zzzz Petrol Prices since 1991

data from

http://www2.kpdnkk.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12570&Itemid=419

the sides of GST

Actually GST is good, at least in theory. In practice, it could really go either way. And either way could mean good or bad for somebody and not everybody. This has already been proven in many countries who has adopted GST for ages. But one thing for sure, GST gives the government full Flexibility.

Now or in the past, it started with "I will tax this and that". So sales tax, service tax, government tax, custom tax etc. were introduced. With GST, it started with "I will tax everything" except those I give exceptions.

So system wise, GST is also better. Or in another word, GST is more systematic.

Most people may have known the devil of GST from many blog posts by now, but seriously if you look at the topic with a clear mind and NOT just from consumer point of view, you may realize those are really just purely speculation. However, it may still happen but when it does, it is because the consumers ourselves are making it happen. By thinking it might happen.

Interestingly however, not many people know the official GST info. What is the government thinking with regard to GST ?

• Tax payers will pay less tax
• Industries will save money
• Government can earn more money ( diversify income actually )
• GST will not impact inflation etc.

Got it ?

People who buy will pay less,

people who sell will pay less and

government will have more money.

Interesting or not ? its MAGIC !!

At the end, it really doesn't matter what the big boys are doing. What really matter is what affects you. So forget about agreeing or disagreeing with GST. IT WILL HAPPEN ! You may as well start thinking how to make use of this GST to turn yourself into a part of the HIGH INCOME GROUP.

For that, you may want to check out .... Exempted stuffs


This article was suppose to be read in this sequence.

zzzz's GST - a MAGIC !

Secrect of the MAGIC revealed !

a Perfect World !

What can we do ?

Easy Retirement

This is an extract of what I read in today's newspaper. More and more people start to carry this type of alternative concepts about retirement especially in this 21st century. You can't say its wrong. As a matter of fact, its a rather SMART way to go. But lie within is a huge hidden risk.

The titles in above newspaper read:

1. you don't need much during retirement, coz your liability has reduced
2. living frugal is not hard, mentality is the key
3. you don't need to prepare to retire ?

By the time you retire, you probably don't have any more house loan or car loan to serve. Your body does not allow you to earn that much anymore. Chicks don't get attracted even if you sit in a Porsche. The bigger house you live in the harder it is for you to take care of it. In short, many people plan to 'maintain' their CURRENT lifestyle when they play for their retirement. The fact is you WILL NOT live the SAME lifestyle even if you are financially able to.

Basically the idea of save or accumulate enough so that you can STOP WORKING one day is solely base on the assumption you don't really LIKE what you are doing. You are just doing it for the sake of money or future retirement. Hence when you no longer need that money, you will want to stop working. But what if you REALLY LIKE what you do for a living ? Would you stop even if you have enough money for the rest of your life ? Be it Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or that happy old man by the street ... the answer is obvious. You will keep on doing what you like even if you retire or don't HAVE TO DO IT.

And if you have been doing something that you like for so long, the chance is that you don't really need to worry about living expenses since a long time ago. Incoming cash flow will persist and hence you don't really need to worry or prepare for a retirement. Coz you don't want to retire !!

What do you think about this easy retirement methods ? In contrast to the fundamental of save, invest and accumulate until you have enough to fight against the inflation etc. ?

Which do you prefer ?

21st century trick ...

Once upon a time, there was a gasoline called 97. The cost of this item was $1.80. One day, the governing body wanted to increase the price to $2.10. However, the governing body knows that if they simply increase price, that will affect their popularity. Which in turn affect their eligibility to continue to be governing body in next election.

Hence they come up with a perfect idea. They first introduce another brand called 95. Actually this is a much lower quality product than 97. In short, 97 simply means there is at least 97% of pure petrol in the gasoline. On the other hand, 95 only has 95% purity. However, they push out 95 as if it is a better quality product. They even add some 'addictive' into 95 to justify their claim its a better product. It was presented in a way that 95 will replace 97, and stay at the same price at $1.80

More than 90% of the consumer fall for it. Hence the transition of 97 to 95 went through smoothly. Majority of the consumers pay the same price for a lower quality gasoline while thinking they enjoy a great quality petrol. This is the power of marketing ...

