Swimming Lessons in Seremban

I've been taking swimming lessons these days. I did learn swimming myself but my technique suck big time.

Further more, with an instructor, I'm sure I will keep up with it rather than giving up half way.
I was looking for a while and found this place in Oakland Commercial Centre in Seremban 2.

It was started by a soft-spoken gentle young man, formerly an accountant but turned swimming instructor. The Center is located in two shop lots.

One of the lots is converted into a swimming pool. It's indoor of course and you can have your lessons regardless of weather.

The pool is about 20+ meters long, deepest end is 4 feet.

Shower facility is brand new with water heater inside (very important).

Activity areas for young children.

Reception area.

I paid RM320 for 8 lessons. I really enjoy it and looking forward to extend for another 8 lessons.

In Singapore, I once paid S$50 (RM155) per lesson (So expensive).

They teach a lot of children so if you have kids you can send them here. And you can watch your children swim through a glass panel.

Anyway, give them a call. The contact is as follows:

Bloomberg Mobile

Back in the early '90s, you would have to be a hotshot "dealer" or trader in KL broking houses if you had Bloomberg terminal on your desk. Even those days, it cost US$20,000 per year or something like that to rent a terminal. Must cost a lot more now.

I was once one of those people in KL. Talk about street cred.

To say it was feature rich was an understatement. I think I only used 5% of it's capability.

Now I'm no longer in the business, I still gravitate towards Bloomberg. So for the average joe, it's nice to download the Bloomberg mobile app.

I like the ease of quick tap into your holdings, keep up with the news on either the live TV or radio or read the latest news.

When I am in the car, usually driving to KL, I turn on the Live TV. The radio is a bit boring but the Live TV is excellent. Even if I wasn't paying attention, I like it as a background noise. Well, once a trader, always a trader.

This is the main page, at the top you can click on the Live TV or radio, and below it are the latest news. You can set your news preference to Global, Europe, Asia, Middle East, or Africa.

You can check on the latest status of most markets and indices.

I use the Watchlist a lot to monitor whatever I'm interested in and you can sort them according to individual folders. For example, I have a folder that has all the stock and REITs that helps me generate dividend incomes. And I also have a watch list for ETFs, US and European stocks.

Lastly, I have a special folder for stocks that I'm currently trading.

Each folder will have your positions or stocks to watch. It gives you your daily and total gain/loss.

You can also zoom in on individual stock's P&L.

For individual stocks, you can zoom in any relevant information.

You can get some up to date statistics for the company.

Financial summary.

When you click on the chart, it can give you something like this. Not super fancy, but good enough to let you decide if you want to investigate further on your desktop or just simply as checking up on the trend.

These are some parameters you can select to tweak your chart.

I'm quite happy with it, for something that's FREE.

Oh, the iOS version is better than the Android version. I can never understand why people buy Android phones. For me, it's Apple all the way.

Gretchen Mol

One of my favourite actresses is Gretchen Mol. I think she's underrated.

She's is in a new TV series called "Chance" by Hulu.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5620076/?ref_=nv_sr_1

She's older now but no less stunning.

Her acting has improved over the years and she was really quite good in Boardwalk Empire as well.

So check out the new series.

One for the road.

Retirement: Stage 1

I planned for my retirement for a few years before I actually did the deed.

You need calculate existing net assets, liquid assets, passive income, asset allocation, estimated monthly/yearly expenses. Because you are at the planning stage, you have only partial idea about what will actually happen once you retire.

At this stage, you need to have the flexible mindset, you need to be ready to adjust. Because the reality could be quite different from what you've forecast.

I was working and living in Singapore, so I had additional things to consider, such as relocating to Malaysia. Which city to live in, how much money to bring back, what to bring back, buy car, etc, etc. The hardest part was to bring Ah Wat and Fatty back because their import licenses was only valid for 7-days. That's a story for another day.

I was actually planning to retire in 2017, but some matters made me pull the trigger last year. So, life has a way of messing up your plan. Again, you need to be flexible and on your feet, and tackle the hurdles as if you're running a big project. A big spreadsheet and a notebook helps. On your handphone, you should have reminders, task managers, etc. These are necessary tools.

I think the 1st year of retirement, I spent RM250,000 on this and that. A good part of it was relocation cost and setting up the new home because we didn't bring some of the things from our apartment in Singapore. And I didn't even travel for holidays, so it wasn't because I went crazy with the credit card.

