Budget for higher cost of living? Subsidy phase cut? Government Defisit Again?
What is going on with government budget and spending? What cause defisit? To reduce impact to government servant, lets revise again government salary make it more higher. It is showed that only 3 million pay tax from 11million workers, strange isn't it?
To get more money forgovernment the best way to do are:
i) create more tax such gst, married tax, child tax and etc..
ii) currently government servant more than 70% from their income excluded from tax, compare to private workers only 10%-20%. To get more tax pay, government servant shouldn't pay any income tax and make public servant paid income tax 100% from their income without any rebate or etc.
iii) all basic amenities such medication, education, security and etc provide free to public servant and private workers must pay without any subsidy provided.
iv) increase water and electricity tariff; and petrol/gas must be higher at least equivalent to singapore rate. To ease government servant, new allowance must be introduced such petrol/tariff allowance.
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Thestar: Saturday June 5, 2010
By FINTAN NG
fintan@thestar.com.my
IT’S going to happen whether we like it or not. So, best to prepare ourselves mentally and financially to face higher prices of goods and services when subsidies are gradually cut.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala says the subsidies will have to go due to the Government’s widening budget deficit, currently a record RM49bil.
Concerns have also been voiced over how people will be able to cope with the rising cost of living since the average per capita income is around RM22,750 per annum.
The “phased cuts” will still put pressure on most people’s wages, which many feel are already low and will include a broadly defined middle-class.
The relatively low wages can be inferred from two sources – Employees Provident Fund (EPF) records, which shows that 70% of the fund’s 5.79 million active members as of past March have enough savings for a maximum of 10 years only.
According to the records, there were only 7,464 members as of the end of last year who have more than RM1mil in their EPF accounts.
The second source is the tax base, only three million out of an estimated 11 million workers pay taxes, meaning the rest do not earn enough to pay tax.
When faced with higher costs of living and lower incomes, a budget becomes ever more important but financial planners say most people either do not have a budget or only have the vaguest idea of how much disposable income they have for spending.
“It all boils down to having a budget but what’s of concern is that most people don’t have a budget so they tend to overspend,” CTLA Financial Planners Sdn Bhd managing director Mike Lee tells StarBizWeek.
They also recommend people diversify their income in order to ensure some security in their retirement plans. This is also the advise of EPF’s public relations general manager Nik Affendi Jaafar.
He says in a recent interview with Mingguan mStar that members should diversify their savings as what is in their EPF accounts will not be enough for their retirement assuming they live another 20 years after retirement at 55.
“We advise our members to diversify their income and not depend on their EPF savings for their retirement,” Nik Affendi adds.
Lee says the first rule of a budget is savings. “One must always save first after taking into account income tax, EPF and social security payments,” he says.
Lee recommends reviewing the budget every quarter and as a general rule of thumb, to save 15% to 20% of net income before allocating for other spending.
When it comes to making financial arrangements for investments, the same principle applies – “It will have to be adjusted according to the budget,” says Lee.
For those who have a regular income or who are still working, the impact will not be significant since the subsidy cuts will be gradual.
“The hardest hit will be retirees as they’ll have no choice but to make lifestyle changes,” Lee says.
Meanwhile MyFP Services Sdn Bhd principal consultant Robert Foo suggests that people to sit down and plan their budget, especially those with young families and have future financial commitments such as children’s education and so forth.
Foo says the multiplier effect on the cost of living from the increase of petrol and electricity (the most common inputs in costing) should be seen from a long-term perspective.
The Government, according to Jala, plans to increase petrol price by 10 sen to 15 sen by mid-year and thereafter an increase of 10 sen every six months until 2014 and reduce subsidies for gas, which will then increase electricity tariffs.
“Don’t just plan for the next six months. Know your financial situation – that’s the secret to coping with the long-term rise in the cost of living,” Foo says.
He adds that people must have a “wealth mentality” instead of a “cashflow mentality” where managing finances and investing is concerned.
“You cannot control cost of living but you can control income flow by diversifying it,” Foo says, adding that when planning long-term, higher cost of living is always taken into consideration.
Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala says the subsidies will have to go due to the Government’s widening budget deficit, currently a record RM49bil.
Mike Lee ... ‘Most people don’t have a budget so they tend to overspend’
While he says the phased cuts over five years will not result in inflation going over 4% per year, the vast majority of people will still have to make some adjustments, both in their lifestyles and their investment decisions.Concerns have also been voiced over how people will be able to cope with the rising cost of living since the average per capita income is around RM22,750 per annum.
The “phased cuts” will still put pressure on most people’s wages, which many feel are already low and will include a broadly defined middle-class.
The relatively low wages can be inferred from two sources – Employees Provident Fund (EPF) records, which shows that 70% of the fund’s 5.79 million active members as of past March have enough savings for a maximum of 10 years only.
According to the records, there were only 7,464 members as of the end of last year who have more than RM1mil in their EPF accounts.
The second source is the tax base, only three million out of an estimated 11 million workers pay taxes, meaning the rest do not earn enough to pay tax.
When faced with higher costs of living and lower incomes, a budget becomes ever more important but financial planners say most people either do not have a budget or only have the vaguest idea of how much disposable income they have for spending.
“It all boils down to having a budget but what’s of concern is that most people don’t have a budget so they tend to overspend,” CTLA Financial Planners Sdn Bhd managing director Mike Lee tells StarBizWeek.
They also recommend people diversify their income in order to ensure some security in their retirement plans. This is also the advise of EPF’s public relations general manager Nik Affendi Jaafar.
He says in a recent interview with Mingguan mStar that members should diversify their savings as what is in their EPF accounts will not be enough for their retirement assuming they live another 20 years after retirement at 55.
“We advise our members to diversify their income and not depend on their EPF savings for their retirement,” Nik Affendi adds.
Lee says the first rule of a budget is savings. “One must always save first after taking into account income tax, EPF and social security payments,” he says.
Lee recommends reviewing the budget every quarter and as a general rule of thumb, to save 15% to 20% of net income before allocating for other spending.
When it comes to making financial arrangements for investments, the same principle applies – “It will have to be adjusted according to the budget,” says Lee.
For those who have a regular income or who are still working, the impact will not be significant since the subsidy cuts will be gradual.
“The hardest hit will be retirees as they’ll have no choice but to make lifestyle changes,” Lee says.
Meanwhile MyFP Services Sdn Bhd principal consultant Robert Foo suggests that people to sit down and plan their budget, especially those with young families and have future financial commitments such as children’s education and so forth.
Robert Foo ... ‘Families can hire professionals to advise them’
“They should sit down and plan. Otherwise they can hire professionals to advise them,” he says.Foo says the multiplier effect on the cost of living from the increase of petrol and electricity (the most common inputs in costing) should be seen from a long-term perspective.
The Government, according to Jala, plans to increase petrol price by 10 sen to 15 sen by mid-year and thereafter an increase of 10 sen every six months until 2014 and reduce subsidies for gas, which will then increase electricity tariffs.
“Don’t just plan for the next six months. Know your financial situation – that’s the secret to coping with the long-term rise in the cost of living,” Foo says.
He adds that people must have a “wealth mentality” instead of a “cashflow mentality” where managing finances and investing is concerned.
“You cannot control cost of living but you can control income flow by diversifying it,” Foo says, adding that when planning long-term, higher cost of living is always taken into consideration.
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