My 2020 Goals: This Year, I am Allowing Myself to Say ‘No’ Without Feeling Guilty Anymore.
Have you ever been in a situation where you said ‘Yes’ to something or someone when deep inside, your answer was a big ‘NO’?
Even worse, have you ever felt really guilty after saying ‘No’ to something or someone?
That is, without doubt, one of the worst conflicting feelings ever.
But here’s the thing:
If you say ‘Yes’ to everyone and everything, chances are you will have to say ‘No’ when it comes to things & people that matter the most to you.
My Goal in 2020
2020 is an important year for me.
This year, if I were to put a theme to it, is the Year of Trading Mastery.
For me, I have always enjoyed trading, not for the reason that you may assume.
I am passionate about trading because it pushes me to become a better version of myself. Trading taught me to face my fears and ego. Trading inspired me to embrace my curiosity and keep learning. More importantly, trading empowered me to take full responsibility for my own emotions and life.
Hence, in 2020, my goal is to pursue a professional trading career in proprietary trading firms (firms that trade their own and/or clients’ funds).
Personally, I see this as a natural transition in pursuit of bigger opportunity, knowledge, and mastery in my craft.
With that in mind, having a goal is not enough. According to Jay Shetty in his recent podcast ‘4-Tier Framework to Effective Goal-Setting’, it is even more crucial to focus on your growth than the goal.
Eyes on Your Growth over Your Goals
As important as my goal is to me, the growth towards my goal is even more crucial.
This section definitely deserves a whole article on its own (which it will), but here is a brief idea of my action plan to improve and grow towards my goal, which I am presently (and consistently) practicing:
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- Technical Skills: Allocate time daily to practice my technical & pattern recognition skills. (eg. Reading Price Action & Order Flow) – Practice, Practice & Practice.
- Mindset & Psychology: Spend an average of 2 hours daily in the study and practice of psychology, mindset & peak performance (which I really enjoy doing).
- Morning Flow Routine: Meditation, Affirmation, Visualization & Gratitude Practice (45 minutes).
- Health: Exercise 30 minutes daily (normally at night).
- Review & Feedback: Daily End-of-Day journaling, weekend & monthly trade review.
- Technical Skills: Allocate time daily to practice my technical & pattern recognition skills. (eg. Reading Price Action & Order Flow) – Practice, Practice & Practice.
(Side note: For those who have an unrealistic expectation about trading, now you know the effort and commitment it takes behind the scene – which still DOES NOT guarantee an outcome)
The point is, all my priorities and the things that I am doing (and will do) in 2020 WILL focus mainly on the pursuit of my goal…
…Which is Why I must Start Learning to Say ‘No’
To be frank, I really, really, hate to say ‘No’ to people.
In the past, I will feel bad for rejecting a random long-time-no-see friend’s request to meet. I will feel guilty for saying ‘No’ to people/businesses that want to collaborate with No Money Lah but may not be of good fit to the theme and value of my blog (which, by the way, is my personal space).
And worse, I will feel shitty in the sense that I feel obliged to come out with reasons to say ‘No’ everytime.
That said, that WILL NOT be the case in 2020.
In 2020, I WILL say ‘No’ to protect my priorities without feeling bad.
In 2020, I WILL say ‘No’ to people and opportunities that do not contribute to my goal and values.
In 2020, I WILL say ‘No’ without feeling guilty and the need to give reasoning to do so.
For all of you – friends, readers and potential collaborators that are reading this, I am hopeful that you will not take any of my ‘No(s)’ personally.
By every means, all of you are my great source of motivation and inspiration, and I am eternally grateful that.
Here are 6 Things that I Gonna Say ‘Yes’ to in 2020:
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- Experience & opportunities that will contribute to my career goal and my growth as a trader.
- Meeting inspiring people of the same values and goals that will drive my growth.
- Anything family-related & my 2-lifetime friends (you know who you are :P).
- Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (eg. Meeting Bill Gates or Warren Buffett).
- Collaborations that will add value to me and my community of readers in terms of personal growth and finances - considering my personal capacity.
- Collaborations on disruptive and/or exciting financial products & services - considering my personal capacity.
- Experience & opportunities that will contribute to my career goal and my growth as a trader.
Other than that, any kind of casual socializing and gatherings would be secondary in my priorities.
I cannot emphasize more about the importance of having clarity about what you would say ‘Yes’ to in 2020. Again, we MUST set boundaries to opportunities we will say ‘Yes’ to at the start of the year or we will end up achieving NOTHING by the end of the year.
Verdict: Say ‘No’ For More in 2020
You got to learn to say ‘No’ without feeling guilty in order to have more in life.
It might sound weird at first, but it is true.
The irony is, saying ‘No’ reduces distractions and enables us to place more time and energy to work on the growth we need in order to achieve our goals.
Nothing is more frustrating in life than to end the year knowing that you are nowhere near the level of growth you desired – all because you are working on so many other unrelated things.
With that, I wish for your breakthroughs and success in 2020!
Side Note: The Role of No Money Lah in My Life for 2020
First of all, no worries!
No Money Lah will remain my personal space where I will continue to write about intriguing personal growth & money lessons in my adulthood journey.
In fact, in 2020, I have built a more systematic approach towards my writing routine to allow me to work on my content efficiently.
I will continue to write about my personal thoughts and money & investing. Perhaps, I will even write more about trading and psychology too!
If you would like to see more people benefiting from my content, consider supporting me through any of the channels by clicking the 'Support Me' button below!
As always, thank you so much for your support for the past year and I truly, truly appreciate it. :)
3 Ideas to Maximize the Return of Your Angpau Money (Tried & Tested)
Gong Xi Fa Cai! Gong Hey Fat Choy!
Happy Chinese New Year everyone – may this new year showers you with health and wealth!
If you are like me, you know that growing up, we do not get to keep our angpau money. Instead, our angpaus are being kept and managed by our parents.
The good thing? It prevented us (the child) from spending on unnecessary stuff. On the flip side, it made a lot of us pretty bad angpau money ‘managers’ upon growing up.
If that’s the case for you, here are some solid suggestions (which I personally do) on how to best make use of your angpau money!
#1 Invest them! (Starting from RM0)
Getting your angpau invested is definitely one of the best and most direct ways to start a prosperous new year!
