{"id":25806,"date":"2023-08-30T17:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T09:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=25806"},"modified":"2024-08-22T16:43:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T08:43:35","slug":"make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence","title":{"rendered":"Start Your Journey To Financial Independence This Merdeka"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow marks the 66th<\/sup> Hari Merdeka<\/em> for Malaysia.<\/p>\n

A strategically located country that is rich in natural resources and talent, Malaysia is known for its\u00a0delicious delicacies with influence from different ethnicities, breath-taking sights to behold such as beautiful sandy beaches in the East Coast, and the majestic mountains and caves littered all over the country, and last but not least, the warm and friendly Malaysians of different races.<\/p>\n

However, as we celebrate more than half a century of independence, Malaysians are still struggling to achieve personal financial freedom. Mired in debts? Drifting further away from your financial goals? These are all common problems Malaysians face today.<\/p>\n

However, instead of giving up and submitting yourself to a life riddled with financial problems that is one accident away from bankruptcy, there are many areas within our control that will propel us towards financial independence. Here’s what these Malaysians had shared with iMoney in past interviews on their expert views about how best Malaysians can tackle financial independence.<\/p>\n

With these handy tips, we can all start our journey towards financial independence this Merdeka!<\/p>\n

\"ahyat<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span>Ahyat Ishak, property investor<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

It has become a norm for us to get in the car, and start up our GPS app to lead us to our destination because we know how ruthless making a wrong turn could be in today\u2019s traffic.<\/p>\n

We may have made headways in our direction, but we don\u2019t seem to realise how detrimental it can be to our financial health if we make a wrong turn in life.<\/p>\n

That is the biggest problem that is preventing most Malaysians from achieving financial independence \u2013 not the rising cost of living nor debts. We are so engrossed with our current financial situation that we rarely think about our future.<\/p>\n

<\/span>We burden our future self to satisfy our current self<\/span><\/h3>\n

We seem to think that it\u2019s okay to burden our\u00a0future self to satisfy our\u00a0current self. To prevent that, we need to go back to the basics, which is the wealth formula. The wealth formula says one\u2019s expenses must be lower than one\u2019s income, and to obtain positive cash flow that is enough to fulfil your (good) debt commitments.<\/p>\n

Sounds simple enough. However, our actions almost always seem to be sabotaging our ultimate goal of achieving financial freedom. It\u2019s always easier to make decisions that will take us on a detour to our end-goal. For example, it is always easier to spend three hours with our friends watching a football game, than to spend three hours research about the next investment to make, or even to take a self-development course to better ourselves.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Start taking notice of every sen you have<\/span><\/h3>\n

To get back on the road to financial independence, ask yourself before making any decision, \u201cWill this action or decision bring me closer or push me further away from my goal?\u201d Even if the decision in question is buying a RM15 cup of coffee every day.<\/p>\n

Start taking notice of every sen you have and you spend, then you will find yourself on a speed track to financial freedom.<\/p>\n

\"Yap<\/p>\n

<\/span>Yap Ming Hui, Founder and Managing Director of Whitman Independent Advisors <\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From the financial planning point of view, Malaysians need a holistic financial plan first before they can embark on their quest to financial independence.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Know where you stand financially<\/span><\/h3>\n

First, they need to know where they stand financially, and what is\u00a0their financial goal. By knowing your current financial situation, you can better plan your strategy in getting to the desired destination.<\/p>\n

Without knowing this, whatever financial actions or decisions you make will be just a stab in the dark \u2013 if you are lucky, you\u2019ll get some returns, otherwise, you\u2019ll crash and burn.<\/p>\n

The common financial goals that most middle-class Malaysians aspire for are to own a nice home (short-term goal), provide good tertiary education for their children (medium-term goal), and retire comfortably (long-term goal).<\/p>\n

<\/span>Have a holistic financial plan<\/span><\/h3>\n

To achieve them, you will need a holistic financial plan. This is a 360\u00b0 evaluation of one\u2019s personal financial plan, which includes insurance planning, children\u2019s tertiary education planning, retirement planning, investment planning, tax planning, asset protection, estate planning, as well as debt and loan management.<\/p>\n

With a financial plan\u00a0that is customised to your current stage in life, you will know if your financial decision will propel you closer to your goal or drag you further away from it.<\/p>\n

\"faizul<\/p>\n

<\/span>Faizul Ridzuan, CEO of FAR Capital<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Financial freedom sounds like a huge goal to have, and hence, must be very difficult to attain.<\/p>\n

Luckily for us, that\u2019s not quite true. And one of the most popular ways many Malaysians prefer to kick-start their investment is via properties. There are just three steps to achieve your financial freedom through property investment.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Step 1: Know your numbers<\/span><\/h3>\n

Your numbers refer to your expenses and your target income. Figure out how much your monthly expenses is \u2013 what is the bare minimum you need to survive.<\/p>\n

Next, identify the end-goal. How much do you need to achieve \u201cfinancial freedom\u201d? Is it RM5,000 income a month? Or maybe RM10,000?<\/p>\n

