Before you get the wrong idea, i am not getting married by any means but it is just that i will be taking over the ownership of my current house due to some reasons. This is actually quite a good news for me because it will mean that i will finally own an asset which will be providing me passive income and an opportunity to make capital gains when times is good. I felt that it comes at the right time because currently i am single and not having much commitments therefore by putting my money inside the house will be considered as a good investment.

My plan is to do a small renovation and after that will rent out the whole unit to let me earn some passive income and i will move out to rent a small place to stay. This way, i will not have to worry about the loan repayments since it will be covered by the rental and i also don’t have to fork out extra money to pay for my room rental too. Tho it’s going to be quite different staying alone but for the sake of future investments, i think it is a small price to pay =) Hopefully by 3 years, i will be able to save up to buy my first condo. And if i do so, i will be renting it out and i will stay in HDB together with my wife (if im married). The thought of dreaming about having my own condo excites me so much!

Another thing that i wanted to do this year as i mentioned earlier is to save up to 40% of my earning per month. To do so, i have listed down what are the neccessary adjustments that was needed in my current lifestyle:

1) Cut down on restaurants with my date to once/twice a month
2) Get busy so that i have no time to spend money!
3) No more expensive things for myself for at least next 6 months
4) Cutting down on entertainment activities to once a month
5) Less cabs taking

Well i believed that by strictly following these five things, i will be able to save up quite abit of my earnings and do regular investments. I’m also going to be more active in investing in unit trust to build up for my future. 2010 seems to be a good year to do regular investment since there are prominent signs of recovery. I believed that as a financial planner, we have to abide by the rules of saving and investing before we can preach what we believed strongly in. At least that is my motto when i’m handling business with my clients.

I often shared with my clients that it is not really how much you earn but how much you save! With that in mind, i am going to drill it deeply in me at least for one year and i will see how much can i really save. Good luck to me in saving! =)

The above two are part of my 2010 resolutions! I still have others that i will share soon!

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Have you ever experienced setting resolutions that you never achieved? Are you already getting sick of having resolutions because it never come true? Are you already feeling lazy when trying to set resolution? If you have answered ‘yes’ to all the questions above, then keep reading to see how i share with you the secret to a whole new revolution!

First of all, let us understand the meaning of resolution and goals? According to wikipedia,  new year resolution is a committment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous while a goal or objective consists of a projected state of affairs which a person plans or intends to achieve or bring about — a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort of assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.

Therefore if you have been failing to achieve your resolutions then the good news is that you are not lousy. You just need to set goals instead of resolutions! If you can see the difference, you will realise that the main issue is that a goal focus on timelines and desired end point whereas resolutions makes people focus on changing a habit or lifestyle.

So the question is how to set goals that can excite us every day and keep us motivated to achieve it? If i can share, the formula is very simple: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-targeted objectives (SMART) From there, make it as a habit by writing it down in a book for 21 days. Most important, this goal MUST EXCITED you! This goal must be able to stirr the emotions in your mind and the goal got to be a MUST and not just a WANT. After that, i’m very sure that the goals that you set will be drill deeply in your mind and sub consciously, you will direct all your actions towards achieving it.

One example of me setting a goal was the first year when i started out this career. During that time, i told myself that i want to be a rookie consultant in my agency. So i sat down with my boss, Merry Riana, to find out more about my target and how i can achieve it(Realistic-checking). After that session, i am determined to make it happen. I set my target to be a top rookie consultant(Specific) in one years time (Time) with a minimium standard of production(Measurable). I even set out what are the activities(Action-Oriented) that im going to do if i’m serious to clear my goal.

With everything on hand, the next things that i do was to write down the reasons for my goal every morning the moment i woke up and night time just before i sleep. i wrote down every single reasons on world that i can think of and continued this routine for 21 days (no more no less). Basically i sleep and breath my goals and each morning i was always feeling excited to work towards it no matter how tired i am. After 3 weeks of writing, everything that i do simply just geared towards my top rookie goals.

