Financial well being for everyone

What it takes to retire well?

Everyone wants to retire. But the truth, retirement planning is often overlooked and let chance to take place. So how do we ensure the joy and the fund would last?

3 pointers to share with you.

1. When should I start preparing for my retirement?

Right now. It's always good and easier to start early. In Singapore, most would prefer to retire at an average age 54, although the "national standard" is suggested at age 65 to counteract longevity risk, i.e. the risk of living too long. Some population experts has expected the recent expectancy would last another 30 - 40 years after retirement age!

The earlier you start, the more you could have.

2. How much money will I need when I retire?

This is not too difficult exercise. Attached worksheet (Disclaimers applies) would be a useful tools for you to find out your gap. A general rule of thumb in planning for retirement income is about 2/3 of your last drawn salary just before your targeted retirement age, in order to maintain your current standard of living. The big-ticket items such as your home mortgages and your children's tertiary education fees might be reduced or finished, you need to have enough income to fund daily household expenses and medical costs before you calculate how much is needed for traveling and pursuing hobbies.

Retiring well needs good planning.

3. Isn't CPF enough for me to retire on?

Think again. Will CPF be enough after which you have serviced your mortgage loan and pay your children's tertiary education? Whether is it enough also depends on your desired retirement lifestyle needs. Usually, the CPF LIFE would provide approximately 30% of your last take home salary before retirement.

For example, based on $100,000, the "CPF LIFE Income" option would gives you S$700 (estimates) a month for during your lifetime. This is an non-refundable plan provides the highest monthly payout than the other plans but does not leave anything for your beneficiaries. To be relevant, information is available @ https://www.cpf.gov.sg/cpf_trans/ssl/financial_model/lifecal/index.html &

http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/Members/Gen-Info/CPF_LIFE/CPF_LIFE

Longevity risk is something that cannot be ignored too.

Knowing what you want for your expected retirement lifestyle needs, fortunately, is a choice. Engage a Certified Financial Planner who gives quality and adhere to a holistic approach. You won't want to find out that you have not enough when the time arrived.

Reality Check - What have I done so far on my personal financial plan?

Recently, there is a lot "talks" on retirement, especially on CPF LIFE, CPF Lifelong Income For Elderly. Briefly, CPF LIFE will provide their members who are Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents an income for life. It is an improvement over the current Minimum Sum Scheme (MSS) where payouts only last about 20 years. Through this new scheme, members will receive a monthly income for as long as they live, the amount depending on the cash savings they have in their Retirement Account (RA). I welcome this initialization and getting Singaporean to enjoy their retirement future is challenging.

Unlike in the past, not too long ago, when I read magazines and come across prospects who think they are going to retire in 15 or 20 years with $250,00 or less in savings. Some even feel that it's not important at all. Wait and see is the most common norm. Whoa! These are something alarming and has to address these issues with immediate action and "care".

To keep things simple, the following questions might be a good pointers on how well you have been working on your personal financial plan.

[1] Can I retire comfortably at age XX?

[2] Will I have sufficient income when I retire?

[3] Will I have to alter my lifestyle when I retire?

[4] Will I have enough income to pay my medical expenses?

[5] Will my death or the death of my spouse affect our income?

[6] Will I be able to financially assist my parents/family members?

[7] Will I be able to help with the education for my children/grandchildren?

These seven questions are important questions that require your thoughtful answers and actions. Too often, as mentioned a numerous times, people brush them aside, thinking it will all work out fine. Putting things in perspective, these important inputs are critical elements to achieved your desired output, i.e. retirement funds that required a black box to process. One function of your black box would be your certified financial planner to ensure money is there when you've arrived.

Isn't it true that the only person who can take care of the older person we will be someday is the younger person we are today? And, whether we get to enjoy in our retirement, or we could retired from our enjoyment... it's a matter of choice.

Motivational Quote (ii)

Accessing RISK/Return or RETURN/Risk...first?

It is important to know how risk and return interact and to understand what type of investments might suit your risk appetites.

So what is Risk & Investment Risk?

Risk can be thought of as the uncertainty something happening. In investing, it could be view as the "calculated" chance that money can be lost or made on any investment. It is often be view as variability in the returns of an investment. It is how much "below and above" the average return or the return expected by an investor. As such we use the VOLATILITY as a common yardstick to measure the speed and magnitude of price changes in an investment over a period of time. (In Physics, it's known as Vector quantity). If the movement is rapid over a short period of time, it has high volatility, whereas for low volatility, the price movement is very mild, like bank deposits.

