As I write this article we are less than 2 weeks away from the doorsteps of 2020. It has also been a year since I started financedurian.xyz. How time flies when you are not paying attention. The purpose of financedurian.xyz is to distill all my experience and knowledge in personal finance and investing into a… Continue reading 2019 and what lies ahead
A Cheap Way for Malaysians to Buy US Stocks
Layer 6 of the Asset Allocation model: Diversified Index Funds The 6th layer of your Asset Allocation model is to invest in diversified index funds (read: these are NOT unit trusts) in the form of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are all the rage today in the developed markets and there are almost 2,000 of… Continue reading A Cheap Way for Malaysians to Buy US Stocks
EPF’s Negative Reserves
Back in February 2019 I wrote an article explaining how the EPF, the Malaysian retirement fund is able to pay out a dividend of 6% despite the poor performance of many asset classes in 2018. The answer is that EPF draws from its reserves that was built over many years, selling assets such as bonds… Continue reading EPF’s Negative Reserves
The Long Journey to Financial Freedom
It is not uncommon to hear from those who are tired of their jobs that they wished they could simply stop and do something else that they might enjoy. However, reality usually strikes them in the form of bills and/or mortgages to be paid. So they simply suck it in and continue with the drudgery… Continue reading The Long Journey to Financial Freedom
Recession Fear and the Bond Yield Curve
Since December 2018, something rare has been happening to the US treasury bond yields and the trend is still continuing to today. The yield on bonds with durations longer than 1 year have been gradually dropping while the yield on bonds shorter than 6 months have slightly nudged upwards. This has finally resulted last Friday… Continue reading Recession Fear and the Bond Yield Curve
EPF’s Belanjawanku And Those Who Do Not Need It
Last week on March 4th, the EPF published an expenditure guide called 'Belanjawanku', which is 'My Budget' when translated from Malay. When I heard the news I knew it would be a lightning rod attracting criticism. Source: http://www.kwsp.gov.my/portal/documents/10180/6462229/Panduan_Belanjawanku_03032019.pdf And indeed it did. For example, people mocked that it's impossible to find a rental room in… Continue reading EPF’s Belanjawanku And Those Who Do Not Need It
Investing In Properties
We are now approaching to the top of the asset allocation model and the ninth layer concerns properties bought for the purpose of investment. I mentioned that the risks involved with investing increases as we go up the layers of the model. I'll talk more again about the risks associated with property investments later on.… Continue reading Investing In Properties
How Does EPF Deliver ~6% Dividend for 2018?
Over the weekend, the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) of Malaysia delivered an astounding 6.15% dividend for the Conventional Savings account and 5.9% for the Shariah Savings account. The news caught many people by surprise since 2018 was a particularly poor year for almost all asset classes globally. Even Lim Guan Eng, the Malaysian Finance Minister… Continue reading How Does EPF Deliver ~6% Dividend for 2018?
Investing Like Warren Buffet
Anyone who has read about investing would likely have heard about Warren Buffet. Many books have been written about him and there are many people who try to copy his investing styles. Heck, there are even people willing to part with over half a million dollars just to have a chat with him. Unless those… Continue reading Investing Like Warren Buffet
Avoid the Private Retirement Schemes (PRS) Funds
The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) of Malaysia has long been criticised for offering a one sized fits all retirement savings solution for all Malaysians. It has only one fund for all its contributors aged from the 20s to 50s. Everyone gets the same return every year. Ideally, younger contributors should be able to put their… Continue reading Avoid the Private Retirement Schemes (PRS) Funds
The Finance Durian 