RM100,000 is quite a huge amount for someone in their 20s. In fact, it might sound impossible since for most of us, we'll only start working by 24 years old.
But trust me, it is doable. You just need to have the right mindset and discipline. If you're ready to work hard and work smart for your money, keep reading!
Assuming you have just graduated from university at 24 and started your first job, you’ll have six years to save up RM100,000 by 30.
According to the Time Value Money Calculation, if you save in an investment that has a 6% compounded return, you will need to save RM14,336.26 yearly or RM1,194.68 per month. While this seems like a large amount, it is achievable if you have a plan.
Step 1: Budget, budget, budget.
To save RM1,194 per month, you need to have a clear understanding of your expenses. You can do this by creating a budget plan that distinguishes between needs and wants, then stick to it religiously.
Some of you might be thinking: ‘That’s ridiculous! How can I pay for my expenses and still save an additional RM1,200 per month. I don’t even earn that much!”
Okay, we hear you and we’ll address that issue in the next step. For now, it’s important to understand how having a budget plan can bring more structure towards your savings goal.
Personally, we think that the average comfortable spending in urban Malaysia would cost around RM2,500 a month. To break it down further, it would roughly be: RM700 for room rental, RM300 for transportation, RM1,000 for food and entertainment, and the remaining RM500 for self-care and miscellaneous expenses.
What we’re trying to say is that it’s important to live within your means and not on either sides of the extreme - being too frugal that it’s unhealthy or being too extravagant that it’s excessive.
Step 2: Increase your income.
We acknowledge that there’s only so much you can save after cutting back on your expenses. So, the only solution to it is to increase your income.
While you may not be able to control your salary, you can still control your income. There are two ways to do this: negotiate for a pay raise or start a side hustle.
#1 Negotiate Your Pay Raise
When negotiating for a pay raise, you’ll want to equip yourself with necessary skills that will increase your value towards the company.
Make it a habit to ask your employer how you can provide more value then do it will to make yourself stand out from the rest. At the same time, keep your options open by regularly going for interviews with different companies. This will open up new opportunities that pay better and, more importantly, will help you when negotiating for a higher salary.
#2 Start A Side Hustle
If you have some extra time on your hands, you can also start a side hustle to increase your income. You can do this by taking up some part-time jobs or start a side business.
Nowadays, it is quite easy to build a side income. Many people become Grab drivers after work and on the weekends to earn some extra money. Some even learn basic e-commerce skills and do drop-shipping. Others choose to tutor school students after working hours and on weekends.
Just by creating an extra RM1,000 per month, it would certainly help you save RM100,000 much faster. Did you know if you can save RM2,388 a month, it will only take you 3 years to achieve RM100,000 in savings? YES! 3 years, imagine having RM100,000 by age 26. There will be so much you can do by then.
Step 3: Invest wisely.
Let’s go back to our assumption that you’ll save this RM RM1,194.68 into an investment that provides 6% compounded returns per annum.
6% sounds pretty rare to the average person in this day and age (considering how terrible the economy has been) but in the investment world, it’s actually not.
One the places you can put your money in is in equity based investments. Which is the stock market. Based on track record, active investors can earn up to 20% return a year but we know that not everyone has the interest or patience to learn to invest in individual stocks. Not to worry, there’s an alternative to this.
There are different investment vehicles such as unit trust or Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that’s a lot more easier to handle. You simply have to handover your money to a financial institution that will invest your money into either a unit trust or ETF, depending on what you chose or are advised to do.
Investment that provides a good return can give you a boost to achieve your RM100,000 goal faster. As we said earlier, if you invest 1,194 per month into an investment with 6% annual return, it will take you 6 years to accumulate RM100,000.
But if your investment can generate 12% a year, then it will take you a little more than 5 years to reach 100,000. Or 20% annual return then it will only take you less than 5 years to reach RM100,000.
So yes the higher the returns, the better. But remember this: higher returns often comes with higher risks because there is a chance of you losing a lot of money; so high risks, high returns.
Conclusion
Saving RM100,000 may seem overwhelming, but it is achievable if you have a clear plan and the discipline to stick to it. If you need some motivation to keep going, just imagine the feeling of having RM100,000 cash in your bank account.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this article and if you’re more of a video person, you can check out our Malay version on this topic on YouTube.