Although risks pose a threat, they also pose an Opportunity and investors need to know the best way of mitigating risk so that they can also benefit from the potential returns. But in actual fact, the general consumers not only pre-occupied with their lives, they also might not have sufficient and essential information on the investments they are embarking on. So it would be wise to engage an investment-based certified financial planner. Let's us not be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

How about returns?

Often being said, low risk, low returns; high risk, high return. Likewise, the same is true for loss. But I always take the stand as low risk products will certainly and definitely gives low return, but high risk might not give you high return. It's the "managed" high risk approach that would gave the investors the "expected" high returns. This "return expectations" of an investors would depend on a few factors, such as the investors' risk appetite, investment type preferences, the committed investment amount and whether the products are suitable for the investors and other considerations that the investors might feel great importance and concern. These personal concerns that investors might have, need to be addressed first before they commit.

In reality, returns might not need to be managed. More often than not, investors are generally delighted when their investment are in the "black" and on the rise. Personally, the investors should use a yardstick to measure their expected performance on a certain time frame. In this way, the return objectives would be met. Therefore, an investor's financial goals and attitude to risk will be a guide to what types of investment will best suit them. We are aware that different asset classes have associated risk/return profiles.

In conclusion, although Risk and Return are at different side of the coin, however, they are like an identical twins and have to go hand in hand. They are inseparable because they are two different faces of the same coin.

OM MANI PADME HUM

The most famous mantra in the world...

OM MANI PADME HUM

Meditation on the eight verses of thought transformation.

Om mani padme hum

1. With the determination to obtain the greatest possible benefit from all sentient beings, who are more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel, and obtain Enlightenment solely for their benefit, I shall hold them most dear at all times.

Om mani padme hum

2. Whenever I am with others, I will always see myself as the lowest of all. And from the very depth of my heart, I will respectfully hold others as supreme.

Om mani padme hum

3. In all actions, I will examine my mind and the moment a disturbing attitude arises, endangering myself and others, I will firmly confront and avert it.

Om mani padme hum

4. Whenever I meet a person of bad nature who is overwhelmed by negative actions and intense suffering, I will hold such a rare one dear, as if I had found a precious treasure.

Om mani padme hum

5. Whenever others, out jealously, mistreat me with abuse, slander and so on, I will accept defeat and offer the victory to them.

Om mani padme hum

6. When someone I have benefited and in whom I have placed great trust hurts me very badly, I will practice seeing that person as my supreme teacher.

Om mani padme hum

7. In short, I will offer directly and indirectly every benefit and happiness to all beings, my mothers. I will practice in secret taking upon myself all their harmful actions and sufferings.

Om mani padme hum

8. Without these practices being defiled by the stains of the eight worldly concerns and perceiving without grasping all phenomena as illusory, I will release all beings from the bondage of the disturbing, unsubdued mind and karma.

Save SMARTER, not Harder.

The Power of Compound interest?

Never underestimate the power of compound interest
because it is the rock on which your future wealth is built.
The sooner you begin, the more likely your plan will succeed.

Compounding occurs when the earnings on savings or investments are added back to the principal, or reinvested, which in turn generates additional earnings which are again invested, and so forth. This is such a basic process that it’s hard to see where the excitement is. And yet, compound interest can get the blood pumping when you realize the potential in smart investing.

Consider starting at the age of 21 by saving $2,000 per year each year. Though sound investment, you get a reasonable 8% interest on the principal. At age 30, you decide to stop and you leave your money growing at 8% until you retire at age 65.

Now assume you decided only to start saving at 30, but now you diligently save $2,000 every year until 65, again investing 8%.

Of course you reckon that having saved so much harder for so much longer, 35 years rather than just 10 years, you will have more than made up for lost time when you were young.

Well, the 10 year plan, in which you invested $20,000, will reap $428,378!
The 35 year plan, in which you have invested $70,000, will reap considerably less: $344,634.

Hence, the magic of compound interest.

Use compound interest to boost the value of your investment.
Work hard to improve the percentage return and stick with it.
Not letting compound interest reward you later years is such a waste of all the effort put in the first few years when nothing much seems to be happening. So, let's start investing now.

Related Articles on Save Smarter, Not Harder.

