Some just can’t wait to retire

By HARIATI AZIZAN
sunday@thestar.com.my

The Government's proposal to extend the retirement age to 60 for those in the private sector does not sit well with those who have plans to call it quits at 55.

FINANCE manager Chow* is 54 and looking forward to retirement next year.

“Honestly, it is the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) savings that I am waiting for. I want to pay off my house and car loans. I also need the money to help pay for my youngest daughter's college fees. She will sit for her SPM next year and then head off for university in Australia the following year,” he shares.

Needless to say, the Government's proposal to extend the retirement age to 60 in the private sector does not bode well with his plans.

“I don't mind continuing to work, but I hope the Government will still allow us to withdraw our EPF savings at 55. If not, all my financial planning will go haywire,” he adds.

It is the same story for Mina* who has been looking forward to a well-deserved rest after working for more than half her life.

“I started working straight after school and slowly worked my way up the ranks. Now I just want to enjoy life,” says the 53-year-old bank officer at a foreign bank.

Although the EPF has yet to make an announcement, many are understandably worried its chief executive officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol has reportedly said that a retirement age extension was EPF's wish for Budget 2012.

 

As Azlan had put it, the long retirement period is one of the factors that contribute to inadequate retirement savings.

“When the fund was first set up in 1951, the full withdrawal age for our members aged 55 was the same as the Malaysian life expectancy then.

“But some 60 years on, while the full withdrawal age has not changed, the average life expectancy of Malaysians has increased to 75 years.

“Thus, Malaysians today need to save for a 20-year retirement span compared to a shorter one 60 years ago. This is a long period and one of the longest in Asean and the world,” he said in his keynote address at the Malaysian Private Pension and Healthcare Conference 2011 in September.

When contacted recently, however, the EPF had declined to comment, so as not to cause unnecessary confusion among members.

“We don't release information on matters that are still under consideration or are currently being studied. However, whatever decision we make, will always have members' best interest at heart,” assures EPF public relations general manager Nik Affendi Jaafar.

Prof Dr Tengku Aizan Hamid, director of the Gerontology Institute at Universiti Putra Malaysia lauds the Government's proposal to extend the retirement age in the private sector.

As she points out, Mina and Chow are more the exception than the norm here.

Most Malaysians simply have not made any decisions about what to do at retirement even whether they should stop or continue working at the stipulated age of 55 what more made any long-term plans, she argues.

“In a nationwide survey we conducted in 2009 for the review of the National Policy for the Elderly (under the purview of the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry), we found that less than 50% of the current generation of older persons have ever made plans for their old age,” she says, highlighting that only 31.5% of the respondents aged 60 years or over replied “Yes” to the question, “Have you made any plans for your old age?”

Many said they did not even have any savings, she adds, “Those who had savings said it was mostly for their children's wedding or higher education, or to buy a house.”

According to the survey, the majority of older persons who did not make plans for old age said that they never thought about planning for old age (42.4%), were leaving the matter to fate (36.6%) or expected their children to take care of them (29.3%).

Hence, a law imposing a later retirement age is good for the indecisive ones, opines Dr Tengku Aizan, as it will “force” them to save in the EPF for another five years.

Acknowledging the concern of those who have already planned for life after 55, however, she believes that the EPF Act, as well as other related acts, should be amended accordingly to allow people the freedom to make a choice.

“Allowance needs to be given to people to have a choice to retire earlier, at the age of 55. There are those who are prepared to retire, and if a person already has a retirement plan, they should be allowed to retire.”

But informed knowledge must be given to the workers before they make a decision, she adds.

“If you retire at 50 or 55, you need to know what benefits you can get like EPF withdrawal, health benefits and others.”

Dr Tengku Aizan points out that the retirement age is only one aspect of the social protection for the aged.

“We also need to look at other issues such as healthcare services and housing for the ageing population. It is better to have regulations to give you a choice to work after 55, but there are various related issues that the government needs to consider too such as social security and medical insurance for an older workforce.”

Other than coming up with various savings and other financial plans suitable for an ageing population, financial institutions like banks and insurance companies also need to change their mindset to allow for older people to make investments and take out loans, she urges, adding that the older generation should not be seen merely as financial risks.

Crucially, we need to provide more awareness and education, specifically on financial management, for people to prepare for old age from young, she adds.

“Especially since they cannot depend on their children anymore. In fact, now more and more children are depending on their parents.

“For one, more of them are living at home now and the majority of those declared bankrupt are in their 30s. This will only compound the problem in the future.”

* Not real name

Article copied and rearranged from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/25/nation/10155893&sec=nation

Clement Jouling ialah Perunding Unit Amanah berlesen (Licensed Unit Trust Consultant). Sekiranya anda berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang perancangan kewangan dan pelaburan unit amanah, boleh hubungi beliau di talian 016-509 0073 atau emailkan di clementjouling@yahoo.com untuk temujanji terutamanya buat anda yang berada di Kota Kinabalu dan sekitarnya.  

 

 

Public Mutual to launch new Islamic fund

Public Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Public Mutual is launching a new Islamic fund, Public Islamic Savings Fund (PISVF).

PISVF is an Islamic equity income fund that seeks to provide income over the medium- to long-term period by investing in a diversified portfolio of primarily syariah-compliant Malaysian stocks which offer or have the potential to offer attractive dividend yields. The fund will focus on investing in companies that have demonstrated consistency in rewarding their shareholders via dividend payouts.