But now the money outflow has stabilised.

Here are some of my thoughts.

1) My first warning to you is this. You will spend more money than you expect on your first year of retirement. One of the reasons is you have more time than ever in your life to do what ever you want. You will spend more money to pursue whatever interest you in away to fill that time vacuum.

Sometimes out of boredom. Sometimes it's due to aimlessness. Others times you're thinking, what the heck, I've worked all my life, now I wanna live a little.

That's all fine as long as you monitor and don't let shit get out of hand.

2) You will be itching to go back to work. I kept looking at Jobstreet in my first year. Not entirely convinced that I will ever want to work again but nevertheless imagine about being back in the thick of things.

This will happen to you as well.

Now that I'm 18 months into retirement. The urge is not so strong anymore. From what I've read, a lot of retirees go back to work after 2 years because they can't stand having so much time on their hands. Or they need the validation from having some responsibilities or power.

But if you can resist that, you will find that the freedom and flexibility to do whatever you want is the greatest gift of retirement.

It sounds cliche but I do engage in some gardening, the joy of seeing fresh tomato hang from the tree that you've planted is priceless. And you can make salsa! Fresh salsa. At one stage, I had so much vegetable grown in my backyard, I had to give them to my neighbours.

3) If you're retired, I am assuming that you have enough income to cover your expenses. That means you need not have another income.

For fuck's sakes, DO NOT go into a business that you know little or nothing about. Just because some friends or family gave you ideas about doing this or that.

You might say, oh I will only use 20% of my retirement funds to fund the new venture. Don't do it. Because, you're right back into "working". I'd rather put the money in some relatively low risk investment that can actually generate 6% - 10%. If you say that's not good enough, then I don't know what to say.

4) The thing about No. 2 and No. 3 above is also closely related to your mindset and how you want to live in retirement.

i.e. How much money do you NEED? How much money do you WANT?

This is important because any imbalance in "the wrong direction" will push you into doing some stupid things.

The more money you need to live a certain lifestyle (Demand) will necessitate you to find more money to fund (Supply) that lifestyle.

I drive a 10-year old Izusu pick up truck which is still running good although the RM2,000 road tax a year sucks big time. Canned bake beans and sardines are my favourite and I have vegetable from my garden. And I cook a mean pasta dish, so why should I spend RM30 a plate cooked by some Bangla or young punk? I always tell my Singaporean wife she's damn lucky to have such a Malaysian husband. We do eat out a few times a week (when I am lazy) but nothing fancy.

You may not think that's a big deal but IT ALL ADDS UP. Sooner or later you are wondering why you don't have enough money. And worse start questioning whether retirement is a good idea or not.

My "uniform" these days are shorts and T-shirts. I don't even cut my hair (although I spend more money on conditioner).

I don't subscribe for Astro and iFlix comes with my Unifi. I download the latest TV series and movies for free. I have the Lacie 6TB 2Big Thunderbolt Series Hard Drive. This thing is a monster. I have a huge library for entertainment. It cost me S$850 when I bought it. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Right?

I am currently running a monthly expense of RM6,000 - RM7,000 but I think I can bring it down to RM5,000/month. (Overseas travel and discretionary shopping are separate because these can be cut to zero if need be).

Whereas my passive income is a fair bit higher than that. I am doing a better job of deploying my funds. For example, I can get 13% returns from peer-to-peer lending (backed by solid collateral, gold bar no less). That's double of what EPF gives me.

Also some REITs (pretty diversified ones) are giving me 9% dividend.

I did my retirement planning based on average 6.5% return on my investment. So if I get a higher return in a particular year, I can spend the extra cash on some fancy traveling or buying some useless gadget. Hahaha.

So, do I need to go start a business or get a job? Fuck no.

The lesson from Stage 1 of retirement: It's all about the mindset. If you get it right, you will fucking enjoy your retirement. If you don't, it sucks to be miserable when you're getting old.

Linsanity

Chinatown Swagger: Chinese Pride

Chinese immigrants and their descendants are spread out allover the world. A lot of times, and in many countries, the immigrants are looked down upon by the locals and discriminated, even after many generations (like in the US).

Now ok, so you are a Chinese immigrant. So what? Don't cry about it. Embrace it.

Chinese Pride. We are made of steel. We bend but we don't break.

Someone made a documentary in US about Chinese Immigrant playing volleyball. Not the traditional 6-man volleyball. There are 9 men in each team. I found it by accident because the film maker was being interviewed for a story about an American Chinese journalist who was shouted at and asked to "go back to China", in the middle of Manhattan, I think. I may have gotten the city wrong, but you get the drift.

Usually I don't pay to download movies. This one I did because I wanted to support the film maker for documenting a part of the history of Chinese immigrants.

Fantastic film!!!

So, if you are a Chinese immigrant or a descendants of one, please go and watch this film.

Click here to pay download or watch online

The documentary is called 9-Man.

"9-MAN uncovers an isolated and unique streetball tournament played by Chinese-Americans in the heart of Chinatowns across the USA and Canada. Largely undiscovered by the mainstream, the game is a gritty, athletic, chaotic urban treasure traditionally played in parking lots and back alleys. A 9-Man tournament grew in the 1930’s, at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws forced restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves. Today it’s a lasting connection to Chinatown for a dynamic community of men who know a different, more integrated world, but still fight to maintain autonomy and tradition."

You can go to their online store to buy the T-Shirts too. Click here

I like the "Chinatown Swagger" on the T-shirt. In two words, it says a lot about Chinese Pride, about being strong and resilient despite all odds as immigrants.

My takeaway from this film is that we are Chinese immigrants (in Malaysia), we have to stick together and preserve our heritage.

One more thing. If you are Chinese, no matter where you are, USA, Russia, Malaysia, Brazil, Germany, Kenya, Lithuania, and if someone gets in your face and give you shit, not because of your character, not because of what you say or do, but because of you being Chinese, you DON'T bow your head or run away.

You stay and fight.

You hear me?

You stay and fight.

Fund Managers are no smarter than the market

I spent 15 years after graduating in the Banking and Equities business. 2 years in Treasury Dept of Maybank and then 13 years in Institutional Sales with various Malaysian broking houses.

In my time, I met a lot of fund managers. Some were smart, some were not. Some were nice, some were assholes. Some were honest, some were crooks (one of the reasons why your unit trusts or funds were not performing was because the cheap stock I bought for them when into their personal account rather than the funds that they managed, i.e. your money).

But regardless of who or what they are, they have one thing in common. They need to perform better than the market. All fund managers need to find money to manage. They charge a fee on the amount of your money that they manage for you. So the logic is if they are not good at managing your money, why the hell should you pay them a fee to do so?

But can stock picker actually perform better than the market? Well, yes, sometimes but not year in year out.

Because these guys charge you so much money, they have the money to hire there best ad and PR agencies to help them give excuses on why they fucked up with your money.

That would have been fine if this guy didn't come along.

John Clifton "Jack" Bogle

Jack Bogle started Vanguard 500 Index Fund in 1975.

"An index fund (also index tracker) is a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to follow certain preset rules so that the fund can track specified basket of underlying investments.[1] Those rules may include tracking prominent indexes like the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average.." - Wikipedia.

So, basically an index fund buys a basket of stock with your money that resembles the market such as S&P 500. But with a difference, lower annual fees charged to your fund. Sometimes they are as low as 0.3%. They have a fancy name for this kind of things: "expense ratios".

Let me give you an example. A local mutual fund click here for factsheet charges you 6.5% just to let them manage your money. Then they charge you another 1.85% annual fee to help find stocks to buy so that you will make some money. If you keep your money in the fund for 5 years, you will end up paying these assholes 3.15% per year to manager your money. And if your fund made 9.45% gain this year, they will take one third of your profit!!! And they tell you that's reasonable? Fuck them!

By comparison, Vanguard or other ETFs tell you, I will only charge you 0.3% per year (not all ETFs are low fee, ok? Do your research) just to put your money to track the market. That is one tenth of what these genius fund managers charge. Who will you give your money to?

You might say, how can Vanguard charge such a low fee? You know what? All the stocks that they are holding in the funds are just sitting right there for the long term. They would be stupid not to lend them out for a fee. Let's say you think Apple (AAPL) is trading too high at $118 and you want to short it for a profit, where will you borrow stock to short it? Answer: Index Funds.

So, back to the fund manager. They have this trouble where they perform in some years better than the market and others not. Guess what? Some smart asses started buying stocks that are largely representative of the market so that their funds performs "closer" to the market. It makes it easier for them to show that they are more clever than you in their marketing brochures.

These fuckers are called "Closet Indexers". Read this. This article basically says all over the world investors are moving from "active management" of their funds by to "passive" like ETFs that just tracks the performance of the market. They realised that the high fees they pay to these funds managers are basically dogshit.

It's true what!! If you are a closet indexer, why the hell should I pay you a fee 10 times more than Jack Bogle?? Am I right or am I right??

So the next time some slick unit trust salesman who calls himself "Financial Adviser" tells you to buy unit trust. Tell him to fuck off!! Or send him to me and I will tell him to fuck off on your behalf.

Don't even get me started on those idiot Relationship Managers at Priority Banking services. I reserve that for another blog entries.

Adios!

Never Give Up

This blog is not intended to have any political discussion. Not that I have no political interest. In fact, I have very strong  political views but I want to keep it out of this blog (because once I start I can't stop) with one exception.

The Bersih movement. We need to support political reform for the benefit of the future generations. I think Malaysians should be more active politically, especially the younger people.

If you happened to accidentally drop by this blog, I hope you will seek more information and be active, no matter which side you're are on eventually.

Stand Up and Fight

Fatty Bom Bom

Dogs are men's best friend. I have 3 hooligans in the house. They provide endless entertainment with their antics.

This is my Fatty. She came to us when her previous owner could not keep her anymore. We didn't have to pay a single cent. My wife did a good job convincing the previous owner to give her to us amongst many interested adopters.

Look at that pretty face.

She will bark at anything. I'm always worried about the noise she generates. Every morning she will rush to the gate first thing and bark, even when there's absolutely NOTHING outside the house.

When we first got her, she always hide beneath the daybed in the living room. As she gets older, she becomes more manja. Her latest "pattern" is to jump up to my arm chair, squeeze beside me while I watch TV. If there's any animals like dog or lions appearing on TV, she will jump down and throw herself at the TV trying to kill whatever that's on TV. It's like, hello, it's the TV!! So obviously, whether an object is 2D or 3D didn't matter to her. She just wanna kill.

When she tired, she just wanna be a lap dog and drape her whole fat ass on my tummy.

Every night she must sleep with me. If I leave her outside the bedroom, she will whine and whine. When she does that, it sounds like someone tuning the violin. Very irritating. Once I cannot tahan liao, I will open the door and she will dash in.

Straight away will jump up the bed.

She really knows how to enjoy life. She will find the softest spot on the bed... usually my goose down pillow, climb on top and lie down. And then she will give out a heavy sigh... like "This is life, man"..

She really is like a teddy bear.

Having enough money when you retire.

Having enough money for your retirement.

The following blog is written by a senior guy in EPF. Quite knowledgeable. Interesting read if you're into the "heavier stuff".

http://econsmalaysia.blogspot.my

In his recent article in The Star, titled Challenges of a pension system, argued that despite having direct contribution pension fund like EPF, a lot of people are inadequate in their savings for retirement. Most people still rely on THEIR FAMILY to support them after retirement.

"ONE aspect of an ageing society is obvious to everyone – care for the elderly will take on greater importance. How adequate are Malaysia’s pension systems? 

In western societies, most countries have achieved universal coverage, with net income replacement values ranging from 29% in the United Kingdom, to 96% in the Netherlands (based on OECD data)…. 

…The challenge in these western economies is one of sustainability. The problem with DB schemes is that they are based on the principle of pay-go – current workers’ contributions pay for the pension entitlements of retirees. This is not an issue if the demographic profile of the country is relatively stable..."

In the comments section of his blog, he wrote: "Active EPF members in the 51-55 age group, who are on the brink of retirement and have careers’ worth of savings, have on average RM147,057 each. The richest 5,446 members however have on average RM1.56m in savings. 

If these members are excluded, then the average savings for the remaining EPF members would be RM127,460. But the bottom 13.5% have average savings of only RM3,580, and the next 7% an average of RM14,848."

The average has RM147k for retirement, so even if you spend a little more than RM1,000 your money will run our by age 65. What then?

