Powered By Blogger

Monday, September 13, 2010

NEWS - September 2010 -GEMPAR!!!

Malaysian cosmetics millionairess murdered
Police hunting for a missing Malaysian cosmetics millionairess believe she has been murdered, her body burned and ashes scattered in a river.

By Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok
Published: 6:56PM BST 12 Sep 2010
Malaysian cosmetics millionairess murdered
Sosilawati Lawiya disappeared with her driver, lawyer and a banker
Sosilawati Lawiya, 47, was a recognisable figure in Malaysia and her disappearance has dominated the local press for since she vanished almost two weeks ago.
Ms Sosilawati, founder of the popular Malaysian cosmetics brand Nouvelle Visages, disappeared with her driver, lawyer and a banker.

Police discovered the remains of the four at a palm oil plantation in the central state of Selangor, after eight people arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murders – including a 38-year-old lawyer believed to be the mastermind – led officers to the scene.
Bakri Zinin, head of the police's criminal investigations department, said he believed business rivalry between the glamorous cosmetics tycoon and the lawyer was the motive behind the murders.
The eight suspects, two of them women, are also being investigated in the disappearances of four other people a year ago in suspiciously similar circumstances.
Malaysia has been enrapt since Ms Sosilawati disappeared on August 30 and the manhunt grew in intensity.
The discovery of her car outside a hotel in a Kuala Lumpur suburb last Monday fuelled an already feverish interest.
The suspects, who have not been named, pointed police to the four hectare palm oil plantation at Tajong Sepat, 30 miles south-east of Kuala Lumpur, where officers found the remains along with a knife.
The suspects admitted that they had taken their victims there, bludgeoned them to death, burned the bodies and then threw the ashes in a nearby river.
Officer Bakri declined to say if any bones were found, but said forensics tests were been conducted to establish the identities of the remains.
"I can say that Sosilawati Lawiya and three others are believed to have been murdered and their bodies burned with ashes strewn in a river near the coast of the south-western part of the state," he said.
"We will have to do a DNA analysis to fully determine the identity of the remains, but we are confident these are the remains of the four."
The eight could face the death penalty if convicted.

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind - Initially, T. Harv Eker’s Eker

 Eker lists seventeen ways in which the financial blueprints of the rich differ from those of the poor and the middle-class.
  1. Rich people believe: “I create my life.” Poor people believe: “Life happens to me.” (This is HUGE. Every successful person I know is control of her life. Unhappy people are constantly complaining to me how this, that, or the other thing prevents them from doing something.)
  2. Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.
  3. Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.
  4. Rich people think big. Poor people think small.
  5. Rich people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.
  6. Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people. (This is important, too — it seems to hold true among my friends.)
  7. Rich people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people. (Another important one.)
  8. Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
  9. Rich people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.
  10. Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
  11. Rich people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.
  12. Rich people think “both”. Poor people think “either/or”.
  13. Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
  14. Rich people manage their money well. Poor people mismanage their money well.
  15. Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.
  16. Rich people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them. (This is big for me right now. I’ve accomplished most of the goals I set for myself, and need to set some new ones. But I have this nagging fear, because I’m moving into the unknown. Eker says that successful people act in spite of this fear. They move beyond worry, they “fake it til they make it”, learning as they go. Unsuccessful people do nothing at all.)
  17. Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.
                                                                                                                                                                          

