如果一个人在马来西亚宣布破产报穷，那意味着什么后果？

• By CompareHero.my
• October 1, 2018

[文章更新于：2018年10月1日]

你知道吗？直到2018年8月，在这过去五年以来，大马一共有64,632位18到44岁的人士不幸面临破产，而且过去的种种数据显示，许多年轻人其实不太懂得规划个人财务。甚至有报道指出，有一部分年轻人在还没有达到30岁就已经宣布破产。不过，大家对破产的认知到底是有多少？ (more…)

5 Bad Financial Advice that Makes You Poorer

• By CompareHero.my
• September 30, 2018

In partnership with: 

Have you ever blindly trusted and implemented a piece of financial advice, and faced a negative outcome? Here are some tips to help you sort out the good from the bad, or at least trigger the proceed-with-caution sirens.

Humans love to give out advice whether sought or unsolicited. But beware, financial advice can be either good or detrimental for your financial health. Some financial advice are truly gems and help set you on the path to financial independence. On the other hand, some money advice can be false, questionable, and downright wrong. If you unwisely follow everything you hear, you bear the risk of losing your hard earned money.

Gaining good sound financial knowledge is vital to grow your personal finance. However, following blindly will only lead you rushing everywhere while bleeding cash. You need to learn to listen, differentiate and weight all money advice you hear or read. Take money advice given with a (large) pinch of salt. Separate the good from the bad.

But, how do you differentiate between good or bad advice?

Below are five common forms of poor financial advice that will likely make you poorer.

1. Speculative Ventures

Just about everyone wants to be wealthy. In our desire to increase wealth, we are susceptible to high-risk investment opportunities in speculative ventures. Committing to investing in speculative ventures which we do not understand will likely drive us to the opposite end – losing money instead of growing your wealth.

Speculative investments can appear at a glance to be very profitable and are often accompanied by very convincing displays of wealth to convince you. In reality, when brought to light, these “gold mines” are often “fools’ gold” leading speculators to lose most or all of their investment.

Below, let’s peek at a few examples of speculative or risky investments:

• Luxury Collectibles – Luxury collectibles like art, wine, and coins make for excellent hobbies but usually awful investments. Like any other commodity, collectibles go by buying something and hoping there is a willing buyer so its value increases (aka “bigger fool” theory). Two factors determined the price of most assets. One is the investment’s shortage and the other is their practicality. Collectibles that do not fulfil these factors should not be picked up. Another risk tied to luxury collectibles is the care and condition of the collectible.
• Precious Metals – Investing in precious metals is a speculative investment. The returns are not guaranteed, price volatility is high, and it does not provide any dividends/cash flow. Precious metals are also subject to economical, political and market risks. Furthermore, previous arguments on metals like gold for hedging purposes are increasingly unwieldy in today’s world.
• Penny Stocks – Penny stocks trade at very low value making it cheap. However, penny stocks face low market capitalization and face liquidity problems. Penny stocks may sound like good value because of their low stock prices. But these stocks generally market at cheap prices for a good reason. They are typically flawed companies with issues such as high levels of debt. Some of these companies may face the risk of being delisted, extended price declines, and insolvency.
• Small Biotech/Pharmaceutical Companies – Biotech/pharmaceutical companies see a lot of volatility linked to test, patent and regulatory approvals. This is even more so in small biotech/pharmaceutical companies whose fate are solely dependent on a single product successfully being launched.
• Acquiring Land for Speculative Mining. If you strike precious commodities, you have struck it rich for life. If you strike out, you are stuck with significant debt.

Be cautious of attempts to part your money especially in areas outside your circle of competency. You must know what you’re getting into before you jump in.

2. “Hot” Stock Picks

“Hot” stocks are very volatile movements fueled by speculation, news, and rumors of news. Hot stocks are typically characterized by wide price movements, large spikes in transaction volumes, and focused on a specific company or industry. Hot stocks typically last for a short cycle and are risky, speculative, and short-term in nature.

“Hot” stock tips are unsubstantiated data that conceals fundamental information. Take hot stock tips and buy/sell calls from brokers with a healthy amount of scepticism. Always do your own due diligence before investing. No one knows what will take place next in the financial markets.

Never ever go after a hot stock tip. Regardless of where or who gave the hot tip, take it as an opinion and not a fact. Instead, conduct your own research and make your own decision. You must know why and what you’re investing. Blindly accepting advice is not an investment but gambling. If you are unsure or doubtful, you need to spend more time learning and gaining insights before investing.

3. Investing on Leverage

Debt is sometimes categorized into “good debt” and “bad debt”. Notice that both good and bad debt still contain the word “debt”? A debt is a debt. You have to pay back regardless of the underlying reason for getting into debt. A familiar “good debt” scenario, is getting a loan to buy a house especially among Malaysians who love property. A common investment assumption in Malaysia is that your property will increase in value. (Editor: The actual historical property price increase is closer to official inflation figures).

However, the loan and the property’s assumed promise of success are two separate issues no matter how hard you wish. You should place importance on your ability to service the loan. Know that the dream house being hawked by the property agent may end up being a nightmare if it is not affordable for you. Make well-calculated choices to avoid financial regrets and losing your property and sanity. The inability to service loans can lead to foreclosure and you will endure much stress over this.

Over-leveraging on a property (for example via refinancing) can lead to a catastrophic effect if a severe property correction or glut occurs.

On the other hand, borrowing money or using other people’s money (OPM) can provide excellent leverage. Borrowing can be good advice in the following situations:

• the investment return is higher than the cost of the loan
• your investment is a success,
• you can cash out the investment,
• paid the loan and other costs, and lastly
• pocket the profit.

How nice and convenient! But, in reality, nothing is certain with any investment (even if “guaranteed”). The risks are high and can be compounded many-fold with leverage leading to potentially devastating losses.

There will be risk takers, speculators, high rollers and thrill-seekers. If you are one of these, do be cognizant of the risks involved and have plans to mitigate it:

• Investment Income Risk – The risk of actual return from the investment is lower than expected. Are you able to cover the shortfall
• Interest Rate Risk – If you took a variable rate loan, are you able to meet the obligation if interest rate rise?
• Income Risk – If you were to fall sick or made redundant with no fixed income, do you have a contingency plan?
• Capital Risk – If something forces you to sell your investment, and the value is not enough to cover the loan balance, what are you going to do?

If you are unsure whether to take a loan or be a superman to invest in the stock market, don’t. Wait until you have sufficient cash and/or experience. This way, even if your investment crashes, you don’t have to deal with an even bigger headache – debt.

4. Life/Money Advice from Critics/Quitters/Negative Nancies

We all know of some people who are always quick to give advice. Surround yourself with people better and wiser than you.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” ~Jim Rohn

• Mr Critical Carl – Habitually critical people (unless that’s your job) should be avoided. Perpetual critics have nothing good to say about anyone or anything. Critics will cause you to doubt yourself and are experts in pulling you down. Don’t waste your time listening to destructive criticism.
• Mr Quitter Quincy – Quitters are always hyped out for the latest and hottest investment that is going to change their fortunes. But after blowing hot for a few months, they quit when things don’t work out for them in the short term.
• Miss Negative Nancy – This group of individuals are negative about almost anything. They are characterized by being serial complainers, throwing pity parties, and blaming everyone (except themselves) in the world.

Investing is an endurance game grounded in a strong long-term game plan. Learn the rules. Master the game. Forget the naysayers. Break some rules and legs along the way. Enjoy the prize and sweet taste of victory.

5. Biased Money Advice

Scammers prosper in giving this type of advice. Manipulating on one of human most destructive character flaw, greed, is what they do best. It is sadly common how people lose large amount of money and life savings to scammers.

“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”

Trust your gut feeling and walk away from any such advice. Always check out BNM’s Financial Consumer Alert watchlist.