If you are new to investing and/or have no extra time to manage your money, be sure to check out StashAway to help manage your investments, hassle-free!
Essentially, StashAway is a smart wealth management platform that helps you manage your investments via algorithms in accordance with your risk appetite and economic condition – think of it as an (often cheaper) alternative to mutual funds.
Personally, I have been using StashAway to manage my passive investment portfolio and have no problem recommending it to people due to its reliability (regulated by Securities Commission) & lower fees than typical mutual funds.
In terms of returns, StashAway managed to give a return of around 10% for my combined aggressive portfolios in 2019 – a very respectable return by all means. Check out StashAway’s 2-year performance in the photo below.
Alternatively, there are other similar wealth management services like Wahed (Promo Code to get FREE RM40 bonus when you deposit a min. of RM100: YIXCHI1) and MyTheo (Promo Code to get 3 months FREE management fee: CHINYXWD49) of which I will be covering in the future.
If you are keen to try out StashAway, be sure to click HERE to get an exclusive 50% OFF your StashAway fees – AND no worries on how much you get for your angpau as you can get started with any amount at all!
#2 Spend on Books for even Bigger Return!
Nothing pays more dividends than acquiring new skills and knowledge.
If there is one thing that I can comfortably recommend anyone to spend on, books will top the list without a doubt.
Now, if you’ve been following me on social media, you’ll know that I am a huge book lover.
I enjoy reading books on personal growth, habits and money & investment – and here are 3 books that you should not miss in 2020:
(a) Mindset by Carol Dweck (Personal Development)
Mindset by Carol Dweck is a great book on personal growth that I am personally reading at the moment.
This book emphasizes the importance of having a growth mindset in personal life, sustainable leadership and long-lasting relationship – and the approach that you can apply to build this mindset.
Definitely check out this book if you are looking to make a significant breakthrough in 2020.
“True self-confidence is “the courage to be open—to welcome change and new ideas regardless of their source.” Real self-confidence is not reflected in a title, an expensive suit, a fancy car, or a series of acquisitions. It is reflected in your mindset: your readiness to grow.”
―
p
(b) Atomic Habits by James Clear (Habit-Building)
Atomic Habits by James Clear is hands down, the best book on habits that I’ve read in 2019.
Essentially, this book rips off myths on conventional habit-building methods and introduces us to simple & scientifically proven hacks to build a good habit that lasts.
If you have problem building habits that last, this is THE book to go for.
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
―
p
(c) The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman (Money, Personal Finance & Business)
The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman will be my next read after I am done with Mindset.
The reason I am excited to read this book is that it covers a comprehensive aspect of personal finance and business – which I think would contain a whole lot of golden nuggets for me to discover.
Plus, you can now get this book at 41% OFF – which is really a great deal that I do not want you to miss out on.
“You can’t make positive discoveries that make your life better if you never try anything new.”
―
#3 Optimize Your Financial Goals with a Professional Personal Financial Planner (BONUS: Free Consultation Session using my link below)
If you are looking to have a prosperous new year in 2020, you will definitely need a solid money plan on how to grow your wealth (like seriously).
This is even more important especially if you have a goal in mind that would need a big sum of money to accomplish in this new decade:
Planning to get married? Buying your first house or car? Looking to retire soon?
How about the plan for a trip to Japan, or the idea of changing your 3-year old smartphone this year?
If you have all these big (and small) financial goals in mind, and are still clueless about how to achieve them, engaging a Personal Financial Planner is the way to go.
Personally, I have worked alongside my very first Personal Financial Planner to get my 2020 financials planned with effective action steps – and I’ve learned so much about my finances.
Now, I DO NOT want you to pay for a Personal Financial Planner if you do not find value in their services.
For that, I am throwing in a FREE financial consultation session for you to find out for yourself (Click HERE to register) – I promise that it will be a time well-spent with great insights!
Verdict: The Best Return of Investment in Money Spent is When Your Grow Alongside Them.
One of my biggest satisfaction when it comes to money spent is to feel or know that I’ve learned something from the transaction.
As of the case for angpau money, it is even more meaningful to use them in ways that could elevate your wealth and/or growth to kickstart the year.
For me, that’s the best return ever.
Take care and have a great festive season! 🙂
Yi Xuan
Disclaimers:
(1) This post may contain affiliate links, which afford No Money Lah a commission if you make a purchase.
(2) Any investment related sharing in this article is purely my personal opinion and should not be taken as a buy/sell call. Please seek financial advice from a professional financial planner for this matter.
3 MUST-BUILD Mindsets to become a Better Investor & Person in 2020
Hey everyone!
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you Happy New Year! 2019 has been challenging yet really amazing for me. What’s more, the year was even better as I get to know everyone of you – your support and feedbacks have been tremendously motivating to me.
As I gather my takeaways as a developing trader, investor and, well, a person, I would like to share with you 3 MOST IMPORTANT mindsets that you must work on or cultivate in 2020.
From my personal experience and studies, these 3 mindsets are crucial for a person to develop and master in order to achieve any kind of significant breakthrough in his or her life & investing endeavors.
Now, it must be mentioned beforehand that building these mindsets would not promise immediate monetary returns. However, I am confident that having them will make your 2020 an extremely empowering year to live in.
#1 Mindset: Focus on Process over Outcome
A mistake that many beginning investors do is to anchor their investing performance to the return of their investments.
This mindset is what I call the ‘Outcome-based Mindset’, and it is THE BIGGEST mindset hurdle that an investor must overcome to stand a chance in the market.
Reason being, there is no 100% certainty that the market is going to give us what we want. When that happens, the confidence of a beginner investor will get shaken to the extent they may eventually develop a pessimistic view towards investing.
Hence, in 2020, focus on getting the process right. Aim to build a ‘Process-based Mindset’.
Focus on the process of learning. Focus on the process of executing your investing plan properly. Focus on the process of growing.
Amateur investors aim for the outcome, the successful ones focus on the process.
#2 Mindset: Consistency is the Key
Now, when I mention consistency, I am not talking about the %/year that you can make consistently.
Rather, I am referring to one’s consistency in the execution of his or her processes.
You cannot control the market movement (external factor), but you can certainly take charge of how consistent you are in your process and effort (internal factor).
Be consistent in your routine to study financial reports & charts. Be consistent in your process to filter for quality investments. Be consistent in your risk management.