Some of the withdrawal policies I would like to see changed at EPF are:

1. Amount from your 1st withdrawal from EPF for the purpose of buying a house should be returned to your EPF account (Plus interest) after you sold the house. That's what they do in Singapore. It will prevent the account holder to deplete their EPF savings by keeping the proceeds withdrawn earlier.
2. Stop allowing withdrawal for purchase of 2nd house!! If you want a 2nd house, it is a luxury and should not come from your EPF savings. If you can't afford to buy the 2nd house, then don't buy!

The 4% Rule for Retirement

The 4% rule is a rule of thumb used to determine the amount of money to withdraw from a retirement funds each year for your expenses. This rule seeks to provide a steady stream of funds to the retiree, while also keeping an account balance that allows funds to be withdrawn for a number of years.

With the continuing depreciation of Ringgit and inflation on daily necessities, I think you will need RM 1 million to live a reasonable comfortable life after retirement. And I'm talking about simple middle class life and not more than that. For some other people, they may think it should be RM20 million.

Also, another big difference is that I don't have kids to support. Most people my age will still have kids in the university so your consideration may be quite different from mine.

I try to follow a fairly thrifty lifestyle and yet sometimes I am shocked looking at my receipt after the cashier at supermarket handed it to me. Half a trolley full will be like RM200-250. I think to be fairly comfortable for me, I am looking at about RM6,000 per month. That means you have to generate at least 5%-6% on your investable assets to maintain your yearly expenditure and still have some funds for emergencies without dangerously depleting your nest egg.

The golden rule is YOU EITHER SPEND LESS OR EARN MORE.

Most people who get into financial trouble either ignore it or think they can get away with it. They will say "never mind la". Well you can't. "Never mind" will fuck up you life.

I personally think you have to actively manage your retirement funds. I'm not talking about actively trading or switching the asset class. I'm talking about actively reviewing and fine-tuning how much you have, how much you spend, and what kind of returns you are getting. If you can, just spend the dividend and trading profit without touching on your capital.

The reason you can't neglect this aspect of your retired life is that if you somehow screw up or depleting your savings too fast, you might have to go out to get a job. You don't want to have to try and find a job at the age of 65. It's not funny, I swear.

I have some investment background but I am no investment guru. In my blog I will try to share some information and thoughts so that you can start taking a look at this a little deeper yourself. Feel free to leave any comments at the bottom.

Anyway, I found this calculator click here that I think it's quite fun to play around with.

You can plug in the figures in the fields provided and see the results. I would suggest you do a check-up at least once every 6 months. For me, I do it once a month.

This is useful not just for retired person but for people planning for retirement. No matter how young you are, it is never too early to start gaining some financial literacy particularly in the area of retirement planning.

You have no idea how liberating it is to have the "fuck you" money and never have to work for another day in your life.

The day you can achieve financial independence can be different for everyone. For some people, they have found passion in their work and will work till the day they die, and that is also a good thing. Limpeh clap for you.

But for others, it is completely miserable when you are 50 or 55 or 60 and you still need to take shit some stupid boss.

A good place to start is here. You may not agree with me, but if you are starting to think about it, then it is a positive development. I have no human children so this is particularly important for me. Even if you have children, you don't want to be going to them and expect them to take care of you financially. They have their own financial burdens and shit to deal with.

Welcome!!!!

Hi!!! Welcome to my blog. I am the Longkang Rat.

This is a blog about a retired uncle enjoying life, i.e. Being happy, positive and active. I will put down my thoughts on a bit of my life, family, travel, hobbies, investments, etc.

Sometimes, I will write about life of a retired person, and maybe share some information that people in the similar position may find useful.

This is Ah Goo. She is a female pariah dog rescued by my neighbor and I adopted her when I moved to Seremban. She has the most gentle soul but a bit stupid.

This is Ah Wat or Scooby. He is a Silky mixed with god knows what. This is the only other batang in the house and he tries to act like one but often fails. This fellow is a thief. His is very quiet when he wants to steal food from my coffee table. One time he stole my Bak Kua, when I caught him, his whole head was inside the plastic bag... chomping away. Fucker.

  

This is Fatty. She is a West Highland Terrier. She is a bitch and noisy like hell but has got the cutest face.

That's my wife. She's a knuckle head. *shrug*

And that's the whole Longkang Rat family.

Adios!