August 2007

The Archives

• China Toys Recall

  08.05.07 | Permalink |Toys| 6 Comments

  
  
  

  A friend of mine sent me this email and would like to alert you parents out there. Mattel recalls high lead toys. If you have bought any of those toys, return it and get your money back. Last time, I so wanted to get that Barney phone for my children, fortunately I didn’t.

  Three toys affected are Barney Best Manners Phone, Sing ’N Play Alphabook and Giggle Gabbers. The toys were recall because of excessive lead found in the paint of the toys. We really have to be careful when buying toys from China. There is no way for us to tell if something like this happens.

• Stress Reliever

  08.04.07 | Permalink |Uncategorized| 2 Comments

  When you are tired and stress, it is good to take a deep breathe, clear your mind and relax. Take yourself out of this world into a fairy tale world. Learn from the children. How often do you see a child with stress? But they can give you some, if you want. Jokes aside, they are simple and all they want is fun.

  Some fairy tales to recommend is Mulan, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Nemo and Cinderella. Of cause, there are many others. Watch one of this and you find yourself in a magical world. A great way to relieve stress, try it.

  I just finished watching Lizzie McGuire Movie – This Is What Dreams Are Made Off. It feels good.

  
  
  

• Cashing US Cheque

  08.02.07 | Permalink |Finances| 1 Comment

  
  
  

  I sold some shares a month ago and the broker sent me a US cheque. As you know there are bank fees involved in cashing US cheque. The cheque needs to send back to the US bank for verification. The bank told me that they charged 0.1% of the amount on the cheque, minimum RM10. Stamp duty is RM0.15. I went to CIMB to cash out my cheque. It took around 4 weeks to cash out. I heard Citibank giving a lower rate if you have an account with them. Not sure how true.

  If you are selling shares amounting to greater than US10K, it is better to use wire transfer as the cost of that is US25. Save the hassle and faster turn around time to get your money.

• Increase Your EPF Funds

  08.01.07 | Permalink |Finances, Investment| 6 Comments

  
  
  

  How many of you have invested in Unit Trust? How many of you know how? I am not a pro as well in Unit Trust investment so I chose to take a lower risk Unit Trust investment. Malaysia still got a lot of work to do in making Unit Trust work for us. Before investing, I did some research and reading on the good funds out there. Public Mutual has won a couple of awards and some of the funds have good track record of their yearly earnings.

  Do you know you can use your EPF funds to invest? You are eligible if

  1) Your balance greater than RM55K in Account 1
  2) Below 55 years old
  3) Must not have any withdrawal from Account 1 in last 3 months.

  The minimum amount you can invest is RM1K and maximum is 20% of your balance in Account 1 minus 50K.

  Withdrawal Documents required are 2 copies of your NRIC with clear thumb prints and completed the application forms. It will take 1-2 weeks for it to process if your agent is efficient.

  I have invest in Public Mutual Savings Fund for 3 years now and the average return is 8%, not bad yeah as compare to the EPF 4-5%. For saving funds, if the company profits, dividends are given to boost up your investment. Lastly, to maximize the growth of your funds, you have to increase the fund yearly by doing a yearly withdrawal.

  I am not an agent of any of the funds mentioned. In all investment there are risks. Do not simply blindly make an investment based on what agents tell you. Previously I have bought other trust funds that made loses, beware of those. Do the research and see the historical records. Most of it is published in TheEdge or other investment magazines.