Guess what happened in the end? DId i managed to clear my goal in the end? Was there alot of problems to deter me from my goals? Of course there were alot of challenges and obstacles along the way but thank God for his blessing, i managed to clear my goal with every single things that i had set for myself! It was through this experience that i have shared with many people and some have benefited from it. Even till today when i set my goals, i do exactly the same things if i am really serious about my goals.

Therefore if there is one thing for you to take back, please remember that a goal is nothing unless it means something to you so attach VALUE to it!

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It’s the beginning of 2009, the beginning of a new year.  2008 had passed and we are into a world filled with uncertaintly. Hence It is also the best time when you start to make resolutions or goals for a brand new year to overcome all uncertainty. As i believe one can only be successful if you have a vision.  Right now, can i urge you to pen down exactly what do you want to be different in 2009 especially in areas of wealth so that you can be financially successful at the end of the year.

One of the easiest and powerful way to accumulate wealth is to follow the famous “Pay Yourself First” rule, This is something that i strongly adovcate all my clients to do when they are starting a career.

What does “Paying Yourself First” mean and how you can follow it?

Basically, it means you simply set aside a certain amount of money each month that you will not touch (pay yourself), even before you pay your bills and expenses (pay others)!

Here’s a step by step guide which you can follow:

1.  From the amount of money you make each month, you decide how many percent of your monthly salary or income you want to set aside.  When you get your paycheck, the very first thing you do is to put this amount aside, hence the “pay yourself first”. The percent to set aside differs from individual to individual depending on each comfortable level and wealth target. Most people recommend 10% to 15% of the monthly income to set aside, but I suspect that you might need to go up to 20% or even 30% if you want to reach your financial success.

2.  Decide what you want to do with this amount which has been set aside.  Many will simply put the amount into their saving accounts.  However, the idea of paying yourself first is to use it for your wealth building.  You should be looking into investing them instead of just saving them.  Saving alone will not help you to reach your financial success.  Let the money earn you more money by investing it.  Consult with your financial planner or advisor to decide the kind of investment portfolio that suits you.

I would recommend that you setup what is known as an automatic withdraw from your bank account to your investment institution for your investments.  This is when money is automatically taken out of your savings or checking account each month and put into your investment.  Generally, you have to select a certain day each month for when the transaction will occur, and it will happen every month on that day, just like paying your bills.  In this way, it does not rely on your ability to set aside a certain amount each month. It relies on the computers who automatically invest your money for you. It is also easy once you realize how you don’t miss the money.

3.  Next, you pay off your bills.

4. Live on whatever is left over from your paycheck.  It does not however imply that you need to use up every single cents of what is left.  If you have surplus, then good for you.  If you have a substantial surplus, then go back and re-adjust your investment amount.  Increase you monthly set-aside amount for investment, and let it generate more money for you. Engaged in a regular investment saving plan for long term is a very good strategy because it takes advantage of dollor cost averaging.

5.  And finally, NO CREDIT CARD DEBT!  Don’t spend on credit.  As credit card are easily issued recently, the more you should be careful. A simple card can be a knife or a sword to you depending on how you use it. Also be very careful with home equity loans and car loans. It’s easy to get into trouble with both.

If you are disciplined, you can pay yourself first without running into a credit rut.

First, keep your personal expense low.  Don’t go out and spend your money on “ego” toys like a new car, a new outfit or a long vacation.  Not until the habit of paying yourself first has built up enough assests for you to afford them. Buy second hand car especially if you are a first timer!

Second, when you come up short, don’t dip into your investment to pay off your creditors.  Robert Kiyosaki believes that if you are under pressure from creditors, the pressure will actually inspire you to come up with new ways of making money.  Look for other ways to tide over.

As you start to build assets, you will see that the income from your assets will allow you to pay for your personal expenses and expanded your means for you to live the livestyle you want. 

Paying Yourself First is a simple yet powerful concept.  It is so powerful that it could be apply to other area besides money.  You can apply these same principle to time.  Pay Yourself First if you are a busy working mother.  You need time to take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family!

All the best to you in 2009! Wishing everyone a happy new year and be more prosperous in this brand new year! Cheers =)

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