A few more months pass by, its about time to gain even more profit. Hence 97 is released to the market again. It was released silently and the price of 97 is $2.10. Now this time they leave it to individual vendor to tell consumer how 97 is better than 95.

16.7% of profit has been gained without a single complain from the public. You have to admit this is a fantastic marketing gimme. Even if you see it coming like I did, even if you wrote letter into the authority request for action taken .... but the majority of the consumers were falling for it, hence there is really nothing you can do about it, like I was, no matter how hard I tried. We just have to admit ... it was a gimme well played.

I waited more than 6 months to release this article. What do you think ? Do you still think this governing body has taken good care of your interest ? Or do you believe this article has some truth ?

Recession over, what's NeXT ?

Sometimes I feel very depress when my prediction comes TRUE.

For those who don't know yet, zzzz is going through a transition where political power could potentially shared between 2 parties; instead of just one-side-say-it-all like the past 50 years. Unfortunately, the initial phase of this transition has ended in a way when our new Prime Minister has strategically resolved it.

At the moment New Economy Model was presented, I immediately sensed the game err they plan to play. Because exactly the same game plan has been played in USA before. While it is true that zzzz CAN become a developed nation by adopting those moves but it has also been proven that such finance structure is NOT sustainable. Just see what has happened in USA and what is happening in Europe.

Although as if recession is over now, actual effective inflation experience the SHARPEST rise in last 2 months, as high as 25% to 50% if you visit hypermarket often. That is not the worst. What is happening now is that major manufacturers are deceiving consumers in large scale openly. While their products have inflated severely, they run advertisements and promotions as if their products are ON OFFER ! All these are done as part of the exercise to smoothen the transition into a developed nation, hence they have government support behind the scene at all cost. Ahem ... at consumer's cost that is. While these are nothing new to those who have seen it all, but sadly ... there are more consumers falling into it than realizing it at all.

As mentioned in what can we do when bully by the big boys, there is probably nothing much we can do to STOP anything now. So there are just a few things we can probably watch carefully and ride on so that we can get a piece of the pie too ...

• Property will rise drastically. Wherever you are staying right now and despite how much you like it, it may become more worth while to sell it off in the next 10 years. So do plan ahead where you may want to stay 5-15 years later. This may become your LAST and ONLY ticket when the nation is developed and you are still under developing.

• Double your salary in the next 2-3 years. If you wait till the wave carries you, you will always stay behind. You salary WILL increase AFTER the effect of inflation fully kick in. But by then, your increased salary will mean much less. So you really have to think for yourself now. If you are really royal to your employer, your employer should have seen this coming too and take care of you but did it ?

Other than that, derived finance products like futures, options and forex will over shine proper financial planning so much that a lot of weird and ad-hoc theories will surface out. Most people will no longer be able to differentiate what the real proper investment is. On the other hand, that is due to more and more improper investments will actually obtain real returns for the new few years. So if all you care is to get more money, then it should fine temporary.

Hence, MalPF only has one advice to all. Be deviated all you want, just remember to engage an exit strategy and keep yourself in high cash flow condition.

2009 Inflation January Update

I mention the Real Inflation is the Infaltion that is happening to you, not the 'number' released by your goverment in an old post titled "Inflation vs BLR".   Below describe a quick summary how and what to do ...

1. List down all your "daily routine" items and their costs

2. Determine what quantity / amount of each item is consumpt over a fix period of time

3. Sum up the total cost for that period

Then compare the difference between 2 periods give you a rate, that is the Your Inflation !

Lets get an update of this inflation rate from 3 real life examples.  Each example represend one of the Rich, Average and Poor categories.

Ahmad : found his alternative ways of life

Ahmad used to spend RM 5 to fill his stomach in a day (Jan 2008), today he is still using about the same averaging at RM 5.10.  By now, the garden he has been having has grown enough so that they can feed themselves more meals.  He also found a few more places where he packed left over food for his family before he goes home every night.  Hearing so many negative economy news, he didn't spend any extra money in clothing.  The place he is squading remains the same, no extra cost.  Bus fares increase quite a lot but he took some alternative routes and walk further to reach office, home and the stations.  Calculating all of this month's living expenses shows that Ahmad's inflation rate is 2.5% this year.  He doesn't think his life style has been degraded.  As a matter of fact, he found an opportunity to sell some used goods in a flea market on the new route when he walk further to work.

