What You Can Invest Instead of An iPhone 6s?

As the clock turns to October 16th, Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are available in Malaysia. Sure enough that they are all so much more expensive now than their predecessor by crunching an upwards of RM3,000!  

Wait what?! Yes but I bet many would still buy it anyway. Sometimes it got me thinking, so many people are complaining about the recent toll hike, petrol price hike, goods with GST price hike and whatever hike, yet they could afford the hike in iPhone? But of course, they could be giving a lot of explanations or excuses on how it shouldn't be compared together. 

Nevertheless, do you know that the price is almost equal to the median monthly income of Malaysian based on the latest survey in 2014 by Department of Statistic Malaysia? It could easily costs more than a month of salary for most of the young Malaysians especially the fresh graduates. But why would they still buy it? Instant gratification? Peer pressure? Keeping up with the Joneses?  

Malaysian Monthly Household Median Income : RM4,585 

Taken from http://gstmalaysiainfo.com/

Taken from http://gstmalaysiainfo.com/

What You Can Invest Instead of An iPhone 6s?

For whatever reason it is, here's a list of What You Can Invest Instead of an iPhone 6s! Let's follow the life cycle of wealth namely, wealth creation/accumulation, wealth protection and wealth preservation/distribution.

Wealth Creation/Accumulation

Invest RM3,000 in Private Retirement Scheme (PRS)

Wake me up when September ends, yes it is the last quarter of 2015. Which means it is time to invest in PRS for the sake of RM3,000 tax relief for YA2015 as well as a small contribution to your own retirement fund. And if you are the first timer and below 30? Bingo! Government will top up for you the youth incentive of RM500! (Read More)

Invest in Unit Trust Fund
Based on the statistics from Securities Commission  Malaysia, currently there are 641 approved unit trust fund from 37 asset management companies up for you to choose! Unit trust fund is a very popular investment vehicle as it is quite affordable where you could invest as low as RM100! You should not be surprised that there are 17 million of accounts out of 30 million of Malaysia population. Total net asset value (NAV)? A whopping RM340.6 billion! (Read More)

Invest in Shares
Prefer to trade on your own? For RM3,000, you can open a trading account at any brokerage firm. Using your own money to buy shares will let you experience the pain and joy and of course greed and fear of investing (trust me the emotions that you will go thru will be a lot more than what iP6s could offers). One simple strategy is to act like a boss to buy a company that you are familiar with. (Sunway, BJTOTO, STAR, COCOLND, NTPM, PADINI and so on)

Wealth Protection
Buy or increase life and medical insurance coverage
Insurance plays a major role in wealth protection in term of transferring your risk, be it for yourself (critical illness and TPD) or for your family to sustain the living expenses (death). Don't be surprised as it is getting very common that people buy a million dollar of coverage, especially those with high debt on their own house.

Wealth Preservation/Distribution
Set up a will or trust
Be it to distribute your estate efficiently or minimize taxes on your estate, a will or a trust is a good start for your estate planning. With RM3,000, it is more than enough to write a comprehensive will or even set up a private trust with more than 30 clauses. You would want to ensure you and your family can maintain the lifestyle you have worked so hard to establish and eventually distribute to them and their heirs. Make a difference in lives that follow!

Invest in a Financial Plan
Creating, accumulating, protecting, preserving and distributing wealth can bring a sense of freedom and accomplishment in life. But financial success does not happen by chance, a lot of sound decision making, a plan to achieve your financial goals as well as the discipline and commitment to revisit your plan throughout life as circumstances and priorities would change. Depending on your annual household income, but RM3,000 is more than enough for most of the people in Malaysia. So, begin with the ends in mind, start with a financial plan! (Hire #YourFinanceDoctor)

So unless your current phone is not working anymore, otherwise it would be wise to practice delayed gratification and like the saying goes, the best thing in life is always worth waiting for! Bottom line? #YourFinanceDoctor always in support of...

To put it simply...

Don't wear a big hat without a big head! 

Cheers & happy investing!