KUCHING, Oct 23: One man’s meat is another man’s poison – the proverb holds true for people’s responses to investment.
As everyone has an appetite for investing, some people either opt for low-risk investments or prepared to be in the roller-coaster ride through high-risk investments.
Sarawak Media Group (SMG)’s Senior Content Acquisition and Development Executive Ryan Lee said it takes a lot of trial and error for people to learn the theory and apply themselves to gain the required experience.
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“Eventually, some skin in the game is required to allow people to understand their risk appetite and what would be the best method that they can continue to do every week, year and be comfortable with the return of investment.
“It will definitely varies from one person to another as the saying goes, one man’s meat, is another man’s poison,” he told this to TVS.
Lee was a panelist during the Secret Session on Financial Literacy organised by The Generations, a local youth and community organisation in collaboration with Kuching Central City Rotary Satellite Club on Saturday.
During the session Lee shared basic guideline on financial tips on how to manage money whereby one needs to keep track of their expenses via handwritten, Excel or money tracker application on their smartphone and to be accountable about it.
“They can get another person, preferably a trusted family member such as a spouse or parents to speak to them when they are about to spend unnecessarily.
“It seems absurd but this is one of the ways to control your spending limits,” he noted.
He added, as some people spend impulsively, which they may not be able to control on their own, a little help from close family members may be able to reduce that impulsive spending and it will take time to fine tune their mindset before one can even think about investing.
When asked to comment on the audience feedback during his session, he pointed out that his presentation was realistic as he shared his financial struggles when he first started working.
“I shared about how I adjusted my cashflow as an intern who earned RM900 back in 2014 just by giving up my single room and made the decision to share with another two housemates to live in a master bedroom, as well as cooking at home instead of eating outside, which helped me save from RM160 to RM 440, which is a 100% increase.
“I even used the same method when my income increased two to three times more after working as a fund accountant at Royal Bank Of Canada,” he added. – TVS