Ultimately, be consistent in your pursuit of mastery.
As cliché as it sounds, the consistency of ‘outcome’ that amateur investors dream of – they come from the consistency of ‘process’ that successful investors practice to heart.
#3 Mindset: Relate to Challenges with Positivity
As the year goes by, it is for sure that there’ll be challenges in your life and investing journey.
In times like this, people with a mediocre attitude will look for someone or something to blame for their encounter.
On the other hand, people with a growth mindset will take charge of their life challenges and take it as an opportunity to improve.
Fear and challenges consume the people with a fixed mindset, but lift the people with a growth mindset.
Verdict
2020 is an exciting year. For the year and the decade ahead, things will evolve. The market will change. Some skillsets will become obsolete, and some will become high on demand.
However, a healthy mindset is timeless. No era of time will ever make a growth mindset irrelevant.
With that, I wish you the very best in your life and investing journey in 2020, and have a great, great year ahead! :)
-Yi Xuan
Get Your 2020 Financial Goals Mapped-Out Strategically with Practical Action Steps!
Stepping into the new year (and decade) and still have ABSOLUTELY no clue about how you can achieve your ideal financial lifestyle & goals?
Or rather, you have some idea about your financials but are still 'kind-of' miserable about HOW TO REALLY ACHIEVE YOUR FINANCIAL GOALS?
Personally, I had a fair share of these experiences in 2019, until I finally consulted my first ever Personal Financial Planner to get my 2020 financials properly planned - and it is the BEST thing that I've done for myself in preparation for the new year and decade!
Hey wait - I DON'T WANT YOU TO PAY for your Personal Financial Planner if you are not convinced that they are not able to add value to your financials.
Hence, as a No Money Lah's supporter & reader, I am throwing in a FREE Financial Consultation just for YOU!
Find out HOW and CHECK OUT my personal experience working alongside my first personal financial planner BELOW!
Would we ever be ready in the pursuit of life?
It has almost been 2 years since I left my first job in a startup which paid me handsomely as a fresh-grad to explore my own path in trading and writing.
To be honest, it is one of the scariest decisions I’ve made in my life so far.
I knew nothing about trading at all when I first started.
I had no clue on how I could build a website at all, other than my neglectable experience with free website builders back in university times.
So, I did whatever I could – take a deep breath, leap, make tones of (noob) mistakes, and keep learning.
Fast Forward to Present Day
2019 has been a challenging year – and an amazing one as well.
This year, I had the opportunity to embark on many great adventures.
For one, after months of effort and painstaking mistakes, I finally made some significant breakthroughs in the skills & mindset in my trading journey (read: strategy with edge, disciplined routine & risk management, strong desire to succeed).
As someone with the goal to pursue a professional career in proprietary trading firms, this massively boosted my confidence to keep going.
Not only that, No Money Lah also opened me up to various great experiences.
First radio station interview? Done. First podcast interview? Done. First REIT investing knowledge-sharing workshop (and another 2 more after that)? Done.
Even better, I got to know and meet many like-minded readers and equally, if not even more enthusiastic folks of the personal finance & investing scene.
The best of all?
I learned a ton and enjoyed most moments in this adventure.
Outcast of the Norms
Whatever I am doing, I guess that made me an outcast of the societal norms with ever reliance on certainties.
I have a clear goal, but I can’t be 100% certain where exactly I will be by the end of 2020.
For sure, I can’t be 100% certain that I will have a fixed amount of income by the end of every month (Do you really think that No money lah is just my website’s name?).
When it comes to trading, it is even more obvious that I can’t be 100% certain of the outcome of my trade results every month.
In short, the only thing that is certain in this journey is risks and uncertainties.
Lessons Learned in 2019
With that in mind, I have to take aggressive actions and mindsets to keep me going on this journey.
It is easy for one to slack off when you have no one to be accountable to. Hence, to progress in my journey, I have to:
- Follow a very disciplined routine to optimize my productivity (more contents about routine in 2020).
- Create a systematic workflow around my trading and content creation work.
- Be mindful of my personal expenses & financial decisions.
- Develop a very strong purpose and desire to succeed to keep myself motivated, and whenever needed, pull myself out of challenging times.
Most importantly, I have to embrace the fact that uncertainties are the only certainty in my journey, and make this to my advantage.
What are your goals in life?
To be more specific, what is the ideal life that you visualize yourself in whenever you close your eyes?
For me, I want to give my parents a retirement life where they do not have to worry about money at all. I also want to have flexibility in time where I can explore the world of experiences.
Even more so, I want to be in peace and happy in my very own way of living.
Are we ever truly ready in this pursuit of ‘life’?
Why do I ask and share with you this, you might guess?
The reason is simple.
This is because I’ve seen and talked to people that want to wait for the ‘moment’ when they are ready to take the necessary actions to pursue their goals or ideal life.
But would we ever be ready for life?
If there is one key takeaway that I got in my nearly-2 years’ journey pursuing my goals, I am almost certain that most people are never truly ready for the adventure.
The fact is, you will always find hundreds, if not thousands of excuses on why you are not ready to start.
For me, it was the fear of not being enough. Not enough of a writer, not enough in knowledge, not enough in relevant experiences.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
Truth is, you only need one of these reasons to make you feel overwhelmed to start. But since we are creatures with imagination, we flood ourselves with even more reasons for why we will not succeed.
You Don’t Have to Know Everything, and You Only Need One Reason to Start
Give this a thought:
Our parents never really asked if we are ready for school – we just adapt and learn along the way.
Our university never really asked if we are ready for that damn tough paper – we (most of us) just grit our teeth and went through it anyway.
Isn’t it obvious that for the most part of our lives, we have never really been fully prepared for anything at all?
Yet, we still make it through and conquered life like a pro – until now.
Now’s the time to decide if you really want to be ‘truly ready’ or ‘fully prepared’ to pursue that goal or ideal life in this new decade.
You will find strong mental resistance and excuses as it would be deeply uncomfortable.
But you only need one, and only one strong ‘WHY’ to go take the leap.
I wish you the very, very best – and I would love to hear your journey someday. 😊
2019 has been a great year, and it would not be possible without my supportive parents, 2 of my lifelong friends (Victor & Eddie), and of course – you.
