link roundup
Link Roundup

Link Roundup #78: 10 Things to Know This Week

Support a content creator, share this article :)

Accelerate your personal finance knowledge with this regular feature on Ringgit Oh Ringgit – the Link Roundup! I promise you’ll find these 10 links informational 🙂

1. There are 3 types of employees. Here’s the rarest one—and why psychologists say they outperform everyone else – CNBC

Interesting article. According to organizational psychologist and Wharton professor Adam Grant, there are three key reciprocation styles found in the workplace:

Takers see the world as a hypercompetitive rat race. Since they assume that no one else will look out for them, they place their own interests first and last. They may choose to help others strategically, but only when the benefit seems to exceed the cost.

Matchers operate tit for tat. When people do them a favor, they repay in a capacity that is no more, no less. And when they help someone, they expect the same in return.

Givers focus on others more than on themselves. They pay close attention to what people need from them, whether it’s time or ideas or mentorship. A rarity in the workplace, their style is more typical of the way we treat family and friends.

It is the Givers who outperform everyone else, but only if they are negotiated givers, not passive givers. The former knows how to establish boundaries, while the latter burn out from giving too generously to the wrong people.

P/s – Wondering which one – giver, matcher or taker – you are? Go and find out – take the Give and Take Quiz.

2. I am my father’s retirement plan. It’s an honor that terrifies me. – The Lily

This is such a beautifully written, intimate piece, from a daughter who accepts her (financial and emotional) responsibility for a parent who has not – and will never – save up enough money for retirement. There is a lot of love, but also sadness; I think it’s ok to accept both emotions.

Knowing the low EPF savings rate, I know a lot of us are going through similar situations here in Malaysia. If that’s you, have a read. Sometimes strangers can verbalise our emotions better than we can.

An excerpt:

Tina Vasquez and her father in Downey, Calif., in 1990. (Family photo)

When I talk to my dad and try to drill down on the details of how his retirement is going to work financially, it goes nowhere. It’s not that he evades my questions, but he certainly doesn’t have answers for them. Often, he derails the conversations with jokes about writing a memoir or strange tangents about moving to Venezuela, where he doesn’t know a soul. Sometimes he talks about adopting a puppy.

In these moments I realize he’s worried about how he’s going to fill his free time, and maybe just as scared about the mechanics of retirement as I am. But he can’t bring himself to talk to me about it. He doesn’t like to rely on me as much as he does, but here we are.

3. Think Rich, Get Rich: How Critical Thinking Can Increase Wealth – RealSimple

My takeaway from this article is critical thinking = knowing which financial advice works for you, and which doesn’t. It’s EQ, rather than IQ prowess.

The 3 examples in there are worth pondering upon. Are you:

  • Someone who doesn’t know the stock market or someone who does?
  • Someone who panic sells or someone who waits for such opportunities to buy?
  • Someone who enjoys maximising credit card rewards or someone who doesn’t?

Well? Which one are you? Are you sure that’s you, or the person you wish you are?

4. I made a costly mistake when I first started investing, but 2 tried-and-true methods helped me earn thousands – Business Insider

Her mistake was: attempting stock picking when she doesn’t have knowledge of the stock market.

Going back to #3. I know that I’m also someone who doesn’t enjoy stock-picking nor do I have the patience to learn, so I invest in mutual funds, unit trusts, ETFs through robo advisor platforms. I’m actually fine with this, since I think individual stock picking is mostly luck anyway, for people who don’t have experience or knowledge of the industry.

She recommends robo advisors and dollar-cost averaging method, which I approve of. Read the Best Robo Advisor in Malaysia: Lowest Fees, Syariah-Compliant, Global Exposure and More and 10 Places to Automate Your Investments in Malaysia to apply this knowledge in your life today.

5. If you keep putting work before health and happiness, you may be suffering from internalized capitalism – USA Today

Do you think busy working = good? Internalised capitalism is one of those things where once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It is everywhere in culture and society, and tauted as ‘normal’ and encouraged even if it is detrimental to your physical and mental health.

