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Investing

3 Most Practical Investments in Malaysia (Prioritise These Over Others)

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The best and most practical investment in Malaysia IS AN INVESTMENT IN YOURSELF. Invest in your EDUCATION! LEARN! BUY BOOKS AND COURSES.

Lol no jk jk I’m not that annoying (usually). I mean, that advice is true. But still annoying.

As of time of writing (October 2020), these are the 3 most practical investments in Malaysia: EPF/KWSP, PRS and SSPN/SSPN-i.

Why these 3? Because you can get income tax relief up to RM15,000 annually, combined. Regardless whether the investment performs well or not – and this is outside your control anyway, depends on the economy and all – you will still ‘gain’ via reduced tax payment and other practical benefits uniquely offered from each of them.

Let’s go into details.

#1 – EPF/KWSP (Employees Provident Fund/ Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja)

practical investment in malaysia

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[VIDEO] A Conversation on Socially Responsible Investing feat. Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi, CEO of BIMB Investment

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Let’s talk about SRI, or Socially Responsible Investing, also known as Sustainable Investing, ESG Investing (Environmental, Social and Governance) or otherwise under the umbrella of ethical investing. I like the idea of my money being used for good, even while investing it.

But – how do you invest in ‘good’ companies? How do you even quantify ‘good’? Joining me is Mr Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi, CEO of BIMB Investment Management Berhad. That’s the company behind BEST Invest app, which offers sustainable funds for retail investors (ie you and me) to invest in.

In this video, you’ll find out:

  • The terms SRI and ESG Investing
  • How it is defined, from the financial point of view
  • The usage of data in quantifying ‘good’
  • How it is used to make better (read: more profitable) investments
  • The catch of using this method of investing
  • Plus my commentary on accountability

View the full video below 🙂

Do you factor in ethics while making investment decisions? What investments you *won’t* do because it doesn’t reflect your values? Tell me in the comments section!

Further reading: [SPONSORED] I Tried BEST Invest by BIMB Investment, the ‘First Robo-Intelligence Shariah ESG Online Investment App’

How to Buy Cryptocurrencies in Malaysia [2020 Guide]

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GO BACK if you (1) don’t have at least 3 6 12 months’ worth of expenses in savings (where to save money), and (2) not good and not willing to learn about digital security. I’m dead serious, GO BACK. Cryptocurrencies as an investment is NOT suitable for you right now. You’re entering the high risk, high rewards zone.

Alright, full disclosure time – I am a crypto investor, since end of 2015. Why? Sure, there are people who buy cryptocurrencies for their utility, but let’s face it, most people get into it for the profit potential, including myself. The value is driven by supply and demand and purely speculative in nature.

In case that isn’t clear, I’ll repeat: (1) I’m biased because I’m a crypto investor, and (2) cryptocurrencies is a speculative investment.

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Ranked: Lowest to Highest Return on Investment

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The classic investment advice says slow and steady wins the race, but all of us are hares. Whether you like it or not, we are attracted to BIG, FAST results. Despite knowing better, words like ‘highest return on investment’ and ‘highest growth investment’ *will* capture your attention.

Admit it. Even though we know that we should think long-term, all of us try to chase that sweet, fast high. And I think it’s okay to acknowledge that, because denial won’t do any of us good.

On an individual level, yes we’re greedy and impatient. But also on a societal level, we’ve also been conditioned to think that fast growth=better. You can see this mentality all over:

  • Bursa Malaysia ranks stocks by ‘top gainers’ and ‘top losers’.
  • The default search for unit trusts is by in FundSupermart (now FSMOne) is by ‘Best Performing Funds’ based on 1-month(!!) period.
  • Property investors are advised to factor in property rental rate growth, the higher the better.
  • When gold prices soared, *more* people bought more of it, causing a self-fulfilling prophecy.
  • And more
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7 BEST Articles to Read Before You Jump into Stocks Investing in Malaysia

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In case you didn’t know, Bursa Malaysia is having a moment right now. It kept smashing records.

As of the time of writing, it broke the trading record high of 27.8 billion shares in volume worth RM7.8bil on 11 Aug 2020, AFTER breaking the trading record high of 26.65 billion shares worth RM9.05bil on 7 August 2020, AFTER breaking the trading record high of 15.62 billion shares worth RM10.45bil on 4 August 2020 (and it broke records the day before that, too).

And investors went crazy. Like moths to a flame, the (price) action attracted a lot of attention. This phenomenon isn’t unique to stocks; the same thing happens to other commodities, too – you’ve seen the long lines at gold jewellery stores when gold price broke RM300/gram.

(P/s – Never think you’re immune to FOMO, best to stay humble. Having an ego and thinking you’re more rational than the crowd could will be your downfall.)

So… you want to start exploring stock investing in Malaysia, but don’t know where to start. Here are 7 articles, to read *in order* that will help you in your stocks investing journey.

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Breakdown of My (SUPER HIGH RISK) Investment Portfolio

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Obligatory disclaimer: This article is for SHARING purposes only! NOTHING in here is a recommendation, so don’t say ‘Oh Suraya say must do like that’ HELLO I NEVER SAY THAT, LATER I BABAB ONLY YOU KNOW

When Mr Stingy posted his How I Invest My Own Money article, where he gave the complete breakdown of his investment portfolio, I knew I wanted to write out my own version as well.

Investment portfolios are like a reflection of our personalities. It exposes our risk appetite and maybe some traits as well (see: (Stereo)types of Malaysian Investors: Who You Are Based on What You Invest In).