Thank you for being such a great supporter and motivation to me – be it if you are a reader and/or attendee of my REIT Investing Workshop in 2019.
This journey is much more meaningful and fulfilling with all of you, and please accept my gratitude from the bottom of my heart.
Wishing you a great year, and the decade ahead!
Yi Xuan
I've Been Working Alongside a Personal Financial Planner - Here's My Experience with Them.
Back in October, I had the opportunity to work with my very own Personal Financial Planner to get my financials planned for the new year of 2020 – and I would like to share my experience with you today.
Now, it should be noted that I do have the habit of keeping track of my daily expenses. Plus, I do monthly reviews on my overall financial status and investments.
This means that I actually have a decent understanding of my personal financial state. That being said, why did I opt to work with a Personal Financial Planner?
The reason is simple: because I have a personal financial goal in mind, and I would like to seek professional opinion on how I can achieve my goal.
Read also: How my finances improved with the help of my financial planner in 2020!
What is a Personal Financial Planner, really?
The best way to explain what a Personal Financial Planner is to compare one to an insurance agent.
Essentially, a Personal Financial Planner covers a wider aspect of personal finance aside from insurance. In addition, financial planners are usually brokers to multiple insurance companies which means that they are able to compare and filter for the best solution (from more than one insurance company) for their clients.
A crucial difference, though, is that Financial Planners earn mainly through charging their clients a consultation fee, while insurance agents earn mainly through the commission of the insurance solutions sold.
Added together, working with a Personal Financial Planner ensures minimal conflict of interest in their services as they are only accountable to their clients and no one else.
That said, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to financial planning. One should go for the best-suited services by considering what’s best for him/her under their personal circumstances.
What is it like to Work with a Personal Financial Planner? (My Experience)
Generally, a financial planning package (or service) is separated into 3 modes, namely:
- Comprehensive Financial Health Check (FHC) [RM300]: You’ll go through a comprehensive fact-finding process with your financial planner. Then, you'll be presented with an analysis and report of your overall financial state with recommendations for improvement.
p - 1-year Modular Financial Planning (MFP) [RM 1,500]: You’ll get everything from the Comprehensive Financial Health Check above. PLUS, you can choose to focus on EITHER Investment/Insurance/Estate Planning and your financial planner will support you in the implementation for 1 full year.
p - 1-year full financial planning (FFP) [RM 3,000]: You’ll get everything from the Comprehensive Financial Health Check. PLUS, your financial planner will support you in the implementation of ALL aspects of your personal finances (Investment + Insurance + Estate Planning) for 1 full year.
Now, it is also important to note that both packages of financial planning also include an in-depth analysis of one’s cash flow status and financial health check. This is extremely crucial in helping us to understand our current financial strength for future planning.
Personally, I opted for a modular financial planning package from Wealth Vantage Advisory (WVA), specifically in investment as I want to explore how I can best optimize my cash on hand to achieve my financial goal.
The Flow of Working of a Personal Financial Planner (Step-by-Step)
Personally, I find working with my Personal Financial Planners from Wealth Vantage Advisory (Stev & Catherine) really simple and straightforward (to be honest, I thought it was going to be a complicated process initially).
Step 1: First Engagement
It all starts with an initial meetup in October in Stev’s office after signing up for my financial planning package.
The objective of this meetup is to do some fact-finding, expectation, and goal-setting. Along with the meeting, I also sent in my personal financial details required to my Personal Financial Planner.
Now, it should be noted that not everyone is equally comfortable sharing their personal financial details, even with a professionally trained Personal Financial Planner. I, for one, resonate with this very much as I felt vulnerable when I was asked to do so.
However, Stev and Catherine’s professionalism towards their work eventually made me really feel safe for doing so. Furthermore, the existence of legal paperwork in this financial planning process also ensures the privacy of our personal data.
Behind the Scene…
So, what happened after I submitted the details required by my Personal Financial Planner?
In WVA, they have a team of certified & professionally-trained financial planners to analyze my financials and put up detailed action-steps to help me achieve my goals.
Knowing this gives me peace of mind knowing that not just one, but a team of experts is working behind the scene to produce a solid financial plan that’s in my best interest.
Step 2: Implementation Meeting (1 month after first engagement)
About one month after our first meeting (October), I met up with Stev again for our first implementation meeting in November.
By now, my financial plan is prepared and Stev essentially, in detail, went through my (1) current financial health and (2) investments’ strengths and weaknesses with me.
The meeting was really an eye-opener as I have never been exposed to such detailed financial data of myself.
Essentially, I was given an aerial view of my current financial status including the health of my cash flow, net worth, asset allocation, and more. With that, my financial plan also includes precise action steps in order for me to achieve my financial goals (more in ‘My Takeaways’ section).
What I really like about WVA’s Personal Financial Planning session is that although I opted for a modular financial planning package in investment, Stev and the team also helped me analyze my insurance plans.
With that, they also provided me with suggestions on how to optimize my insurance expenses by comparing my current package with the other solutions in the market – a nice touch indeed.
Behind the Scene…
Having a Personal Financial Planner is not just about giving you a plan and say bye-bye to each other.
In fact, the good thing about having a Personal Financial Planner is to assist and keep you accountable for the execution of your plan.
I find this very useful as it provided me with a push to get certain things that I’ve always wanted to do done after the meeting.
Step 3: Follow-Up Review Meetings
Review Meetings are done to keep track of the execution of one’s financial plan. Not only that, it is set up to see if there is any further implementation needed to achieve one’s financial goals.
For someone that is opting for a modular financial planning package like myself, Review Meetings are done on a half-yearly basis (twice in a year). For people that opt for a full financial planning package, Review Meetings are done once every quarter (4 times a year).
For sure, this is a great structure as you get all the accountability and support in getting your plans executed properly.
My Takeaways
An important takeaway for me in my financial planning session with Wealth Vantage Advisory comes in the form of my asset allocation. While I have been conscious of my financial status, I did not realize that I am not optimizing my assets to their full potential.
Namely, I have a relative sum of emergency cash reserves that could be put into Fixed Deposit (FD) alternative like Money Market Fund. Doing this will give me better returns on my cash reserves while still ensuring the liquidity of my cash (unlike FD).