PISVF may also invest in syariah-compliant growth or recovery stocks that have the potential to eventually adopt a dividend payout policy.

Public Mutual’s chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong said, “As PISVF focuses its investments mainly in the domestic market, the fund offers investors an opportunity to capitalise on Malaysia’s resilient economic growth prospects in the medium to long-term. The performance of selected syariah-compliant sectors of the Malaysian economy is expected to remain supported by sustained consumer and investment spending over the longer term.”

PISVF allows investors the opportunity to participate in a diversified portfolio of syariah-compliant blue-chip stocks, growth stocks and fundamentally undervalued stocks which distribute or have the potential to distribute reasonably attractive dividends.

Due to the sharp retracement in equity markets at the end of third quarter 2011 on concerns over the slowing pace of global economic growth and the European sovereign debt crisis, selected stocks listed on the domestic equity market are currently trading at below trend valuations and offer attractive investment opportunities for medium- to long-term investors.

To achieve increased diversification, the fund may also invest up to 30 per cent of its net asset value (NAV) in selected foreign markets which include Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Luxembourg and other permitted markets.

The equity exposure of PISVF will generally range from 75 per cent to 98 per cent of its NAV. PISVF is suitable for investors with moderate risk-reward temperament and have preference for receiving income while capital growth is secondary.

The initial issue price of PISVF is RM0.2500 per unit during the 16-day initial offer period from 15 to 30 December 2011. The minimum initial investment is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100. During the offer period, special promotional service charge of 5 per cent of initial issue price per unit are extended to the purchase of units of PISVF.

Investors who opt for Direct Debit Instruction with PISVF during the offer period will enjoy a special promotional service charge of 5.25 per cent of NAV per unit for as long as the Direct Debit is active. Terms and conditions apply.

PISVF is distributed by Public Mutual’s unit trust consultants. Interested investors can contact any Public Mutual unit trust consultant or call its customer service hotline at 03-6207 5000 for more details of the funds.

Public Mutual is Malaysia’s largest private unit trust company with 91 funds under management. It has 2.6 million accountholders and as at 31 October 2011, the total net asset value of the funds managed by the company was RM43.7 billion. -- Bernama

Are EPF savings alone enough?

by eugene mahalingam

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Invest ahead to generate extra money after retirement.

WHEN I was growing up, I aspired to join the Government. The main reason so was that I could be eligible for a pension scheme. This came from the fact that my parents were both civil servants and they got to enjoy the benefits of a pension when they retired. They still do.

While it’s not much, it’s comforting for them that at their age, they would continue to have an income for as long as they lived. I wanted to be able to look forward to that as well.

Alas, fate – or was it free will? – had a hand to play in my career choice and I ended up taking a job in the private sector. Seeing as I’m having fun doing what I do, I don’t see myself switching careers any time soon. So there goes my plan of getting a pension.

Time to switch to Plan B, namely, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). It is intended to help employees from both private and non-pensionable public sectors save a fraction of their salaries in a contribution scheme. The contributions are invested to generate income and the funds in the contributors’ accounts are to be used in the event that the employee is temporarily or no longer fit to work.

It primarily applies to retirement, but sickness, disabilities or unemployment are also covered. The EPF also provides a framework for employers to meet their obligations to employees.

As a retirement plan, money accumulated in EPF savings can only be withdrawn when members turn 50, during which they may withdraw only 30% of their balance. Members who are 55 or older may withdraw the entire sum.

Recently, the EPF board declared a dividend of 5.65% for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009, up 115 basis points over the 4.5% paid for 2008.

According to Fundsupermart.com Malaysia, over the past five years, EPF has been distributing an average annual dividend of 5%. The average real dividend rate for the past five years was 1.7%, after reflecting an average inflation rate of 3.4%.

With that, the important question to ask is: Will the savings from our EPF be enough to sustain us in our retirement years?

Expert advice.

In his Personal Investing column, “Enough money for retirement?” last year, MRR Consulting investment adviser and managing partner Ooi Kok Hwa says as the average Malaysian lived to about 75, those who retire at 55 would need to manage their EPF savings for 20 years. But most retirees spend all their EPF money within three years of retirement, he claims.

Ooi provides a breakdown of how a retiree can manage his EPF savings for 20 years.

“We will assume a starting pay of RM1,500, growing at the rate of 8% per annum; an average bonus of two months per annum, average EPF returns of 5%, total EPF contribution of 23% (employer: 12%, employee: 11%) and inflation rate of 3%.

“Our analysis shows that if we are able to live with just one-third (or 33%) of our last drawn salary, the EPF money should be able to support us for 20 years until we pass away at 75.”

According to Ooi, if a person’s last drawn salary is RM13,976 at 55, he can only afford to spend one-third or RM4,612 per month after retirement (1/3 x RM13,976).

He stresses, however, that the computation was based on the assumption that a person would still be able to generate 5% returns after retirement.

“Everyone has different financial situations. If possible, we need to build our own investment portfolio apart from the EPF savings. We may need to seek some part-time jobs after retirement if our financial resources do not permit us to stop working,” he wrote.

“Besides, we need to clear all our outstanding debts before retirement. We also need to buy enough life and medical insurance for ourselves as well as set up education funds for our children.”

Financial planner Wilson Low says a person who’s concerned about his or her future financial well-being has one clear option – invest.

“Anyone who’s worried about not having enough money in their old age should do something about it, to make sure that you do have money to sustain you when you’re old and not working any more,” he adds.

