Helmi Hakim’s Daily Financial,Motivational & Spiritual Tips

Today marks the beginning of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, a month of obligatory daily fasting in Islam.

Daily fasts begin at dawn and end with sunset.

At night, Muslims will go to the mosque to perform our special prayers known as Taraweeh.

This is a month when a Muslim should try to AVOID practices like:

	smoking, swearing, treating people with disrespect being mean harming or hurting living things being cruel un-courteous and selfish.

Fasting has also many special benefits.

Among these, the most important is that it is a means of learning self-control.

Ramadan is also a time of intensive worship, reading of the Quran, giving charity, purifying one’s behavior, and doing good deeds.

For Muslims, Ramadan is  an opportunity to gain by giving up, to prosper by going without and to grow stronger by enduring weakness.

As a secondary goal, fasting is a way of experiencing hunger and developing sympathy for the less fortunate, and learning to thankfulness and appreciation for all of God’s bounties.

Fasting is also beneficial to health and provides a break in the cycle of rigid habits or overindulgence.

So…To All Muslims.

Happy Fasting!

Yes!

I was featured in one of the articles in the Jobs Central Magazine which comes together with Today’s newspaper.

Do read it!

P.S: If you can’t read the words, click on it, to view the larger picture of the file.

I was invited to contribute my thoughts for Personal Finance Blog Carnival at http://fivecentstencents.com/.

The question goes…

“What is the single most important lesson you learnt in personal finance?”

Here are my thoughts  

Managing your personal finance is the responsibility of every individual.

Be it, if you are a student, an employee, a business person, a full time investor, EVERYONE, I meant all of us, has the inherent responsibility to manage our finance well.

The most important lesson, I learnt in personal finance, boils down to setting financial goals.

In my capacity as a financial associate in Singapore, I get to talk to lots of people, every single day.

I realise most of them have an insurance plan, have an endowment plan, have an investment linked policy, yet many do not set that OBJECTIVES for having those plans.

When asked, “Why do you get that endowment plan?”

Most will answer, “For savings purpose.”

When pressed for specific objectives, most will retort, “Don’t know. Just savings”.

You need to set your objectives right.

You need to set up your objectives clear.

A soccer player can’t score goals, if he does not know where his goal post is.

An athlete in the Olympics cannot win the game, if he is not clear on the perquisites to winning.

You get life insurance, for your coverage against death, permanent disability and 30 critical illnesses.

You save your money in the bank as a form of contingency funds for emergency use or for your everyday use.

You save your money in endowments, in investment linked products for child’s university education, for your retirement or simply to improve your living standards in the future.

The goal, the time frame and where you money is allocated to; everything is instrumental to your financial success.

Being clear of what exactly you want, and how much exactly you need, will help you in achieving your financial goals.

When setting financial goals, I always share with my clients this simple acronym, simple formula, which I termed as SMART.

Your goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

1)     Specific.

What is your OBJECTIVE of getting that savings plan?

How much money exactly, do you want to accumulate?

2)    Measurable

Your goal must be measurable.

If your child is 8 years old, and 10 years later, she wants to go to a local university; do you have at least $84,000 for her 3 years university education?

3)    Attainable

When you identify the goals that are important to you, you must find ways to make them come true.

Align yourself with professionals to ATTAIN your goals. 

Align with people who already achieved the outcome you want, and learn from them.

4)    Realistic

If you have been saving only $100 per month, to save $1000 per month in an endowment plan now, may seems farfetched.

Unrealistic.

Set yourself, a realistic goal.

5)    Timely

When exactly do you need, the money that you has saved?

10 years? 15 years? 20 years?

You decide!

So, just remember, setting financial goals are important, and when you set those goals, make sure it is SMART financial goals.

Thank you. We will catch up soon.  

I will like to take this opportunity to wish all Singaporean’s a Happy 43th National Day!

“Majulah Singapura”, our national anthem is one of the best gem, ever kept from Singapore heritage till today.

Take your time to listen it, and appreciate the meaningful meaning of our National Anthem.

Majulah Singapura!

I am not sure if I am a bit technology outdated OR technology is moving too FAST for me to catch up.

I am very IMPRESSED by what I have just found.

This thing is something FUN if you got nothing to do.

This thing is called “Google Earth“.

I can literally view, anywhere around the world.

I love to travel and this thing literally allow me to travel across the globe
 in SECONDS!

I can see the rooftop of my house.

…and also the GYM, I went to, just now.

Take a look at the picture of the swimming complex near my house. where girls with bikini like to sun tan.

 Very IMPRESSIVE! Dont you think so?

My friends and I usually have interactive discussions, brainstorming on how each of us, interpret proper financial plannning for our clients.

I extract the terminology of “financial planning”, in the coursebook CFP module 1.

Financial Planning is the process of meeting an individual’s life goals through the proper manageent of his finances, and involves

1) gathering relevant information

2) setting life goals, examining his current financial status

3) coming up with a strategy or plan for how he can meet his goals given his current situation and future plans.

All in all, there are 797 6 steps to the financial planning process.