In addition, I also like that the proposed action steps are precise and straightforward. In my case, the plan proposed a fixed % of cash allocated to the Money Market Fund. This is a sweet touch considering most people (okay, maybe it’s just me) are just too lazy to make decisions nowadays.
Not only that, going through a financial planning session also pushed me to rethink my approach towards my income stream. As in, how can I improve my active income flow while pursuing my goal to become a professional full-time trader?
This made me realized that sometimes all people need is a push and accountability to really do what it’s needed to achieve their financial goals – and engaging a Personal Financial Planner is no doubt a great way to do so.
Do You Really Need a Personal Financial Planner?
Now, I personally think that most people need a Personal Financial Planner more than they think.
Even for me that practice the habit of keeping my financials in check, I still found enormous value while engaging a Personal Financial Planner. The question is, do you need one?
If you are a young adult planning ahead for your wedding, family planning, and any other financial goals – go for it.
If you are a parent planning for your children’s future education and life – go for it.
If you are in your 30s, 40s or even 50s looking to retire earlier and/or manage your after-life asset allocation but not sure what to do – go for it.
Even more so, if you have a lot of savings in hand but have little to no clue on how to deal with them – GO FOR IT.
Getting a Personal Financial Planner will give you a clearer picture of your financial strengths and weaknesses – and support your journey towards achieving your financial goals.
Get Your First Financial Consultation Session Today – FREE OF CHARGE!
Before we continue, I think it is helpful for you to know that a 1-year Full Financial Planning package from WVA is priced at RM3,000. Meanwhile, the 1-year Modular Financial Planning package (Investment/Insurance/Estate Planning) is priced at RM1,000.
To be clear, I DO NOT want you to pay for a Personal Financial Planner unless you are convinced that they are able to add value to you.
That said, I also want you to give yourself the chance (like what I did) to make the best use out of your hard-earned money and achieve your financial goals in life.
Hence, I am working together with Wealth Vantage Advisory to bring a FREE session of Financial Consultation Session to all No Money Lah’s readers!
When you sign up for this FREE consultation session, you will learn more about your overall financial state. Not only that, you can gauge if a Financial Planner is going to add value in the pursuit of your financial goals – regardless, you are doing yourself a favor for the year to come!
Disclaimer
This article is made possible through a collaboration with Wealth Vantage Advisory. Special thanks to Stev and the team for making this collaboration such an impactful one.
Wealth Vantage Advisory did not receive copy approval rights on this article – that means they are reading this article for the first time, right alongside you. 
p.s. This post contains affiliate links, which afford No Money Lah a small referral if you sign up for any paid services.
Are the Newly Listed Leveraged & Inverse ETFs for You?
TradePlus by Affin Hwang Asset Management has recently listed their highly anticipated Leveraged & Inverse ETF (FANG+ 2x Leveraged, FANG+ Inverse, HSCEI 2x Leveraged, HSCEI Inverse) on Bursa – the first in Malaysia.
Essentially, this means that local traders now have the opportunity to be exposed to the foreign market (US Tech sector & Hong Kong’s listed Chinese companies) via local platform. In addition, local traders also have more versatility when it comes to trading the market – with the advantage of leveraging and the ability to profit with inverse ETF when the market goes south.
That said, are these ETF products for you? Let’s find out:
First of all, what is an ETF?
Exchange-Traded Fund, or ETF, is a fund that tracks a collective of specific securities that is traded on stock exchanges.
Simply put, instead of a single stock, look at ETF as a basket of stocks that are being sold in the stock market – tracking the collective performance of stocks within the basket.
So…What are the newly listed Leveraged and Inverse ETFs?
For a typical ETF or stock investment, you earn 1% when the investment moves up by 1%.
Technical details (boring stuffs) aside, the newly listed FANG+ and HSCEI 2x Leveraged ETF allows one to double his or her return when the trade moves in one’s favor. Generally, it means that when the ETF moves up by 1%, your return would be 2%, which is twice (2x) the price movement.
On the other hand, the newly listed FANG+ and HSCEI Inverse ETF would allow a trader to profit when the price of the ETF goes down instead. Simply put, think of it as you are buying an Inverse ETF with the outlook that the price of the ETF is going to drop.
What are the stocks that the FANG+ and HSCEI ETFs track?
FANG+ 2x Leveraged & Inverse ETF tracks a basket of 10 US highly-renowned tech stocks, which is great if you have a specific trade idea on the US tech sector and is wondering how to trade the sector. (Interesting fact: FANG+ stands for Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google & Others)
On the other hand, HSCEI 2x Leveraged & Inverse ETF tracks a basket of the 50 largest Chinese companies that are listed in the Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Some of the notable companies include Tencent (tahu Wechat?) and Ping An insurance.
HSCEI ETFs are a great choice for traders with trade ideas towards Chinese companies.
Related Fees
Just like investing in a stock market via your broker, you’ll be charged your normal brokerage fee when buying the FANG+ and HSCEI 2x Leveraged & Inverse ETF.
Also, certain annual charges will be imposed too, kind of like mutual funds.
Is it For You? (and the Risks Involved)
Now, it is super clear that these ETF products are very niche and is NOT for everyone. Even in the product page itself, it has been stated specifically that Leveraged and Inverse ETFs are more suited to be traded short term instead of long term investing.
In particular, 2x Leveraged ETFs, while could deliver 2x the return, could also deliver a loss that is twice as much to traders when a trade goes wrong – hence should be carefully approached.
That said, this product is superb specifically for experienced traders with large capital. As such, these are traders that would like to profit from their short-term view of the US tech sector or from the thriving HK-listed Chinese companies via leveraged and inverse products.
That aside, Leveraged & Inverse ETFs are NOT for people who:
- Have little to no experience in trading.
- Do not understand the risk of leverage.
- Have small capital (because your brokerage fees alone could screw you up)
How to Trade?
For traders that are interested to trade these newly listed ETF products, you can do so today via your Malaysian stockbrokers - just search for the respective ETF names/stock code and you will be able to start trading them!
FANG+ 2x Leveraged (E830EA), FANG+ Inverse (E831EA), HSCEI 2x Leveraged (E832EA), HSCEI Inverse (E833EA)
No Money Lah’s Verdict
In short, it is very interesting that we are starting to see more interesting investment alternatives that are coming up in the local scene. While clearly not designed for most everyday investors, TradePlus’ Leveraged & Inverse ETF products are definitely there to fulfill the niche for certain traders in the market that are looking to profit from their view of the foreign market.
