Ringgit and Sense

Higher education is widely seen as a key stepping stone in social and economic mobility, but it doesn’t come cheap. For almost three decades, PTPTN has helped many students with loans to help fund their education in order for them to get a good job. However, students must also be aware that financial aid isn’t free money, and that the repayment of PTPTN education loans is important to ensure...

According to Bank Negara’s recently published 2021 annual report, Malaysian households have nearly 1.38 trillion ringgit worth of debt and a chunk of it are due to personal loans. Sim Wie Boon speaks to Idham Idris of Wealth Vantage Advisory to understand why people take it and get his thoughts on when personal loans are a good idea as well as when they are not. They also discuss the dangers of pe...

During times of volatility and uncertainty, gold is seen as a safe haven investment to protect your wealth. But apart from that, what real value does it really have to your investment portfolio and how should you position it? Sim Wie Boon speaks to licensed financial planner Eng Meei Yu, Co-Founder and Executive Director of MyFP Services on why people buy gold during uncertain times and how we sho...

For a World Health Day special, Sim Wie Boon will be diving into the rising healthcare costs in Malaysia exploring how much it costs to visit a clinic or hospital and get treated there as well as the pros and cons of public vs private healthcare. He also touches on the importance of healthcare insurance and the considerations to have when getting it. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystu...

Scams have been rising lately in Malaysia with complaints about financial fraud, especially Internet, investment and phone scams being the top five issues raised by the public in Bank Negara’s 2021 Annual Report. In fact, according to the Selangor police, a whopping 33.7 million ringgit was lost to online scams and cyber crimes in Selangor in the first two months of 2022 alone. Sim Wie Boon speaks...

For many of us, we spend our younger years working really hard to build a career and earn a decent living so we can afford to live a comfortable life in retirement. However, things are not as simple as just setting aside a sum of money for retirement. A factor many seldom take into account is inflation and the rising cost of living in the future. So how should you approach this? How do you inflati...

Tax season is upon us and we all have slightly more than a month to file our taxes. So in conjunction with this, Sim Wie Boon speaks to Ang Weina, the global employer services leader of Deloitte Malaysia on what to look out for in your tax filings and the consequences of late submissions. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Personal finance and investing has seen significant changes in the last century. Technology has saved us all an immense amount of time and money because everything is available through a click of a mouse, or the tap of a screen. It has also imparted a sense of control over the information you have, opened doors to forums for discussion and changed the way you budget and save, or spend your mo...

These past two years have seen a period of disruption and opportunities with the Covid-19 pandemic becoming a trigger for government spending, low interest rates and a supply chain crisis. And while the world is slowly learning to live with the virus, we’re now faced with a war in Europe. So how do these global trends affect your investments? What is the appropriate strategy to employ when you inv...

When it comes to investing, risk and reward are inextricably entwined. Therefore, it is important for anyone to weigh the potential reward against the risk to decide whether it's worth putting their money on the line. Licensed financial planner and CEO of Success Concepts, Joyce Chuah shares her thoughts on the relationship between risks and rewards, the search for yield and how to navigate these...

A core tenant of investing and financial planning is asset allocation. You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket as it greatly magnifies risks to your portfolio should that basket hit a rough patch. So how do you allocate your assets accordingly and in an optimum manner? What are some of the mistakes and fundamental rules when it comes to asset allocation? We discuss the 101 of asset allocatio...

The pandemic has seen a boom in small businesses as many people started their own businesses ranging from baking to selling clothes to ICT services. While many have found new opportunities in this wave of new entrepreneurial strides, there's a lot of considerations to be had. One such is taxation. How can you make a better tax plan for your business? Why should you set up a sendirian berhad or ope...

The past two years of Covid-19 and recent spate of terrible floods has shined a spotlight on the need to protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances, whether you are a business owner, home owner or car owner. Antony Lee, the Chairman of the General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) joins Sim Wie Boon on Ringgit and Sense to discuss the importance of insuring your property against natural...

Chinese New Year is around the corner and in conjunction with that, Sim Wie Boon speaks to Master Kenny Hoo of Good Feng Shui Geomantic Research for a Feng Shui perspective on how to spend your money in this year of the Water Tiger and what are the dangers to look out for. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you asked for a raise or promotion in your job recently? Do you plan to? How much would you ask for? On this episode of Ringgit and Sense, Sim Wie Boon speaks to communications coach Indira Nair about asking for a bump up in your salary or position from your boss. They discuss the culture around it, the different perspectives towards it and ways to approach it. Image credit: Shutterstock.com...

Can someone without a finance certificate manage their own investment funds well enough to build up a comfortable retirement nest or even generational wealth? Former fund manager and author of the book Be Your Own Fund Manager, Lim Mei Ching believes so provided if you apply both fundamental and technical analyses, coupled with strict and disciplined portfolio management skills. We speak to her ab...

As investors grow savvier, more Malaysians are open to trying out new investment vehicles to grow their portfolios. While not a new form of investment, Exchange-Traded Funds or ETFs have been growing in popularity thanks to its growing reputation among investors for being conveniently tradable and having relatively lower management fees compared to mutual funds. So what exactly are ETFs and how sh...

We recap some of the most interesting conversations we’ve had on the show, including budgeting for your wedding, Buy Now Pay Later, the mental health impact of bankruptcy and the recent EPF withdrawals. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sim Wie Boon speaks to Wong Wai Ken, Malaysia Country Manager, for the robo advisor Stashaway about thematic investments. They'll be discussing why thematic investments have become more popular in the past two years, what are the risks and opportunities associated with thematic investing and how to assess a theme. Image credit: Unsplash.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a result of Covid-19 related withdrawals, almost half of the EPF members have less than RM10,000 left in savings, and 3.6 million of them now have less than RM1,000. These shocking figures point towards the likelihood that Malaysia will experience a huge problem with a majority of its lower to middle income elderly living in poverty in the coming decade. So what do we need to do to address this...

The year is ending and it's time to look back and do some financial upkeep. What are the financial checklists you should cross off before we close the year off? Steve Lim of Affin Hwang Asset Management talks to Sim Wie Boon about this. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you remember your first car? What went into the decision to buy that specific car? Was it the price? The look? Or a decision made by your parents? Daniel Fernandez of dsf.my and BFM's Cruise Control talks to Sim Wie Boon about buying your first car and what should be the considerations to make when deciding to buy one. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

A recent nation-wide survey conducted by Luno Malaysia aimed at understanding the financial management habits of everyday Malaysians found that more than half of Malaysians say the most important purpose of having money is to safeguard their family’s long-term well-being, meanwhile nearly a third of them were more inclined to seek financial advice from family members or peers compared to mor...

Having a child can be expensive. Even before you lay eyes on that bundle of joy, you're probably already calculating the cost of seeing the doctor, having the baby, staying at the maternity ward and the post martum care itself. And that's just the first few months, what about when the kid grows up? Education, hobbies and whatnot will cost alot money. So where do you begin? How much do you have to...

Budget 2022 is the largest budget to date at RM332.1 billion. According to the government, no sector has been left out and it will help each and every Malaysian. So what’s in it for you? What should you keep an eye out for? Thanneermalai Somasundaram of Thannees Tax Consulting Services explains. Image credit: Shutterstock.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.