I AM blessed to be able to work with my stable of meticulously selected financial planning clients. While my practice provides holistic financial planning guidance to them, my core specialisations are retirement planning and funding.
While licensed financial planners like me may provide guidance and advice in the crucial endeavour of preparing for a great retirement, each person should commit to lifelong learning for herself or himself. Let me be blunt:
In my professional opinion, all Malaysian adults who want to succeed financially should familiarise themselves with two information pools associated with FPAM or the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia.
The first is the association’s resource page: https://www.fpam.org.my/resources/; I suggest you begin by reading or (better yet) studying articles like “Diversification: What It is All About” and “The Importance of Asset Allocation”.
The second source of great information is the Smart Finance portal that FPAM helped develop. In it, you can identify licensed financial planners throughout Malaysia, searchable by location. So, regardless of whether you live in an urban or rural setting, visit https://smartfinance.my/planners and type in your state, city or nearest town.
The site will then generate a list of licensed financial planners in those localities. I recommend identifying three to five candidates to help you. Then interview them to see who best fits your personality and needs.
Over the decades I have crunched financial numbers for hundreds of people intent on retiring well. My own analyses suggest more than 85% of them need between RM500,000 and RM20 mil to meet all their retirement goals.
Admittedly, those who specifically approach me for such calculations tend to be ambitious, proficient in English and laser-focused on success which means they are drawn from the upper echelons of aspirational Malaysians.
Many outside that success-oriented group are victims of flawed government policies that over the last 50 years have chipped away at the earning capabilities of millions of Malaysians who now find themselves incapable of functioning in a meritocratic global marketplace.
Assuming you belong to the most aspirational group of proactive Malaysians, decide how you wish to live in the future when you willingly retire or – worse yet – are retired by your employer and lack subsequent work options.
(If this disturbs you, you’re welcome to attend one of my free monthly public webinars on financial planning and retirement planning. Details: https://learn.rajendevadason.com.)
If you take charge of your finances today and gradually figure out how to keep working productively for another one to four decades, you will end up in better financial shape than most of your peers who do not take the vital financial planning process seriously.
So, will you safeguard your tomorrows by getting your act together today?
Rajen Devadason, CFP, licensed financial planner with Manulife Investment Management (M) Bhd and CEO of RD WealthCreation Sdn Bhd.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Pic credit: The Motley Fool
