What should you do when interest rates rise?

High interest rate, friend or foe? It depends on which side you’re on. If you are a lender, high interest is good and of course if you are the borrower, it is bad news indeed. Last year, Bank Negara Malaysia gradually raised the interest rate a few times from 2.00 percent in January up to 2.75 percent in August, in order to stabilize prices and maintain a good level of growth in the country. Any increase will profit financial institutions that will then increase their lending rates which is passed on to their customers.

Pay off debts

When interest rate is going up, the first thing that comes to mind is to get rid of debts as quickly as possible. It is time to be aggressive on your debt repayment schedule and reduce money going towards interest payment rather than the principal amount.

Get a fixed rate

If you anticipate or foresee a rising rate and you intend to apply for a bank loan, it is advisable to get a fixed rate. For example, if the fixed interest rate is 6 percent per annum, then it will remain so for the entire loan period. If your loan is the variable type, then expect to fork out more in tandem with the rising rates.

Investment

The stock market generally does not react well to a rising interest rate due to the lost of value. Investors may take advantage of this situation to go bargain hunting for discounted stocks. On the other hand, others may decide to reduce their investment or pull back their exposure to stocks. Of course, other factors like the current economic situation will determine the actual performance in the stock market.
If you have equities dumped into the utility and energy sectors, you may not be too worried compared to someone who has equities in the financial services which is sensitive to interest rates. Businesses that sell a product that requires their customers to take up financing, for example real estate developers and automakers are usually negatively affected when interest rate goes up.
The cost of borrowing becomes higher but it seems that the underlying interest rate is still perceived by Malaysians to be low compared to a few years back when it was 3.5% (2008). Hence, there seems to be very little effect on property prices as it remains high to date and it has not deterred people from acquiring more debts.
A study done by Standard & Poor in the US that analyzed data of Federal Reserve hikes between 1946 and 2009, combined with data from Standard & Poor’s 500, reported on sectors (in the US only) that perform well after interest rate hikes are “information technology, healthcare, telecommunication services, energy, consumer staples, industrials, consumer discretionary, utilities, financial and materials.”
For those who are not risk takers and prefer the comfort of consistent returns can place their money in fixed deposits or in fixed-income instruments. That way, they know the exact returns from their investments no matter what is happening to the interest rate. The good news is fixed deposit rates will also go up giving the investor higher returns. However, bondholders will be negatively affected but will benefit those who buy in after the rate hike. The general advice is to keep yourself updated on local and world economic situation and adjust your investment portfolio when necessary to protect your money.
Read other articles by Jacquelyn at WParent.com on parenting matters and Tips4Everyone.com on solving marriage problems.

Are you building passive income or busy to earn the active one?

Are you spending most of the time on your day job? Most people are stuck with 9-5. In Malaysia, it is very common for a hardworking employee to work like 7-11 (start on 7am, finish on 11pm). During this economy downturn, people work even harder just to avoid being the first to be retrenched.
We all have limited time 24 hours a day. Break it down:
Sleep: 8 hours
Work: 8 hours + 2 hours (commute, meal etc)
You are only left with 6 hours a day.
What about the weekend? If you want a quality life, you will probably spend the weekend with family and friends.
If you are really stuck with a day job right now, the only difference you can make depends on how you utilize the remaining six hours a day.
As you know, active income requires your full time participation to make money. You are being paid for the effort you put in during the time you commit to your employers. At the moment you stop working, your active income will stop too.

So many ways to build passive income streams, what do you do?

So, have you started building your passive income stream? There are so many ways to make one. All you need is the effort and commitment.
Can you write a book?
Can you start a business?
Would you make money online?
Do you invest your money wisely?
Do you shop for a property that gives good rental yield?

How many hours you spend everyday to build passive income?

Successful entrepreneurs spend more than 8 hours a day building passive income streams. And they do it for fun most of the time.
If you find yourself too busy and even overwhelmed with your active day job, you will be trapped in the rat race for quite a long time.
Tell us how many hours you spend everyday to build passive income source. What you do to achieve it?
Lets Joint Us As A Financial Advisor At Maa Takaful. Get Good Income But Spend Less Time.