For the general everyday investors though, my recommendation to check out the normal (and equally exciting) locally listed ETFs or stocks like REITs to invest for the longer term.
Side note: For the niche group of traders who are interested in the Leveraged & Inverse ETFs, I will be trading them for a bit – and will write about my experience real soon – so stay tuned!
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is one of my favorites to invest in the stock market, as they provide relatively stable dividends – hence making them a great passive income source.
Disclaimer: This article is written based on my best research as of the time of writing, and should not be considered as a buy/sell recommendation. Please do your own due diligence and/or seek professional advice when making your investment decision.
Is Gold a Stable Investment?
A lot of people, especially among the Asian community, have a long conventional perspective where gold is a stable investment compared to other existing investment vehicles. I, for one, used to think so back when I was a teenager.
For a while, I have been intrigued by the conventional thinking of gold as a stable investment. Hence, I went on researching and managed to do some digging into this topic.
In this short yet important article, let’s explore if our conventional perspective is true, and do some myth-busting wherever necessary:
Gold is, in fact, not as stable as you think
To many, gold is thought to be a stable store of wealth. At the very least, gold should be something that, in our very own slang –
“Will not lose money one right?”
Apparently, that’s not the case.
Take SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), an ETF that tracks gold performance, as a benchmark – which has an mean annual return of 0.39% for the past 10 years (not too bad for a ‘stable’ investment, huh?).
However, just looking at the average annual return DOES NOT give us a clear picture of how stable gold has performed.
Now, instead, let’s look at the standard deviation value of gold – a measure that will give us a better view of how volatile is gold over a 10-year period.
With a standard deviation of 16.59, this provides us with a better picture of gold’s volatility.
Essentially, a standard deviation of 16.59 means that if you have held gold for the past 10 years, there is a probability that your return could go as high as 16.98% a year (0.39% + 16.59%), or as low as -16.2% (0.39% – 16.59%) a year.
In comparison, the S&P 500 index scored an mean annual return of 1.13% per year, with a standard deviation of 12.48 for the last 10 years.
This means that, if you have invested and held the US stock market for the past 10 years, your return could be as high as 13.61% (1.13% + 12.48%), or as low as -11.35% (1.13% – 12.48%) a year.
Simply put, gold’s movement to the upside and downside is huge and is definitely not as ‘stable’ as perceived by many. In fact, gold is a volatile asset – even when compared to the stock market.
Gold is Volatile, But…
It is not something you should overlook. This is because gold, even as a volatile asset, is a great portfolio diversifier with almost 0 correlation with the stock market. Also, gold is a great hedge of wealth against growing consensus towards global interest rate reduction.
Even more so, gold also plays an important part in the portfolio of prominent investors, namely as a hedge against inflation. In the All-Weather Portfolio by Ray Dalio (founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds), gold makes up 7.5% of the total portfolio aggregation.
In other words, it still makes a lot of sense for one to include SOME proportion of gold into his or her portfolio as an effective way of wealth preservation.
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No Money Lah’s Verdict
In short, gold is not the ‘stable’ investment as perceived conventionally. As such, gold is NOT SUITABLE to become the MAIN store of wealth and investment vehicle for most people, due to its volatility as mentioned above.
However, gold should not be overlooked, as it still has its advantages in diversifying your risks when it comes to the preservation of your wealth.
To end, here’s an interesting angle to look at gold, as shared by a friend of mine, Jason:
Gold should not be seen through the investment lens, but the preservation lens. And not the preservation of fiat value, but for value where fiat money cannot exist (meaning, the day when our paper money is no longer valuable as a means of exchange)
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is one of my favorites to invest in, as they provide relatively stable dividends – hence making them a great passive income source.
Disclaimer: This article is written based on my best research as of the time of writing, and should not be considered as a buy/sell recommendation. Please do your own due diligence and/or seek professional advice when making your investment decision.
Malaysians' Guide to Gold Investment
Gold is an asset that has been universally recognized as a store of wealth since ancient times. Despite not being a legal tender form of exchange (read: currency) these days, gold is still widely accumulated by the society and countries alike.
In this article, let’s look at some interesting (and lesser-known) facts about gold, WHY invest in them, and HOW to invest in gold as a Malaysian.
What Makes Gold So Attractive?
(1) Gold is uniquely beautiful
Gold is stunning on its own. As such, gold’s shinny and elegant nature make it an attractive choice for jewelry and life accessories alike.
(2) Gold is scarce
Gold is a type of commodity. This means it is a rare metal and the amount of gold available to mankind is limited.
Not only that, the mining process of gold is also painstaking and expensive, making gold an even more valuable asset to own.
(3) Gold is durable and useful
Gold does not decay or rust – and it is almost indestructible. All the gold ever mined is still around in one form or another.
In addition, gold is a good reflector of light and an excellent electric conductor. This contributes to the extensive usage of gold in electronics such as circuits, dental fillings and more.
(4) Gold is homogeneous
One pure gram of gold is similar in value to the next gram. This makes it easy for people to ascertain gold’s value and utilizing it in trade and commerce.
Having understood the characteristics of gold, it is useful for us to understand WHERE gold is being supplied and HOW gold is being used in the world.
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Supply & Demand of Gold
Have you ever wonder how is gold being supplied all around the world?
According to the World Gold Council (WGC), around 75% of the world’s gold demand is contributed by gold mining. Unlike paper money which can be printed with relative ease, the only known way to produced gold is to mine them.
That said, gold that is mined is usually not enough to meet the demand for gold. Hence, the remaining 25% of gold demand is met by the recycling of gold. These recycled gold supplies come mainly from jewelry (~90%) and gold extracted from technological hardware.
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If that’s the case, WHO is buying gold around the world?
There has been 4 main use of gold worldwide.
The first use of gold, which takes up around 50% of the total demand, comes from (you’ve guessed it) – jewelry.
This is followed by investment-related purposes (eg. Gold-backed ETFs), which contribute to around 25% of total gold demand. In addition, gold is also accumulated by central banks all around the world. This takes up around 13% of total gold demand.
Lastly, gold usage for industrial production takes up the rest of the demand.
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Which country holds the most gold?
