passive income

Rainbow’s 2022 Goals: More fun and money!

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Can you believe that it’s already April 2022? Christmas 2021 and Chinese New Year 2022 didn’t seem too long ago.
Truth be told, I’ve just written my goals for 2022. So, if you haven’t planned for 2022 yet, you can still do it!
The year 2022 is finally the year to have a good time. More pleasure with less work! (Hopefully)
There’s no going back to the way things were before. It’s time to make a change if you’re still unhappy at work, in an unhealthy relationship, or with your general lifestyle.
I’m hoping you’ll also share your goals with me as I share mine with you!

Personal Finance Goals for 2022
Money is just a tool to get to my goals.
Even though most of what I share on my TikTok and blog is about personal finance, the truth is that we want money so that we can live the life we want.
We want to generate enough passive income to support our desired living expenses.

1. Grow net worth by 8%
This figure is not impossible to hit, as I am able to generate approximately 12% from my peer-to-peer lending investments.
We should look at properties as a long-term investing strategy.
I plan to sell the unit that’s producing a rental interest of 3.8% within the next 5 years (flip) and reap my capital gains.
I will also increase my rental for the unit which is giving 6.4% rental interest in the next 2 years.
Currently, I’m only renting it out at 6.4% since it’s post-pandemic, and I understand that it’s not easy for my tenants. 
Looking at my current rate of monthly income, saving, and investing, growing my net worth by 8% is absolutely possible.

2. Generate RM6000 in online investment income annually!
That’ll be RM500 per month. Is it doable? I hope so.
Rather than focusing on how much I will generate from my online investments, I’d like to view it as the number of people that will be impacted by my sharing.
A big hug and thank you to you who are reading my blog/emails/watching my Tiktoks.
Let’s be financially free together!

3. Give more money to charity/church/non-profit organizations with a cause.
Currently, I’m giving around 13% of my monthly salary to support people in need.
I love giving and blessing people, especially those whose situations are dire.
I’d like to increase my giving this year to probably around 15 – 20%.
Here are some of the organizations that I support:

  1. Name: Mobilisation Fellowship (M) Bhd
    Bank: Maybank, 5141-9601-8478
    Email: finance.my@om.org
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/OMinMalaysia/
  2. Name: TKPP DESA AMAL JIREH
    In short for: Tabung KEBAJIKAN dan Pendidikan Pertubuhan DAJ
    Bank: Public Bank, 3123 8094 27
    Email: desaamaljireh@gmail.com
    Website: www.daj.org.my

4. Investing in 1 – 2 real estate properties this year.
The real estate market is a little shaky lately.
I am still a firm believer in buying good and valuable real estate properties at a discounted price.
Stocks are volatile, you can see the stock prices deviate by 20% a day and people would either buy/sell stocks crazily; but you don’t generally see people selling (lelong) their properties within a day when the valuation goes down by 20%.
If you’re someone who has a weak heart, probably real estate would be a better investment strategy than stocks.

5. Learning how to invest in the Malaysian / USA stock markets.
Whether it’s stocks or real estate, the key is to own good ones at a lower valuation.
However, I will not purchase IPO ever. Period.
The last IPO I bought didn’t make a single cent, and it’s been more than 6 years already. (I did not listen to Warren Buffet & my father’s advice about IPOs many years ago).
Hopefully, I wouldn’t even lose my capital to that IPO – it’s a tech stock by the way.

6. Learning to invest in cryptocurrencies & NFTs.

Crypto and NFTs are surely a new hype!
I do believe that the digitalization of money in the future is something we couldn’t avoid moving forward.
Think about it, back then people thought that cash is king! The more cash you have on hand, the better it is.
If you’re able to buy a car/house in cash, fabulous!
After that, we slowly move toward credit cards – do you remember older people said “Don’t get a credit card! It’s bad debt?”
(we all know that credit cards can be of good use when managed wisely)
Moving forward, I guess the digitalization of money will become more and more common.
However, in my humble opinion, cryptos and NFTs are very volatile.
Most of the coins and NFTs have lost 90% of their original value. Although people make a lot of money through it, many lost their money too.
Do your own research before investing!