“The obvious thing to do is to invest in something that can help generate an income for you when you’re older. There are various investment avenues out there and with proper planning and research, financial independence is not an impossibility.”

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What some have done.

Rita (not her real name), is a retired nurse. After working for the Government for 30 years, she worked in the private sector for a further nine years because she needed the money.

However, she admits that without her pension, it would be difficult to make ends meet. “There are things like your children’s education or repairs to the house that you need to think about. Without the pension, the EPF definitely would not be enough.”

Rita adds that as a former civil servant, she will always be eligible for free treatment at government hospitals. “This is especially important since most medical expenses will come up as one gets older,” she says.

Rita adds that EPF also used to declare higher dividends, between 6% and 7% in the 1990s.

Kamala (not her real name) was a former employee of the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia. A Government-based organisation initially, it was privatised in the 1990s and its employees were asked to chose either a pension or EPF scheme as a retirement option.

Kamala chose the EPF scheme, a decision she claims she regrets. “The money finished quickly as I had many financial obligations like my children’s education and housing loan. I also had to undergo an expensive operation, the cost of which would not have been an issue if I were a civil servant.”

She is however thankful that today, her children have all grown up and give her husband and her money on a monthly basis. “We have also invested our money in property. So financially we are all right.”

Meanwhile, Kong, an information technology executive in his early 40s, says he spends about RM4,000 a month on household expenses, his children’s education and an outstanding home and car loan, among other financial obligations.

“I’m spending so much every month that I hardly have enough to save. Fortunately my wife is also contributing. After 55, it’s definitely not going to be easy. I’ll probably have to continue working until my kids can support themselves,” he adds.

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Source : the star


Clement Jouling ialah Perunding Unit Amanah berlesen (Licensed Unit Trust Consultant). Sekiranya anda berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang perancangan kewangan dan pelaburan unit amanah, boleh hubungi beliau di talian 016-509 0073 atau emailkan di clementjouling@yahoo.com untuk temujanji terutamanya buat anda yang berada di Kota Kinabalu dan sekitarnya. 

Ekonomi AS bakal tenat?

Krisis ekonomi dan hutang yang berlaku di Amerika Syarikat telah menggugat keyakinan terhadap kepimpinannya di peringkat global. Ahli-ahli bank antarabangsa bimbang kegagalan negara itu boleh menjejaskan nilai dolar yang menjadi mata wang rizab dunia, sekali gus menjejaskan ekonomi dari Asia ke Afrika dan kemungkinan mengakibatkan pergolakan politik.

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KUALA LUMPUR 1 Ogos – Amerika Syarikat (AS) diramal terjerumus dalam kemelesetan ekonomi lebih buruk menjelang suku keempat tahun ini.

MIDF Research dalam nota penyelidikannya berkata, pengurangan bajet yang menyaksikan penurunan dalam perbelanjaan oleh kerajaan AS bakal mengakibatkan masalah sebenar dalam ekonomi negara itu.

”Berdasarkan perkembangan semasa, kemungkinan AS mengalami kemelesetan lebih teruk pada suku keempat tahun ini atau awal 2012.

”Tahap kemelesetan lebih teruk sekiranya kerajaan AS mengurangkan bajet dengan agresif,” katanya.

Negara kuasa besar itu mencatatkan pertumbuhan Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK) pada suku kedua 2011 kepada 1.3 peratus suku ke suku, jauh lebih rendah daripada jangkaan 1.9 peratus.

Prestasi itu menunjukkan AS masih belum bangkit daripada kemelesetan ekonomi.

Firma penyelidikan tersebut berkata, prestasi ekonomi AS tidak banyak berubah disebabkan perbelanjaan pengguna yang mewakili 70 peratus ekonomi negara itu masih lemah.

Arah hala perbelanjaan itu menyaksikan penurunan 4.4 peratus dalam pembelian barangan tahan lasak seperti automobil, sebaliknya berbelanja tinggi untuk makanan dan bahan api.

Keadaan semasa itu dijangka memberi tekanan kepada Rizab Persekutuan AS untuk melaksanakan pendekatan tambahan termasuk menerbitkan Kemudahan Kuantitatif 3 (QE3), tambahnya.

Sementara itu, OSK DMG turut menyifatkan data KDNK AS begitu lemah telah mendorong pelbagai spekulasi berlaku ke arah kemelesetan yang lebih ketara.

Bagaimanapun katanya, kemungkinan berlakunya kemelesetan dalam tempoh enam hingga 12 bulan masih lagi rendah kerana secara kasar kebarangkalian adalah kurang daripada 20 peratus.

Namun, fiskal AS mempunyai potensi untuk mendorong satu kejutan negatif terhadap keyakinan dan keadaan pasaran kewangan, dengan itu secara material akan menaikkan kemungkinan berlaku kemelesetan.

Sumber: Utusan Malaysia

Tips on how to choose unit trust funds

UNIT trust funds offer an attractive alternative to retail investors, especially those looking for the benefit of diversification with a small pool of capital while enjoying the possibility of earning higher returns compared with conventional savings.

However, a lot of people have the misconception that the diversification nature of these funds means that the risk of investing in unit trust is low and they can just close their eyes and simply pick any of the funds that come along.

This misconception has led to many paying high prices in learning that as in any type of investments, investing in unit trust funds requires some basic understanding and research before we commit our hard earned money to it.

In general, we can classify the unit trust funds in the market into two major categories: income funds and growth funds.