How to Think Like a Self-Made Millionaire


For the longest time, I was taught by my family to go to school and go to college and get a good job as an employee for a stable employer. "Be a doctor," they said. "Be a lawyer," they said. "Get one with a good benefits and retirement plan," they demanded. My grandmother was so adamant that I went to a good university, that my graduation from the University of California, Santa Barbara outweighed all of my other accomplishments that I considered to be much greater than getting my getting a degree.
What's the fixation on going to college, getting a degree and getting a stable job? Personally, I think that it is an old-school mentality based upon fear. The second tier on Maslow's Hierarchy of needs deals with a human being's inherent need for safety and security. In our caveman days, security was finding a cave that would keep out the saber-toothed tigers. Today, it means financial security. You see, back in my Grandma's days, there was very little financial security. In her lifetime she has seen five U.S. wars, been wrongful imprisoned by the American government during World War II because she was a Japanese-American, suffered through the great depression of the 1930s, and dealt with the "Black Monday" stock market crash of 1987. Empathizing with her life, I can see how she would value high education and a stable job because anything else would be too unstable in her mind. I got my degree and made her happy, but I had no desire to trade my time for money and have another person be in control of my freedom as well as the amount of money that I could make.
Myth: Formal Education will Lead to Higher Financial Success
I coasted through college without any intensive study or desire to study. In fact, I was a horrible student in terms of study habits. I credit my finishing college only to my innate ability to pick the right multiple-choice answers based upon deductive reasoning and my love of writing research papers. All the while I was there though, I was looking for information that I could take to the streets--practical information that I could put to use, after all, I was paying tens of thousands of dollars for my top-notch education, but I went through my college education with perhaps only three classes that really provided me with some good useful information.
Like many college graduates discover, I found out that when you get out of college, you enter the business world that cares little about education and wants marketable trade-specific skills. So there I was with my diploma in hand, finding out that I was no better off than a high-school graduate. In fact, I was at a disadvantage from those who had entered the workforce right out of high school because they had worked their way up and developed marketable experience and skill sets that were prized by employers. I felt kind of swindled because all my life I was told, graduate from college and the money will be there.
The truth might hurt, but the record must be set straight and that is that in this day and age employee's with a four-year degree are a dime a dozen. As an employer now myself, I can say that a four-year education tells me that you can read and write well, but little more than that. What I look for is experience and practical knowledge. I'm not saying that a four-year education is worthless, but that it's weight on the career negotiating table is not as heavy as it once was. Let me put it another way: Going to college will make you a good employee, but it does not guarantee wealth.
The Employee Salary Trap
Getting a corporate salary is the biggest hindrance to wealth building if you are choosing that as your sole vehicle for wealth. That's because for most of us, our salary is fixed by our employers and any and all raises are dictated by our employers. In short, we won't get rich unless our employer says we can. Unfortunately, I haven't met a single employer in my time who has decided to make their employee rich. Being on salary is stable and people like being stable, but in order to develop a millionaire-mindset, you must get away from looking at your salary as the only means of income around. Being a salaried employee is not a bad thing at all. You can use the experience to learn and acquire new skills and have a stable stream of income to pay the bills. I'm just saying that you should not rely on your salary exclusively if you intend to become rich because at best, your employer will only allow you to make a decent living, not to become rich.
Self-Employed Versus Business-Owner
Private practice doctors, lawyers, and all other similar high-paying service professions make a decent living, but they aren't what I consider rich by their professions alone. That is because even though their per-hour salary is higher than the average, their wealth framework is still the same as the gardener making only $8.00 per hour--and that is that they are still trading their time for money.
What's wrong with that? Well, it's because we only have a limited amount of time in the day to monetize. Granted these professionals have broken free from the corporate dictatorship, but they have another problem that they face--Stop working equals no income. That means if these individuals are out sick, or on a vacation, or get injured, then all their source of income dries up because they can't trade their time for money. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on these individuals to stay busy, which is in part why I think lawyers are the most jittery people I know. That leads me to this point: being self-employed means you are trading time for money while being a business-owner means you are using the power of leverage.
What's Leverage?                                                                    
Business-owners are the wealthiest people on this planet and many of them do not have any formal college degree. A good example is Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who is worth approximately 25 billion dollars at the time of this writing. He dropped out of Harvard and founded his own company. Business-owners use the power of leverage, which in this context, simply means that they get more from their one hour of time than do the self-employed or the employees. In Gates' instance, he developed a computer operating system which he licensed out. He put effort into creating one product that delivered a lot of value to its buyers and he profited immensely from that.
But you don't have to write software to become rich like Bill Gates. People who purchase real estate work off the same passive income model. People who invest do the same. In the service arena, smart service professionals start contracting others to provide the actual services and take a cut on the profit, thereby creating value for both the service provider and the customer. That is leveraging services.
Business-owners look for multiple streams of income. Employees believe that they have a level of security in their job, but a surprise layoff or getting fired could end that security as fast as it was obtained. Worst yet, the employee has nothing more than unemployment benefits to work off of. A business-owner might lose one of his streams of income, but still has others to work off of. This is what I think of as safety--having multiple streams of income.
Take a Risk
In my Personal Development sessions, I advise people to face their fears head on because in taking on that challenge, it causes them to grow, both personally and professionally. Entrepreneurs and employees both have to deal with failures, but smart entrepreneurs are not afraid to take that risk, knowing that it will bring them one step closer to success. Be willing to try new ideas and to step out of the box. Look for additional ways you can make money and don't just talk about it--DO IT. That's one of the most powerful concepts that makes people millionaires--the ability to act.
Key Points
While this article only briefly talks about the millionaire-mindset, take with you these key points:
* All of us have the same amount of time during the day and we can only sell so much of our time.
* If you trade your time for money, the best you will do is earn a decent living. You won't get rich by this model.
* Find ways of leveraging what you do to get more out of your time and hence more money.
* Create passive income by way of products, software, or investment vehicles that produce a positive cash flow to create multiple streams of income.
* Don't wait for the perfect time because it will never happen. Act now, even if your plan is not perfect.
If you looking something you want  to create a passive income please don’t  hesitate to call me :
Fauziah Mahfodz  019 745 0580 or email me   fauziahmahfodz@gmail.com

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Saving Money Saving Money Tips and Tricks to Help Keep Cash in Your Pocket

Saving money, or the saving habit as Napoleon Hill put it so many years ago, is the foundation of all financial success, including investing. Having money saved is what provides the means for you to take advantage of situations, whether it's going back to college, starting a new business, or buying shares of stock when the market crashes. These saving money resources will provide a foundation and answer questions such as, "How much money should I be saving?" and "What is the difference between saving and investing?". You'll also learn the best places to save things like down payment money on a house.

