The Decisions and Choices We Make About Money

Starting and Learning About Your Finances

As a child, being fast is positive. Being the first in a race or assignment sometimes comes with reward and praise. In education, “fast-learners” are lauded and labeled as “good-students”. Money and finance do not work this way. It takes time to learn and understand the different businesses, their products, and how each works. The goal of this is information to help you through your decisions about your money; the knowledge to understand your choices before you decide.

Saving for something we want takes time. As a child, I REALLY wanted a Mongoose BMX bicycle, which was $210. I worked delivering newspapers and put $40 into my savings-envelope (a real fancy white one) for 7 months. I bought the bicycle! This started my habit of saving; let me explain.

After buying the bike, I continued to put $40 into my savings-envelope because I did not need the money. My first experience of “disposable income”. When I went to the bank to deposit my savings-envelope, the teller asked if wanted to open a savings account with 3% interest, compounded daily. She went on to show me what my earnings could be after 6 months and 1 year. I opened the account. My introduction to compounding.

Let me get my shout-out, Banks are awesome! I worked at a Bank and let me list the criteria of why they are awesome:

1. They are regulated; meaning the governments monitor the Banks for viability and sustainability
2. They offer numerous products and services
   1. Personal products such as loans, mortgages, credit products, savings, checking/debit, and planning services
   1. Business banking services like cash management, merchant services, credit lines, savings, and checking/debit
3. All offer digital access via Internet through an app
4. Many have physical locations staffed with humans
5. The business of banking is growth (I’ll get back to why this is important in investing)

I will repeat this because it is important, research and understand the company and the product before using the product or service. This is also useful for most purchases in life. The Internet and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are fast tools to get information about companies like Banks, Brokerages, Insurance Companies, cars, mobile phones, air fryers, etc. These are the key points I ask from an information search:

1. What are the reviews on company, Bank, product, or service
2. What are the risks of using company, Bank, product, or service
3. Are there any hidden details about company, Bank, product, or service

So far, this might seem like too much effort for something as simple as choosing a Bank, but it could save you time and money. Comparison of different companies’ products or services will lead you to making the correct decision AT THAT TIME for your goal. All financial companies change product terms and rates frequently, therefore doing a little research will help you get the closest “fit” for your goal. An example of this could be looking for a savings account for a future car and a possible business opportunity in a year, the criteria for this Bank or financial company should be:

1. It offers a high-yield savings account and products like fixed deposits and certificates of deposits
2. Fair interest rates on car loans
3. Business accounts and services

At this point, let me share research websites I like to use besides AI and search engines:

1. https://www.investopedia.com for everything about money and finance
2. https://ringgitplus.com/en/ a Malaysian comparison site for bank rates, credit cards, loans, insurance, and more
3. https://www.bankrate.com a U.S. comparison site
4. https://www.comparehero.my another Malaysia comparison site with good articles
5. https://www.fdic.gov/consumer-resource-center/money-smart is the Federal Depository Insurance Company (U.S.) education portal, resource for all ages to learn about money
6. https://www.kwsp.gov.my/en/finlithub a great Malaysian information and education site

I mentioned compounding earlier; this is a demonstration:

Compounding occurs in stock investments in a different format but it still compounds.

The following list is online calculators for compounding and loans:

• https://www.calculator.net/compound-interest-calculator.html
• https://www.stashaway.my/compound-interest-calculator
• https://www.propertyguru.com.my/mortgage/home-loan-calculator
• https://www.calculator.net/loan-calculator.html

If you have a takeaway from this piece, about money, financial institutions, or your own thoughts about growing your money, great!
I am not a financial professional and this is not financial advice. It is informational. Again, research and understand the company and the product before using the product or service.