Career Goals for 2022.
I have a full-time job as a Human Resource Executive in a public listed company in Malaysia. Work is tough.
Being a HR isn’t easy as well, given the fact that resignation rates are sky-high. (I’m super grateful to have this opportunity to grow together in this company.)
With that being said, I need to prioritize and manage my time better, I have much on my plate:

  • Manage my portfolio (properties and Peer-to-peer financing).
  • Learning to invest in stocks & cryptos.
  • Building my online business.

1. Level up to be a better HR.
Most people have these perceptions:

  • HR is not their friend.
  • HR only thinks for the benefit of the company.
    I’d love to break that stereotype. Yes, HR does have to think for the company, however, have you ever seen a HR fighting for your rights too as an employee?

2. Work on the side hustle for around 10 hours a week.
As much as I love my stable job, I strongly believe that people should have multiple streams of income.
(If you haven’t started investing yet, you may start with the low risk, low capital Peer-To-Peer investments.)

Read more about my portfolio here.
Therefore, I invest in different classes of assets.
This year, I will also focus on building up my side hustle. Hello, solopreneur/entrepreneur!

3. Create successful templates
In order to be financially free, you need to know your budgeting and spending habits.
Thus, I would like to help you to track your net worth, spending, and budgeting by creating these fabulous excels for you! Stay tuned!

Rainbow’s Life Goals for 2022
Great! We have finance and career goals written. Let’s not forget our own life goals too.

1. Time with family
I was working abroad as a volunteer for almost 2 years. Within those 2 years, the Covid-19 pandemic happened in the second year.
Life was tough.
I waited for many months before I was granted the opportunity to come back to Malaysia, the journey back itself took 11 days! Just imagine transiting for 11 days, no joke.
Anyway, it’s a kind reminder to all that life is unpredictable and time with loved ones is precious.
Never go to sleep angry, always love and forgive.
Spend more time with your loved ones. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

2. Be an athlete
As we grow older, I feel like our bodies are not as active as before.
Rather than pinpointing how much weight you need to lose, being an athlete seems more healthy, tangible, and sustainable!

3. Be a better communicator
One of the best things in life is to be able to clearly communicate your thoughts to yourself first, then to the world.
Writing down and planning ahead seems to help with being a better communicator.

4. Visiting some of my best friends in the USA / Ecuador / Germany / Mexico this year.
Who looks forward to taking vacations this year?! Woohoo!
It’s been wayyyyy too long.

The biggest goal for 2022: Enjoy life and have fun!

I came to the realization that having fun is the best way to achieve your goals! What’s the point of being grumpy anyway?

Enjoy your life, spend time with family, work hard, invest hard, and play harder!

If you never try, you’ll never know (good & legal stuff, I mean).

Readers, what are some of your goals for 2022? Please share them as I’m always looking for ideas and motivation.

This blog is made to discuss ways of being financially free. Sign up to receive complimentary information 🙂 

Gain 5% or more annualized returns, interested?

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If you’re wondering if there really is a GUARANTEED or safe return a.k.a zero/low risk, but with reasonably high annualized returns…

Good news! There are a few!!

Here are 3 ways to gain 5% or more annualized returns, with very low to ZERO risk!

  1. Employee Provident Fund (EPF), 5-7%
  2. SSPN-Prime, 4% + RM8000 tax reduction = 10+%
  3. Funding Societies, 4-12%

Employee Provident Fund (EPF)

If you’ve been in the working world, you know what an EPF is.

EPF is a retirement savings fund set up by the government for employees/citizens when they reach retirement age.

EPF has been consistently giving out around 5 – 7% dividends yearly.

The mandatory EPF contribution for employees is 9%.

You may increase your EPF contribution to 11%, you just need to inform your employer and fill out the KWSP form.

(I personally have increased it to 11%), why not? as EPF gives out good dividend yields, and it’s very safe!

The only setback about EPF is that you can only withdraw the money for certain purposes:

  1. When you hit age 50/55/60.
  2. To purchase a house.
  3. Medical payments and equipment.
  4. Education purposes.
  5. If you’re leaving the country.

Read here for more details on EPF withdrawals.

SSPN-Prime

SSPN-Prime is giving around 4% dividends yearly, however, there is also an RM8000 tax reduction!