1) Talk cock with client Establishing and defining the relationship with the client
2) Build Rapport With Client Gathering client data
3) Analysing and Evaluating the client’s financial status
4) Developing and presenting the financial plan recommendations
5) Prepare a 30 page financial report Implemementing the financial planning recommendations
6) Monitoring

I subscribe to these principles when a client is entrust on me.

There are many modes, ways, a proper financial planning can be conducted, and this is the most accurate way.

This is the status quo.

I will share more with you SOON!

Everyday, I think of methods, strategies and ideas that I can use to create passive source of income for myself.

Example, if you are a vocalist, love singing songs.

You can create an album, sell it and continue to earn royalties for the rest of your life. 

Have you ever ponder, why some artists from the West become MILLIONAIRES just because of that one song,they sing, that sound so “pleasant”, so nice to the ears, they sell it and make lots of money?

If you are not really good in singing like me, I will suggest, you write a book.

I will be pursuing my Associate Financial Planner course by end of this year, followed by modules like Risk Management & Insurance Planning,Tax Planning,Retirement Planning

… and subsequently in my 3rd year in business, I will complete it by then attaining the prestigious CFP designation, which is like a degree in the insurance world.

As a source of passive income, I forsee myself, writing a book on financial planning.

I also have this dream of owning a private property (in the process of accumulating as much liquid assets first).

I read in the newspaper where PRs in Singapore are beginning to buy their house, instead of renting it from the landlord.

Thus, I am still exploring the possibility of having one in Danga Bay,Malaysia, 3 years down the road.

There is a possibility.

I am following the Malaysian news closely, and a landlord there, have been sending me lots of reports on the “planned” development in the surrounding area.

If the Malaysian economy is healthy, 3 years down the road, with strong governance, manageable cost of living, which in turn attracts more foreign talents, there is a possibility, I will buy a property there, and rent it out.

If not, I will prefer to put my money in stocks, and earn dividends from the companies, every single year.

I, will just give an example.

If I invested 1000 lots, in a group of companies or 1 company, and then the company decides to give $0.03 as dividends per share, I already earned $30,000 per year.

Investments in dividends oriented companies is also a form of investment that can give you, passive income.

Of course, you must die-die have sufficient insurance coverage, and contingency funds that can cover at least 6 months of your living expenses.

You would not want to liquidate your investments at the wrong timing.

I spoke to my colleague, just now, on how, she conduct her business.

I forsee, that, if I continue to work hard, 3 years down the road, earning $10,000/mth, should be possible.

Next month, on the 6th of August 2008, will be my first full year with NTUC Income, and I have a total of about 150 clients.

I am planning my way now, to go back to all my clients to do a full scale, financial planning.

2 weeks roadshows, to get new clients, and 2 weeks follow up with existing clients, every single month.

Coming September, I will have a personal office in Woodlands Civic Centre.

 It will be definitely be of much convenience for both me and all my clients, should we arranged for a meet up, for us to do a review.

No more MacDonalds, KFCs and Burger Kings…hahahh…more professional…

By next year January,I will have been quite SEASONED to my new office and I will then be hiring part times staff to work with me on Saturdays and Sundays.

I will delegate most of the paperwork, telemarketing to them, and focus my 100% on applying what I have learnt, in the modules that I will undertake, when I do review with my existing clients.

I am VARIBLISING my expenses.

If you are my clients, you will know what I meant.

Expenses is divided into 2.

1) Fixed Expenses

2) Variable Expenses

Learn to control your expenses. Variablize your expenses. BE IN CHARGE of your money.

Along the way, I will create as much passive income streams as posssible, till the day, I felt that I do not need to work anymore, since my passive income is hundreds of times more than my expenses.

That is the time, I will contribute back to the society, my knowledge, expertise to the public.

hahahah…Really, I do know that many successful people have lots of secrets, you know…

Right now, I contribute my expertise to the society, by educating them the importance of insurance, savings for retirement, children’s education etc2.

In the future, I will be an icon, exemplary model in the insurance industry, and invite top businessman, top property agents, top salespeople, to join me hand in hand, compiling a powerful book, sharing our experiences. :P

That book, will be a hit in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and other parts of the world.

I will share the awesome powers of NLP with the Malay community and how I have been using it to achieve every single goal, I have set in my life.

I believe my goals are achievable and may the law of attraction always be my side :)

God’s Willing! Ameen…  :)

Yesterday, we, NTUC Income rookies have a session with our branch manager.

He talked about his experiences, and what profoundly struck me most is the key word, “internalisation”.

I believe 2 things will affect you in life,

1) The book you read

2) The people surrounding you.

We internalise messages from these 2 chief elements and these very messages which assimilate in our heart forms our habits, attitudes and how we run our life.

That is why, I bought and read lots of motivational, self help, financial, wealth management books.

…and I also ensure that people surrounding me are naturally positive.

Btw, talking about internalisation, I found this video…I meant this WONDEFUL video which has subliminal, powerful messages embedded in it.

Enjoy!

Hi guys,

I am back.

I am sure you remember about the formula, that I have shared with you on…

 Event + Response = Outcome

In the video that I will like to share with you, this guy,he, Michael Losier, explained the correlation of the formula and the law of attraction.

Enjoy!