Saving Money vs. Investing

Did you know there is a huge difference between saving money and investing? Unless you were fortunate enough to be the child of a wealthy banker or investor, it's unlikely anyone ever taught you this. Both saving money and investing have their place in your life. How you handle your savings vs. your investments can have big implications for your financial success, stress level, and how wealthy you ultimately become.
Before you begin on your journey to building wealth and finding financial independence, it’s important you understand a few basics. One of the big keys is that saving and investing are two related, but independent, processes that you shouldn’t confuse. A disciplined investor could find himself with dozens of real estate rental properties but unable to pay his bills if he didn’t appreciate the balancing act between the two foundations of success.
Perhaps the best place to begin for new investors is to define the difference between saving and investing
  • Saving is the process of putting cold, hard cash aside and parking it in extremely safe, and liquid (meaning they can be sold or accessed in a very short amount of time, at most a few days) securities or accounts. This can include FDIC insured checking accounts, savings accounts, short-term certificates of deposit, or United States Treasury Bills. It can even include FDIC insured money market accounts (but not money market funds, which are not insured). The highest goal for these funds should be to keep pace with inflation but you should avoid risk at all costs.
  • Investing is the process of using money (called “capital”) to buy an asset that you think will generate a safe and acceptable return over time, making you wealthier with each passing year. An investment can include anything from a small business to fine art, rare wines to gold coins, comic books to stocks, mutual funds, bonds, real estate, and antiques, just to name a few. It can also include song rights, patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property, as it is often called. Good investments are the soundest way of growing wealthy but can take time, perhaps even years, to work out because we live in an uncertain world.

How Much Should I Save Versus How Much Should I Invest?      

Saving always comes first. Think of it as the foundation upon which your financial house is built. The reason is simple - unless you inherit a large amount of money, it is your savings that will provide you with the capital to feed your investments.
There are two primary types of savings programs you should include in your life. They are
  • As a general rule, your savings should be sufficient to cover all of your personal expenses, including your mortgage, loan payments, insurance costs, utility bills, food, and clothing expenses for at least six months. That way, if you lose your job, you’ll be able to have sufficient time to adjust your life without the extreme pressure that comes from living paycheck to paycheck.
  • Any specific purpose in your life that will require a large amount of cash in five years or less should be savings-driven, not investment-driven. The stock market in the short-run can be extremely volatile, losing more than 50% of its value in a single year. Purchasing a home is a great example as we discussed in Best Places To Invest Your Down Payment Money.
Only after that these things are in place, and you have health insurance, should you begin investing (this really is vital – for more information on why, read Investing in Health Insurance – One of the First Lines of Defense for Your Portfolio.

What are unit trust funds?

What are unit trust funds?

Unit trust funds, also known as managed investments, allow you to pool your money with that of many other investors so that the unit trust fund can buy a wide range of investments managed by a professional team. This includes investments which may not ordinarily be available to you through direct investment such as large commercial properties and corporate bonds.


Direct investment versus unit trust funds - 'pros' and 'cons'?

Once you have decide to invest, you have a choice of investing directly or through a unit trust fund. Which method is appropriate may well depend on your individual investment needs, however, using professional fund managers can generally provide better returns over the long-term.

Fund managers tend to outperform individual investors because:
  • Their portfolios are constructed using a defined and consistent investment philosophy;
  • Fund managers have a far greater access to quality information including company contacts, competitors and customers than do individual investors;
  • Fund managers employ full-time investment professionals to monitor investment markets and the way economic developments affect these markets;
  • The size of their portfolios generally means that fund managers can more easily reduce risk through greater diversification. They can also reduce risk by implementing sophisticated risk-management techniques involving the use of derivatives; and
  • Fund managers have the economies of scale to reduce expenses through lower transaction costs. For example, fund managers generally pay much lower commissions to stockbrokers. 
Outperformance is just one of the benefits of a unit trust fund

Unit trust funds aim to offer more than just higher returns. Many also provide investors with:
  • Complete administration and reporting. This includes the calculation of investment returns and the provision of personalized tax guides;
  • Up-to-date commentary on fund performance;
  • Specially trained customer service staff;
  • Quick and easy access to their funds; and
  • Simplicity.  
For whom are unit trusts most suitable?