Now, as mentioned, gold is highly accumulated by the central banks of many countries. Gold is being held as part of a nation’s reserves, mainly due to gold’s nature as a safe haven asset and an effective diversification of their portfolio.
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With that in mind, let’s make a smart guess before you proceed – which are the countries that hold the most gold?
As of October 2019, the United States holds the most gold in its national reserves (8133.5 tonnes!) – which takes up near to 78% of the total reserves. The far second is Germany with a total gold reserve of 3366.8 tonnes, making up 72.9% of the country’s total reserves.
Countries like China and India have a gold reserve of 1942.4 tonnes and 618.2 tonnes respectively, making up less than 8% of these countries’ total reserves.
Back in Malaysia, we are placed at 53rd (out of 100 countries) when it comes to our total gold holdings. This translates to a total gold holding of 38.9 tonnes – which is 1.8% of Malaysia’s total reserves.
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Why invest in gold?
(a) Hedge against the drop in interest rate & geopolitical uncertainties
With global powerhouses like the US reducing its interest rate, it is inevitable that there will be a drop in return (or yield) of major bonds in the market. This will cause the return of bonds less attractive in the eyes of investors.
Adding on to various geopolitical uncertainties, this makes gold especially appealing as a safe-haven asset for institutions and retail investors alike in search of protection against uncertainties.
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(b) Portfolio Diversification
Gold is also an effective instrument for you to diversify your investment portfolio. This is because, for the past 10 years, gold has almost no correlation (0.04) with the stock market movement.
In short, this means that gold price is generally not affected by the ups and downs in the stock market, making it a good wealth diversification vehicle.
Useful link: S&P 500 vs Gold price movement for the past 10 years
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How can Malaysians Invest in Gold?
#1 Physical Gold
Should you fancy physical gold bars and coins, you can also get them via sites like BuySilverMalaysia. That said, I personally feel that unless one has specific needs for physical gold, I do not recommend them due to safety and storage hassles.
#2 Gold-backed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)
TradePlus Shariah Gold Tracker (Code: 0828EA) is Malaysia’s first shariah-compliant commodity ETF that tracks the performance of gold. Essentially, think of it as investing in a fund that goes up and down with the price movement of gold.
With some fees, you can invest in gold without having to take care of physical gold.
#3 Banks’ Gold Investment Accounts (GIA)
Alternatively, you can also purchase gold through banks’ gold investment account (eg. Maybank, CIMB). That said, GIAs usually charge a spread when you buy and sell gold.
Also, just a personal experience from using Maybank’s GIA: while I could purchase my gold online, I have to visit the counter should I wish to sell my gold holdings, which is a real hassle by today’s standard.
No Money Lah Verdict
With gold being an effective portfolio diversifier for your wealth, there is no doubt that one should accumulate gold as part of his or her portfolio.
However, the million-dollar question has yet to be answered: Is now a good time to buy gold?
In the next article, I will discuss about the price of gold and if it is a good time to invest in gold - Stay tuned!
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is one of my favorites to invest in, as they provide relatively stable dividends hence making them a great passive income source.
Click HERE to find out HOW you can pick and invest in quality REITs!
Disclaimer: This article is written based on my best research as of the time of writing, and should not be considered as a buy/sell recommendation. Please do your own due diligence and/or seek professional advice when making your investment decision.
If/Then Mindset: How this Hugely Overlooked Mental Skill will Transform Your Investing Performance
Have you ever been in a situation, where you were looking at a stock that you think you should buy, yet did not pull the trigger and ended up regretting your inaction?
How about the times when you think you should get out of an investment, yet too clouded by emotions to do so and ended up taking a huge loss?
When I first started in the market, I faced the similar problem over and over again. Not only it was frustrating, the huge emotional swings involved were also extremely tiring.
As times went by, I have learned an important, yet hugely overlooked mental skill by many that have since helped me improve my investing and trading performance alike.
What is the If/Then Mindset?
If/Then mindset is a simple, yet critical mental skill that is hugely overlooked by new investors and traders in the market.
In essence, the If/Then mindset is a mental simulation of the possible outcomes given a particular set of scenarios, and the actions that you will take should any of these outcomes happen:
“If A happens, I will do X. If B happens, I will do Y.”
Okay, So How Will the If/Then Mindset Improve My Investing Performance?
Let’s look at a simple ranging chart pattern, and how the If/Then mindset could help improve your performance:
What we are looking above is a stock price in a ranging (or zig-zag) pattern. For an inexperienced investor or trader, it is easy to conclude that there is no trend going on with this particular stock and hence no ‘excitement’ in the price.
However, using the If/Then mindset, one could easily simulate the potential price movements of the stock (scenarios A, B, C). With that, various interesting opportunities could be identified prior to any price movement at all.
As an example, if scenario A happens, then one could buy at the pullback upon a small retracement. However, should scenario B happen, then one could look to buy at the support level. That said, if scenario C plays out, then one could look to sell upon a mini retracement.
Benefits of If/Then mindset
Believe it or not, there are many benefits if you are able to build up your If/Then mental skill:
(1) Early Anticipation of Price Movement
Training your If/Then mental skill will help you to anticipate price movement effectively.
We can never predict with absolute certainty where the price of a stock will move. However, we can use the If/Then mindset to anticipate the different possibilities of price movement, and devise our actions should any of the scenarios play out.
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(2) Reduce Mental Stress & Emotions in Decision-Making
By simulating the possible outcomes prior to price movement, an investor could plan ahead of what could be done should different scenarios play out.
This might look like a simple thing, yet it is extremely helpful in reducing any form of emotional bias (eg. Fear of losing, Ego) and mental stress in comparison to the times when you have to make an immediate investment decision on your feet.
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(3) Improve Consistency in Investing Performance
As you make progress in developing your If/Then mental skill, you can expect consistency in your performance.
Reason being, a strong If/Then mental skill will provide you with a consistent execution process (eg. If A happens, then I will do X) by filtering out a lot of unnecessary biases involved.
We can never predict with 100% certainty what will happen, but we can always anticipate the possible outcomes and respond accordingly.
How to Apply If/Then Mindset in Investing & Trading
By now, it should be obvious that If/Then mindset is a mental skill that is applied prior to making any investment decisions.