·Income funds usually are characterised as providing consistent income to the investors. These funds invest in income-producing stocks or bonds or a combination of both. Bond funds, equity income funds and money market funds are included in this category.

·Growth funds generally are more aggressive than income funds but have the possibility of earning higher returns by focusing on the objective of long-term capital appreciation rather than income producing or short-term gain. Examples of growth funds are small-cap funds, commodity funds, index funds and gold funds.

Before we start evaluating the funds to invest in, there are two main considerations which are our investment objectives and risk tolerance level.

Every investor invests for his own purpose. If you are investing for your retirement and are already close to retirement age, you should look for income funds that are more predictable.

However, if you are still young and want to save for your children’s higher education, which will be 10 or 15 more years, you may want to look for growth funds that generate higher return but with higher level of risk.

Once we are clear on what we are looking for in the investment, we can narrow down our selection to either income or growth category and move to the next step of identifying the most suitable funds within the selected category.

Here are a few key factors to look into when evaluating unit trust funds:

·Investment strategy, policy and holdings: Every fund has its own investment profile. Investors should have a clear understanding of the investment strategy taken in each fund that they are considering to ensure it is consistent with their personal investment objective and risk tolerance level.

Even the funds within the same category may have significant differences in risk exposure due to the difference in the investment holdings.

For example, the risk exposure in large-cap growth companies is definitely much lower than for penny stock funds.

·Past performance: Investors may look into the past performance trend of the fund to gauge its future performance.

However, do bear in mind that good past performance may not be repeated in the future and we should not be overly excited to see one year of good results if the fund is only newly established.

A good fund should be the one that has been consistently out-performing its peers, be it during good or bad times.

·Cost: Investors must be aware that when they buy or sell the funds, there are fees and expenses embedded in every transaction.

For example, the expense ratio of a small fund tends to be higher than a large fund while a regional or global fund usually will carry higher costs compared with a domestic fund.

·Fund management: The fund management is very important to ensure continuity and consistent performance.

If a fund changes management too frequently, it will be very difficult for us to gauge the performance of the fund as different managers will have different styles which may affect the performance of the fund.

For example, if the manager tends to have higher portfolio turnover, then the expense ratio of the fund may increase even though the nature of the fund holdings remains the same.

By having good understanding of the above factors, we may be able to make meaningful comparisons among funds that we are interested in to identify the ones that suit us most.

Ooi Kok Hwa is an investment adviser and managing partner of MRR Consulting.

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Source: The Star


Clement Jouling ialah Perunding Unit Amanah berlesen (Licensed Unit Trust Consultant). Sekiranya anda berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang perancangan kewangan dan pelaburan unit amanah, boleh hubungi beliau di talian 016-509 0073 atau emailkan di clementjouling@yahoo.com untuk temujanji terutamanya buat anda yang berada di Kota Kinabalu dan sekitarnya. 

Inflasi: Ancaman Yang Senyap

Indeks Harga Pengguna (IHP) mengukur perubahan peratusan dalam kos bagi sekumpulan pengguna khusus (60% bandar, 40% luar bandar) untuk membeli satu “bakul” yang mengandungi barangan dan perkhidmatan yang tetap dalam tempoh masa tertentu. Barang-barang yang terdapat di dalam “bakul” tersebut boleh dikumpulkan kepada berikut:

• Makanan dan minuman tidak beralkohol
• Minuman beralkohol dan tembakau
• Pakaian dan kasut
• Perumahan, bekalan air, bekalan elektrik, gas dan bahan api lain
• Perabot, peralatan isirumah, rutin penyelenggaraan isirumah
• Kesihatan
• Pengangkutan
• Komunikasi
• Perkhidmatan-perkhidmatan rekreasi dan budaya
• Pendidikan
• Restoran-restoran dan hotel-hotel
• Pelbagai barangan dan perkhidmatan lain

Bagaimanapun, anda harus mengetahui bahawa IHP adalah purata statistik dan mungkin tidak menggambarkan kadar inflasi anda, terutamanya apabila corak perbelanjaan anda banyak berbeza daripada pengguna-pengguna bandar biasa. Pada kebanyakan masa, kadar inflasi pada peringkat peribadi atau pengguna untuk penduduk-penduduk bandar adalah dua kali atau lebih tinggi daripada kadar inflasi peringkat kebangsaan.

Apakah Sebab-sebab Berlakunya Inflasi?

Dua sebab umum berlakunya inflasi adalah:

1. Permintaan tinggi, bekalan rendah – Jikalau permintaan meningkat lebih cepat daripada bekalan produk dan perkhidmatan, harga barangan terpaksa naik. Juga dikenali sebagai inflasi tarikan-permintaan, ia biasanya berlaku di ekonomi bertumbuh di mana terdapat “terlalu banyak wang mengejar terlalu sikit barangan.”

2. Peningkatan dalam kos pengeluaran – Apabila harga bahan mentah naik, kos pengeluaran akan meningkat. Ini akan mengakibatkan syarikat-syarikat menaikkan harga untuk mengekalkan margin keuntungan. Ini juga berlaku apabila pekerja-pekerja minta gaji yang lebih tinggi kerana syarikat-syarikat biasanya memindah kos-kos ini kepada pengguna-pengguna.

Apakah Kesan-kesan Inflasi?