Mari Bercuti Ke Medan

Tidak Pernahkah Terfikir Selama Ini Anda Sering Gagal Mencapai Apa Yang Anda Inginkan Atau Sesuatu Yang Menjadi Matlamat Anda Disebabkan Kesungguhan Serta Komitmen Yang Terlalu Rapuh Dan Tidak Fokus. Setiap Dari Kita Di Beri Kelebihan Cuma Perbezaan Yang Membezakan Antara Mereka Yang Berjaya Dan Gagal Adalah Sikap Kita Terhadap Perkara Yang Kita Lakukan. Ingatlah.....Allah Tidak Akan Beri Apa Yang Anda Mahu Tetapi Allah Beri Apa Yang Kamu Usahakan..!

Ambil Peluang Ini Dan Pastikan Ia Menjadi Milik Anda Atau Peluang Itu Tetap Tinggal Sebagai Peluang Jika Tiada Usaha Atau Kesungguhan Yang Datang Dari Diri Anda. Mulai 28/03/2011 - 11/05/2011 Anda Di Hidangkan Sekali Lagi Percutian Luar Negara Semurah Premium Rm4000 Untuk Satu Tiket Dan Rm9000 Untuk 2 Tiket. Percutian 3 Hari 2 Malam Ke MEDAN INDONESIA ( Produk Takafulink & Takafulife 88 Sahaja. Smartmedic100 Tidak Dikira ) Ini Khas Buat Kumpulan Di Bawah Naungan Teguh Group Keseluruhan.

Ingat Kawan-Kawan..., Bila Minda Anda Mencipta Alasan Anda Pasti Bertemu Kegagalan, Sebaliknya Bila Minda Mencipta Kemahuan Pastinya Kejayaan Menjadi Milik Anda. Samada Kita Berjaya Untuk Lepas Cabaran MEDAN Ini Bergantung Pada Usaha Dan Komitmen. Untuk Membantu Anda Termotivasi Didalam Mengejar Cabaran Medan Ini Pihak Pengurusan Maa Takaful Bersetuju Untuk Mengadakan Satu Sesi Motivasi Diri Pada 27/03/2011( Ahad jam 3pm Di Maa Kajang ) Bersama Speaker Jemputan. Anda Wajib Untuk Hadir.

Sebelum Mengakhiri Catatan Cabaran MEDAN Ini Ingin Saya Mengajak Rakan-Rakan Seperjuangan Untuk Sejenak Kita Muhasabah Diri, Tanya Seikhlas Hati Anda, Di Dalam Kita Ingin Bergelar Usahawan Perancang Kewangan Yang Berjaya Sudahkah Cita-Cita Kita Itu Di Selarikan Dengan Usaha Yang Maksimum..? Tepuk Dada Tanya Iman Anda.

Secara Rasional Layakkah Kita Menggelarkan Diri Kita Usahawan Jika Jumlah Perniagaan Yang Hanya Bernilai Rm4000 Gagal Untuk Kita Capai. Namun Sebagai Rakan Seperjuangan Saya Amat Yakin Setiap Dari Anda Mampu Untuk Lepas Cabaran MEDAN Ini Sekiranya Komitmen anda Berada Pada Tahap Yang Maksimum. Akhir Kata Selamat Berjuang...!

Hanafi - Chief Consultant Maa Takaful

GEMPA TERBURUK DI JEPUN DALAM TEMPOH 140 TAHUN DENGAN KEKUATAN GEGARAN 8.9 RICTHER

Gempa bumi terburuk dalam 140 tahun,yang melanda timur laut Jepun tengah hari tadi (waktu Malaysia),meragut 22 nyawa setakat dan angka kematian dijangka terus meningkat.

Reuters melaporkan Bencana ini bukan sahaja mencetuskan tsunami 10 meter,tetapi menyebabkan kebakaran kawasan industri.Gempa bumi pada skala 8.9 ini menyebabkan seorang terbunuh di Fukushima,utara Tokyo,di mana empat juta orang terputus bekalan elektrik.Amaran tsunami juga dikeluarkan di Sabah,Malaysia selain di Filipina,Taiwan dan Indonesia.Malah amaran yang sama dikeluarkan di Colombia dan Peru.

Gegaran susulan juga dialami.Satu loji penapisan minyak di Tokyo juga terbakar manakala beberapa dozen dipercayai terancam.Tsunami juga menyebabkan kesemua pelabuhan di Jepun ditutup.

“(Keadaan) sungguh huru-hara. Kesemua operasi digantung,” kata broker kapal.

“Pelabuhan-pelabuhan akan ditutup sekurang-kurangnya untuk tempoh tertentu sehingga penilaian kemusnahan boleh dilakukan,” katanya lagi.

Broker kapal menjangkakan bayaran perkhidmatan kapal akan meningkat dalam jangka pendek memandangkan loji-loji tenaga mendapatkan semula simpanan bekalan manakala syarikat-syarikat keluli pula dijangka mengimport lebih banyak besi untuk proses pembinaan semula.

Laporan berkata tsunami juga dipercayai menjejaskan stok arang batu yang digunakan untuk tujuan penjanaan tenaga.

“Saya amat takut dan saya masih bimbang,” kata Hidekatsu Hata, 36, pengurus sebuah restoran mi Cina di kawasan Akasaka di sini.

“Saya tidak pernah menyaksikan gempa bumi seburuk ini,” kata beliau.

Beberapa loji tenaga nuklear dan pusat penapisan minyak juga ditutup manakala satu loji keluli utama terbakar.Menteri-menteri Kabinet mengadakan mesyuarat untuk membincangkan isu-isu nuklear selepas laporan media mengatakan kerajaan akan mengisytiharkan situasi darurat tenaga nuklear yang akan dibuat jika ada pengesahan kebocoran radioaktif atau sistem penyamanan reaktor dihentikan.Sebuah hotel di Sendai runtuh dan ada mangsa dipercayai tertimbus dalam kejadian itu.Pengeluar raksasa elektronik Sony Corp menutup enam kilangnya.

Grand BOP( Business Opportunity Program )

                                                                                                                                            Salam......kepada semua pelawat yg melayari blog ini anda semua di jemput hadir ke majlis penerangan kerjaya sebagai perancangan kewangan di Maa Takaful. 10 tahun yg lalu saya juga seperti anda yg sentiasa mencari duit tambahan untuk sara hidup. Namun setelah 9 tahun bergelar perancangan kewangan sepenuh masa di Maa Takaful bukan duit tambahan yg saya miliki malah saya menikmati pendapatan 5 angka setiap bulan sehinggalah hari ini.

Saya yakin anda semua inginkan kebebasan kewangan dan masa di dlm hidup ini. Percayalah hanya bergelar usahawan sahaja anda dpt memiliki semua ini. Untuk kehadiran boleh menghubungi saya di talian 016-2207467(hanafi). Selamat Maju Jaya......T/kasih


Hanafi - Chief Consultant Maa Takaful

Protect Your Business With Keyman Insurance

 Keyman or key person is the business main assets that ensure the business growth and prosperity. In layman term, if the key person dies, most likely the business will follow the same path. In a small business operation, who is the key person? The key person usually is the owner himself, or it might be the marketing sales team. If you consider blogging is a business, who is the key person? Even a fool knows that the blogger who maintains the blog is the key person.

The key to protecting the business is to insure its key persons. Andrew Carnegie once said

Take away my factories, my plants; take away my railroads, my ships, my transportation; take away my money; strip me of all these, but leave me with my people, and in two or three years I will have them all back again.

If you are running a business, how much would you insure your car? How much would you insure you factory? How much would you insure your machines? If your car is worth $50,000, I am sure you will insure the value accordingly. Some businessmen insured their factory worth million dollars but yet left themselves uninsured. This is an ironic business sense.
                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                                        
 For Malaysian businessmen, contact me if you are interested to insure your business key persons.

$ 10 to $ 1 million. How Long Does It Take..?

