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T20s are being cut off from government subsidies and this has sparked a debate among the rakyat. Some are saying its unfair while others are saying that it’s about damn time! The Subsidy Cuts Towards the end of May, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said those in the Top 20 (T20) income group will no longer enjoy any subsidies for electricity. The T20 in question are those with a total household income of more than RM 10,960 a month. Around the same time, deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan also announced that this same group will no longer reap the benefits of government fuel subsidies on RON95 petrol and diesel starting next year through targeted subsidies. The goal of these subsidy cuts was to curb leakages and ultimately cut down on subsidy allocation in the country’s yearly budget. This is in hopes of reallocating future revenue to much-needed investments like in our education system, healthcare or helping the hard-core poor. For your information, RM64 billion has been carved out of Budget 2023 solely for the purpose of subsidies, initiatives and financial aid. Mixed Reactions The public response to the subsidy cuts has been mixed, to say the least. Proponents argue that with the cuts, it’ll help narrow the wealth gap and prioritise the B40 as well as hard-core poor communities. Their reason is that this will ensure future economic growth and help people escape the poverty cycle. On the other hand, critics argue that it’s unfair to the T20 households who contribute significantly to personal income tax revenues, and will no longer receive any benefits from it. There are also concerns that the categorization of T20 should be redefined to only include individual income rather than household income, particularly for urban areas where the cost of living is considerably higher. Well, this debate will continue to happen, even in the grand halls of the Dewan Rakyat until more information on the subsidy cuts and targeted subsidies is revealed. Redirecting Subsidy Revenues However, on that note, one crucial aspect of the subsidy cuts that the general public can agree on is understanding where the redirected subsidy revenues will be allocated. It’s expected of the government to invest these savings into areas that benefit the nation as a whole. Enhancing the education system, such as through teacher training, school infrastructure development, and technology integration, should be a priority. Additionally, allocating more funds to the healthcare sector can boost employment opportunities, facilitate research and development, and ultimately improve the accessibility and quality of healthcare services. And according to deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan, that is what they’re planning to do. Conclusion The subsidy cuts are part of a broader trend that aims to implement targeted subsidies efficiently in Malaysia. By reducing subsidy expenditure, the government can redirect these funds to sectors that require urgent attention, such as education and healthcare. While further announcements are awaited, remaining engaged with developments surrounding these subsidy cuts is essential for us all. Here at Mr Money TV, we’ve talked about this topic several times through our podcast and also YouTube video. We discussed how these subsidy cuts will affect the rakyat at all income levels and what it means for the outlook of our beloved country. Do tune in with a pinch of salt! So, what do you think about the subsidy cuts? Do you think it’s fair to the T20s? Disclaimer: This article provides an analysis of the recent subsidy cuts in Malaysia and expresses diverse opinions. The views and opinions presented here are not definitive and may be subject to change as new information becomes available.

Netflix has made local headlines recently cracking down on its password sharing policies. This policy entails that all devices have to be connected to a primary WiFi or else pay an additional RM13 fee per user for password-sharing with those living in different households. This is just one of the many factors that have been worrying investors as of late. But before we get into that, let’s first get to know how Netflix became the most popular video streaming service worldwide. How Netflix Started Before the age of the Internet, people were catching up on the latest movies through video cassettes before they were aired on TV. They had to go to their local video rental stores to pick out a movie they wanted to watch, rent it, and then return it once they were done with it. In the US, these were Blockbuster stores. As technology improved, those video cassettes became thinner and DVDs soon became all the rage. This advancement was a welcomed opportunity for two businessmen: Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. They