The "Kiss" Approach - "Keep It Simple & Straight forward"

The financial planning process consists of the following six steps:

1. Establishing and defining the client-planner relationship

The financial planner should clearly explain or document the services to be provided to you and define both his and your responsibilities. The planner should explain fully how he will be paid and by whom. You and the planner should agree on how long the professional relationship should last and on how decisions will be made.

2. Gathering client data, including goals
The financial planner should ask for information about your financial situation. You and the planner should mutually define your personal and financial goals, understand your time frame for results and discuss, if relevant, how you feel about risk. The financial planner should gather all the necessary documents before giving you the advice you need.

3. Analyzing and evaluating your financial status

The financial planner should analyze your information to assess your current situation and determine what you must do to meet your goals. Depending on what services you have asked for, this could include analyzing your assets, liabilities and cash flow, current insurance coverage, investments or tax strategies.

4. Developing and presenting financial planning recommendations and/or alternatives

The financial planner should offer financial planning recommendations that address your goals, based on the information you provide. The planner should go over the recommendations with you to help you understand them so that you can make informed decisions. The planner should also listen to your concerns and revise the recommendations as appropriate.

5. Implementing the financial planning recommendations

You and the planner should agree on how the recommendations will be carried out. The planner may carry out the recommendations or serve as your "coach," coordinating the whole process with you and other professionals such as attorneys or stockbrokers.

6. Monitoring the financial planning recommendations

You and the planner should agree on who will monitor your progress towards your goals. If the planner is in charge of the process, she should report to you periodically to review your situation and adjust the recommendations, if needed, as your life changes.

Systematic & Disciplined Investing that pays

It is possible to improve investment portfolio by timing the market, but can it always be done correctly? Any unsuccessful attempts to time the market will seriously hurt the returns on investment.

The solution is to invest a fixed sum of money on a regular basis. Such discipline investment approach is Dollar Cost Averaging.

DCA is setting aside a percentage, say 15% percent, of your monthly income in a unit trust. Regardless of market sentiment, this strategy enable a specific dollar to be invested on a consistent manner.  During bad times, more unit units are acquired and in good times, less units. In this way, the average price per unit is being driven downwards.

DCA does not guarantee a profit, but it can help to smooth out the market's ups ad downs (volatility) and reduce the risk of loss. It foster discipline in investing regularly, and take full advantage when the market recovers.

Above all, DCA helps to remove the emotional factor from your investment programme, allowing you to focus on your long term investment goal and avoid the pitfalls of buying high and selling low in the market.

Dedication

May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes

May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes

May all sentient beings not be separated from
sorrowless bliss

May all sentient beings abide in equanimity,
free of bias, attachment and anger.

What are your financial concerns?

Most people are primarily concerned about the following:

• DEATH - Will their family have enough money if they die to young?
• DISABILITY - Will they and their family have enough money if they are disabled?
• RETIREMENT - Will they have adequate money to enable them to lead a comfortable retirement without fear of running out of money?
• ESTATE Planning - How can they ensure their money gets to their intended heirs and how can they minimise the impact of estate taxes and related costs?

If they own business, many of them are additionally concerned about:

• BUSINESS CONTINUATION PLANNING - Who will own and run the business and what impact will their death have on the business?
• SELECTIVE COMPENSATION PLANNING - How do you recruit, retain, and reward key people?
  

Children Learn What They Live

If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child Lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance & friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, Nobody?

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.

So this is a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody & Nobody.

What is Investment-Link Policy (ILPs)?

Briefly, Investment-link policy offers a combination of permanent and term life insurance protection and the growth potential of variable fund investments.

Its unique features is that the policy’s cash value is invested in an account made up of one or more funds of equities, money-markets or bonds. The policy owner decides where to invest the money and, periodically, within contract limits each year, may transfer funds from one fund to another.

The policy guarantees a minimum death benefit, but the actual death paid may be much higher if the investments perform well. In addition, the cash value also fluctuates with the investment performance, and has the potential of greatly surpassing the return on traditional life insurance policies, as well as those of universal life.

There is also risk with this type of contract. The cash values are not guaranteed. If the investments to which they are linked perform poorly, the variable life cash values may grow at a lower rate than in traditional products or not at all.

Investments-link products policy owners might pay a level premium for the duration of the policy. There are flexible premium payments with this product. Each premium is reduced by an amount needed to maintain the minimum guaranteed death benefit.

The product is entitled to tax-free death benefits. However, investment-link product policy is both a life insurance and equity product. For this reason, field underwriters who sell it must be life licensed.

