The Simple Path to Wealth by Jim Collins

The author of the book advocates a self-directed approach to investing and money management. In short, it tells you to avoid debts, save half of your income, invest your savings in low-cost index funds and ignore the news about the up and down of the stock market.

In the book, you will learn that the investment industry is interested in making you feel that the whole investment process is complex. For this reason, you would need help to be successful in the stock market and your only solution is to go for those advisers that, without you knowing, will earn money for themselves at your expenses.

The book also offers specific recommendations for self-directed investing, and carefully explains the rationale behind his conclusions. He also translates studies and stats into easy-to-understand English.

The only thing that the author said that an investor needs to do is to invest in the following two funds:

• VTSAX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Fund
• VBTLX - Vanguard Total Bond Market Fund

With these two funds, we are basically covered and the more we invest in it, the better. However, to invest in both of the above funds, big capital is needed. So, the author provided an alternative which is the equivalent ETF:

• VTI - Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF
• BND - Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF

It is possible for us to invest in both ETF but there will be more works that need to be done before we are able to buy it. I have a bit of experience in this and will share what I know in the near future.

Other information given may not be suitable for us, Malaysian. Stuff such as 401K, Roth and Malaysian low-cost index fund does not really exist in Malaysia. But still, it is a very good read to understand that investing can actually be very simple.

Personally, I have learned a lot from reading this book and my investment strategy is mainly based on the author's concepts of investing but with a tweak to suit our Malaysian market. If you are interested to read this book, you can buy it here.

KWSP i-Invest: Review

A few days ago, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has launched its i-Invest platform which allows its members to invest in unit trust funds with their EPF savings. The great thing about this platform is that it is almost zero cost.

With this platform, members can invest with a sales charge ranging from 0% to a maximum of 0.5% of the transaction amount. As a comparison, offline and traditional transactions through agents are usually charged at 3%.

The conditions for investing via i-Invest are under the Members Investment Scheme. Members may transfer from their EPF Account 1 up to 30% of the amount in excess of Basic Savings, to be invested in the qualified funds. The platform is very user-friendly and there is a lot of information given regarding each fund. 

For members aged 55 and above, they can also use i-Invest using Akaun 55 or Akaun Emas through i-Akaun as a mode of withdrawal. It is also subject to a minimum balance of RM1,000 in their account.

EPF has strict guidelines for Fund Management Institutions (FMI) to safeguard the integrity of the scheme and the interest of participating members. There is a total of 389 funds from various categories (equity, mixed assets, bond, money market, and property trust) that were approved under the EPF Members Investment Scheme for the period of 2019/2020.

You can get started by logging in to your i-Akaun, then click on the “Investment” tab at the top.

Alexiares' comment on i-Invest:
Do not rush in to invest in this platform. Do your due diligence to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. Do note that while it is possible for you to get higher returns from investing at those private funds, it is possible to for you to lose money.

The sales charges range from 0% to 0.5% of the transaction amount. So, if you are investing RM10,000, you will be paying RM50 for the sales charges. And remember that when you sell the investment, you will be charged again. So, if you made RM 1,000 after a certain period of time, you would be paying RM 55 for the sales charges.

Personally, I would not touch my EPF accounts and let it reap the benefit of an average of 6% given by EPF. So, if you are not willing to take the risk, don't try this.

Bigpay Mastercard - A Review

I just got my Bigpay MasterCard. It looks really cool. 

(remember to use my referral code to sign up: UGWYQQD9MS) 

I am sharing the good things about this Bigpay Mastercard here for you to decide for yourself...

Bigpay let you receiving exclusive AirAsia benefits when you use your card with AirAsia: 

1. RM0.00 payment processing fees. 

2. Discounts on pre-booked check-in luggage and in-flight meals.

3. Exclusive early access to AirAsia sales. 

4. 1 BIG point when you top up RM50 and 1 BIG point for every RM20 spent on BigPay.

Skip the long queue at the money changer with Bigpay because it also gives you the most competitive rates when you exchange your Ringgit to any other foreign currency. To do this, just insert your card into any ATM in that country and you will get the foreign currency that you need.

Do note that overseas ATM withdrawals will be charged at RM 10 per transaction while withdrawals done in Malaysia is subjected to a fee of RM6 per transaction. 

BigPay also allows you to send/receive money to and from friends instantly and without any fees.

The best thing for me regarding Bigpay is how the app would break down your expenditure in the app itself. This will be a great way for people who want to track their spending.

So, if you are interested in signing up with gives, remember to use my referral code: UGWYQQD9MS. You will get RM10 from Bigpay as a bonus after you top up your Bigpay with a minimum of RM20. (I will get RM10 too).

Afterwards, when you share Bigpay with others using your referral code, you can get more bonus from Bigpay once they signed up.