$10 can be turned into $1 million. If you are immortal, being a millionaire is too simple. But human life is short. What we want to know is the speed of wealth creation. I will elaborate some methods to turn that $10 into a million dollars, and the time it takes. Start with the fastest way:

Change the US$10 into Turkish Lira currency – you will get TRL 14 millions, instantly you become a multi-millionaire.
Buy lottery – High risk, high return. You only need to wait a few weeks for the lottery results.
Buy a domain name and start blogging – This depends on your talent and hard work. Maybe 2 years of persistence will make you a millionaire.
Buy GOOG (Google Inc.) - Since Google‘s IPO on August 13th, 2004 at $85, now the share price is around $500, giving an average 80% annual return. If you use $10 dollar to buy Google’s share now, it will take about 20 years only to make a million dollar. Of course $10 is not enough to own a GOOG share, just find a way to own a bit of it.

Invest in mutual fund or unit trust – Let’s say a unit trust fund consistently gives you a return of 10% a year, you would have to wait 120 years for the $10 to become a million dollar.
Put it in a bank saving account and wait – wait and wait ………….. wait .. still wait … and wait .. zzzzZZZ – 293 years!
Conclusion: It is too easy to become a millionaire. What makes it difficult is the limited amount of time we have.
If you give up already, just buy a million dollar insurance policy. At least your nominee can become one when you die.

Sum Assured = Level Of Love



Did your spouse ever ask you this question: How much do you love me?
I think there is no simple way we can give a great answer. Is your love deeper than sea? Higher than any bird ever reach up into the sky? (with advance technology, we got space shuttles travel many light years beyond the sky limit).
If I am going to put the love level into a measurable number, I think there is no other way than using your insurance sum assured! And make sure that it is nominated to your love one! The number not only shows the monetary amount of your love, it also shows how much the love we are willing to afford.
The richest Chinese in the world, Li Ka Shing was once asked about how much wealth he will distribute to his heirs. He said it all depends on how much insurance he bought and nominated to them.
Certainly, love comes in many forms. Buying life insurance on our own life and nominate it to our spouse will ensure our love stay on forever. Some husbands say his widow will remarried. The fact is they leave no choice to the widow. Why remarry if your widow receives a lot from your insurance proceed? If she is going to remarry anyway after she got rich, I don’t think she will wait until the day you die to make the decision.



How Much Money Will You Spend In A Lifetime..?

Let's estimate what the total amount is going to be.
Life is basically divided into four major phases:
1. Childhood (age 0-23)
2. Young Adulthood (age 24-40)
3. Midlife (age 41-60)
4. Elderhood (age 61-??)
To simply estimate how much money we spend, we shall just use the current value of money. In other words, we won't look at the effect of inflation. Technically, inflation can be offset with the rate of return. Let's just look at the amount of money in the current economic value. All the number shown is only an estimation based on a medium income family.

Childhood (age 0-24)

During your childhood, you spent your parents money. They pay for your milk powder, your toys and the biggest expense of all your education fees.
Living expenses: RM10,000/yr x 23 = RM230,000
Education fees: RM50,000
Total: RM280,000

Young Adulthood (age 24-40)

You started making money after graduation. You bought at least a car and a house. You are not only paying for your own living expenses. You also give allowances to your children, and your parents.
Living expenses: RM20,000/yr x 16 = RM320,000
Car: RM50,000
House: RM200,000
Total: RM570,000

Midlife (age 41-60)

After years of working experience and networking, your income will be more solid at midlife phase. Most people have a few children still studying in schools and colleges. You might buy a bigger house and a bigger car. The standard of living also increases to include hobby and travelling.
Living expenses: RM30,000/year x 20 = RM600,000
Car: RM150,000
House: RM500,000
Total: RM1.25 million

Elderhood (age 61-80)

At old age, you may spend most of your money on medical fees, nursing care and also some travelling if you are still fit enough to do so.
Living expenses: RM10,000/year x 20 = RM200,000
Medical expenses: RM15,000/year x 20 = RM300,000
Total: RM500,000

Total Lifetime Expenses

So, the total estimation is about RM2.6 million!
If you are earning RM50,000 annually, it will take you 52 years to earn RM2.6 million.
How much do you estimate you will spend in your whole life?

Let us sharing with you how to create the effective account for your financial planning......

Vconsultancy - financial one stop centre