If you are in a high tax income bracket use this method because of the taxation and you can save up to 10+% annually.

Read my friend Ka Hoe’s in-depth case study on SSPN.

Bonus: The government is giving a matching grant scheme to encourage parents to save for their student’s education.

  • If you deposit RM10, the government will give you RM10.
  • If you deposit RM500, the government will give you RM500.
  • The maximum amount is up to RM500.

Find out more on the news here: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/473468

You just need to deposit RM20 into the account. 

Click here to open up an SSPN-Prime account:

https://www.ptptn.gov.my/saving/sspnlogin.html

Funding Societies

I’ve always been a property investor/person, however, with the Covid-19 pandemic, viewing properties isn’t as easy as it used to be.

I was looking at alternatives whereby I could make money with just a laptop and wifi.

And I found peer-to-peer lending investments.

In short, I’ve been able to consistently get around 11% per annum with RM0 defaults!

Read my in-depth article on Funding Societies here. 

Click here to start your peer-to-peer investments.

Click here: How to set up guaranteed investment notes auto bot for Funding Societies. 

How To Set Up Guaranteed Investment Auto Bot – Funding Societies

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guaranteed investments

Glad that you’re taking investments seriously! Just a quick recap, here are a few reasons why I invest with Funding Societies:

  1. Guaranteed returns of 4 – 8% (with Guaranteed Investment Notes)
  2. No crazy market swings
  3. No tenant management etc… (if you’ve invested in properties, tenants, business partners need management)
  4. You just need a laptop, internet connection, and a Funding Societies account.
    After you’ve signed up, you’ll need to deposit money and an ‘escrow agent’ will then check your background before allowing you to successfully open up an account – this is to prevent money laundering.

OK, now let’s go into the juicy part – setting up your guaranteed investment bot. 

  1. Go to settings > auto invest > create a new bot > guaranteed investment note auto investment funding societiesauto investment funding societies 2
  2. Key in your preferred industry interest rate (suggested: 5-8%)and tenor
  3. Key in auto-invest amount (suggested: RM 100 – 300)
  4. Click create

There you go, you’re all set!

The auto bot system will help you to invest every month and you can enjoy your returns safely and guaranteed!

Click here to start your investment journey.

Read Next: How I’ve made RM5.9K passively with Funding Societies in my first year.

RM192K VS RM1.25 Mil, The Super Power of Investing

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grow your money

Would you like RM192,000.00 in your bank account?

It’s rather easy to achieve this (and many people can achieve this, including you!).

You just need to save RM400 per month, for 40 years.

And if you’re in your 20s, that’s perfectly doable.

RM 400 x 12 months = RM 4800 per year

RM 4800 x 40 years = RM 192,000.

However, the sad part is that most people do not know this…

You can also get RM1.25 Mil… with the same RM400 per month.

By investing and gaining 8% returns yearly. 

Shocked? I know right…

RM192K and RM1.25 Mil, it’s a big difference.

That’s the biggest difference between just saving VS investing.

I hope I opened up your eyes to how your wealth will look like if you keep your money in the bank (0.05% interest per year) or under your pillow (0% interest) VS investing.

Take a look at this graph.compounding interest wonder

Fascinating, isn’t it? *Jaw drops

This is the wonder/superpower of compounding interest. 

Why the big difference?

What do the rich know that most people don’t?

It’s called compounding interest…

Compounding interest is the interest earned on the interest you received.

Time is the biggest deciding factor with compounding interest.

The only issue is, are you a naysayer?

Naysayers

Definitely, there will be people who will say things like:

  1. 40 years? Can we even live till then?
  2. 8%? This is peanuts.
  3. Mil is too little…

Here’s my response to naysayer 1:

The fact that you state that we might not even live till 40 years shows that you don’t really plan for the future. 

Sorry but financial independence will be very hard for you.

Because if you don’t even plan for financial independence, it doesn’t really matter until what age you would live.

What if you live for 50 more years then? 

If you really want to be financially free, you have to start first with your mindset.

Response to naysayer 2: 

8% definitely is peanuts! My dad loves peanuts!

Try getting 8% consistently without failing every year 🙂

Fixed Deposit can give you a consistent 2% every year; while savings account can give you a consistent 0.05% every year too!

