Financial Freedom

I used to be amazed by the idea and concept of financial freedom ... my first exposure to it was by reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" back in my university days ... and subsequently a lot more of this kind of books .... the idea is really very attractive and who does not want to earn a lot while not doing anything ??? But i think at some point, i somehow feel the idea is wrongly bought ....

Network marketing for instance an example .... nothing against it at all but i think the business itself have been using the concept of "Financial freedom" too heavily to attract and encourage their workforce to do well .... i totally agree that network marketing is one of the path to financial freedom ... but i also believe that above all, professionalism and passion shall must be the upmost important in this customer service industry .... not oneself interest for pursuing "financial freedom"

I have also come across many insurance agent which called themselves "retail financial consultant/planner" ... but all they do is to sell you insurance policy ... dun get me wrong, i am a very supportive for people to buy insurance ... in financial planning, they called it our primary protection ... which is very important to safeguard ourselves and family ... before we can even think of doing other investment for our pursue for financial freedom .... but the question is, how many actually giving professional consultation to their client and help them to plan their financial protection ... i think most of the time, the more a client buy the better ... that is the rule of thumb ... sorry to say, but honestly have not encountered any insurance agent that really draft a policy based on the client's needs, by understanding their commitment and level of income ... and recommend an optimize policy which can fully benefit their client ... instead i do see a lot that always asked the client how much maximum they are willing to pay ... and trying sell the most expensive policy to the client by convincing them it is actually worth it ... at the same time squeezing every penny out of the client .... i know not all insurance agent is like that ... i know some decent one also ... but " one bad apple spoils the barrel"

So to what extent does this financial freedom concept actually influenced our life ... honestly, i think it well much do today .... and i do strongly encourage all to pursue and fight for it ... but obviously not to the expense of sacrificing one professionalism and morality ... and the most important thing you must be happy doing it ... because believe me it's a long and suffering process ... and if you dun enjoy doing it ... you will trade years of your happiness in life for a mere "concept"

A good friend of mine has started to embark on his journey to search for financial freedom, and i am really fascinated by his commitment and fighting spirit ... something that i have always admire and still trying to learn .... so if you are interested to find out more ... please visit http://malaysiainvestmenttips.com/

And to those who is planning and already embark on this wonderful journey for financial freedom ... GOOD LUCK !!!!!

Simplicity

Human life started simple ... seeking for food and shelter everyday just to survive through .... but today we are seeking 5-star fine dining and big houses to get our day by ... is it necessary??? Human are getting more complex day by day and the world we lived today is really overcomplicated, as a consequence for the human nature to pursue more in life ....

I couldn't agree more, things like handphone and internet services has become a "necessity" in out life today .... can we live without it??? yes .... but are we willing to live without it ??? NO ....

Now let's look into the what is in our mind nowadays .... good insurance policy, good house. good car, good school for our children, good company, good salary, good companion .... we are trying very hard to carve out our short term, middle term and long term 20 years plan for us to achieve as much as we can .... and again is it necessary ???

People always complain that they are working very hard to make end meets, and ironically some people complain about it with a cup of freshly brewed cappucino in the hand at Starbucks ...

Some people opted to live in a simple life, but it always misunderstood as resistance to self improvement .... but when we seek for improvement, material needs which are beyond our basic needs ... at the end of the day what are we trying to achieve??? better quality of life living at a big house, eating out at 5-star hotel ?? when we are busy selling our time in exchange for our "improvement" ... we might forget that our health is deteriorating and that we spent lesser with family and close friends ... so again everything for the sake of "better quality of life" that money can buy ....

We might have forgotten that how simple is it for us to stay healthy; regular exercise rather than expensive supplements and medication .... how simple is it for us to bring up our child; constant care and attention rather than expensive private school fees + tuition fees .... how simple is it that we can care for our parents; a regular visit rather than splashing them with expensive gifts .... and how simple is it to keep in contact with our friends; an e-mail, a phone call or a teh tarik session

So allow ourselves to look into how simple life can be .... and make improvements from there on

Home sweet home

In this competitive world nowadays, it is very common for most of us to study and work away from home; whether it is just our neighbouring state up to half a globe away. I have stepped out from home barely a month after i finished SPM, got an offer to study at UTP (University Technology Petronas). Since then, I have been at home maybe around 4 months a year, and the number is slowly and surely decreasing as i moved on. Today working as a offshore field engineer which is based at miri, i hardly be at home. This year itself, i have only been back once and it's already July.

I think many of us today faced the same situation. We always try to get the best opportunity available, even in the expense of leaving home and struggle somewhere else. Home is getting lesser weightage when it comes to our consideration for a job. We always think that our parent will understand and home will always be around while opportunity doesn't comes by always. It's true, our parent will always understand us even though they might missed us dearly, and yes it's true that home is always be around, just that we didn't realize that family bond might be fading. Time is always ticking, and we will one day soon realize that we are trading a lot of good things at home for our ambition and money.

People always say that their hometown food is the best, whether theirs is at kuching, ipoh, penang or even subang jaya. That is how much we love our hometown, as we live our childhood and teenage life in this place called hometown. We will never forget the path that we walked everyday to school, the junkfood we bought at the stall outside our school and the playground that we used see-saw and swing. Sweet memories about home will always emerged in our mind, because no other place is better or sweeter than home.

So no matter how busy we are or no matter how inconvenient it is, make your best effort to go home as there is no place like home. Call home often when we still have a chance. This blog is dedicated to me and all my friends out there, to remind ourself about our "home sweet home".