While we’re at it, might as well learn about the other spectrums if internalised [blank]s:

Internalized capitalism joins a host of other phrases used to describe harmful attitudes directed toward ourselves, including internalized sexism, internalized racism and internalized homophobia. These forms of oppression are insidious, perpetuated by cultural attitudes so deeply held that it’s difficult to recognize.

Women who internalize sexism undervalue their talents, undermine other women and unwittingly bolster a boys’ club. A person of color who has internalized racism may believe Black people are more violent than white people. A person with internalized homophobia may reject their sexual orientation. 

6. I Was Taught From a Young Age to Protect My Dynastic Wealth – The Atlantic

Written by Abigal Disney – yes, that Disney – she shared another example of internalised [blank]. She had been told all her life that the goverment can’t be trusted with money, so it is only natural for recipients of inherited properties to use legal ways to protect their wealth from the government’s reach.

7. Ask a Therapist: My Daughter Takes Advantage of My Generosity, What Can I Do? – Very Well Mind

Ask a therapist

The dynamic here is parents-adult children, but the advice is applicable to anyone who is expected to help out (financially or otherwise) and not being appreciated for giving said help.

Establishing boundaries is something that doesn’t seem to be related to personal finance, but it is. If you don’t know how to say no while maintaining good relations (not everyone wants to or can terminate a relationship), it’s time to learn how. After reading this article, please read my How to Say No to ‘Can I Borrow Your Money?’ & Other Financial Requests article.

8. Use these 10 highly effective communication habits to get what you want faster, says Harvard career expert – CNBC

Me: Clicks headline, not expecting to be impressed, because obviously the inclusion of ‘Harvard career expert’ in the headline is meant to impress readers even if the advice is basic at best, maybe even simply motivational in nature

Me after reading: This is a surprisingly practical communication advice??

  1. If you have an idea that’s hard to imagine, share a picture, sketch or mock-up
  2. If you have an edited version of a document, track your changes and add comments explaining your thought process.
  3. If you have information from a specific source that others might want to reference, share a hyperlink to the website.
  4. If you have a file with formatting that could show up differently on different devices, send it as a PDF.
  5. If you have a file where people need to manipulate the information, send the original, editable file.
  6. If you have a decision you want to document to avoid any misunderstandings, send an email explaining the decision.
  7. If you have lots of details for people to sift through, send a file for them to review on their own time.
  8. If you have a topic that’s complicated, controversial or requires discussion, schedule a call or meeting.
  9. If you have a meeting to schedule, send a calendar invite clearly stating the date, time and meeting method.
  10. If you have a decision that requires multiple people’s approval, consult people individually.

Click on the article to read more on each of the above.

9. Digital Pet Health Insuretech Oyen Nets Over RM 1.7 Million in Seed Funding – FintechNews Malaysia

Digital Pet Health Insuretech Oyen Nets Over RM 1.7 Million in Seed Funding

Hey! That’s Michelle! From Her Duit! I didn’t know she was working on a pet insuretech company while working on a financial literacy platform and personal finance podcast! Congratulations on getting RM1.7 million in seed funding!

(in case you don’t know, seed funding is the initial money needed to start a company in its early stages. *Usually* seed money comes from own savings or from friends/family, but getting it from Hustle Fund and angel investors shows that their pitch and/or potential to grow is very strong.)

10. Affiliate Marketing Malaysia : Panduan Complete Buat Duit Dengan Affiliate (Edisi 2021) – Kartel Digital

And last but not least, here’s a Malay-language article containing in-depth information on affiliate marketing. I admire the effort, as 1) not much content on this topic is in Malay, and 2) the Malay market is so under-tapped OMG (not saying its easy, but creative content in Malay has an easier time to shine amid the many English-language ones).

If you want to try your hand in affiliate marketing, Hafiz the writer of this article and an established affiliate marketer himself offers the 21 Days to Ecommerce Dropshipping course for RM397. You get:

  • 21 x step-by-step videos to learn ecommerce dropshipping
  • Email marketing guide
  • Facebook ads guide
  • 1-year support and guidance on running your ecommerce dropshipping business (important for motivation and accountability!)
  • And more

That’s it for this round, catch you next time! Want to submit a link you thought was great? Reach out to me on FB or Twitter.

To read past link roundups, please click here.


Support a content creator, share this article :)

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *