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07 ^th
November

Link Roundup #14: 10 Things to Know This Week

Posted by Suraya - 6 Comments

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. #Budget2019: 25 Highlights From Pakatan Harapan’s First Budget In Power – Says.com

A good summary of what you need to know about Pakatan Harapan’s #Budget2019 / #Belanjawan2019 announcement.

I like most things from Budget 2019, except:

P2P lending as a way to finance housing. From what I’ve observed so far, P2P lending’s interest rates are pretty high, from 12-18%. Why would anyone want to finance their home ownership via P2P lending, when normal housing loans are just around 4%? Also, apparently investors make their money on the appreciation value of the property. That makes the borrower a ‘custodian’ of the property, instead of for their long-term housing solution? It just doesn’t make sense, but to be fair we haven’t seen the full guidelines of the implementation method yet. So let’s see, but until then I’m highly sceptical.
Higher budget allocation for JAKIM. They got an additional RM100 million, from RM1.1 billion to RM1.2 billion. Sigh, expect more moral policing next year too I guess. Note: I’m not attacking Islam, I’m attacking Jakim. You can’t deny their actions give the religion a bad reputation, not only nationally but internationally as well.

A lot of people didn’t like the digital services tax. As a Spotify premium subscriber, this affects me too. But you know what? I’ll take the hit. First of all, I’m already paying lower because I’m in a family plan (related: 3 Ways to Get Cheaper Spotify Premium in Malaysia). Secondly, I’m just happy they didn’t increase the personal income tax, after it was lowered last year! This is pretty much the only ‘sacrifice’ I have to make, so OK la, no complaints!

MalaysiaKini has a handy tool to check how #Budget2019 will affect you personally. I can recommend it. Take it here, or click the picture below. Good job creators Lee Long Hui and Sean Ho!

What are YOUR thoughts on Budget 2019?

22 ^nd
October

Link Roundup #13: 10 Things to Know This Week

Posted by Suraya - No Comments

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. Report: Rising household expenditure driven by food inflation – MalaysiaKini and Research: Malaysian households earning RM2,000 may have only RM76 left after expenses – The Malay Mail

Different headlines by different news publications reporting from the same source – ‘The State of Households 2018: Different Realities‘ report by Khazanah Research Institute.

There are lots of data inside both articles, but here’s what you need to know: the poor spend a much bigger portion of their income on expenses, leaving them without much safety buffer (if any) for emergencies.

With Budget 2019 coming up, I expect lots of financial support given to this income group (as it should).

24 ^th
September

Link Roundup #11: 10 Things to Know This Week

Posted by Suraya - 2 Comments

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. Here’s how some of the wealthiest people are investing their cash – CNBC

This is interesting. Apparently, there is a high-net worth group called TIGER 21. They have about 630 members, and each of them has at least $10 million in investable assets.

Check out what they’re investing (and not investing) in, according to their Q2 2018 report. Interesting read.

That accompanying image in the article though. I feel like slapping all of them. Look so atas like that.

16 ^th
July

Link Roundup #6: 10 Things to Know This Week

Posted by Suraya - 2 Comments

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. Here’s How Much Money You Save by Cooking at Home – Forbes

The data is from US, but it’s still a fascinating read. They compared between restaurant, meal kit delivery (not common in Malaysia I think) and cost of ingredients and found that you can save up to five times more by cooking all your meals at home! Another point of interest: ordering protein-based meals from restaurants are more worth it if compared to carb-based meals.

Granted, the US does not have our mamak slash cheap food culture. You can get food relatively cheap here. Personally I’m a big fan of rice + dhal, and that’s fairly nutritious and maybe cost a few ringgits at the most.

Whether we’re willing to give up our food obsession is another story, though. Trying out different cuisines is practically a national hobby.