People are also colored and affected by their own personal experience. As a result, he will be biased for what worked for him and at that point in time.

For example, your friend a few years ago bought and sold a house and earned a nice profit as the property market was booming. He then proceeded to borrow money and flip another five properties allowing him to semi-retire at the age of 40. Do you today listen to his advice on how easy it is to flip property? Do you attempt to flip property like pancakes today? A one-time success of someone else has no bearing on your success if you decide to do the same thing. Furthermore, you may not even know the whole story. Your friend, trumpeting his success, may be biased by telling the success in the most positive way, conveniently leaving out the negative parts and failures.

Growing wealth is like planting a (money) tree. It takes time, care and patience. It can be a slow and boring process. Play it safe by concentrating on your circle of competency and the things you can control. Take a long-term view of your wealth making goals. The bottom line is you need to know where your hard earned money goes and what you are investing in.

Conclusion

Financial pearls of wisdom are rare and few. The dog and rat world we live in has all types of characters including those who would sell their own mother if they could make money. Keep an open mind but do weigh advice whether it’s true and applicable for you. Do your homework. Never accept advice, especially money advice, blindly.

What is the worst money advice you have ever heard? Please share and comment.

This article first appeared in MyPF.my 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CompareHero.my
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Start Shopping With ezbuy Daily Surprises!

• By CompareHero.my
• September 29, 2018

In partnership with: 

Daily sales, daily discounts on items, best buy items refreshed daily, shipping and delivery is what ezbuy.my offers to all online shoppers. For those who are still unfamiliar with ezbuy.my, we provide the best platform for all online shoppers and gives you the best price from ITEMS to INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING FEES.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really need to visit ezbuy.my right away. You can find great deals on all your daily needs. There are a lot of products for those to loves variety in everything and hence ezbuy.my brings you some of the best deals from the sale just for you!

PRIME: 

Look up to the latest offers when you can enjoy more discounts on shipping, delivery and even agents fees. Search your favorite items all around the world without hesitations as you can enjoy the best shipping price by joining the PRIME Family. You can shop as much as you can and pay only RM8.80 on INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING for all the BIG, BULKY and HEAVY items!

The best thing about being the PRIME Member is, you will be giving a wish list to any items that you crave in Taobao. With 42 Free Prime wishes you can save up RM195.20! Register now as PRIME MEMBER and you can enjoy FLAT FEE regardless of any weight, size, quantity and NO AGENT FEE charged!

POWER DEALS

If you are into fashion and looking for something to light up your ‘fashionista’ vibes, ezbuy.my gives you plenty of options for you to look stylish without worrying becoming a fashion victim.  You can get almost everything from skirts, pants, shoes or even make up, with the best price and HUGE DEALS. Check out ezbuy.my UNDER RM30 deals and looked out for the BEST BUY REFRESHED DAILY items.

The best Power Deals with Free Shipping and daily shocking discovery that you can get here in ezbuy.my. There are more than 16 top best seller items available for you to grabbed on as low as RM0.60. Get the best items from ezbuy.my hot picks and enjoy the lowest price ever in online shopping history.

FREE SHIPPING

ALWAYS offer free shipping with no minimums  whether you’re ordering a box of biscuits or a sofa. ezbuy.my offers so many sales and as an appreciation to all our beloved customers, ezbuy will give FREE SHIPPING Fees on our limited time campaign! So, keep on scrolling and keep tuning to our daily deals to get AMAAAZING FREE SHIPPING offers.

OPTIONS & VARIETY

Decorate your home, complete your life and revamp your style with large range of items at ezbuy.my. For those who loves to complete their homes with beautiful decorations and prefer to make their house tidy and clean, click down to ezbuy.my Home & Garden. Wide range of storage to put all the your cluttered homes are available here.

When talking about trends, there is a whole lot more to choose. All fashion shoppers can enjoy unlimited styles and trends. You don’t need to wait for winter to buy yourself a jacket, or shorts for summer! You can buy it anytime that you want! All you have to do is turn on your search button, scroll and start shopping. It is that simple! You can complement your taste without thinking about the price. At ezbuy.my, it is worth every penny!

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Some citi folk wants you to be FREE with our next giveaway

• By CompareHero.my

You’re taking the train to work. You hear the rumbling of the train tracks, the chatter of other passengers, the occasional cough and sneeze – you just want to zone out. You reach into your messenger back and dig for your saviour: A pair of wired earphones.

Pulling it out, however, you are greeted with a bunch of tangled wires that do nothing but add on to the frustrations of your commute.

What if, instead, you can just pop open a case, pull out two earbuds, and place them in your ear and listen to your own world?

Soon, you can.

2 – 5 October 2018

How Much Do You Know About Islamic Finance?

• By CompareHero.my
• September 26, 2018

In partnership with: 

Don’t know riba from gharar and maysir? Don’t worry, we have you covered.

Islamic financing is on the rise, as practitioners of Islam, who currently make up more than 24% of the global population, are also the fastest-growing religious demographic worldwide, due to a combination of high fertility rates and a younger median age (24 years in 2015) relative to non-Muslims (32 years), according to the Washington, DC-based Pew Research Center.

Despite this, awareness of Islamic financing models and how they differ from conventional financing has room to improve in Malaysia, despite its demographics and predominant faith. As such, an exploration of the field has much to offer investors as a whole while educating those looking for the right financial instrument to suit their needs. Today, we sit down with noted author/trainer Hajjah Zarinah Mohd Yusoff to discuss the matter.

A Different Perspective

“The main differences between Islamic finance and conventional finance are the underlying contracts used in structuring the Islamic finance products and the scope of businesses that Islamic financial institutions are allowed to involve,” she says.

Author/trainer Hajjah Zarinah Mohd Yusoff (source: www.smartinvestor.com.my)

These prohibitions of riba, gharar and maysir are the main reasons for the use of a variety of business contracts in structuring Islamic financial products. In conventional banking, all activities are based on interest. This is riba or usury in lending, which is prohibited in Islam, as it is considered as an injustice to the borrower, as the lender takes benefit from the borrower freely.

Due to the prohibition of riba, Islamic banks – as commercial entities – must undertake business activities such as trading and leasing. Meanwhile, the prohibition on gharar is designed to uphold justice between contracting parties. Gharar refers to ambiguity or uncertainty. In business transactions, it can arise from ambiguous contracts; for example, unspecified prices and terms of payment, unclear specifications on the subject matter and unidentified contracting parties.

In Islamic finance, to avoid gharar, details regarding price and terms of payment, subject matter and the contracting parties have to be clear and specific. This is to minimise unnecessary risks, which might lead to injustice for the contracting parties.

“Meanwhile, maysir means gambling, which might arise from excessive risks. In conventional finance, activities like derivative and forex trading can expose institutions to excessive risks. That is why some derivative products are not shariah-compliant, and thus, are prohibited for Islamic financial institutions,” says Hajjah Zarinah.

In terms of business scope, on top of businesses that have elements of riba, gharar and maysir, Islamic financial institutions are also prohibited from involving themselves with businesses associated with shariah non-compliant products like the production of liquor, rearing of pigs and production of pig-based food, the planting of tobacco and production of tobacco products.

Islamic finance in Malaysia features a product range which nearly mirrors the offerings in the conventional market. The two segments are set to grow in tandem, particularly with concerted efforts among industry players, product operators and intermediaries.

In addition, consultants now have greater awareness of the importance of providing advice to clients. Hence, many are pursuing professional qualifications like IFP and Shariah Registered Financial Planner (RFP) status, in their efforts to obtain licensing from Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission (SC) Malaysia.

The article is contributed by Aliff Yusri from Smart Investor. Smart Investor is the country’s leading monthly investment magazine. It focuses on enhancing value for both retail and institutional investors via its extensive corporate and financial commentaries and features.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CompareHero.my

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