Mathew : no where to go, so just keep looking ...

Mathew is self employ but forecast to lose about 20-30% of his business income this year.  His wife stopped working since mid last year because her company was closed down.  Mat used to pay RM 3.50 to RM 3.80 for a bowl of his favourite Pork Meat Noodle Soup, now he pays RM 3.80 to RM 4.50.  His favourite drink Teh-C was RM 1.00 but now RM 1.10.  So instead of ordering one small cup of Teh-C, he ordered a big one for RM 1.60 and shared with his wife.  Prices of veggies and pork meat in wet market are not stable, he tried his best to buy whatever is cheaper at the time but still ended up an average cost increase about 5% to 15%.  In hypermarket like Carrefour and Jusco, tuna flake can food went from RM 3.30 to RM 4.50;  cheapest hot dogs from RM 2.90 to RM 3.80; salted pickle from RM 1.10 to RM 1.30 ...  Mathew's inflation is 24.3%

Ah Dung : What ?  What Crisis ?

Ah Dung continues to dine out in TGIF, Chillis, Coffee Beans, Starbuick, Old Town Coffee etc.  Average per person per meal remains the same at RM 50 compares to one year ago.  Some restaurant meal size becomes smaller but Dung just move from one restaurant to another, whichever is serving the meal the same way they did before the financial crisis.  Eventually most of these restaurants will serve proper meal size and more promotions will surface out.  Now TGIF also have kids eat free like Chillis.  MAS matching Airasia low air fares allow Dung to travel all over the world more frequent now.  Dung's bangalow architected by the same guy who designed for Dr. Mahatir continue to grow and takes up a huge chunk of his expenses but all these are rolled under his company accounts.  Dung's inflation rate is 4%

Below table shows the summarized inflation rate for these 3 person :

So while all the supermarkets are advertising for how low their prices are, what is your Very Own Personal inflation rate NOW ?  

The right way to lower down price

Generally it is a BAD idea in economy sense for a goverment to influence hypermarket to lower their price ( more on that here ).

Because the ultimate great thing that can happen in our market is FREEDOM to trade.  Whoever smarter will think of better ways to save cost and therefore lowering their sale price, those who are not will not survive.  Eventually all the creative ones remains and we will have 'smart' business men in our society.

Hypermarket doesn't really care about slashing prices.  Because it doesn't hurt them at all.  Its their suppliers who are affected.  First of all hypermarkets don't pay suppliers cash.  Second, hypermarkets don't pay suppliers in full.  Third hypermarkets don't hold responsible for lost and damage goods.  

Imagine a supplier barely survive getting pay check 3 months after the goods are sold and now due to price slashes, the supplier receive only part of the payment.  So at the end, the remaining ones are the ones who did not give discount ?  Or those who already monopoly the market remains stronger ...

However, out of all these smoke screen ... some lights do shed.  Air Asia slashing their fuel surcharge mainly to counter MAS recent 'Net Price' advertisement, not so much of  because minister said so.  Like wise, BAT who started cigarette price war are purely business competition oriented.  These 2 are great price reduction examples, compare to the terrible hypermarket price reduce.

Has your daily lunch price reduced yet ?

Calculate Future Living Cost

I mention before that the Real Inflation you should care about is Your Own Inflation Rate, not those published by goverment or experts ... ( read here for old post )

In other to calculate future living cost, first you list down your living cost now.  The 4 basis of living standard are Cloth you wear, Food you eat, Place you stay in and Transport that brings you around.

Then determine your own inflation rate.

Lastly using the FV formula to calculate your future living cost.

PV - Present Value ie. $570 x 12

i - interest rate ie. 3% or 0.03

n - number of years ie. 17 and 20

FV - Future Value, ie. the results I shared below

( more on FV formula )

For exampe, using above figures, the cost of living for

17 years later is $11,305.48

20 years later is $12,353.80

instead of only $6,840 a year today.

if you don't have calculator at hand, you can also use Rule of 72 to do a quick estimation in your head.