Personal Income Tax for 2019 (Assessment in 2020)

It is the end of the year. Have you maximized your tax reliefs?
Below is a simple guide regarding the tax rates and tax reliefs for those who are eligible.

Tax residence status of individuals

An individual is regarded as a tax resident if he meets any of the following conditions, i.e. if he is:

• in Malaysia for at least 182 days in a calendar year;
• in Malaysia for a period of fewer than 182 days during the year (“shorter period”) but that period is linked to a period of the physical presence of 182 or more “consecutive” days in the following or preceding year (“longer period”). Temporary absences from Malaysia due to the following reasons are counted as part of the consecutive days, provided that the individual is in Malaysia before and after each temporary absence:

                               - business trips
                               - treatment for ill-health
                               - social visits not exceeding 14 days

• in Malaysia for 90 days or more during the year and, in any 3 of the 4 immediately preceding years, he was in Malaysia for at least 90 days or was resident in Malaysia; or
• resident for the year immediately following that year and for each of the 3 immediately preceding years.

Emergency Fund - A Simple Guide

What is an Emergency Fund?

An emergency fund is a stash of Ringgit that you set aside for when an emergency happened and it turns your world upside down and you need the Ringgit to do what needs to be done. Having an emergency fund gives you the peace of mind to know that should something truly awful happen, such as losing your job, you can worry about how to deal with the emergency itself and not worry about how you’re going to survive financially.

While a person’s emergency fund will vary from situation to situation, most financial experts agree that a fully stocked emergency fund should hold between three to six months of monthly expenses.

What Investor Are You?

Everyone's investment criteria and risk tolerance are different. Thus, we can be classified into different types of investors. Below are the type of investors that we can be classified in. Have a look at which type of investor are you.

Bigpay - A Review

I am a user of Bigpay for a long time now. I got it when it was launched a long time ago.

I am sharing the good things about this Bigpay Mastercard here for you to decide for yourself...

The Beginner's Guide to REITs in Malaysia

REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is a type of investment vehicle that invests in real estate. REIT's portfolio would consist of one of several of the following:

• Office
• Retail / Commercial
• Healthcare
• Hotels
• Industrial
• Warehouse

It is often listed on stock exchanges. REITs usually receive special tax considerations and usually offer higher dividend yields compared to other companies.

Active Income vs Passive Income

Income is defined as how someone manages to earn or make money. But there are two ways of making money. Below are two the two different type of income:

Active income - Money that you must physically work for it, such as your day job.

Passive income - Money that you will earn without you working for it. such as interest in your saving accounts or dividend from an investment.

The Simple Path to Wealth - JL Collins - A Review

The author of the book advocates a self-directed approach to investing and money management. In short, it tells you to avoid debts, save half of your income, invest your savings in low-cost index funds and ignore the news about the up and down of the stock market.

In the book, you will learn that the investment industry is interested in making you feel that the whole investment process is complex. For this reason, you would need help to be successful in the stock market and your only solution is to go for those advisers that, without you knowing, will earn money for themselves at your expenses.