Inflasi boleh dianggap sebagai perkembangan ekonomi yang biasa selagi peratusan tahunan masih rendah. Namun begitu, inflasi boleh menyebabkan krisis apabila peratusan itu meningkat lebih tinggi daripada peringkat yang telah ditetapkan. Cara yang paling nyata ia menjejaskan kewangan peribadi anda adalah dengan mengurangkan kuasa membeli anda. Anda akan mendapati harga produk dan perkhidmatan setiap hari meningkat dan kos pinjaman menjadi lebih tinggi kerana kadar faedah turut menaik.

Contoh:

• Pada tahun 1978 (30 tahun lalu), RM300 boleh membeli barangan runcit satu bulan untuk keluarga berempat orang.
• Pada tahun 2008, RM300 boleh membeli barangan runcit satu minggu untuk keluarga berempat orang.
• Pada tahun 2028 (20 tahun kemudian), RM300 mungkin hanya boleh membeli barangan runcit dua hari untuk keluarga berempat orang.

Dengan memahami perbezaan di antara pulangan nominal dan pulangan benar, anda akan dapat melihat kesan inflasi pada wang anda. Pulangan nominal merujuk kepada kadar pertumbuhan wang anda manakala pulangan benar ialah pertumbuhan kuasa membeli anda, iaitu pulangan nominal menolak kadar inflasi. Oleh demikian, wang yang disimpan di dalam simpanan tetap akan mengurang nilainya disebabkan kesan penghakisan inflasi.

Contoh:

Kadar simpanan tetap 12 bulan = 4%

Kadar inflasi (peringkat peribadi) = 6%

Pulangan benar daripada pelaburan = 4%-6% = -2%

Bagaimanakah Kita Boleh Mengatasi Inflasi?

Setelah mengetahui bagaimana inflasi boleh mengurangkan kuasa membeli anda dengan drastik, pelabur-pelabur harus mempertimbangkan cara-cara melindungi pelaburan mereka daripada kesan-kesan penghakisan inflasi. Berikut adalah beberapa cara bagaimana anda boleh mengurangkan kesan-kesan inflasi:

1. Mendapat pulangan yang lebih tinggi daripada pelaburan-pelaburan anda. 

Untuk melindungi simpanan anda daripada kesan inflasi bagi jangka masa panjang, pilihan terbaik adalah dengan mendapat pulangan pelaburan yang lebih tinggi daripada kadar inflasi. Ekuiti-ekuiti dan dana-dana ekuti serta saham-saham yang memberi dividen tinggi harus dipertimbangkan kerana mereka boleh mengurangkan kesan-kesan inflasi.

2. Mengekalkan kepelbagaian dalam pelaburan-pelaburan anda. 

Sebuah portfolio seimbang yang mengandungi saham-saham, bon-bon dan sekuriti-sekuriti pasaran wang dapat mengurangkan risiko dan memberi perlindungan terhadap inflasi. Ini disebabkan nilai sejenis pelaburan mungkin akan menaik sementara pelaburan-pelaburan lain menurun. Namun begitu, kepelbagaian tidak dapat melindungi anda daripada kerugian dalam pasaran menurun.

3. Mengurangkan pemegangan wang tunai yang banyak. 

Walaupun anda mendapat kecairan dengan memegang wang di tangan atau menyimpannya di dalam simpanan tetap, wang tersebut mungkin akan mengurangkan nilainya melalui inflasi. Sebaliknya, pelabur-pelabur berisiko rendah boleh membuat pertimbangan untuk memindahkan wang mereka ke sebuah portfolio seimbang (terdiri daripada 60 peratus ekuiti dan 40 peratus bon) untuk mendapat pulangan diselaraskan inflasi yang baik bagi tempoh sederhana hingga panjang.

4. Melabur di dalam sektor-sektor yang berdaya tahan. 

Semasa keadaan pasaran yang tidak menentu, pelabur-pelabur boleh melabur dalam sektor-sektor berdaya tahan dan saham-saham mewah sebagai perlindungan terhadap inflasi. Sektor-sektor ini termasuk telekomunikasi, utiliti dan pengangkutan. Emas juga diibaratkan sebagai tempat perlindungan selamat dalam ketidakstabilan kewangan atau semasa inflasi menaik.

5. Menguruskan hutang anda. 

Mengurangkan hutang anda ke tahap minima amat bermakna kerana kadar faedah menaik seiring dengan inflasi. Anda sepatutnya membayar habis pinjaman yang mempunyai kadar faedah yang paling tinggi dengan secepat mungkin, terutamanya apabila kadar faedah sedang meningkat.

 

“Inflasi adalah percukaian tanpa perundangan” 

 

Copied from: bigfishteam.wordpress.com/page/2/

Whether or not to use EPF money to invest in unit trusts

FINANCIAL SECURITY
By LEE KEE CHUAN

THE money in your EPF account is the money that will feed you and your family from the day you retire until you pass on. It will be good if your children give you monthly allowances when you retire, but it may be prudent to plan your own retirement financial security.

Your EPF money, therefore, deserves your serious attention. There are unit trust fund promoters who will approach you to draw it out to invest in their EPF-approved unit trust funds.

The question is: Should you invest for potentially higher returns (by exposing your EPF money to higher risks) or should you just be content with the EPF dividend rate?

Firstly, let’s look at why EPF introduced such a scheme. According to the EPF website, the “EPF Member’s Investment Withdrawal scheme allows you to withdraw part of your savings in Account 1 for investments to increase your retirement fund to support your life after retirement.”