came up with the brilliant idea to post DVDs to customers instead of having them visit a physical store like how they would for Blockbusters. And that was how Netflix was born. Simply order the movie that you want to watch then, Netflix will post it to your doorstep. After you’ve watched it, put the DVD back in the envelope provided and drop it off at the nearest post office. This service garnered a ton of popularity in the US and their business grew quickly. Internet And Netflix In the early 2000s, everyone was raving about this new thing called The Internet as it was becoming more easily available. Being the visionaries that they were, Hastings and Randolph quickly jumped on the bandwagon and Netflix pivoted to online streaming by 2007. They hit the jackpot once more and things skyrocketed for the company. Netflix paved the way for online streaming and consumers were more than happy to pay for its services. Global Domination In the next 10 years, Netflix kept growing and wasted no time in spreading its wings. By 2010, it was available not only in the US but in Canada and Latin America too. And over the next few years, they quickly took over the rest of the world. By 2020, their subscriber count was at 203.7 million. Investors couldn’t be more happy with this immense growth but they were in for an unwelcome surprise. Netflix’s Downfall In the first quarter of 2022, Netflix lost 200 thousand subscribers for the first time in a decade. Investors panicked thinking that this was the start of the end for the streaming service. Stocks drastically fell by 35% immediately after the announcement. In the said announcement, Netflix’s board of directors attributed the loss of subscribers to macroeconomic factors like: Slowed down adoption of broadband and Smart TV Increased competition from cable and other streaming services Password sharing among households Increased inflation Russia's invasion of Ukraine This caused the market to become even more cautious when forecasting the company’s following quarter's subscribers count, giving it a -2 million growth for the second quarter of 2022. But what happened next caught everyone off guard. The Other Side Of The Coin In Q2, Netflix did not lose as many subscribers as the market predicted but they still lost more than they did in Q1. All in all, in terms of percentage, Netflix lost 0.5% of its subscriber base in the first half of 2022. While this seems like Netflix is losing steam in their business, as investors, we must bear in mind that the subscriber base only tells half of the story. The other half of the story is this: the average revenue per user (ARPU). It is calculated by taking the total subscription divided by the number of subscribers Netflix has. When you plot that in a graph, we can see that the ARPU has been on an uptrend. Even in 2022 when they were losing a ton of subscribers, their ARPU was still growing from $11.67 per user to $11.76. This means, despite the loss of subscribers, Netflix was still seeing a rise in revenue. This was how Netflix was playing the game. They had to balance the number of subscribers and ARPU in order to keep the business growing (and investors happy). Netflix’s Game Plan After seeing losses in the first two quarters of 2022, Netflix continued to see even more losses going into Q3. This sparked its management team to proactively look for ways to stay ahead of its competitors. They did this by pilot testing a new plan in 12 countries called ‘Basic With Ads' where for a cheaper price, subscribers can get everything on Netflix but have to watch an average of 4-5 minutes of advertisement for every hour of viewing. Many were sceptical of this strategy because they claimed that people subscribed to Netflix because it was ad-free. And now with this new plan, they were afraid that it may deter subscribers away. However, Netflix didn’t see it that way. ‘Basic With Ads’ was a way for Netflix to entice new subscribers to come on board. If they didn’t want to watch the ads, they could just subscribe to the normal plans. And it worked! Following the launch of the new plan, Netflix managed to add 3.4% of subscribers to 230.7 million. Then you may be asking, if the new plan is so cheap, wouldn't that lower the ARPU so much that it will affect the revenue? Quite the opposite actually. Between September 2021 to May 2022, Netflix clocked 1.3 trillion minutes of content watched, making it the most popular platform to stream videos today. Add that to Netflix’s ability to highly target advertisements to users, the company may soon be able to supplement any loss of ARPU with ad money by advertisers. But what do you think about Netflix? Do you think they’re a good company to invest in? If you liked this read, I would like to suggest you to watch a video we made about it on our YouTube channel where we discussed it with even more depth. You can watch it here.

Back in March, the news of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) bank run flooded every news outlet and social media platform, causing chaos to erupt in the US. People were pulling out money from their banks which caused even more bank runs to happen. All of this resulted in one thing: People doubting the stability of the traditional banking system. Now, you might be thinking, “Okay, what does this have anything to do with me in Malaysia?” Well, the thing we need to understand is that bank runs can happen anywhere. Malaysia included. So, in this article I’ll further delve into the SVB's downfall, explore the implications for the traditional banking system, and evaluate the readiness of Malaysian banks to weather similar challenges. SVB Bank Run Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was the go-to bank for startups in Silicon Valley. In fact, they were so popular among these start-ups that they quickly rose to top, becoming US’s top 20 commercial banks! That was until earlier this year. After some rumours of instability, SVB depositors rushed to withdraw their funds simultaneously. 42$ billion worth of deposit withdrawals were demanded of them. SVB didn’t have the liquidity to meet those demands hence leading to a domino effect that resulted in substantial losses and shattered confidence. But what caused this bank run to take place? After some investigation, it was found that the primary cause of SVB's decline was its over-reliance on bond investments, which turned into liabilities when the Federal Reserve rose interest rates rapidly. It works like this: when the Federal Reserve aggressively increased interest rates to combat inflation, new bonds issued carried more attractive returns than existing ones. As a result, investors moved away from SVB's bonds, rendering them worthless and forcing the bank to sell them at a loss. Deposit holders, fearing for the safety of their funds, began withdrawing their money, exacerbating the bank's financial troubles. And despite efforts to alleviate the situation, SVB ultimately incurred significant losses, leading to its collapse. The Crumbling Traditional Banking System SVB's collapse was just the start. Wind caught on and people starting withdrawing from their banks in fear losing their money. This caused even more bank runs to happen. Signature Bank and First Republic Bank were the victims of this. At this point, people were not only losing confidence in one particular bank but they were starting to lose confidence in the entire traditional banking system. This can be seen when people started moving their money into cryptocurrency where they didn’t need to worry about how irresponsible bankers use their fund since they had full control over their own money. But this begs a bigger problem. The traditional banking remains the bedrock of the economy, and any disruptions in this sector can have far-reaching consequences, even triggering global economic instability and conflicts. So, something had to be done to restore the public’s confidence in the system. Efforts to Restore Confidence In response to the growing concerns about the stability of the banking system, regulators took steps to protect depositors' funds. In a historic move, a group of well-known, bigger banks joined forces to pledge $30 billion to rescue the collapsing First Republic Bank, demonstrating their commitment to supporting smaller banks and rebuilding confidence in the traditional banking system. This powerful move worked and US citizens found a renewed sense of confidence in their banking system. But what about the bank back home in Malaysia? Are you confident in our banking system? The Strength of Malaysian Banks One of the ways to measure confidence in a bank is thorough Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR). This refers to the reserve funds that banks hold to sustain potential losses in investments like bonds, loans, mortgages, and stocks. A higher CAR indicates greater liquidity and resilience which is always a good thing. Now, comparing the CAR of Malaysian banks to that of US banks reveals a more favorable situation for Malaysia. Malaysian banks maintain a higher CAR in absolute terms (18.9% vs. 14.6% in the US), and this ratio has been on a positive growth trajectory. The higher CAR suggests that Malaysian banks have fortified themselves with sufficient liquidity to withstand external threats. Furthermore, Malaysian banks tend to have limited exposure to high-risk investments, such as the volatile startup economy which we see in Silicon Valley. Local banks often require collateralization before extending credit, adding an extra layer of security. These risk management practices contribute to the resilience of Malaysian banks and their ability to absorb potential shocks. Conclusion While the collapse of SVB and other regional banks may seem distant, it still serves as a reminder for Malaysia to remain vigilant and maintain a robust banking system. Although Malaysian banks are likely to be able to hold its fort should a bank run were to happen, it doesn’t mean that we should be starting one to begin with. If you found this read interesting, you should also check out this video over on our YouTube channel. We delved further into this topic, so I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well!