Crypto? Well, if your heart can take it, go for it.

Response to naysayer 3: 

You’re right, if you have RM1.25 Mil and you spend RM 2 Mil, you’re broke.

Money is never enough.

Greed is never enough.

What’s most important is to learn how to manage your finances wisely, and this can be done through earning, saving, investing, doing business, etc. 

I can afford to not be the greatest investor in the world, but I can’t afford to be a bad one. – Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money

I’m not here to be the next billionaire, or to work 80 hours a week.

I’m here to live life to the fullest.

To experience the world and travel with my family/friends…

And I want to have that lifestyle by investing safely and securely.

And, I can’t afford to be a bad investor.

That is why I settle for 8% returns per year, through Funding Societies and real estate investment (which is honestly not bad at all).

Over a 40-year time horizon… I’ll take my returns any day of the week – with no stress at all.

Wanna join?

Read Next: How To Set Up Guaranteed Investment Bots with Funding Societies.

How I got RM5,000+ returns with Funding Societies within a year, safely.

My Investment Portfolio With Funding Societies

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investment with funding societies profits

Investor: “How do I get higher returns from my investments?”

Businessman: “I need lots of cash for my business turnover and borrowing from the banks isn’t the best way.”

Thus the concept of Peer-To-Peer Financing (P2P) was born!

In layman terms:

P2P helps Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who require quick financing to partner up with investors who are willing to invest in their companies and regulates the risks through a pooling system. 

To diversify, a person/investor wouldn’t invest RM50K or more in a single company.

So a pooling system of money through many investors would help diversify the risks and opportunities.

While at the same time, the SMEs are able to collect their funds, run/expand their businesses. 

Most people are familiar with real estate, stocks, mutual funds investments, but what is P2P?

What is Peer-To-Peer Financing?

Peer-To-Peer Financing is an emerging and vibrant platform that connects SMEs that require financing and investors who are looking for high-yielding venture vehicles in Malaysia. 

In 2016, the Securities Commission (SC) endorsed six P2P administrators in Malaysia. 

One of them is Funding Societies. 

Why did I choose to invest in Funding Societies and not other platforms?

Well honestly I would invest in other platforms too, it’s just that Funding Societies is the biggest platform here in Malaysia.

There are many opportunities to invest within Funding Malaysia too.

My Personal Journey with Funding Societies

I personally have invested heavily into Funding Societies and have earned quite a handsome sum within the last 12 months. I only started investing in FS on 4 January 2021!

PS: Keep reading to find out how much I made through FS! 🙂 

The Pros of investing in P2P, Funding Societies:

What entices me most about P2P Financing, primarily Funding Societies (FS) are: 

  1. Low barrier of entry: You can start investing as low as RM100.
  2. No emotional roller coaster: Unlike stocks prices which go up and down because of the sentiment of ‘the market’.
  3. Guaranteed returns: If you have NO TIME to analyze a company, you can invest in their guaranteed returns products.
  4. High returns: You can get as high as 15% yields.
  5. Trustee agency: Investors’ funds are collected in a trustee agency to secure the investors’ money in case anything goes wrong.
  6. Max issuer exposure: You can limit exposing/investing too much in a single company through diversification.
  7. Auto Invest: Let your investments run AUTOMATICALLY with their auto-investment bot settings!
  8. Liquidity: The shortest period of exposure in investing is only 1 month! There are also NO fees incurred when transferring money from your bank account into FS.

The Cons of investing in FS:  

  1. Defaults: If you do not know what you’re investing in, there are chances of defaults (just like every other type of investment!)
  2. Liquidity: You will have to complete the financing term before withdrawing your money!

OK, now let’s dive into the juicy part of investing!

#1: What’s Funding Societies? 

Launched in 2015, Funding Societies is Southeast Asia’s largest digital financing platform with over 200,000 investors! 

Funding Societies is the main as well as the largest P2P administrator in Malaysia. 

They have successfully crowdfunded and disbursed RM6.35 Billion (updated March 2021). 

#2: Types of Investments:

Investors can choose to invest in these different types of notes within Funding Societies: 

  1. Business Term Financing 
  2. Accounts Receivable Financing
  3. Accounts Payable Financing
  4. Guaranteed Investment Notes

Business term financing

Investors are able to give financing to SMEs businesses.