This means that you are given the opportunity to make your EPF money work harder for you.

The second reason is actually the most important. Inflation erodes your purchasing power. Over the last five years, EPF has distributed an average of 5.4% dividend annually while the inflation rate averaged 2.7%.

Thus you should make the best use of the withdrawal scheme allowed by EPF to ensure that you preserve the purchasing power of your EPF money in future.

Thirdly, you should let the power of compounding work for you.
Albert Einstein famously said: “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it.”

Thus you should let some of your EPF money compound at a higher rate of return.
Even a small positive difference in annual return can make a big difference over time. To give you a better idea of the power of compounding, let’s use the Rule of 72.

If your money earns 5% a year, it will double in 14.4 years. If it earns 7% pa, it will double in 10.28 years. For 9% pa return, your money doubles in eight years. If your return is 11% pa, it doubles in 6.55 years. If you earn 13% a year, your money doubles in just 5.54 years. (To calculate the number of years for your money to double, divide 72 by your rate of return.)

But before you start picking up your handphone to call your unit trust agent or if any overzealous unit trust agent shows you this article to convince you that you should invest with him or her, please finish reading the rest of this article.

Let me give you a word of caution first. To invest your EPF money successfully in unit trusts, you must follow the advice below as investing in any unit trust fund carries investment risk, meaning the price of unit may go up as well as down.

To help you decide whether using your EPF money to invest in unit trust is for you, I bring up these two points to help you.

Firstly, by withdrawing your EPF money and investing in unit trust, it will not earn you any EPF dividend. Add in the upfront sales charge by the fund house of 3%. This is the opportunity cost that you need to consider.

Secondly, there is the investment risk of unit trust funds that you must consider. There was a report in www.thestar.com.my way back in Aug 8, 2006 that reads: “The Government, alarmed over the more than half billion ringgit losses reported from investments in unit trusts involving Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors, has directed the EPF to impose stricter conditions on such investments.”

The same report also mentioned: “A Malay daily reported over the weekend that EPF contributors who invested an estimated RM600mil in unit trust schemes had suffered losses.”

Having said that, it is still a good idea to invest your EPF money in unit trust schemes to earn potentially higher returns. However, you must ensure the following few points are adhered to when you invest.

You must have an investment method to start with. The dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a good one to start but make sure you stick with it for years.

Those who withdraw a few times and then see if they make money will not benefit from cost averaging.

There was a case of an investor who religiously withdrew his EPF money every three months to invest in unit trusts in the last 11 years, starting in year 2000.

When he reviewed his investment in August this year due to the recent market turmoil, he was glad that his unit trust investment using his EPF yielded 6.95% compounded return.

This case shows that you must stick with a method that invests at regular intervals consistently over a considerable period to be successful in making your EPF money grow and increase your retirement fund.

This is because a regular investing method such as DCA can reduce the investment risk by diversifying the timing risk of investing.

How about investing your EPF money using value averaging (VA) regular investing method? If you have read my article two weeks ago in this column, you will know why VA is the smarter version of DCA.

By using the reconstructed data from the same case I mentioned above, the back testing done using value averaging on an EPF-approved Malaysian small cap fund is really interesting.

The VA method yielded annual compounded return of 13.21% over the similar period.
The result is consistent with the research done by Professor Paul Marshall, who concludes that value averaging does show a performance advantage over dollar-cost averaging, without incurring additional risk.

Value averaging investors sleep soundly at night. You deserve a good night sleep too. Start using VA.

Lee Khee Chuan is a Chartered Financial Consultant, Certified Financial Planner and a Fellow of Life Management Institute, USA. He is a graduate in political science, psychology and economics from National University of Singapore. He can be contacted at 016-888 0138.

source: The Star

Clement Jouling ialah Perunding Unit Amanah berlesen (Licensed Unit Trust Consultant). Sekiranya anda berminat untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang perancangan kewangan dan pelaburan unit amanah, boleh hubungi beliau di talian 016-509 0073 atau emailkan di clementjouling@yahoo.com untuk temujanji terutamanya buat anda yang berada di Kota Kinabalu dan sekitarnya. 

Pelaburan saham amanah jaminan masa depan individu, keluarga

SEBAIK mendengar perkataan saham amanah, pasti terbayang habuan ribuan ringgit yang boleh dimanfaatkan. Namun hakikatnya, dana saham amanah lebih daripada itu kerana selain pelaburan jangka pendek dan panjang, ada yang turut menyifatkannya simpanan masa depan.

Mengimbau sejarah dana amanah di negara ini, industri saham amanah bertapak di negara ini sejak 1959 lagi apabila pelabur Inggeris di Singapura menubuhkan Malayan Unit Trust Limited dan diikuti penubuhan dana saham amanah pertama di Malaysia, ‘Unit Trust Fund of Malaya.’ Pada 1966, Asia Unit Trust Limited pula ditubuhkan diikuti dengan penubuhan Amanah Saham Mara Berhad sebagai syarikat amanah saham pertama yang dimiliki Bumiputera dan ditubuhkan untuk Bumiputera dalam tahun 1967. Pada April 1968, dana saham amanah pertama untuk pelabur Bumiputera yang dikenali sebagai ‘First MARA Bumiputra Investment Fund,’ dilancarkan Amanah Saham Mara Berhad.

Lapan tahun kemudian pada 1976, Amanah Saham Pahang Berhad sudah ditubuhkan sebagai syarikat amanah saham negeri yang pertama dan pada 1981, Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) dilancarkan sebagai instrumen pasaran modal bagi meningkatkan taraf hidup dan penyertaan atau pemilikan ekuiti Bumiputera.

