The Novice » General

Fixed Deposit (FD) rates of banks in Malaysia (August 09)

Alvin Lim — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:00:58 +0000

In March, I wrote a post on the Fixed Deposit rates of the major banks in Malaysia HERE. Not much change since then. Here’s the update for the month of August 2009.

Bank	1 month	3 months	6 months	9 months	12 months
Affin Bank	2.00	2.10	2.20	2.30	2.50
Alliance Bank	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
AmBank	2.00	2.10	2.20	2.20	2.50
Bangkok Bank	2.00	2.05	2.10	2.20	2.50
CIMB Bank	2.00	2.10	2.10	2.10	2.50
Citibank	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
EON Bank	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
Hong Leong Bank	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
HSBC Bank Malaysia	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
Maybank	2.00	2.10	2.10	2.10	2.50
OCBC Bank (M)	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
Public Bank	2.00	2.10	2.10	2.10	2.50
RHB Bank	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
Standard Chartered Bank (M)	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
The Bank of Nova Scotia	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
The Royal Bank of Scotland	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50
United Overseas Bank (M)	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50

There’s not much change to the interest rates of most banks. Most of them have the standard 2.0% for 1-11 months, and 2.50% for 12 months FD. The good thing is major banks like CIMB, Maybank, Public Bank and Ambank are giving pretty good FD rates as compared to the international banks. Most of our accounts are in there anyway. And if you are looking to invest for anything less than a year, I guess the best is Affin even though it is not as accessible as other local banks (not as many branches around).

Hope it helps.

Malaysia’s economy is not good at all

Alvin Lim — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:22:48 +0000

I went back to my hometown Kluang for Chinese New Year break and I’ve noticed a lot of businesses were doing rather badly…even during CNY season. People are cutting down on their spending (not the rich ones of course, since they’re still buying posh cars, properties, etc). My neighbor who is a fish monger, told us that business this year has been very bad since most people would rather buy chicken or other meats and cut down on seafood.

Maybe we can change this to Malaysia Economy...but what about the IMF? Change to?

Even the wife, who is a hair stylist, told us that the number of customers have been reduced by 50% at least.

My dad’s friend (another person), who owns a factory, told us that he has to retrench 20% of his foreign workers because of bad economy. The number of orders have also been greatly reduced.

Well, at least, that factory fares better than some others who are forced to close down, thus increasing the number of jobless people.

I do expect our country to be badly hit somewhere in May or June 2009. Whether we like it or not, and whether our government and central bank like it or not……there are just too many things which we cannot really control – such as the closing down of those factories by the multinational companies. Unless our government can come out with $$ to support those jobless people…otherwise, we might just end up like what happened to US now – people don’t have money to pay back the debts/loans.

That’s why I am really afraid of investing anything in banking stocks. It’s just too risky for me. My speculation might be wrong but well…better be safe than sorry.

Never invest using other people’s money

Alvin Lim — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:24:53 +0000

One of Warren Buffett’s advice is never to invest other people’s money unless you are 100% sure you will not lose those money. And I live by that rule. Not that I have people flocking over me to give me their money in order for them to be part of my “shareholders”. No, I don’t. I’m not Warren.

What I mean here is never to get other people’s money in order to invest – banks included. Because the risk will always be there when it comes to investment. What if the money you get from others, or you borrow from others, started to become lesser than the original amount? Will the “investors” panic? Will YOU panic? How are you going to pay them back? What if there’s a sudden need to repay that amount of money?

For money from banks, it’s worse because it involves interest rate charges. If you are not able to pay the bank on schedule, they will even charge you penalty fees. If the losses in investment don’t kill you, the bank loans will.

That’s why it’s best not to use other people’s money to invest. Even if it’s your own money, you should only use your extra money and not your emergency fund. Because whenever you want to invest in something, you must always begin with a mindset that you are prepared to lose.

Even Warren Buffett cannot be 100% sure he will earn money every year. If you can, do drop me a message, I would love to know how.

Welcome to my Novice blog

Alvin Lim — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:29:22 +0000

I’ll be honest with you. I’m a novice / beginner (or whatever you call someone who is completely new in something) when it comes to investment and money making.

In terms of investment, I did some self-study before I went into stock investment but it was not enough. I started about a year ago and with the recent market crash….you can imagine how much I’ve lost.

20% of my total investment. =_= That’s a lot for someone who is not rich like me.

But I’m not giving up. I still have that 3 ambitions in my mind – to be a successful comic writer, have my own animation studio and to be a successful investor like Warren Buffett.

And thus, I’m starting my life long journey as a novice, learning as I go and sharing with you all the things I’ve learnt. I’m not correct all the time, considering the fact that I’m inexperienced. That’s why I hope that all of you, my readers, would correct me if you found out I’m wrong.

Besides investment, I will also talk about other things like how to earn money aka side income.

Last but not least, thanks for dropping by this new blog of mine. Appreciate it.