The tenor ranges between 1 month to 24 months.

The returns range from 8% – 18% p.a. depending on the credit risk of the issuer. 

Accounts Receivable Financing

The Issuer sells their future receivables or invoices that the seller’s issue to their customers (“Buyer”) to get immediate cash.

Tenor is in the range of 15 days to 120 days.

Interest = (Interest rate per annum / 360 days) X 20 days. 

Accounts Payable Financing

This is an unsecured product used to fund the transaction(s) of the Issuer. For example, purchasing raw materials needed to manufacture steels pipes. 

Tenor: range of 15 days to 150 days.

The Service Fee is up to 30% on interest earned, based on the products invested. 

Guaranteed Investment Notes (love this product!!)

This investment note actually guarantees your principal & interest.

Interest can range from 4 – 8%

#3: How Much Am I Making? 

Just this year, I have earned around RM6K! (Started investing on 4 January 2021)

investment with funding societies profits

My annualized portfolio performance (interest) is 11.21% per annum.

investment with funding societies profit

To put this interest into perspective, 

Bank Savings Account = 0.05% base interest rate (Source: www.imoney.my) 

Fixed Deposit = 1.75% (Source: https://loanstreet.com.my)

Funding Societies = 11.21% (before fees and tax)

After fees and tax, the gain from FS is approximately 8% per annum.

Is 8% appealing?

For me, yes.

Even better, it’s 8% compounding interest!

Compounding interest works when your interest grows more interest.

It just means that you continue letting your money make more money for you, without you trading your time for money.

And the amount will gradually increase in the coming years. 

The best part: No headaches of the market mood swings/crashes or property management or whatsoever.

If I were to continue depositing and investing at my current speed, the amount would be exponential.

#4: What Is My Risk? 

Similar to any other type of investment, there are certain risks involved.

The P2P platform works like a financing supplier (like a banker) and there would be dangers of potential credit defaults and late instalments. 

However, here are some ways that Funding Societies manage risk: 

  1. Rigorous Assessment – FS performs a full credit assessment for each and every note issued. They only approve creditworthy businesses.
  2. Financial Soundness – FS verifies with the credit bureau reports (CCRIS and CTOS scores) of all directors including checks for credit litigation history against the company. [If a company has a bad record, you can be sure that it’ll not be listed in FS]

To reduce risk to as low as possible (even 0), I myself invest heavily into Guaranteed Investment Notes. 

#5: How Much Can You Invest?

You may start opening an account and depositing a sum of RM 1,000. 

From this sum, you can start investing as little as RM 100 per note into different companies. 

If you invest more than RM 50,000, you’ll be considered as an angel investor of FS!

The transaction fee is RM0 (so far to date, 13 Dec 2021). 

#6: How To Check Your Portfolio? 

Go to menu > portfolio (3rd icon)

Within your portfolio, you may check:

  1. The total number of investments
  2. Number of ongoing investments
  3. Expected returns
  4. Annualized portfolio performance
  5. Unpaid repayments
  6. Expected repayments this month
  7. Outstanding principal exposure – How much money is currently invested in the notes. It includes how much you’ve deposited into FS + interest gains from past months + bonuses.
  8. Current principal defaults – How much was defaulted in the notes?

#7: Can You Withdraw Anytime?

Yes, if you would like to withdraw your money (balance cash – You can see this on the top right corner), you may withdraw anytime! 

It’ll take around 3 – 5 business days before you see it in your bank account. 

However, if the money has been invested into the notes, you’ll have to wait till the tenor ends before you withdraw your money.

#8: How Can You Open An Account? 

Signing up isn’t hard at all! 

There aren’t any fees to open up an account.

If you’re interested in investing with Funding Societies, you can click on this link.

Disclosure: This is my affiliate link. When you sign up using this link and invest RM 1000, both you and I will be credited an extra RM 30 from FS.

Let’s start investing and make money!

BONUS: If you’re new and you’re unsure of what types of investment notes to invest into…

I’d suggest you start off by investing in Guaranteed Investment Notes.

Read here: How to set up Guaranteed Investment Auto Bot through Funding Societies