Is Investment-linked policy suitable for you?

Please take note of the following points:

• You should have a basic understanding of investments and believe they are capable of making good investments decisions.

• You must have relatively high risk tolerance. If the sometimes uncertain, non-guaranteed nature of this product makes you uncomfortable, this is not the product for you to buy.

Of course, after what have been said and done, it is best to get appropriate advice from qualified financial planner who has the capability to address your financial concern, needs and goals.

The man who wins is the man who thinks he can

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you wont.

If you think you'll lose, you lost,
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind

If you think you are outclasses, you are,
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger of faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can

L O V E...

is patient, love is kind.

Love is not jealous, it does not
put on airs, it is not snobbish.

Love is never rude, it is not
self-seeking, it is not prone to anger;
neither does it brood over injuries.

Love does not rejoice in what is wrong,
but rejoices with the truth.
There is no limit to love's forbearance, its truth,
its hope, its power to endure.

Why people buy Life Insurance?

People buy life insurance because they care about someone, organisation like a school, college, temple, church or a charity group or because they owe someone.

Many people tend to treat life insurance as an expense to be minimized. I view life insurance as an asset to be optimized within the context of your overall financial situation.

Life insurance can create a fortune for your family. It can help to create a fortune to supplement your own retirement income. When you have created a fortune, life insurance can save that fortune being devastated by estate taxes (if any, subject current tax law) and related costs.

The role of Life Insurance

Life insurance will help you accomplish the following:

• It will help provide an adequate income for your family if you die prematurely.
• It will provide a cash cushion for emergencies.
• It will provide cash to help educate your children.
• It will provide supplemental retirement benefits.
  

Why should I buy life insurance?

If your death will create economic loss for your family, your business, your temple or church, your college or school, or your favourite charity, you probably need more life insurance.

If your death will not result in an economic loss for one of those entities, you might want to ask yourself why.

8 Reasons to be in the Financial Services Industry

1. Complexity - Finances are much more complex than before and the options are endless, which means that my clients need someone they trust to give them educated advice.
2. Longevity - Our average age is increasing, there is life after 65. We need to have a financial plan to handle it.
3. Entrepreneurship - Being your own boss and having more control of your own destiny are part of Singaporean dream. This industry is perfect environment for the entrepreneurial spirit.
4. Financial Freedom - Building a nest egg is a way of buying the freedom and security people are looking for. Financial Advisers get to do that for themselves and their clients.
5. Value - More and more financial institutions are aware that market place are changing, clients are getting more aware, prices are getting competitive, which means that clients are the greatest beneficiaries because they can receive better advice and more value than ever before.
6. Road Map for success - The successful road maps of past advisers are well documented and readily available. This is good news for new hires. They don't have to learn from the school of hard knocks.
7. Volatility - The volatility of the stock market has hit us like a ton of bricks, as has the need for good financial advice and trustworthy advisers.
8. Long Term Thinking - Patience and Perseverance have come back in style, and people are realising that the truth will not only set you free, it'll keep you free. Reputations are golden in this industry as in the need for a long term financial plan.

Motivational Quote (i)

Take Time...

Take time to THINK

- Thoughts are the source of power.

Take time to PLAY
- Play is the secret of perpetual youth.

Take time to READ
- Reading is the foundation of wisdom.

Take time to PRAY
- Prayer can be a rock of strength in time of trouble.

Take time to LOVE
- Loving is what makes living worthwhile.

Take time to be FRIENDLY
- Friendship gives life a delicious flavour.

Take time to LAUGH
- Laughter is the music of the soul.

Take time to GIVE
- Any day is too short for selfishness

Take time to do your WORK WELL
- Pride in your work nourishes the ego and the spirit.

Take time to show APPRECIATION
- Thanks are the frosting on the cake of life.

Three characteristics of an ideal career

Whatever you do, look for something that pays you what you're worth.

Find a career that keeps you stimulated, a career that challenges you every day.

Find a career that allows you to spend all your life being a part of people's lives. When you finish your career, you should be able to look back and say you have had an impact on people.

It is this passion of serving people and never being bored is what this financial planning career rewarding!

Do Not QUIT!

When things go wrong, as they some times will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,

When the funds are low, and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit

Life is queer with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learn, And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out, Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far,

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,

It’s when things seem worse,

that you must not quit.

