"No matter how much you earn, always remember to divide your income into Five Parts Proportionately. Always Make Yourself Useful!" - Li Ka-Shing
Living Expenses – Set aside 30% of your income for living expenses, if rental is an issue for you, co-rent with others, you may consider moving to places that are considered inaccessible, rental will be significantly low. Covid19 brings in the possibility of working from home and if you are good at what you are doing, or having the skill set that others need, all you need is just a reasonable Internet Connection.
Remember to eat healthily, cooking is simpler than it seems and when your body is in a good state, you won’t be spending unnecessary money on medical fees but to save it for your personal growth or even give yourself a good treat. If you live by yourself, it could mean cooking 2 meals in a go, well, it can be boring, but no one said this would be easy.
Forgo the thoughts of completing your meal with dessert or milk tea, bring along a tumbler and start drinking warm water instead. It quenches your thirst and it’s definitely a healthier choice.
Networking Expenses – There’s a saying, “Your Network is Your Networth” and there’s another saying “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Well, I can attest to that. Most of us do not grow up with the benefactor we need in our life. If you want to be successful, you have to surround yourself with people you feel are successful.
While there are many different matrices to measure a person success, I will leave some common suggestions on who you can start to spend more time with and you can make your adjustment according to what you need.
Set Aside 20% of your income and treat 2-3 lunches to these people in a 121 setup. You have to be prepared that they might have company and it is a good practice to include those who are around. Your network will not just grow wide but grow deep. Remember to order something for yourself too.
Personal Development Fund – Invest in yourself is the best investment you could make. Set aside 15% of your income and attend courses that equip you with the knowledge and skillset to be better, to be more effective in mind.
Of course, you can read and do your research, on the contrary, it is not the best use of your time and money. There is 3 benefit that attending Courses is more effective.
You learn the right application that has been tested by the course trainer.
Experience Life Fund – Set aside 10% of your income for your dream trip. We are managing our income, that doesn’t mean we have to live like a miser. I came across so many people that travel frequently but just 3-4days trip and when I asked them, “What makes you travel?” Often answer I got from them is they want to experience other cultures.
Well, I’m not trying to be rude, but I’m going to say is that 3-4days of trips often do not, one visit what we call a tourist attraction and psychologically it is more like a getaway than experience life in a foreign land.
Those are the places that you see the best of people. If you are truly looking to experience how’s life is like in foreign land, go for a 2-3weeks trip, live among the locals (like Airbnb, backpackers hotel or a 3-star hotel if they are allowed to receive foreigner.
Never Work Again Fund – Set aside 25% of your income for this. If you have not realised, this is the second biggest pie after living expenses. I’m not suggesting that you will turn into a couch potato or travel aimlessly.
But when you have funds that grow by themselves, you can now do what you love, what you are passionate about and run it as a business.
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life!”
Remember the days when our parents say no to us, the rebel side of us will talk back (in an expressive manner or it stays in our inner voice but it will sound like this), “When I grow up, I will do whatever I want, whenever I want!”
But most of these voices are drowned by the jobs we chose and a bigger cage we lock ourselves in. Look for a business coach to guide you and find what you truly enjoy and run it as a business. You are paid while you are having fun, isn’t that great?
If you have a debt to clear, you may want to consider asking for minimum payment from the bank, do note that you might have an F rating on your credit bureau for a while, but it will reduce the bank interest that you are going to pay. After paying on time for 3-months, call the bank and request them to further decrease the minimum payment, if the request is rejected, request for the bank manager to call back.
In most cases they will do their best to help you, the last thing they want is to have their debt defaulted.
You decide if you want to use the Never Work Again Fund to pay off your debt or to grow your income. And one shouldn’t prioritise paying off your Mortgage loan, that’s because it’s usually the lowest interest compare to other types of loan.
And if you are into investing, and if you want to be very successful in a very short time, that would be a topic that I will cover in my next article in the coming week.
This article first appeared on Forex 100 Academy