We're neighbours but worlds apart. Malaysia and Singapore share many similarities, from our food, culture and even citizens. But when it comes to the economy, the differences are beyond obvious. In 1965, the value of Singaporean dollar (SGD) and Malaysian ringgit (MYR) were the same, but today, 1 SGD is equivalent to ~3.30 MYR. Even the average monthly salary differs. In Singapore, they earn USD $4,100, which is five times more than Malaysia's meagre USD $804. So, what led to these stark differences in economic success when we started out the same just a few decades ago? #1 Education The tie between education and the economic success of a country is indisputable. A population with higher education attainment tend to produce a higher income workforce and individuals who are prepared to face the challenges of the real world. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for the Malaysian education system. In Malaysia, the government spends only $502 per capita on education, while Singapore spends $1,600 per capita. From very early on, Singapore realised that they had very few natural resources, so they made the choice to invest heavily on human capital as it was their only resource they can depend on. And one of those investments was their education system. Singapore recruits top students to be teachers. Their job was to educate future generations to be competent on a global level. On the other hand, Malaysia has English teachers who don't even speak English well and Science teachers who barely got an A in their science subjects. This situation produces students who are uninterested in learning, and consequently, this affects the future economic success of the country. While the situation remains gloom for Malaysia’s education system (no thanks to dirty politics), it’s not to say that we can’t do anything about it. In fact, now is the time for parents to improve their children's education. As a parent, perhaps you can start your children's education early by reading with them, instilling the importance of it, and talking to them about your experiences, successes, failures, and the challenges you’ve faced. These things will help your children to embrace challenges and failures, which will make them more creative and industrious in the future. #2 Salaries It was only in 2022 when Malaysia raised the minimum wage to RM1,500 from its previous RM1,200 salary. But if you live or have visited Malaysia, especially in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, you’ll know that RM1,500 goes very quickly. The cost of living has simply become too unaffordable in the country. Meanwhile, on the other side of the causeway, Singapore's civil servants are among the highest paid in the world at SGD4,500 per month. Their president Lee Kuan Yew once said, "you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." He was describing how if people of authority were to be paid lowly, the chances of them succumbing to corruption would be higher. Of course, paying civil servants better salaries does not guarantee that there won't be corruption. After all, corruption is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive solution. However, paying civil servants better salaries can reduce the likelihood of corruption (an issue Malaysians can understand all too well). #3 Housing Policy Singapore's unique housing policy promotes integration and shared prosperity among its citizens. The government provides high-quality HDB flats (government housing) designed to shape society and foster cohesion between varying income levels. In a HDB, each family is placed near another family with a slightly better economic level, encouraging aspiration and success. Additionally, ethnic quotas are in place to ensure that families from different backgrounds interact and live harmoniously. These housing projects come with all sort of amenities nearby, creating little townships all throughout the country. You could simply walk to school, grocery stalls, hospitals, gyms or malls as it's all connected through proper township planning. In contrast, Malaysia's government flats are not as well-built or maintained which lowers it's attractiveness. Because of this, people who can afford it would rather buy a property developed by private companies. Integration among citizens is also challenging since there's no system in place that requires people to intermingle with others from different backgrounds. Nevertheless, Malaysians can still contribute by encouraging their children to interact with neighbours from different ethnic backgrounds, nurturing a new generation that values unity and integration. Conclusion There’s no denying that Malaysia's economy has fallen behind Singapore's due to various factors. However, it's not all gloom and doom; the rakyat can still take proactive steps to improve their own education and encourage unity among their community. With that being said, it's crucial for Malaysia, especially those in power to wake up and address these issues in order to catch up and compete on a global level once again. If you found this read interesting, I'm glad to tell you that we made a video about it as well! You can check it out here. It discusses more about this topic and you'll get to hear what Peter thinks of it, especially as a parent raising his kids in Malaysia.

Hi! I'm Peter and I'm the founder of Mr Money TV. This is my story on how I earned a 6 figure income by 30. Achieving financial success is a dream that many of us share. Whether it’s to pay off debt, buy a house, or simply enjoy a comfortable life, we all strive to reach a level of financial stability that allows us to live our lives on our own terms. However, the journey to financial success can be daunting, especially when starting with a small pay check and limited resources. In this article, I will share the lessons I’ve learned on how I achieved a six-figure income, built a business and ultimately found my passion and true calling. I hope this gives you a sense of motivation to keep up with what you're doing and earn a living that provides a comfortable life that you see for yourself. :) Lesson One: You Are What You Do I started my journey to financial stability by setting a clear goal and developing a plan to achieve it. I knew the lifestyle I wanted to live and calculated the income I needed to achieve it. I gave myself two options: to get a job with a higher pay or to build a business. Unfortunately, I kept getting rejected from potential employers, leaving me with no choice but to pursue my second option. This lesson taught me that having a clear goal is not enough. As people, we must also develop a plan and take action to achieve it. We must be willing to explore different options and take