{"id":44701,"date":"2024-05-16T17:35:37","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T09:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=44701"},"modified":"2024-05-16T18:10:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T10:10:13","slug":"how-much-income-invest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/how-much-income-invest","title":{"rendered":"How Much Of Your Salary Should You Invest?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You don\u2019t need to be wealthy to invest.<\/p>\n<p>Quite the opposite, in fact. Investing is the easiest way to create wealth over the long run (apart from inheriting it!). It can help you reach your financial goals and build a nice retirement fund. It also helps you overcome inflation \u2013 that is, the increase of prices of goods and services, which makes the value of your money decrease over time.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a new investor, one of the first things you\u2019ll need to figure out is how much to set aside to invest. Here\u2019s how to get started.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"An-emergency-fund-first-before-investing\"><\/span>An emergency fund first before investing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Before you start investing, make sure you have an emergency fund. Typically, this covers around six months of savings \u2013 more if you are self-employed. Keep it somewhere you can access it quickly, such as a savings account. Here\u2019s why you need an emergency fund:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Covers unexpected expenses<\/strong> \u2013 If your car breaks down or you have a sudden medical expense that isn\u2019t covered by insurance, you could rely on your emergency fund.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gives you flexibility<\/strong> \u2013 If you need to quit your job but don\u2019t have another one lined up immediately, an emergency fund could give you a financial buffer before you earn a steady stream of income again.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t have to dip into investments<\/strong> \u2013 You wouldn\u2019t want to withdraw your investments to cover unexpected expenses. You\u2019ll risk selling at a loss, as your investments may not have had time to mature. You\u2019ll also incur more fees when you reinvest your funds again later.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Invest-10-to-15-of-your-income\"><\/span>Invest 10% to 15% of your income<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The rule of thumb is that you should invest between 10% and 15% of your income. This means that if you earn RM5,000 a month, you could aim to invest at least RM500 a month. Here are a few ways you can set aside this money:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pay yourself first<\/strong> \u2013 Set up a recurring bank transfer that automatically moves a percentage of your salary into an investment account when you get paid.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Incremental increases<\/strong> \u2013 If 10% to 15% of your salary sounds like a lot of money, you could try working towards it incrementally. Start by setting aside just 1% of your income this month. Increase that to 2% the next month, 3% the month after that, and so on.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Optimise your budget \u2013 <\/strong>If you\u2019re still having trouble setting aside money to invest, review your spending habits. Consider cutting down on unnecessary spending or increasing your income.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So how much could you potentially retire with, if you invested every month at the start of your career? We\u2019ll make a few assumptions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You\u2019re a 22-year-old fresh graduate earning a monthly salary of RM2,500<\/li>\n<li>Your salary increases at a rate of 5% every year<\/li>\n<li>You invest 15% of your salary every month<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here\u2019s how the math works out:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1456\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1456\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><center>Annual return<\/th><th class=\"column-2\"><center>4%<\/th><th class=\"column-3\"><center>5%<\/th><th class=\"column-4\"><center>6%<\/th><th class=\"column-5\"><center>7%<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><center>Portfolio size at age 55<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><center>RM622,794<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><center>RM726,615<\/td><td class=\"column-4\"><center>RM853,463<\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><center>RM1,008,976<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1456 from cache -->\n<p>It can be hard to set aside a chunk of your money every month, especially if you\u2019re only going to be using it decades later. But doing this will save you lots of financial stress down the line.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How-to-save-for-your-financial-goals\"><\/span>How to save for your financial goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You could also work backwards from your financial goals.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to retirement, consider when you want to retire, and how much you\u2019ll need to retire. These factors determine how much you\u2019ll need to save. For example, if you want to retire early at 45 years old, you\u2019ll need to invest a lot more than someone who will retire at 55. To get estimates of how much you should invest, you could plug in these variables into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankrate.com\/retirement\/calculators\/retirement-plan-calculator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"dofollow noopener noreferrer\">retirement calculator<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You should also factor in other financial goals. Perhaps you want to afford an overseas education for your child, buy a seaside home or go on a whirlwind world tour in your fifties. Let\u2019s say you want to set aside RM200,000 for your child\u2019s education in 20 years (remember that you\u2019ll need to account for inflation too \u2013 if we assume a 2% yearly inflation, this has the same purchasing power as RM134,594 in the present). By using an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.calculator.net\/investment-calculator.html?ctype=contributeamount&amp;ctargetamountv=200000&amp;cstartingprinciplev=0&amp;cyearsv=20&amp;cinterestratev=44&amp;ccontributeamountv=1000&amp;ciadditionat1=monthly&amp;printit=0&amp;x=99&amp;y=11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"dofollow noopener noreferrer\">investment calculator<\/a>, we can estimate how much you\u2019ll need to save:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1457\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1457\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\"><center>Annual return<\/th><th class=\"column-2\"><center>4%<\/th><th class=\"column-3\"><center>5%<\/th><th class=\"column-4\"><center>6%<\/th><th class=\"column-5\"><center>7%<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><center>Monthly contribution needed to reach <br \/>\nRM200,000 in 20 years<\/td><td class=\"column-2\"><center>RM550<\/td><td class=\"column-3\"><center>RM492<\/td><td class=\"column-4\"><center>RM441<\/td><td class=\"column-5\"><center>RM394<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1457 from cache -->\n<p>So consider all your financial goals, estimate the monthly contribution you\u2019ll need to reach each of them and start investing.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Set-your-investment-risk-appetite\"><\/span>Set your investment risk appetite<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Deciding how much to invest is just part of the battle. Next, you\u2019ll need to consider how much investing risk you can take. This helps determine what goes into your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/build-investment-portfolio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"dofollow noopener noreferrer\">portfolio<\/a>. Stocks make up a bigger proportion of higher-risk portfolios, while safer investments like bonds make a bigger proportion of lower-risk portfolios. Younger investors generally have higher-risk portfolios, as they have a long investing runway to recover from setbacks. Plus, high-risk portfolios tend to perform better over the long run.<\/p>\n<p>But if you\u2019ve just entered the workforce, investing in stocks right away is hard. Picking individual stocks requires a lot of research and investing knowledge. And if you\u2019re earning a fresh graduate salary \u2013 let\u2019s say RM2,500 \u2013 putting 10%, or RM250, into stocks every month will incur high fees. Stock brokers in Malaysia charge a minimum of around RM8 per transaction. This means that if you invest RM250, you\u2019ll be paying RM8, or 3.2%, in fees.<\/p>\n<p>To lessen the impact of these fees, some people save up for months before investing. For example, if you save RM250 a month for a year, you\u2019ll have RM3,000. A stock transaction of RM3,000 will incur RM8, or 0.26%, in fees.<\/p>\n<p>Alternatively, you could invest in financial products like exchange-traded funds, robo advisors and unit trust funds. They\u2019ll generally incur lower fees if you plan on investing small amounts. They\u2019re also great for beginner investors, as they\u2019re less volatile than individual stocks, and allow you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/achieved-true-diversification-investment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">diversify your portfolio<\/a> easily.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you choose to invest in, make sure you do your research, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dollar-cost-average-investing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">avoid making emotionally-based decisions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article has been updated on May 16, 2024.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s important to allocate some of your salary every month to reach long-term financial goals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,218,240,308],"tags":[660,649],"class_list":["post-44701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investment","category-money-management","category-retirement-planning","category-saving-tips","tag-investment","tag-retirement"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Much Of Your Income Should You Invest?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it 10% to 20% or more? 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