As such, most application of the If/Then mindset should be done during the preparation phase of your investing workflow:
If you are a fundamental investor (read: Value Investing), your If/Then mindset could be “I will only invest in a company IF it has a consistent profit growth over a 5-year period”.
If you are a technical trader, your If/Then mindset could be applied in a way “IF price movement A happens, THEN I will do X”.
In short, practice and apply the If/Then mindset BEFORE you have to make any investment or trading decision live.
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No Money Lah’s Verdict:
If/Then mindset is a mental skill that is crucial for an investor or trader’s development to perform better and more consistent in the market.
That said, many tend to undermine the practice of this skill as it seems to be simple. However, ask yourself: How many times have you ever go through the If/Then thought process before making an investment decision?
If any, the If/Then mindset does not require one to be right at predicting the direction of a price. Rather, it trains a person’s mind to anticipate and be open to different possibilities of outcome and respond accordingly.
Personally, I think this is an important skill to develop, and one that I strive to improve on a daily basis.
I certainly hope you do, too.
Read my articles on REIT Investing HERE.
Every now and then, I organize sharing sessions to share insights on how I invest in the market. Book your slot for my upcoming session HERE!
Why Are You Still Suck with Investing after Paying Thousands for Courses?
Have you ever attended any of those investing or trading courses out there, and yet not getting the returns you expected?
Even worse, you paid thousands, and sometimes millions for those damn courses!
Hey wait, if this is not hurtful already, those experts even promised you a ‘consistent’ return if you learn their strategies!
If that’s the case, why are you – in spite of the hope and promises (not to mention an initial burn to your pocket) – still not making any money out of what you’ve learned?
Yup, You Are not Alone
I was there.
Sometime before graduating from university, I enrolled in my first ever 3-days investing course (in thousands). Just like many paying for these courses, I thought I will be able to make damn a lot of money (read: immediately) with my initial investment into my investing education.
You bet I was wrong. Super, duper wrong.
Instead of starting to make money from the stock market, I lost money instead. What the hell?
Can you relate?
Then, after losing money with the strategies that we paid thousands to learn, we embark on the journey to look for another course that could promise us a strategy that could provide us consistent and high returns.
Sounds familiar?
The irony is, for most of us, the cycle will continue to roll, and yet we will never find the one holy grail strategy that will make us huge and consistent returns.
Seriously, why is it so? Why do we pay that bloody money and yet not getting the returns we are promised?
‘Experts’ Overpromising Is Real
If you resonate with what I’ve written so far, I bet you will find what I am going share next even more relatable:
Firstly, there will be testimonies of students making X% within 3 months after attending the course. This gives people hope (the most important element in marketing courses).
Then, there will be a pitch to for you eventually quit your job through your returns from the market. This touches the soft spot of most people nowadays.
Wait, there’s more.
How about for everything above, you only need to ‘spend 5 minutes in front of the chart every week/month’? Or ‘get a sure-win stock-pick with a click of a button’ with their trademarked proprietary investing system (or some premium strategy with macam yes bombastic name)?
“Holy sh*t, this looks like something that I could sign up to I fire my boss sometime soon!”
Sounds like something that has slipped through your mind before? Well, it certainly did for me.
Marketers Tell Stories their Customers Want to Listen
Give what you’ll be reading up next a thought:
A weight management company will NEVER market their product as something that’ll produce results slow.
A hair-loss control company will NEVER market their services as something that’ll take a long time to see any effect.
However, we all know that both weight management and hair growth doesn’t happen overnight! In fact, it takes a grueling commitment and dedication to really get the results that you want (depending on your condition too, of course).
In short, a lot of marketing materials are likely not a reflection of the real deal. Rather, those are stories that leverage consumers’ emotions and desires in order to convert them.
It could be a ‘true story’ though. But it is likely not the WHOLE story.
Now, think about how an investment ‘expert’ that is real good in marketing would market his/her expensive courses:
Would you rather sign up for a course that claims that their students make 30% return consistently?
Or would you rather sign up for a course that claims that their students make 30% return consistently, BUT you will need to put a lot of practice and time into the system?
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‘Experts’ Marketing Stories is NOT the most important reason WHY you still lose money in investing/trading
Humans are naturally born to the desire for instant gratification.
If any, I am willing to bet that 95% of the people sign up for investment/trading courses as a means to learn how to earn money – fast.
And again, I was there as well. The idea of seeing the ‘experts’ flashing their Ferraris, luxury houses and cash is simply too irresistible in a time where most people hate or dislike their jobs.
As a result, people are more inclined to succumb to too-good-to-be-true money games and overpromising marketing ads for investment courses.
The idea of earning money easy and fast from the market touches all our desire for an easy way out.
You may not like what you have been reading so far, but you know there is certain truth to these words.
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Investing & Trading is a Skill That Needs to be Built Over Time and Practices
Now, think about one of your biggest achievement in life thus far.
It could be your piano grades, your career in consulting or a sports achievement. Did you achieve them by just spending ‘5 minutes’ honing your skills everyday?
Hell no!
The skills that you have today, is a result of the time and effort that you put into building that particular skill. It is the practices that you’ve poured whole-heartedly into your work that led to your mastery in that particular skill.
Becoming good in piano is a skill. Mastering the art of consulting is a skill. Becoming a pro in football is a skill.
If that’s the case, what makes investing and trading any different?
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There is no Holy Grail in Investing & Trading
It took me a long time, but it eventually hits on me that there is no shortcut to investing and trading mastery.
They are skills that need time, discipline and practices to develop. They require passion so that you can persevere through the steep learning curves and losing streaks.
More importantly, no one strategies taught by courses out there will bring you results unless you are patient enough to allow for your skills to catch up to what you want to achieve.
If you haven’t got it by now, there is no holy grail to quick wealth in investing or trading.
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The Takeaways
There are many factors that led to us not making any money from the market, even after signing up for expensive investing or trading courses.
If there is one key problem, though, then I would say that it is unfortunate that most of us that signed up for investing or trading courses started off with a wrong mindset.
We wanted to profit from the market quickly, and we thought it was easy. Then, course marketers make it seems like it is really that easy with stories we want to listen to.
But here’s the thing:
Investing and trading are skills that need to be developed over time, practices, consistency, and discipline.
Until we can accept this fact, chances are we will still see people jumping over courses and strategies, in hope to look for the quickest way to well, lose their fortune.