In this case, I realised that while some of our investments do overlap with each other, the percentage breakdown is completely different.

So, I’ll be sharing the breakdown of my investment portfolio. Like Aaron, I also don’t feel like disclosing the total amount, just the percentage of each investment type.

Everything is accurate as of time of writing (July 2020). Let’s hope that the eventual market downturn will be kind to us *laughs nervously*.

Breakdown of My Investment Portfolio, %, & Risk Level

Here are all my investments, sorted by highest to lowest, as calculated and screenshot-ed from Excel sheet:

investment portfolio

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[SPONSORED] I Tried BEST Invest by BIMB Investment, the ‘First Robo-Intelligence Shariah ESG Online Investment App’

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“What the heck is robo-intelligence,” I thought to myself when I first heard about Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB)’s new fintech product, BEST Invest, “is it the same as robo-advisory?”

“Robo-intelligence is not robo-advisory,” said Amirul Safuan, Head of Marketing & Digital Business Unit at BIMB Investment Management Berhad, in a cheerful yet repetitious tone that implies he had to answer that question hundreds of times.

“It is the use of big data technology, analytics, algorithms to assist on systematic processes of a large quantity of information and data in the decision-making process. It is about the “process”, not “advisory”.

He answered this during an online press event in May 2020, shortly after the app’s official launch. I was pleasantly surprised to be invited, happy that he took (and answered) all my questions, and then went ahead to hire me to write a user review, even after knowing my (transparency-first) writing style. 

To be honest, I am a fan of the keywords BEST Invest are using. Fintech. Big data. Artificial Intelligence. ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) aka Sustainable Investing. Top it off with Shariah compliance. Awesome, awesome, awesome. The only keywords missing are blockchain and cryptocurrency (jk jk). 

And so, it is my utmost pleasure to test out the BEST Invest app, and present to you a list of its pros and cons. 

best invest bimb review

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[SPONSORED] All You Need to Know About Buying Unit Trust Through EPF i-Invest

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According to an article published in The Edge portal, ‘as of April 2020, EPF i-invest had recorded approximately 25,000 transactions worth RM219.3 million’.

That is pretty significant, for two reasons:

  • That means the average transaction size is RM8,772 (!! that’s bigger than I thought!), and
  • It also means that there’s a lot of demand for buying unit trust through EPF i-Invest platform, considering it just launched in Q3 2019.
buying unit trust through epf i-invest
The launch of EPF i-Invest platform, taken from instagram.com/kwspmalaysia
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Investment Tip | 10 Places to Automate Your Investments in Malaysia

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I’ve decided. Now, anytime anyone new to investing asks me about which investments to get, I’m going to say ‘get the set-and-forget’ ones. Take this investment tip: Unless you have a natural passion (or desire to learn about) stocks and properties and other research-heavy investments, go for the investments you can automate.

Why? Because the challenge is not about picking an investment. There are a lot of good options. The challenge is adding more money to it on a regular basis, usually monthly, over the long term.

Without automated investments, most people will start an investment… then ‘forget’ to contribute to their investment portfolio on a regular basis. And by not adding, the money will never grow as fast as you want. 

I know because I’m talking about myself. Despite being an investor for over 10 years now, transferring money out of my banking account to my investment account still hurts each and every time. Therefore, it’s a good idea to feel the pain once (as you set up the recurring deductions), rather than feeling the pain many times over many years.

In this article, I’ve listed out all the investments that you can automate in Malaysia, that I know of. If there are more, let me know in the comments section.

#1 – Mutual Funds/Unit Trust/ETFs

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[VIDEO](Stereo)types of Malaysian Investors: Who You Are Based on What You Invest In

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What are the stereotypes of a property investor? A stock investor? Gold? Crypto? Join me as I list out the stereotypes and impressions I have about different types of Malaysian investors.

This video is inspired by an article I wrote a few years back: 12 Types of Investment Available in Malaysia and The People Who Have Them

(If you want more bitchiness, you’ll LOVE this one: Roasting Different Types of Investments in Malaysia (Everything That Sucks About Them)

Do you agree with the way I stereotyped Malaysian investors? Disagree? Tell me in the comments section!

Also please follow the RinggitOhRinggit Youtube channel. I’m currently exploring YouTube as an additional income stream. So help me out by watching and subscribing, I’m trying to hit 1000 subs and 4000 watch hours so I can write about the monetisation process 🙂

 

 

10 Types of Islamic Investments in Malaysia (that Everyone Can Get)

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My relationship with Islam the religion may be complicated, but I’m ALL for Islamic finance. During Securities Commissions Malaysia’s SCxSC 2019 Fintech Conference event, someone said Islamic finance = ethical finance and gosh, that’s it, that’s why it’s always been appealing for me.

I love the underlying values behind it, like how usury (interest) or riba is completed prohibited, and how excessive risk-taking or gharar is not encouraged.

Conventional finance can be so predatory – yes, predatory – and I love how Islamic finance and banking is structured in a for-the-good-of-all way, even though admittedly things are never perfect in practice.

When it comes to Islamic investments, I admit I do have a big preference to Syariah-compliant investments. Not ALL of my investments are halal, but most of them are. I’m a work in progress, as we all are.

Throughout the years, I’ve made my notes when it comes to Islamic investment options in Malaysia. It’s far from comprehensive, but it’s time to share it with you. Hopefully it’ll help.

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