ASN dan kemudiannya Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) membuka lembaran baru di dalam industri saham amanah di Malaysia. Masyarakat mula memahami dengan lebih mendalam lagi mengenai kebaikan melabur di dalam saham amanah.

Bermula dari 1983, banyak institusi kewangan melancarkan produk saham amanah mereka dan industri ini terus berkembang dengan pesatnya selaras permintaan semasa orang ramai yang kian menyedari kepentingan pelaburan demi jaminan masa depan.

Apabila Garis Panduan Saham Amanah diperkenalkan dan berkuat kuasa Akta Suruhanjaya Sekuriti 1993 serta penubuhan Persekutuan Pengurus-Pengurus Saham Amanah Malaysia (FMUTM) sebagai badan-badan pengawas industri saham amanah pada 1990-an, maka industri saham amanah terus bertapak kukuh di negara ini.

Dengan perkembangan sihat ini, pengetahuan masyarakat dalam pelaburan amanah saham turut juga berkembang dan kaedah pelaburan ini menjadi semakin popular di kalangan masyarakat Malaysia. Masyarakat pelabur kini sudah semakin bijak menilai jenis pelaburan yang sesuai untuk mereka, lebih-lebih lagi pihak kerajaan amat menggalakkannya supaya lebih banyak dana saham amanah dibentuk. Pada masa sama, lebih banyak pilihan pelaburan ditawar kepada masyarakat selain melabur terus ke dalam pasaran saham.

Namun, pelaburan saham amanah ini ada kelebihannya tersendiri jika dibandingkan dengan melabur terus ke dalam pasaran saham. Ia secara tidak langsung berkaitan pelaburan berisiko rendah dan cara yang selamat bagi mereka yang merancang untuk melabur dalam tempoh sederhana dan jangka panjang.

Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan dana amanah? Saham amanah adalah antara alternatif pelaburan terbaik terutama apabila matlamat pelaburan bagi kegunaan jangka masa sederhana (tiga ke lima tahun) dan jangka panjang (lebih lima tahun).

Ini disebabkan saham amanah berisiko rendah yang diurus oleh pengurus dana profesional, dikawal selia oleh Suruhanjaya Sekuriti dan badan pemegang amanah seperti Amanah Raya Berhad dan industri ini dipantau oleh Bank Negara Malaysia.

Risikonya tinggi apabila pelabur tidak mempunyai masa (kurang daripada tiga tahun) kerana secara umumnya kitaran pasaran saham (merudum dan meningkat) mengambil masa antara dua ke tiga tahun untuk pulih. Jika pelabur mempunyai tempoh berkenaan, pelaburan saham amanah ini tidak berisiko langsung!

Saham amanah bukanlah skim cepat kaya (seperti diharamkan kerajaan), tetapi ia adalah satu pelaburan sah dari segi undang-undang. Malah perunding saham amanah perlu menduduki peperiksaan khas oleh badan induk industri ini, Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust Managers (FUMTM) sebelum boleh menawarkan perkhidmatan ini.

Dana amanah ini dikumpulkan secara kelompok menerusi penggemblengan modal individu ataupun syarikat ini dan dilaburkan pengurus dana dalam pelbagai sektor ekonomi termasuk bon dan instrumen pasaran kewangan lain.

Saham amanah ini berbeza pelaburan pasaran saham biasa kerana dengan kadar minimum RM100, individu boleh membuat pelaburan sedangkan jika mereka membuat pelaburan pasaran saham biasa, individu berkenaan memerlukan modal agak besar bagi membeli saham di bursa saham.

Peluang pertumbuhan dalam saham amanah ini juga jauh lebih besar dengan purata pulangan antara 10 hingga 15 peratus setahun bergantung kepada jenis dana pelaburan dipilih. Jika disimpan dalam akaun simpanan biasa ataupun simpanan tetap pulangannya antara satu ke tiga peratus dan pulangan yang rendah ini mudah terhakis oleh kesan inflasi dan cukai.

Sebilangan jenis saham amanah, modal pelabur kekal terjamin yang terikat tempoh tertentu, manakala ada dana memberi pulangan berganda menerusi tiga cabang pulangan iaitu keuntungan atas modal, dividen dan juga bonus.

Kelebihan dana amanah ini adalah ia mempunyai kecairan yang tinggi, yang mana pelaburan ini boleh dikeluarkan pada bila-bila masa diperlukan.

Rancang persaraan ketika muda

SAAT persaraan sememangnya ditunggu setiap pekerja. Malah sudah banyak yang direncanakan untuk waktu berkenaan seperti bercuti, menunaikan ibadat haji atau melakukan hobi yang sebelum ini terpaksa dipendam dan ditunda dek kekangan masa serta kesibukan tugas.

Namun, ramai yang lupa perancangan kewangan selepas bersara kerana beranggapan simpanan Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) sudah mencukupi.

Apakah benar persepsi sedemikian?

Hakikatnya, ia tidak sebegitu terutama bagi mereka yang bekerja sendiri atau tidak berpendapatan tetap. Justeru, persaraan yang dilalui tanpa persediaan sewajarnya boleh merumitkan kehidupan, lantas membuatkan ada yang terpaksa bergantung harap kepada anak dewasa.