<\/span>Step 2: Figure how property investment can contribute to your goal<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ask yourself how buying or selling a particular property will get you to financial merdeka<\/em>. If you can\u2019t answer the question, don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Step 3: Manage your assets<\/span><\/h3>\n

What kind of assets can help you to achieve your goal(s)?<\/p>\n

This will help you to strive for positive cash flow in your property investment. For example, if your rental yield is RM500 a unit, you will need 10 units to achieve your financial goal of RM5,000.<\/p>\n

However, if you find it difficult to achieve positive cash flow, where your property\u2019s rental is the same as your instalment, work to pay off your mortgage as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Start your journey to financial independence today<\/span><\/h2>\n

On Hari Merdeka<\/em> this year, reflect on our nation, our freedoms, and our personal efforts to release ourselves from financial shackles that have kept us away from out financial goals.<\/p>\n

Actively improve on your own financial independence with these simple steps and concepts and may you be on track to achieve your independence.<\/p>\n

You might be surprised at what you can do to further your journey on the path toward financial freedom.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Selamat Hari Merdeka!<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
This article was first published in August 2016 and has been updated for freshness and relevance.\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you shackled by debts that have held you back from achieving your full financial potential? Check out these handy tips from financial experts to achieve financial freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[254,1,256,301,218],"tags":[660,766,650],"class_list":["post-25806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-income","category-investment","category-lifestyle","category-merdeka","category-money-management","tag-investment","tag-money-management","tag-retirement-planning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAchieve Financial Freedom This Merdeka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Giving up on financial independence? These financial experts share advice on how Malaysians can attain financial freedom, starting from this Merdeka!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make This Hari Merdeka Your First Day Towards Financial Independence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Giving up on financial independence? These financial experts share advice on how Malaysians can attain financial freedom, starting from this Merdeka!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iMoney Malaysia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-30T09:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-22T08:43:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30170808\/financial-independence-merdeka_FB.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"iMoney Editorial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"iMoney Editorial\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence\",\"name\":\"Achieve Financial Freedom This Merdeka\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30165121\/financial-independence-merdeka.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-30T09:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-22T08:43:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/2dc429bac9840e75ad08ab242c57dcbb\"},\"description\":\"Giving up on financial independence? These financial experts share advice on how Malaysians can attain financial freedom, starting from this Merdeka!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30165121\/financial-independence-merdeka.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30165121\/financial-independence-merdeka.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Festival & Celebrations\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/category\/chinese-new-year\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Merdeka\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/category\/chinese-new-year\/merdeka\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Start Your Journey To Financial Independence This Merdeka\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"iMoney Malaysia\",\"description\":\"Everything you need to know about improving your personal finances.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/2dc429bac9840e75ad08ab242c57dcbb\",\"name\":\"iMoney Editorial\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4268d61be86ba47b656e314b503a5c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4268d61be86ba47b656e314b503a5c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"iMoney Editorial\"},\"description\":\"iMoney Editorial Team is composed of 4 writers with wide-ranging interests and areas of expertise. Their primary responsibility is to write financial-related articles to share and educate Malaysians on how to save, make and grow their money.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.imoney.my\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/author\/chinglee\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Achieve Financial Freedom This Merdeka","description":"Giving up on financial independence? These financial experts share advice on how Malaysians can attain financial freedom, starting from this Merdeka!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Make This Hari Merdeka Your First Day Towards Financial Independence","og_description":"Giving up on financial independence? These financial experts share advice on how Malaysians can attain financial freedom, starting from this Merdeka!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence","og_site_name":"iMoney Malaysia","article_published_time":"2023-08-30T09:00:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-22T08:43:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30170808\/financial-independence-merdeka_FB.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"iMoney Editorial","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"iMoney Editorial","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence","url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence","name":"Achieve Financial Freedom This Merdeka","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30165121\/financial-independence-merdeka.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-30T09:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-22T08:43:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/2dc429bac9840e75ad08ab242c57dcbb"},"description":"Giving up on financial independence? These financial experts share advice on how Malaysians can attain financial freedom, starting from this Merdeka!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30165121\/financial-independence-merdeka.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/30165121\/financial-independence-merdeka.jpg","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/make-this-hari-merdeka-your-first-day-towards-financial-independence#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Festival & Celebrations","item":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/category\/chinese-new-year"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Merdeka","item":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/category\/chinese-new-year\/merdeka"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Start Your Journey To Financial Independence This Merdeka"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/","name":"iMoney Malaysia","description":"Everything you need to know about improving your personal finances.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/2dc429bac9840e75ad08ab242c57dcbb","name":"iMoney Editorial","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4268d61be86ba47b656e314b503a5c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4268d61be86ba47b656e314b503a5c2f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"iMoney Editorial"},"description":"iMoney Editorial Team is composed of 4 writers with wide-ranging interests and areas of expertise. Their primary responsibility is to write financial-related articles to share and educate Malaysians on how to save, make and grow their money.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.imoney.my"],"url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/author\/chinglee"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25806"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64752,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25806\/revisions\/64752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}