Arigato Your Money – The Japanese Secret To A Wealthier You

• By Dharshaini Grace
• July 29, 2022

Most of us have a hard time letting our money go, but perhaps making peace with our money will actually help us to gain more! Introducing the ‘Arigato Money Technique’ by Ken Honda. 

Think of Ken Honda as the Marie Kondo in the financial world. Starting his own company at the age of 21, he’s now one of Japan’s biggest writer! One of his projects included interviewing 12,000 millionaires in Japan, which lead him to learn about the ‘Arigato Money’ technique from Wahei Takeda, a Japanese billionaire who’s often known as the Warren Buffet of Japan. 

What is the secret to wealth? Arigato your MONEY! 

Arigato is a Japanese term for ‘thank you’, hence it’s as simple as saying thank you for the abundance of money that you receive or spend. In his book Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money, Ken Honda describes how money and water share the same similarities. 

Why does this make you wealthier? 

“Whatever happens, you can say thank you. Thank you are two most powerful words that will help you to start to transform your relationship with money.”

Ken Honda

Because money is something that we receive and spend throughout our lives, this Japanese technique provides a ‘zen’ perspective to our monetary activities – how the inflow and outflow of cash as a necessary circulation. Be present in the moment and refrain from having negative thoughts about the future. Of course, you should still save money but you wouldn’t have to be frugal as this method allows you to spend money on things that you actually care about. Hence, keeping in mind that mindful spending of money is just as appreciated as earning money. 

So, arigato in, arigato out! 

Does your money bring you joy?

According to Ken Honda, the flow of money in people’s lives can be categorized into 2 groups; happy money and unhappy money. 

Happy money is when you use to buy a product or service that you truly enjoy. For example, buying flowers for your mother is happy money. Whenever you purchase a product or service that you love and enjoy, you send happy money out into the universe! 

Unhappy money happens when you spend without realizing the value of the goods or services. Hence sending unhappiness into the world. For example, money from a job that you dislike but have to do to make ends meet. 

How do you arigato your money? 

It’s really easy to do. So when you receive money, focus on accepting with love and gratitude no matter how big or small the amount is. Do exactly the same thing when you spend money. When you spend money, spend it with an open heart and gratefulness. Honda believes, “Money appreciates if you appreciate it”.

The appreciation for the outflow and inflow of money is as simple as saying “thank you” – say it within your heart or even out loud! 

Start arigato-ing your money today and eliminate your stress as well as anxiety around money. Remember, even if you have a lot of money, you might still have that jealousy and poor feelings if you’re unhappy with your finances and life. 

FAQ 

1. Who is Ken Honda?

Ken Honda also known as the “Zen Millionaire” in Japan is the bestselling author of “Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace With Your Money” which has surpassed eight million copies since 2001 on book sales. 

2. How did Ken Honda make his money?

He owns and manages several businesses, including an accounting company, a management consulting firm, and a venture capital corporation. But he’s also a self-development writer, who writes about the Japanese art of making peace with your personal finances.

3. What is the Arigato money technique?

The Arigato money technique is an act of appreciation of you showing gratitude to money coming in and to money going out. Arigato in, arigato out. The appreciation for the outflow and inflow of money is as simple as saying “thank you”. 

5 steps to starting a business in Malaysia (2022 Guide)

• By CompareHero.my

So you’re done with the 9 to 5 and are ready for the entrepreneur life. Although starting a business is one of the most exciting (and rewarding!) things you can do in life, not many know exactly how to go about it. Of course, you’ll have to start by coming up with a business idea, but what’s next? To get your questions resolved, read on to learn how to start a small business in Malaysia!

Step 1: Refine your business plan

Before you get down and dirty with loan applications and hiring initiatives, you must consider your business idea, how much time you will be able to put into it, the time it will require, and the amount of money you are ready to invest in it.

Most people will tell you to monetize what you love doing. However, is what you love doing profitable? And if so, are you good enough at it to beat your competitors? For example, you may love baking, but how viable will that business plan be if there are three other big shot bakeries down the street? All in all, coming up with a business idea isn’t the simplest thing to do.

If you don’t have a firm idea of what you will be selling or providing to your customers, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What do you love doing?
2. What do you hate doing?
3. Who is your target audience? 
4. How can you make your services or products stand out?

These questions can lead you to a great plan for your business. Once you have an idea of what you would like to do, you’ll want to start measuring it against its profitability and how good you are at it.

Step 2: Understand your competitors and the market

Most entrepreneurs make the mistake of spending more time on their products than they do studying their competitors. When applying for funding, such as loans and grants, potential lenders, business partners, and investors will typically want to know what sets your business apart from the many others.

If your product or service has a saturated market in your area, try to come up with a different approach. For example, if car washing is the service that you’re providing, you might want to consider specializing in door-to-door services to add convenience to your clients’ daily lives.

Furthermore, it’s worth diving deep into finding out what consumers would want from your product or service. This can be done through surveys, questionnaires, and interviews to find out what your target audience is looking for. We don’t recommend asking only your close friends and family, unless they are your target market. This is because family and friends will usually just agree and be nice about whatever it is you’re selling. After all, the last thing you want is to start producing a large amount of products, just for nobody to actually purchase it.

