Boyd Schidt

The headline that caught my attention this week:

The FP’s estimate that a person needs about 1.4 to 2.8 million to retire comfortably at 55.

Well well isn’t that a big number. Of course to the HNW (High Net Worth) individuals this is a meager sum. But to the majority of the populous the FP’S have a valid projection- with inflation, higher cost of medical care, and if you’ve got kids- then education, and the other miscellaneous expenses can add up to quite a lot.

One of the FP’s projected that in 2026 RM1.4 million is RM639,000 today..anyone ok with less purchasing power?

You can’t just count on your EPF. Cos if you retire at 55 with say RM500,000 in your EPF- minus the mortgages, expenses- and another say 20 years to live will RM500,000 be enough? So the FP’s advice is good financial planning- you don’t need to hear it from them- my parents taught me bout savings and prudence since I was a kid. Bet your folks did too. How much of that which I put to practice well that’s a different story. wink

But I can be proud that I have “forced savings”-monthly deductions from my salary to a savings account (pat pat on the back hihi).

It’s the only way I can save- I can’t trust myself to go to the bank and debit an amount every month- I’d get tempted and highly likely will end up just spending it all! So force save la.

And I do have my eyes and thoughts on doing something on my own- the appeal of autonomy and owning a business is just very appealing- so watch that space.

The need to live comfortably or maintain the lifestyle you have now (especially if it’s one of extreme comfort) would be the preference of majority of people.

There’s this subtle stereotyping that people who seek material wealth are stamped as materialistic- I think that’s silly. Though of course if you are at the extreme of loving money and living for it then yes you are MATERIALISTIC.

But while I believe that money isn’t everything I admit that it is a means to a lot of things. So for me the best diet for my purse is to save some + splurge some. After all it is about finding the perfect balance. 

All of us still remember when in…

1990s

1. Each of us held such loyalty to our houses (Hidup Shirtliffe!)

2. All of us sang with beaming pride the BBGS 100 years song

3. We all wanted our pinafore skirts to be short

4. The times during assembly when we’d sing the One man went to…pet Pomeranian pup..bottle of pop” tune..haha

5. Aspa showed us her many wonderful designs and doodles.

Febuary 2007

1. Each of us recall the blast we had on Aspa’s hen night

2. The lurvely cupcakes!

3. Our cosy suite!

4. The “fahbulous” manicure Zoey gave..luv ya Zoey!
5. Our attention grabbing hen-night badges -yeay
6. The 357 times “Aspa is celebrating her hen night tonight” shoutout
7. Aspa’s choice of a bed at the end of the night.

8. And of course nina’s “wet” episode. Hihi

10 March 2007

1. We remembered how beautiful Aspa looked that night

2. The joy on Azza’s face to have such a wonderful gal for a wife.

3. The kelam kabut- Naddy brings mug into jeep for everyone to drink, Naddy was late cos she thought we were leaving at 8:15.

4. The face painting sessions/touch ups at the bride’s suite

5. The Swan skit…aww soo sweet.

6. Our havoc photo session on the pelamin

7. Elsie’s 07.07.2007 expiry

8. The tear-into-the-wedding-presents time back in the suite

9. And…the happy couple’s face throughout the night.

The items are endless actually.

I know there’ll be many more of this type of posts..celebrating the union of friends. It’s an occasion that one treasures. We knew each other when we were budak sekolah, now as young ladies, soon wives..and hopefully we’ll still wreck havoc as mummies and grannies!

Huge hug and congrats to our lovely Aspa and Azza.

Bak kata orang tua…

“Semoga bahagia ke akhir hayat”

So whos’ next?

A teaser – Aspa this is to give u taste of what went on behind the scenes…haha

The subject came up when we were feeding ourselves with club sandwiches, dim sum and yong tau foo at Hartamas. Aspa had just passed around her creatively designed wedding invite – in black and gold, so not typical like other invites – well the bride doesn’t fall under the typical category either..right Aspa babe!

immersed in the discussion

And the two words popped “hen night”! I believe it was ms elsie who brought it up. We immediately made mental notes of our gurlfren duty and stopped any possibility of discussing the subject there-cos tak boleh la, the bride was present- we can’t plan her hen night in front of her. That’s sooo wrong.

So a few nights later, we made round calls and messages and called for a meeting: Paddington’s @ the Curve

8:30pm

on Chinese New Year.

Elsie was such a darl- she printed out item sheets for all of us (with action columns ;p) so that our discussion don’t go off tangent. We stiil did go off tangent hihi There were lot of items on the sheet, venue, F&B, theme, entertainment,guests lists.

entertainment p.i.c. and our auditor

We initially started off with wanting to invite a number of people but decided that it’d be more cosy and more efficiently-fun to just do an “us-us” party. Contrary to popular belief, too many people can spoil the fun.

At the end of the night after some blinis, coffee, juice blends we went home each with our designated “to-dos”. Item sheets got scribbled on, theme decided. We were set to go. What ensued was a week of email ding dongs and final touches on a hen night for ms Aspa.

To be continued in my next post…

I have a another post that I owe my blog- but I have to post this first.

My Kuc  was on TV this morning and I missed it cos I was stuck in a #!@# traffic jam!! Boohooooo