risks to reach our desired outcome. Lesson Two: Action Speaks Louder Than Words My journey to financial success was not an easy one. I started as an insurance advisor and went through a steep learning curve to become a good salesperson. I faced plenty of rejection and had to deal with the painful experience of relying on other people’s misfortunes to pitch my product. However, throughout the years, I adapted and learned a different approach to selling my product. In the end, I was lucky enough to do well in the industry, eventually reaching a six-figure income by the age of 30. This lesson taught me that success is not achieved by chance. We must take action, even if it means going through a steep learning curve, facing rejection, or taking on unpleasant and morally grey tasks. We must be willing to adapt and improve along the way to achieve our desired outcome. Lesson Three: Create Value I reached a point in my life where I felt trapped in a lifestyle that was controlled by money. I realised that I wanted to do something bigger, to create real value in this world. So, I decided to start a business that solves problems at a larger scale. I knew that this was a risky move because it would require investing a whole lot of my own money, time and energy. If I wanted to pursue this, it would mean changing my lifestyle completely. So, I had to discuss it with my family and after some deliberation, I took action to downsized our lifestyle so that I could pursue my business. This lesson taught me that money is temporary, but the skillset to create value is long-lasting. We must focus on developing skills that allow us to create value and solve problems, rather than chasing after money. We must be willing to make sacrifices no matter how uncomfortable in order to achieve our dreams, in in some sense, achieve our purpose. Conclusion Achieving financial success is a journey that requires a clear goal, a plan, and action. We must be willing to take risks, adapt, and improve along the way to reach our desired outcome. Sure, this was my journey to a six-figure income but so what? Ultimately, this was my journey in finding my real purpose in life. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, I hope this gave you some sort of motivation to achieve your dreams. For me, this journey is still on-going and has had its ups and downs. I’m infinitely grateful for your support because it was you who helped me realise my dreams. I made a YouTube video on this as well where I talked about it in more detail, so you can check it out here. Feel free to comment your thoughts on your own journey - whether financial journey or life journey! I’d love to hear from you.

Selling a car can be a daunting task, especially if you're not familiar with the process. What more if you're trying to sell it without going through a car dealership! But trust me when I say that, you'll be able to earn so much more if you sold your car yourself. In fact, I know of someone who earned an extra RM6,000 just by selling his car himself! So, in this article, I'll walk you through the entire process of selling your car on your own! I promise it will be a rewarding experience. Step 1: Set a price Research the market and determine the going rate for cars similar to yours. Take into account that factors like mileage and car condition can affect the price. So, you might have to lower the price of your car to compensate for these factors. Finally, when you’ve decided on a price, proceed to list your car on sites like mudah.my or Facebook groups. You'll want to include as much information as possible about your car - age, mileage, defects (if any), condition and etcetera. This is so that potential buyers will feel like they're able to trust you which in turn, may boaster confidence in buying the car from you. Step 2: Meet buyers After listing your car, you'll start getting calls from interested buyers. They'll want to know more details about the car and will probably want to test drive and inspect it so be prepared for that. Potential buyers may also offer a lower price once they've inspected the car. So, don't be afraid to negotiate, especially if you feel like the buyer’s offer is too low. Step 3: Obtain Vehicle Registration Card Once you have a buyer, the real work begins. The first thing you need to do is to obtain the original Vehicle Registration Card from your lending bank. A Vehicle Registration Card is a document that carries the registration of a car and is issued by JPJ. It is done to establish a link between the car and the owner. This process can take up to three days, so be sure to call your bank and make arrangements in advanced. Step 4: Car inspection @ PUSPAKOM The next step is to have your car inspected by PUSPAKOM to ensure that it's roadworthy. To do this, make an appointment through their website and choose your preferred branch. On the day of the inspection, make sure to bring your IC and the original Vehicle Registration Card. The inspection process typically takes about 20 minutes, if you go at the right time. We suggest booking a slot earlier in the day! It’s said that PUSPAKOM inspections can be difficult to pass so here are some pro-tips you can consider: Remove the tinting on your windshield and windows for driver and front passenger. Make sure all your lights are in working order including headlamps, backlights, break lights, signal lights and even car plate lights. Ensure there are no defects to the body of your car. Step 5: Ownership transfer @ JPJ After your car passes the PUSPAKOM inspection, it's time to transfer the car ownership through JPJ. You and the new owner will need to be present for this process. At JPJ, both parties will be required to fill out some forms and present the relevant documents like IC and Vehicle Registration Card. You'll also need to pay a fee of RM100 for the process. Step 6: Say your final goodbye Congratulations! You've sold your car all by yourself! But this step will probably be the hardest (emotionally, at least) - parting with your old car. Give it one last spin, take a picture with it and maybe thank it for being of service to you for the past few years. Conclusion By following the steps above, you can sell your car for a fair price and avoid paying commissions to used car platforms. This is a great choice if you're not in a rush to sell your car and have some extra time to experiment around. Remember earlier in the article I mentioned that I know someone who earned an extra RM6,000 simply by selling his car on his own? Well, that some was actually Peter. If you’d like to watch Peter’s journey on how he sold his 9 year old Peugeot 408 for RM11,000 instead of the offered RM5,000 by Carsome, you can check out the YouTube video here.