Unit trusts are a simple and convenient investment option for people who have a long-term investment horizon but do not have either the time, desire, or expertise to invest directly in financial markets.

Unit trusts can be particularly suitable for smaller, first time investors as they offer the opportunity to establish a broadly diversified portfolio of assets with a relatively small amount of money.

However, larger investors can also benefit from unit trusts as they provide access to the expertise of professional investment managers.

When you invest in a unit trust fund, your money buys 'units' in that fund, at a price that is struck for that particular day. Over the period in which you invest, the unit trust price will move up and down as the value of the investments with the unit trust fund rise or fall. Returns from a unit trust fund are typically calculated based on movements in the bid (or withdrawal) unit trust price and assume any income distributions paid to investors are reinvested in the fund as additional units.



What are Unit Trusts? ________________________________________


Stokvels, mutual funds, equity funds, unit trusts - to thousands of  investors all of these are more or less the same thing. To a certain extent they are quite right. Many individuals cannot accumulate large enough pools of money to give them access to an expensive service or product. In the case of Stokvels - the original term was probably "stock fairs" - the individual then uses the pooled money to buy goods in bulk at a lower price, or to negotiate better returns or loans at low rate of interest.
Unit trusts work in very much the same way. They obtain something that is almost impossible for individuals - blue chip shares. Shares are the main commodity traded by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Some types of shares - known as blue chip shares - are in demand and are therefore expensive. Examples of blue chips are Driefontein gold mines, Suncrush and South African Breweries. Daily newspapers publish the prices of these shares and many others on their financial pages.
The high prices of some shares have been as effective as a Yale lock and an iron bar in prohibiting investors from purchasing them. A golden key to unlocking these riches is now in the hands of even the most modest investor. That key - unit trusts - is available to everybody.
Unit trusts are not insurance products. Many insurance companies who market life assurance, retirement annuities and other related products, also act as management companies for unit trusts. Along with life assurance, retirement annuities, etc., unit trusts fulfill a very important role in the individual's portfolio.
How do they work?         
Unit trusts are the pooled resources of thousands of investors who have entrusted their money to a management company.
The management company buys shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on behalf of the investors. The trust does not give the shares to the investor, but combines them in a portfolio. The management then divides the portfolio into many equal "units." The investor receives a certain number of units for the money he has entrusted to the company that manages the unit trust.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange represents the main sectors of the economy. These are gold, other mining, mining houses and industry. The unit trusts represent each of these four sectors in their units. A fifth sector - liquid assets or cash - completes the contents of a unit trust portfolio.
Anyone can buy units by investing a single lump sum or by investing on a regular monthly basis. In most equity or share investments there is always an element of risk. Fluctuations of share prices on the JSE cause this risk and are also responsible for their increase or decrease in value.
However, the fluctuations in unit trusts are often not so severe. Shares that show a stable or better performance cushion the drop in price of other shares. This is especially the case with the general unit trusts, where risks are lower than in the specialist trusts because the general unit trusts gain exposure to more sectors.
A barometer of the country's economic health is the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Share prices generally rise in a healthy economy. In an ailing economy, prices will fall and subsequently so will the price of units in a unit trust. That is the bad news!
Bad news becomes good news
Unit trusts utilize the bad news to create good opportunities for investors. In simple terms, the drop in share prices means that more units can be purchased on behalf of the investor for the same amount of capital.
When the downturn cycles (bear markets) are over, the share prices will be lower. The trusts will be able to purchase more units with the same amount of investors' money. The larger number of units purchased then offer a bigger opportunity for growth in an upturn of the market.
This is also why unit trusts are not usually a short-term investment. They are able take advantage of both the downturns and the upturns. Therefore the reasoning is that, the longer the period of investment, the lower the risk.
What are their advantages?
The most obvious advantage of unit trusts is the direct access investors get to wealth creation and profits of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Everyone, regardless of occupation, qualifications, sex or age, can share in this industry that opens the door to every sector of the South African economy.
The beauty of unit trusts is that the investor needs no expert knowledge. The individual doesn't require experience in buying or selling or a knowledge of shares. Teams of professional economic and market analysts will invest on the investor's behalf to ensure the maximum capital and income growth.
With a small regular monthly amount (between R20-R50 depending on the company) or a low single lump sum (between R100-R500 depending on the company), you can share in the biggest and best the economy has to offer investors.
Clearly you don't need to be a millionaire to share in the advantages unit trusts have to offer. Protecting one's buying power has become a major problem, especially in a country with a high inflation rate. Unit trusts are consistently proving their worth by beating inflation over the medium to long term, while giving capital growth.