Going to San Jose, CA

I’m going to San Jose this Saturday for a week to attend a Design Symposium organized by my headquarter company. This is my second time visit US. Since I have been here before, what I really want to focus on this trip is the FOOD. I want to try all kind of food in including, Japanese, Korean, Vietnam and etc. Hopefully this trip won’t over spend. My next US trip would probably visit Arizona or New York City. Wish me luck!

Talking about travel, there are 2 kind of argument. The first argument says that travelling is waste of time and money. We should avoid travel as little as possible. The second argument says that travelling is to recharge your battery so that you can perform better after the vacation and hence make more money in long run. Some argue will you still really enjoy your trip if you have money limitation during the travel. What is your opinion? Should we not to waste our money for travelling or should we treat it as an investment?

After some thoughts for a while, I think I found the answer. The answer is THIS IS ALL UP TO YOU!!! Don’t you agree with me?

Disability Insurance

Disability insurance covers the unexpected event of something happening to you that prevents you from working again. This insurance may be provided by an employer-based policy, government sponsored policies (such as workman’s compensation for injuries on the job), and other policies. You can also purchase a disability insurance policy at your own.

The definition of disability is wide-ranging, but generally it means the inability to perform any work, including your customary job. You should talk with an insurance professional to determine the coverage and your rights and benefits.

What is the Best Life Insurance?

When talk about life insurance, they’re 2 types of life insurance. The first or the usually what the insurance agents try to convince you to buy is the whole life insurance. The second or the usually what the insurance agents will not introduce to you at all is the term life insurance. Which one is better? If you ask me, my answer to you is the term life insurance. Of course, that is for me and not for you. Let’s look at the reasons why you want to buy whole life or term life insurance. After you know about them, you can analyze and decide at your own.

Why I want to buy whole life insurance?

1. I want to get insured.
2. I want to make investment and I think the insurance company can do a better job than those professional investors who work for mutual fund’s company.
3. I want to force myself to save. I can’t control my spending if I have some money in my bank. I need insurance to help me to keep my money.
4. I afford to pay the $5K premium to get insured of $150K.

Why I want to buy term life insurance?

1. I want to get insured.
2. I cannot afford to pay $5K to get insured of $150K. I can only afford to pay few hundred bucks.

Do you see the purpose clear? Term life serves one purpose which is what the insurance company suppose to do. Whole life serves multiple purposes.

In short, if you’re lazy to manage or you don’t know how to manage your money well, whole life insurance is for you. If you want to and able to manage your own money well, term life insurance is for you. You invest the difference in other stuff such as mutual funds, stocks and etc. Also, if you think those insurance company can do a better job that mutual fund company (which I disagree), whole life insurance is for you.

So, what type of life insurance you want to buy? Still whole life insurance? or term life insurance?

Are you a proactive employee?

As one of my journey to become financially independent is to earn a lot money. As I'm an employee and the only solution I have is to outperform in my job. I realize that to be outperforming in the corporate world, one must be a proactive employee. Unfortunately, I have seen some employees who are not proactive but outperform in his job. So it comes to a conclusion that we can’t 100% say the outperform employee doesn’t 100% they’re proactive. Probably some bosses doesn’t like people proactive? That is strange isn’t it? Guess every statement could be wrong and right in different environment. That's the unique and interesting about our world. Having said so, I do agree that majority of the outperformed employees are proactive in nature.

These are the lists of what proactive employees do:

• A proactive employee doesn’t wait for the boss to make every move.
• A proactive employee seeks information and the help needed to do the job.
• A proactive employee gives the boss feedback and asks questions.
• A proactive employee initiates action without having to be supervised.

Are you a proactive employee?

Life Insurance

Let’s talk about life insurance. Preparing for the unexpected is another important factor in portfolio planning. If you have a family and you or your spouse passes away, will the family be adequately protected against the loss? Who will pay the mortgage? How will the funeral be paid for?

Simple question, do I need to buy life insurance if I do not have the dependents? That means you do not have spouse, children and parents. The answer is “NO”. You do not need a life insurance if no one is financially dependent on you. Even if you have family and they do not financially dependent on you. You do “NOT” need to buy life insurance. Sometimes, I just really upset for those who buy life insurance just for the sake of supporting their friends to meet their insurance sales quota.

In summary, life insurance is simple. Buy it for the purpose of in case you die and your family or your friends (up to you) can survive without your financial support. Also, please remember don’t buy it for the sake of investment. Insurance is not meant for that. Insurance is for protection. Buy it for the right purpose.

Thanks to Insurance Agents in Malaysia

When talk about life insurance, it is a very damn sad thing. Reason is because many people do not know the purpose is. Even if they do, they understand insurance as an investment tool. Thanks to all insurance agents in Malaysia to educate all of us to use insurance as an investment tool. This is usually what they say, you pay X amount of money and you get back more than X amount of money after some year + protection throughout the years. Wow, who doesn’t want? Some even say is a guarantee investment. Please ask them to get lost. They are not trying to help you.

I met many insurance agents. They come to you just to serve one single purpose which is to sell the most expensive insurance to you and get the most commission out of it. Why I know this is true? Reason is I never seen a single insurance agents who sell term insurance to me. Term insurance is the most basic kind of protection and also the cheapest. Since it is the cheapest, why I want to promote it since I get less commission out of it? Therefore, 99% of the insurance agents will never ever mention term insurance to you at all. Indeed, term insurance is the only solution and able to give you the full protection with the minimum payment and this exactly what most of the youngster need. Try to ask around, who buy term insurance? Not even single one. Maybe if you find one, then that person is me.

My heart is even broken, when I try to ask them for term insurance and they tell me it is not worth to buy because they do not get any return out of it unlike in whole life. What the heck is going on in this industry? What kind of answer is that? I simply cannot continue writing anymore. I’m hurt now. If I’m feeling better next time, I probably share with you on why term insurance is a better choice especially if you do not have enough money to get the full protection. Remember to ask those insurance agents to get lost who try to promote you insurance as an investment tool. One funny thing, they some more claim insurance investment return is even higher than mutual funds and also fixed deposit in bank. Some said the investment return is guaranteed. Oh, my god. That is what happening in Malaysia

The Richest Man in Babylon

This is one of the books by George S. Closon you must read for every successful person. The principles in Richest Man in Babylon are timeless. A very good personal financial book and have very good customer review. I think it gets perfect score – 5 stars out of 333 customer reviews. This is awesome unbelievable.

One of the best ways to save money in my previous is to Pay Yourself First was the idea from this book and it works best for me until today! Thanks George!