Berdasarkan senario sedemikian, Persatuan Akauntan Bertauliah (ACCA) menawarkan beberapa saranan seperti yang dimuatkan dalam buku panduannya. ACCA menyifatkan amat penting bagi seseorang itu merancang persaraan seandainya mahu hidup selesa dan teguh kewangan apabila tiba usia emas.

Ada beberapa langkah mudah perancangan persaraan yang boleh dilakukan sendiri seperti menentukan perbelanjaan diperlukan sewaktu persaraan, jumlah harta atau wang dimiliki sekarang serta apa yang boleh dilakukan untuk memperbetulkan keadaan.

Semua persoalan berkenaan memerlukan pemikiran dan perancangan bersungguh-sungguh kerana jumlah wang diperlukan ketika persaraan mempunyai hubung kait dengan gaya hidup yang diinginkan.

Misalnya, andai kata, anda merancang untuk berpindah ke sebuah rumah yang lebih kecil di sebuah kawasan pinggir bandar, justeru kos hidup mungkin lebih rendah berbanding tinggal di sebuah rumah besar di kawasan bandar. Sebelum memenuhi sebarang hajat, anda harus lihat dan teliti perbelanjaan semasa serta menganggarkan bagaimana ia mungkin berubah ketika persaraan kelak.

Umpamanya, anda boleh mengurangkan kos pengangkutan dan perbelanjaan hiburan, tetapi anda mungkin perlu meningkatkan perbelanjaan perubatan kerana kemungkinan jatuh sakit meningkat selaras pertambahan usia. Secara alternatif, anda boleh membuat andaian bahawa anda hanya memerlukan 70 peratus hingga 80 peratus daripada perbelanjaan semasa sewaktu persaraan. Jadi, jika anda bersara pada usia 56, anda memerlukan simpanan sekurang-kurangnya tempoh 24 tahun berdasarkan faktor jangka hayat penduduk negara ini.

Ancaman paling besar memenuhi keperluan kewangan semasa persaraan adalah inflasi. Anda mungkin tidak memberi tumpuan terhadap inflasi ketika anda bekerja kerana pendapatan anda cenderung meningkat seiring dengannya. Bagaimanapun, apabila berhenti bekerja, pendapatan anda lebih kurang tetap dan ini membuatkan inflasi muncul sebagai masalah besar.

Apabila sudah mengetahui inflasi boleh menjejaskan pendapatan ketika persaraan, maka langkah seterusnya yang boleh di ambil untuk memastikan jumlah dana yang boleh bertahan sehingga 24 tahun. Andaikan bahawa purata kadar pulangan ke atas pelaburan untuk 25 tahun akan datang ialah lapan peratus dan memandangkan kadar inflasi ialah lima peratus, maka kadar sebenar pulangan ke atas pelaburan ialah tiga peratus.

Mencari jawapan ini agak rumit kerana anda perlu tahu nilai setiap pelaburan masa depan, termasuk KWSP, nilai tunai insurans, pelaburan syarikat yang melabur dan membayar dividen dan hartanah. Bagi rancangan persaraan, anda dinasihatkan memilih pelaburan jangka panjang seperti saham, bon dan dana saham amanah memandangkan pelaburan jenis ini menghasilkan pulangan yang tinggi berbanding bentuk pelaburan lain umpamanya faedah daripada akaun simpanan atau deposit tetap.

Saham amanah adalah wang yang ditabung bersama oleh pelabur. Wang itu kemudian dilaburkan dalam beberapa syarikat, yang dengan demikian ia dapat meminimumkan risiko. Melalui kepelbagaian ini, kerugian sesebuah syarikat boleh diserap oleh keuntungan syarikat lain.

Nyata sekali, anda perlu memikirkan satu perancangan kewangan yang lengkap untuk persaraan anda dengan mengambil kira aset, hutang, perbelanjaan, tabungan, matlamat kewangan anda.

Andai buntu, dapatkan bantuan perancang kewangan yang berkelayakan. Kesimpulannya, lagi awal perancang persaraan dibuat maka lagi cerah masa depan persaraan anda.

INFO: Tip perancangan persaraan

Pertimbang persoalan penting seperti:

• Tentukan perbelanjaan diperlukan sewaktu persaraan.

• Jumlah harta atau wang dimiliki sekarang.

• Apa yang boleh dilakukan untuk memperbetulkan keadaan.Perancangan persaraan:

• Dinasihatkan memilih pelaburan jangka panjang seperti saham, bon dan dana amanah yang hasilkan pulangan berbanding bentuk pelaburan lain seperti faedah akaun simpanan atau deposit tetap.

• Pelaburan saham memberikan anda status pemilik dalam sesebuah syarikat yang dilabur. Jika syarikat itu berjaya, anda seharusnya boleh menjana wang dengan menjual balik saham itu. Anda juga mungkin boleh meraih keuntungan daripada dividen yang dikeluarkan oleh syarikat itu secara tetap.

• Bon pula sebenarnya pinjaman perniagaan dan kerajaan yang dipegang untuk sesuatu masa. Lazimnya ia lebih selamat untuk melabur dalam bon dan sesetengahnya disokong oleh kerajaan.

• Saham amanah adalah wang yang ditabung bersama oleh pelabur. Wang itu kemudian dilaburkan dalam beberapa syarikat, yang dengan demikian ia dapat meminimumkan risiko. Melalui kepelbagaian ini, kerugian sesebuah syarikat boleh diserap oleh keuntungan syarikat lain.

— Berita Harian Online