Having a concrete plan to financial freedom

Saturday March 6, 2010
Having a concrete plan to financial freedom
By FINTAN NG


fintan@thestar.com.my

Financial freedom is a distant dream for the vast majority of working people, it is made almost unattainable by the generally low wages and inflationary pressure that many here have to struggle with.

An observer says it has become increasingly difficult to rely on just a day job to achieve that freedom as wages here have not kept up with inflation.

This person has a day job and several side incomes including running a dragon fruit farm and being involved as an agent in the Malaysia My Second Home programme.

Some, like Ginger Leong, say “forced savings” is their path to financial freedom. However, she acknowledges that whatever is saved now may not be enough due to inflation and other commitments.

Many also find it hard to even start on the path to financial freedom as they are confronted by a plethora of investment instruments available as well as the endless numbers of books and blogsites on financial management.

What most people need is guidance on how to sift through all the information out there and come up with what Whitman Independent Advisors Sdn Bhd managing director Yap Ming Hui says should be a “down-to-earth” and sensible view on achieving these goals.

He tells StarBizweek that most people “dream of achieving financial freedom” but “they don’t have a workable or concrete plan”.

Yap, who wrote a book, Roadmap to Financial Freedom, says defining goals – a “self-defined good life” for attaining financial freedom – is important.

“Not everyone can become wealthy but everyone can achieve financial freedom, however those who want to achieve it must have a roadmap as a guide to know what is the optimum investment that needs to be made,” he says, adding that even people with average assets and incomes can attain their financial goals.

Yap defines financial freedom generally as “an optimum financial position whereby your wealth is optimised to match your optimum financial needs and wants”. In this respect, “wealth” can also be defined as “assets”.

He realises that individuals have different goals, needs and wants but says this can be simplified to two components for the purpose of mapping out a roadmap - optimisation of assets and identifying and managing financial needs and wants.

Yap says needs and wants should not be viewed strictly from the financial context alone but from a bigger picture - the higher context of life.

“Most people will just concentrate on optimising their wealth but just concentrating on making more money is not true financial freedom if needs and wants are not defined,” he says.

Yap says when a person embark on the path to achieving financial freedom, some of the questions to ask are: How far is that person from their goals? If situations come around that will impact finances, what will that person do? What’s a person’s next move suppose to be?

Standard Financial Planner Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Alfred Sek says that freedom has been achieved as long as there is no stress from financial problems or commitments.

“Achieving it is a gradual process, people adjust as they go along, so if they earn more then they adjust their goals, similarly if they earn less than they adjust too,” he says.

Sek says in his experience advising clients on their finances, flexibility is important. “There are no real yardsticks, personal situations and needs are different,” he says.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/6/business/5757178&sec=business