You're probably thinking: "There's no way RM100 will make a difference in my investment!" Well, you're not wrong. BUT, as the Malay saying goes, 'sedikit-sedikit, lama-lama menjadi bukit'. When you're investing with this relatively small amount, you have to think about the long-term. How can you make the most out of your investment? The answer is, through compounding returns. This is when your investment returns are reinvested, generating additional returns in subsequent periods. We've listed out some investments you can consider and categorised them according to low-risk to higher-risk investments. Pick and choose the ones that suit your risk tolerance the most! Let’s get started. Liquid and Low-Risk Investments StashAway Simple StashAway Simple is a cash management portfolio that offers competitive returns. Their returns range from 2.5% p.a. to 4.1% p.a., depending on the market. Their app is very intuitive to use and everything can be done online including opening an account, depositing and withdrawing funds. Majority of your funds will be invested in a Money Market Fund and some of it will be in invested in cash. TNG GOinvest Similar to StashAway Simple, TNG GOinvest is Shariah-compliant and returns can go as high as 3.7% p.a. This investment would be very convenient since most of us already have the TNG app on our phones. You'll just to sign up for it and deposit a minimum of RM10 to start investing! ASB/ASM It's a government unit trust fund that has a fixed price of RM1, making it a relatively safe investment. The dividends return is around 5-7% p.a., which is relatively high for a low-risk investment. However, keep in mind that ASB is only for Bumiputera while ASM is available for all Malaysians depending on the units available. Higher Risk and More Volatile Stock Market I bet you saw this coming. If you're really looking to grow your money, there's no better place than the stock market. Locally, you can invest in Bursa Malaysia where the minimum units you'll have to buy is 100. So, if you're able to find a stock that costs RM1 or lesser, you'll be able to invest in the stock market with RM100! Returns can vary depending on the volatility of the market but historically, active traders can earn up to 10% p.a. If Malaysian stocks aren't your thing, you can also invest in the US stock market. We recommend using Interactive Brokers to do your trading because of their low fees and broad access to a variety of US assets. Cryptocurrency Alternatively, you could also invest in cryptocurrency which is a decentralized currency. It is said to have a lot of potential in the future. While it's possible to earn high returns, it's also possible to lose everything because it’s still considered a risky investment. So, stick to large-cap crypto like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Some platforms you can use to invest in crypto are Luno and Tokenize Xchange. As for Tokenize, you'll not only be able to buy cryptocurrency but you'll be able to earn and stake your coins for even more returns! If you click on this and use the code: MMTV1 , you'll be able to get free RM25 deposited into your account! MyTHEO MyTHEO is a robo-advisor that invests in a variety of assets. Their algorithm will pick and select assets for you to invest in based on your risk tolerance. Their portfolio invests in over 20 ETFs which makes them one of the most diverse robo-advisor in Malaysia. Returns average at > 4% p.a., depending on market conditions and your risk-tolerance. StashAway Similar to MyTHEO, StashAway is also a robo-advisor that manages your portfolio for you. You get to choose from a variety of investment plans like general investing, responsible investing, thematic investing, or goal-based investing depending on the kind of investment you want to do. Alternatively, you can also customise your portfolio if you want to be more hands-on with your investment. We would suggest you to invest on a regular basis, using dollar cost averaging to even out your loss and gains. Unit Trust Unit trusts are managed by fund managers who will pick and select individual stocks to invest in on your behalf. There are many different types of funds available in the market, so it's important to research and get an idea of the fund's focus. Conclusion Having RM100 every month to spare is a good way to start experimenting with investing and build your savings. And with the right plan, you can make your money work for you and achieve your financial goals. Do you have more than RM100 to invest? Maybe RM500? RM1,000? Well, you're in luck! We made a video about it on our YouTube channel where we talked about how you can invest strategically with a larger sum of money! Disclaimer: This is not an investment advice. All content produced are solely for education and entertainment purposes only. Please consult your financial advisor before making any investment decision.