Financial Well-being for Everyone

Throughout our life, we have to make many financial decisions, such as:

• I want to have my own property
• I hope to upgrade to a bigger flat or apartment in 5 years…
• I want to buy a family car…
• I want to take my family on a holiday every year…
• I wish to provide my kids with an overseas university education…

However, we often make financial decisions in a haphazard manner. We tend to have no overall direction or lose the determination to enforce our decisions. Eventually, we do not achieve our intended goals or take a longer time to achieve them. And because we are so caught up with our immediate financial concerns during the most productive period of our lives, we fail to accumulate a sizeable nest egg for a comfortable lifestyle when we retire.

What is Financial Planning?

Financial Planning is the process of meeting your life goals through the proper management of your finances. It is a process that consists of specific steps that help you ascertain your financial condition objectively. The process involves gathering relevant financial information, setting life goals, examining your current financial status and coming up with a strategy or plan how you can meet your current situation and future plans. Eventually, financial planning should provide direction and meaning to all your financial decisions.

By viewing each financial decision as part of a whole, you can consider its short and long-term effects on your life goals. You can therefore adapt more easily to life changes and feel more secure that your goals are on track.

Take Charge and Plan Early

With financial planning, achieving your short-term ad long-term financial goals will become possible. Of course, the success of your financial plan depends on how realistic your goals are, how early you start, how much time you have to achieve those goals and how conscientious you are in following the plan.

How to make Financial Planning work for you

Financial planning will work well to help you achieve your desired goals, if you keep in mind some basic principles:

• Set measurable financial goals
• Understand the effects of each financial decision
• Re-evaluate your financial situation periodically
• Start planning as soon as you can
• Be realistic in your expectations
• Realise that you are in charge
• Know what to expect from a qualified financial planner
  

Some Common Mistakes with regard to Financial Planning
(Source: Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards)

• Do not have measurable financial goals.
• Make financial decisions without understanding their effects on other financial issues.
• Neglect to re-evaluate their plan periodically.
• Look for a quick financial fix instead of a long-term strategy.
• Expect unrealistic returns on investments.
• Think that financial planning is only necessary when they get older.
• Think that financial planning is only for the wealthy.
• Confuse financial planning is primarily tax planning.
• Wait until a money crisis occurs to begin financial planning.
• Think that using a financial planner means losing control.

Who Can Help?

As the years go by and our plan grows in complexity, we may well be calling upon a whole series of experts to help us. Included in this group may be an accountant, lawyer, a trust and investment officer of a bank, stockbroker and real estate expert. However, for most of us, the first person who can help us is a professional insurance adviser who specialises in Financial Need Analysis (FNA).
Such a person can help us to take the four steps necessary to achieve financial success:

1. Set financial goals
2. Prioritise them
3. Initiate a plan of action
4. Review and update the plan regularly

Last but not least...

There you have it - the basic of Financial Planning. Financial planning needs your investment of time in undergoing all those steps mentioned above. It is part and parcel of developing an effective plan for you to achieve your financial goals may be.
Basically, a sound financial plan is able to handle the following 3 events like:

1. We might live too long;
   
2. We might contract a serious illness or prolong injury;
   
3. Or we die too soon.
   

So start planning now to avoid any disappointment because nobody has planed to fail, but most has failed to plan.

Related articles on Financial well being for Everyone.

The Importance of Patient Practice

"By degree, little by little, from time to time,

A wise man should remove his impurities,

As a silversmith removes the impurities from silver."

Even if one does not attain Nirvana in this life, one's effort is not wasted. First, one experience contentment, harmony, peace and prosperity in this life and the next. Eventually one achieves the supreme happiness and peace of Nirvana.

Attaining NIRVANA

" As the vast ocean is of one taste, the taste of salt,
So also, in my Teaching, there is but one taste,
The taste of freedom, that is, Nirvana"

"Choose a job you love,

and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Confucius, Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)

How much will a University education cost?

Do you know how much you need to set aside for your child's education and how you can achieve that goal?
To illustrate how much it will cost annually to send your child to a local university, we have the following:

Tuition fees: $6,000

Food: $3,000

Books/stationery: $1,000

Transport: $2,000

Personal expenses: $3,000

Total: $15,000

So a typical 4-year university education might cost $15,000 x 4 = $60,000 today.
Assumed that the inflation rate for education is 3%, that sum could grow to $108,367 in 20 years' time. Sometimes, the cost of education can rise faster than the inflation rate, which means you will require even more funds.
In order to accumulate $108,367 in 20 years' time, you need to set aside $294 per month now, assuming you invest in an instrument that gives you an annual rate of return of 4%.For 6% rate of return, your monthly saving is $233.
A financial instrument with a higher rate of return can help you to achieve the same goal with a smaller amount of savings every year. But note that any form of investment carries a certain degree of risk.
From the illustration, the earlier you start saving or investing, the more wealth you can accumulate.

