Fresh graduates of generation Y are met with financial challenges that are daunting. Each and every year, hundreds of thousands of graduates are produced lining up to enter the adult world of working, as if competition isn’t already fierce enough, the economy has been at its brink in Malaysia. How are we able to recover from this crisis and live in a country that we hope will flourish? Maybe in the next decade?
The thoughts of living in your dream house and starting a family with your other half seems so far away for the freshies. Kids whos parents who are in the 1% may not be feeling the financial burden just yet, it is only a matter of time until the lavish lifestyle that they once had is now so far fetched, if they continue to just enjoy the present but not preserving the wealth for the future generations to come.
One of the best ways to get your money to work for you is by investing. Investment comes in many forms:
1. Investing in yourself – Education
2. Investing in the market – Stocks, REIT, Bonds, funds
3. Investing in properties – Appreciation in property value
4. Investing in other successful businesses.
A word of advice is to do your research in investment before you start, or you’d risk diving head on to unfamiliar grounds just to find yourself broke and out of place. No matter young or old, use your age and experience towards your advantage.
Be willing to fail and pick yourself up from the hard blows in life, experiences of failure is a key factor to push one closer to success. For beginners, I suggest investing in the US market index funds, these are generally funds with high rate of return, which has very low administration costs (expense ratio) as compared to the other type of funds like ETFs/stocks/mutual funds etc.
Minimum Balances and Initial Deposit
Generally, the minimum investment amount for Vanguard mutual funds is $3,000 which is somewhat steep for the first time investor. However, for Vanguard ETFs, the minimum is only 1 share and might be best suited for beginning investors. Vanguard also offers admiral shares which have even lower in annual fees. To qualify:
- Invest $10,000 or more in most Vanguard index funds that offer Admiral Shares.
- Invest $50,000 or more in Vanguard actively managed funds that offer Admiral Shares.
Vanguard recently lowered the dollar requirements and is great news for investors.
Conclusion:
Relying on a stable income job is not enough to give you the life you desire as you sell your time for money. You have to start building side income through startups and online businesses to actually support your dream and make them come true.
Life of a Malaysian entrepreneur 