RM100,000 is quite a huge amount for someone in their 20s. In fact, it might sound impossible since for most of us, we'll only start working by 24 years old. But trust me, it is doable. You just need to have the right mindset and discipline. If you're ready to work hard and work smart for your money, keep reading! Assuming you have just graduated from university at 24 and started your first job, you’ll have six years to save up RM100,000 by 30. According to the Time Value Money Calculation, if you save in an investment that has a 6% compounded return, you will need to save RM14,336.26 yearly or RM1,194.68 per month. While this seems like a large amount, it is achievable if you have a plan. Step 1: Budget, budget, budget. To save RM1,194 per month, you need to have a clear understanding of your expenses. You can do this by creating a budget plan that distinguishes between needs and wants, then stick to it religiously. Some of you might be thinking: ‘That’s ridiculous! How can I pay for my expenses and still save an additional RM1,200 per month. I don’t even earn that much!” Okay, we hear you and we’ll address that issue in the next step. For now, it’s important to understand how having a budget plan can bring more structure towards your savings goal. Personally, we think that the average comfortable spending in urban Malaysia would cost around RM2,500 a month. To break it down further, it would roughly be: RM700 for room rental, RM300 for transportation, RM1,000 for food and entertainment, and the remaining RM500 for self-care and miscellaneous expenses. What we’re trying to say is that it’s important to live within your means and not on either sides of the extreme - being too frugal that it’s unhealthy or being too extravagant that it’s excessive. Step 2: Increase your income. We acknowledge that there’s only so much you can save after cutting back on your expenses. So, the only solution to it is to increase your income. While you may not be able to control your salary, you can still control your income. There are two ways to do this: negotiate for a pay raise or start a side hustle. #1 Negotiate Your Pay Raise When negotiating for a pay raise, you’ll want to equip yourself with necessary skills that will increase your value towards the company. Make it a habit to ask your employer how you can provide more value then do it will to make yourself stand out from the rest. At the same time, keep your options open by regularly going for interviews with different companies. This will open up new opportunities that pay better and, more importantly, will help you when negotiating for a higher salary. #2 Start A Side Hustle If you have some extra time on your hands, you can also start a side hustle to increase your income. You can do this by taking up some part-time jobs or start a side business. Nowadays, it is quite easy to build a side income. Many people become Grab drivers after work and on the weekends to earn some extra money. Some even learn basic e-commerce skills and do drop-shipping. Others choose to tutor school students after working hours and on weekends. Just by creating an extra RM1,000 per month, it would certainly help you save RM100,000 much faster. Did you know if you can save RM2,388 a month, it will only take you 3 years to achieve RM100,000 in savings? YES! 3 years, imagine having RM100,000 by age 26. There will be so much you can do by then. Step 3: Invest wisely. Let’s go back to our assumption that you’ll save this RM RM1,194.68 into an investment that provides 6% compounded returns per annum. 6% sounds pretty rare to the average person in this day and age (considering how terrible the economy has been) but in the investment world, it’s actually not. One the places you can put your money in is in equity based investments. Which is the stock market. Based on track record, active investors can earn up to 20% return a year but we know that not everyone has the interest or patience to learn to invest in individual stocks. Not to worry, there’s an alternative to this. There are different investment vehicles such as unit trust or Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that’s a lot more easier to handle. You simply have to handover your money to a financial institution that will invest your money into either a unit trust or ETF, depending on what you chose or are advised to do. Investment that provides a good return can give you a boost to achieve your RM100,000 goal faster. As we said earlier, if you invest 1,194 per month into an investment with 6% annual return, it will take you 6 years to accumulate RM100,000. But if your investment can generate 12% a year, then it will take you a little more than 5 years to reach 100,000. Or 20% annual return then it will only take you less than 5 years to reach RM100,000. So yes the higher the returns, the better. But remember this: higher returns often comes with higher risks because there is a chance of you losing a lot of money; so high risks, high returns. Conclusion Saving RM100,000 may seem overwhelming, but it is achievable if you have a clear plan and the discipline to stick to it. If you need some motivation to keep going, just imagine the feeling of having RM100,000 cash in your bank account. We hope you’ve enjoyed this article and if you’re more of a video person, you can check out our Malay version on this topic on YouTube.