Step 3: Conduct a SWOT analysis

Short for strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, conducting a SWOT analysis helps you to identify how your product might perform if taken to the public. It can also make the direction your idea should go much clearer. This is important because your business idea might come with some weaknesses that you didn’t consider before, which will also allow you to see the opportunities that you can take advantage of.

Step 4: Register your business

After sorting out your business plan, it’s time for you to decide on what type of business suits you best. Here are the three types of business that are most commonly registered for in Malaysia:

The first two options are the most popular types of business among the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) owners in Malaysia – mostly because they are cheaper.

All businesses have to be registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM). Once registered with SSM, a Business Registration Certificate will be issued to you within an hour. Depending on which you decide on, your business will then be valid for one to five years and can be renewed on an annual basis.

Step 5: Seek out funding if necessary

There are several ways you can fund your businesses in Malaysia:

1. Advanced cash option from banks
   We’ve heard that with an annual fee of 7.76%, Maybank EzyCash is the quickest, easiest, and one of the most reasonable banks to work with! However, do make sure to make your repayments on time!
   
2. MaGIC Central
   Here you’ll be able to find a list of funding available for 73 types of new businesses. Different options, such as Angel Fund, Crowdfunding, Loan, Grant, and Venture Capital & Equity are available.
   
3. SME Bank Programmes
   With very reasonable loan rates, the SME Bank has programmes for businesses started by young entrepreneurs, women, different racial groups, and even online businesses!
   
4. Small business loans from banks
   Most banks, such as RHB, Maybank, BSN, and Affin Hwang do offer business loans for different types of businesses. Their loan tenure ranges from 1 to 7 years and their interest rates start from 4.50% p.a. (Maybank). Do survey around to find out what works best for you!
   
5. Equity crowdfunding (ECF) platforms
   There are now many different platforms that work to fund different types of businesses. These include PitchIN, FundedByMe Malaysia, Crowdo, CrowdPlus.Asia, and more.

Step 6: Create an exit strategy

Like every other part of your business plan, an exit strategy is crucial for any business that is seeking funding as it outlines how you will handle things if you retire or move on to new projects. An exit strategy also helps you get the most value out of your business when it’s time to sell it.

The most common exit strategies are:
1. Selling the business to another person
2. Passing the business down to family and friends
3. Liquidating the business assets
4. Shutting the doors and walking away

Of course, there are still many more steps to starting a business e.g marketing, hiring a team, selecting suitable business tools, etc. However, the bottom line is that starting a business takes time, effort, and perseverance. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you might just achieve your goals. Before starting a business, be sure to do your research, create a solid business plan, and be patient. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day!

CIMB Introduces Malaysia’s First Auto Dealer App For Vehicle Financing

• By Dharshaini Grace
• July 26, 2022

It only takes a minute for your automotive loan and financing approval – that’s exactly what CIMB Auto Dealer App will do for you. The first of its kind in Malaysia, CIMB Bank Berhad, and CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad have launched out a mobile application, CIMB Auto Dealer App, that enables automotive loan/financing approval within one minute upon full submission of required documents. Hence, empowering car dealers for fast, secure, and seamless digital application submissions and processing for auto financing. 

In a statement posted yesterday, car dealers nationwide can now submit their financing applications anytime and anywhere, with a real-time submission tracking feature that updates dealers on the status at every stage of the process. 

CIMB has also partnered with CARSOME, Southeast Asia’s largest integrated car e-commerce platform to accelerate the rollout, with 15 Carsome Experience Centres already onboarded with the CIMB Auto Dealer App to support Carsome’s customers on their vehicle financing needs.

Samir Gupta, CEO, Group Consumer Banking of CIMB Group said, “We are pleased to have partnered with CARSOME, a leader in the region’s automotive e-commerce space, for the initial rollout of our CIMB Auto Dealer App. We look forward to working closely with CARSOME and supporting their customers’ auto financing needs through this seamless digital auto financing solution. With the success of this partnership, we look forward to onboarding other car dealers nationwide to make the auto financing process more convenient and transparent with a fully-digital process and real-time status tracking. The App reflects our commitment to continuously improve and simplify the banking experience for our customers and partners through digital innovation, in line with our focus on Customer Centricity under our Forward23+ strategic plan.”

Eric Cheng, Co-Founder and Group CEO of CARSOME said, “We are excited to work with CIMB to introduce Malaysia’s first Auto Dealer App for vehicle financing. Our partnership will enable more efficient financing approval for customers to purchase cars on CARSOME’s platform, providing them with a seamless and hassle-free experience. This is another step forward in our commitment to building the most trusted end-to-end ecosystem in the automotive industry.”

The CIMB Auto Dealer App is available for both new and used car financing. For more information, visit CIMB Bank Berhad.

