspective, I would make changes to my investment portfolio as follow:

1. Focus on local investments: This is due to the more defensive nature of Malaysian stock market. Investments into local stocks/funds will be split into blue chips, dividend play and REITs.
2. Dollar cost averaging: Will start dollar cost averaging on local funds in anticipation of more downside risks, with some lump sum investments when the market crash/panics.
3. Streamline overseas investments: Further lump sum investments will be mainly on Asian and emerging market funds when the market crash/panics.

I will detail fund switching/new investments in the future articles whenever possible. So, what's your view on the performance of stock markets in the coming months?