Some of the options you can consider if you want to save for your child's education include saving through a bank deposit account, buying an endowment plan and investing in a long-term investment product. To achieve how best to find a suitable plan for your child’s education programme, it is always advisable to seek guidance from your financial adviser.





[Attached is the "funding through" concept for the projected university fee only]

Impermance - Everything Changes Continuosly

"Subject to change are all things,
Strive on with diligence."

All things, whether internal or external, are impermanent and ever changing.

Can you afford to retire comfortably?

Many of us would stop work between age 55 and 65. If you had started working from age 20 or 25, you would have worked for 30 to 45 years. Upon retirement, your income would come to an end. However, you would want to continue enjoying your golden age, retiring in style as a reward for all these years of hard work. In order to do so, there must be proper planning; to be able to accumulate an estate to provide for your retirement.

Many people delay planning for their retirement until they are about to retire. The major pitfall is that they have less time to accumulate what they need, and will most probably have to bear higher risks in their investment in the hope of getting higher returns. They would not be able to gain from the compounding effect of interest rates from long term investment.

For example, if you start at age 35, investing $2,000 a year with an average rate of return of 6% will give you $167,603 when you reach 65. But this figure will be more than $320,000 if you start at age 25.

Starting too late, putting aside too little, and being overly cautious can be very costly.
From the statistics, the aging population is going to increase tremendously. The younger population would have a very heavy burden of supporting them. Why not make it easier for the next generation by assuring your own financial independence and your own dignity as well. Twenty or thirty years down the road, some people would be financially independent and some would not be. They did not plan to fail, it’s just they failed to plan.

Would you agree that the only person that can take care of the financial needs of the older person we will be someday is the younger person we are now?

Plan today and start building your retirement fund.

Karma - Action with Intention

According to the seed that is sown,
So is the fruit you reap.

The doer of good will gather good result,
The doer of evil reaps evil result.

If one plant a good seed well,
Then one will enjoy the good fruits.

Happiness

"Health is the greatest gain,
Contentment is the greatest wealth,
A trusted friend is the best relative,
Nirvana is the highest happiness."

"Solitude is happiness for one who is content,
Has learnt the Teaching and has seen the Truth.
In the world, happiness is goodwill
And restraint towards living creatures.
The overcoming of desire,
Detachment in the world is happiness.
But to be free of conceit
Is the greatest happiness of all."

The "Sermon on Blessing"

Not to associate with the unwise,
To associate with the wise,
And to honour those who are worthy of honour.
This is the highest blessing.

To reside in a suitable locality,
To have done meritorious actions,
And to follow the right way.
This is the highest blessing.

Great Learning, perfect skill,
Excellent moral discipline,
And pleasant speech.
This is the highest blessing.

To support one's father and mother,
To care for one's wife and children,
And to have a peaceful occupation.
This is the highest blessing.

Generosity, Good Conduct,
Helping relatives,
And blameless action.
This is the highest blessing.

To cease from doing unwholesome actions,
To avoid intoxicants,
And to be steadfast in virtue.
This is the highest blessing.

Reverence, humility,
Contentment and gratitude,
And timely hearing of the Dharma.
This is the highest blessing.

Patience, receptivity to advice,
Meeting with the members of the Order.
And Dharma discussion at appropriate times,
This is the highest blessing.

Self-control, leading a religious life.
Understanding the Noble Truths,
And the attainment of Nirvana.
This is the highest blessing.

He whose mind is not disturbed by worldly conditions,
Sorrowless, pure and secure,
This is highest blessing.

To those who fulfill these conditions,
Who are everywhere unconquerable,
Who in every way move happily,
These are the highest blessings.

Investment pointers to note for, during bearish times

1. Accept Volatility than fear
2. Think Long Term, ignore short-term sentiment
3. Never Confuse gambling with investment
4. Adopt a contrarian approach
5. Price is what you pay, Value is what you get
6. Remember, the stock market is probably smarter than you
7. Understand the companies you invest in