How Much Do You Need To Retire + Tips To Boost Your Retirement Saving

• By adji.hendrawan
• July 25, 2022

In this time of uncertainty, how much do you need to retire comfortably? With Malaysia’s current economic situation, most of us can’t say for sure when we will ever retire as no matter how much we save, it never seems to be enough. Fret not, CompareHero to the rescue! Let’s figure it out together.

In 2018, Employee Provident Fund (EPF) suggested Malaysians have a minimum retirement savings of RM240,000 by the time they retire at the age of 55 to manage their daily expenses. 

Here are two main problems with the suggested amount: 

• Due to a low salary and duration of work, most Malaysians are not able to save that much by the time they retire at the age of 55.
• How do you budget your monthly expenses with the suggested amount of RM240,000? Nobody knows for sure how long they’re going to live…. Let’s say you’re blessed to live till the age of 80. Here’s a simple calculation of how much you can spend per month:

Can you live on RM800 per month, for the remaining 25 years of your life?

If it seems impossible to you, it’s not too late to do something about it. Here are some tips to maximize your retirement savings.

Start now!

Here’s the thing about saving: no matter what your reasons are – retirement or emergency, the earlier you start, the better. Learn from our fellow Malaysians’ retirement experience, here.

Know your retirement needs

Will you still be in debt when you retire? Is there a mortgage or car loan that will go past your desired retirement age? If that’s the case, you need to work out a budget for it. Try to take your retirement plan into consideration whenever you decide to take on new debt moving forward.

Find opportunities with good retirement benefits

The next time you’re looking out for a better opportunity, make sure to factor in retirement benefits. Certain companies in Malaysia offer to contribute more than the EPF statutory rate as one of the perks to attract and retain talent.

Related: Can companies contribute EPF at a higher rate? 

Diversify your income

If you only have one source of income, it might take some time to achieve your retirement savings goal. Try to find anything of your interest that can generate passive income to boost your retirement savings.

Save consistently

This is the hardest part, right? Staying consistent and disciplined with your savings! One of the best ways to stay consistent is by setting a realistic goal for you to achieve and refrain from withdrawing your retirement savings no matter what. Worse comes to worst, access your emergency funds if needed. 

We hope you benefit from this article and start planning your retirement as early as possible! 

5 employee benefits to look out for in your next job

• By CompareHero.my
• July 20, 2022

We’ve seen and heard our parents’ advice – work hard and get a high paying job. But what else is there?

Over my career, I’ve learnt that a good life doesn’t always come with a high paying job. After all, you could be making loads of money while struggling mentally due to your job.

There are perks out there that hold monetary value and could significantly improve your quality of life. Although these benefits weren’t being paid attention to as much as the salary, many are now realising just how important it is to protect their wellbeing as an adult. Let’s take a look at perks you should watch out for before accepting a new job!

Flexible working arrangements

These days, the traditional 9 to 5 (or in Malaysia’s case, 9 to 6) in the office just isn’t the most productive way to work anymore. Not only are they expensive, long commutes can add to your stress and exhaustion, impairing your quality of work. Working long hours at the office can also make it difficult for you to enjoy life outside of work.

That being said, do make sure to look out for companies that offer their employees flexible working hours as long as they get their tasks done in time. This not only gives you more control over your work and time, it could also give you that boost of motivation you’ve been needing.

Some companies also offer the option for its employees to work remotely or in a hybrid setting, so if you’re looking to work in bed or even while you’re travelling, start keeping an eye out for this!

Extra annual leaves

I’ve noticed that more and more companies are starting to give out unlimited annual leaves to their employees. This shows that the company trusts its employees enough to manage their time and deadlines, making it possible for them to take days off for mental health reasons or extra vacations. What a dream!

Extra annual leaves also make it possible for you to take days off when needed, instead of saving it all up for one vacation at the end of the year, which realistically, just isn’t the most sustainable way to live your life. This is because ultimately, getting more days off would prevent burn out, allowing you to be much happier as a person.

Insurance and what it covers

Typically, most job offers would include some form of health coverage. Therefore, if you have specific medical needs e.g. physical therapy, do check if they’re covered by the company’s insurance plan.

Some health plans also cover various other perks, like maternity, dental, optical, and even dermatological benefits. Furthermore, some robust coverage plans also cover surgical and preventative care. Therefore, don’t hold back from asking about the deductibles, maximums, co-pays, and more. Having a great coverage plan is important for rainy days, especially since it saves you from the high cost of medical bills.

Claim and reimbursements

Hefty parking bill at the office building? Lots of travelling required? Be sure to find out if these expenses will be reimbursed to you before joining the company! A high salary could easily turn into a much lower one once you’ve paid your bills.

Some employers offer reimbursements for professional training courses and even education continuation, so if that’s something you’re looking to do, check if the company you’re applying to could possibly help you out with it.

Stock options

While the option to buy shares of the company at a discounted price is traditionally only offered to C-suites, many startups have started to include stock options to its employees’ benefits. Thus, if you foresee a company doing well in the future, don’t miss out on the stock options offered! It could be more than rewarding in the long run.

There you have it! Now that you’re aware of these perks, you can start making better decisions when picking your new job. You’ve got this!