Yippy my EPF cheque arrived. Aug 15 I submitted the papers and my cheque arrived on the Aug 28. It only took 2 weeks. I am really impressed with KWSP. The process has improved so much. However no sign of my hubby’s cheque. I heard the loan interest rate may be going up. I have to speed up paying off my loan and get some savings there.

I was looking for 2 piggy banks for Tim & Emily. I want them to learn to start saving money. Every time we go shopping, my children will request me to buy this and that. Of coz, with my bags of tricks, usually they ended up getting nothing. Now I just tell them to fill up their piggy banks and use their money to buy.

At this age, they don’t know what the value of money is. They think RM1 can get everything. When I say the item is expensive, they just accept it. Lately Tim starts to question.

Anyway, I wanted to get a piggy bank that is unbreakable. I finally found a plastic one. It is fairly cheap too. Emily was so excited, now every time asked me for coins so that she can slot it in. She will go find loose change that is around the house or in the car.

Do you know why it is call piggy banks and not any other animals? I heard that it was from the idea of the farmer feeding the pigs and only getting the returns after he slaughtered the pig. Similarly when you break the piggy bank (the clay type) you will get the money. Today, piggy banks come with an opening at the bottom.

It reminds me of my sister’s funny story. When she was young, she had difficulty saving money. On her birthday, I bought her a steal coin box and presented to her. She was excited and put some money in it. After a short while, she realized there is no opening at all to get the money out and since it is made of steal, need a can opener to open.

This year, the IRB dept didn’t send me any form and no I didn’t do any e-filling last year. My hubby got his form but where is mine. I thought I can give excuse that I don’t have to declare since they didn’t send me any form. Yeah right. Anyway, I went to the IRB office to sort it out.

First I had to get a number. Being kiasu, just in case the e-filling does not work, at least I have backup forms. I asked the officer to give me some forms. She told me that I either do e-filling or get the form, cannot have both. Alamak. What if the system does not work? Let’s hope it does. I waited and strangely that they generated my PIN very quickly. I ask the officer to check whether I owe IRB any money. Last year I checked, I knew that I owe them a small amount in 2004. He asked me to take another number as he doesn’t have access to the system. Sigh.

The other counter took a longer wait. It was lunch time, 1 person serving only. I waited for 20 minutes before my turn. I must tell you the system is so complicated. They have 2 systems, the old and the new. My guess is that they are in the process of migration. She went to the old system to check every single year. With the old system, she had to calculate manually year by year. Yes, it did show in 2004, that I owe them money. Then she when to the new system, scroll up and down, left and right, she came to the conclusion I have a refund which was 3 times the amount I owe. I wonder why when I always pay to the dot. By the way, year before 2004, the account balance.

In 2004, I miscalculated, which is why I owe them money. 2005 was a mystery as I don’t receive any J form. Maybe I overpaid. I asked her whether I can contra the claims with the tax of 2006. She told me that I need to submit more documents. Or I can claim the amount right away by filling the pink form, which I did. It will be more paperwork for them than I doing the paperwork.

Back in 2005, I did submit a document to pay the owing money from my husband account as suggested by the customer service agents when I called them. I wrote in provided the necessary documents. However it was not done. The officer did a check on his account and told us the department will issue him a cheque, it was process on 25 March 2007. Two years to process a refund.

Will the tax office be more efficient? Give them some time, eventually they will get there, I hope.

Tips, you can ask anyone to go to the IRB office to generate the PIN. All you need is the IC number.

This is not a sponsored post. Have you thought of your child’s education fund? Are you planning to send your child overseas? I am thinking of at least sending them to a 1-2 year education overseas. It will teach them independence and open them up to view the world differently. At least the education system is different from the local.

I read in the magazine that 1 year cost at least 100K for fees, accommodation, expenses and travel tickets. It is not cheap. There are a few tips that I would like to share. One, if you are thinking of sending your child overseas, you should start investing now or do some investment research. Two, if you want to send your child to a country say US, you can start buying the country currency and open a currency account. Some banks offer that. By the way, US currency is down. If you are from a richer family, then investing on the country properties is also another good tip. However be sure you find out all the administration charges and hidden cost.

I am not a believer in Education Insurance because it has a lower returns compare to an investment plan without the insurance. Reason behind is that a portion of the money is paid for insurance. It will find more returns if you have a separate insurance plan and an investment plan.

Lastly if all else fail, think of migration. :giggles. If you have great ideas, I want to hear about it.

This is a sponsored post.

Having a family, sometimes I have to juggle my personal finances and do lots of research on how I can get the most savings for the my children’s education fund. Ever try to do refinancing but you just cannot find the right finance company or bank to help you? Either their rates are too high or there are lots of hidden costs involved. At the end of the day, you loose out and not get much savings but a big bond. How I wish there is one stop place where I can get my financing done with great savings.

Heard of RateGenius? It offers Car Refinance with great savings and no cost to you. They leverage from a network of prominent nation lenders to provide a rate, term and amount that fit your requirements. Now how I wish there is something like that in Malaysia. It makes life much simpler.

Do pop over to see what great saving you can get from them. You are recommended to visit the site FAQ for any questions.

I never invested in local shares before and I never knew how. I do have an account in US to invest in US shares. That was because my company has a benefit share plan for us to purchase our company shares at discounted rates.

Anyway, last Friday, a courier package came and it was from StemLife. The company is going public listed. Cool. 😎 I didn’t read the prospectus, it was as thick as my programming books. I read the form and was tempted to invest. It was a 2 pages form, but the things I have to do, to successfully apply for the shares, is exhausting. I received the package on 29 Sept, the dateline is 5th Oct. Not much time to work with.

Things to do:

1. I have to apply for a CDS account to be able to buy any local shares. Fortunately I know a friend who works in the share trading company. I got her help to get me the CDS account on the same day. 1 obstacle done.

2. I have to make a copy of my IC, front and back on the same page.

3. I have to fill in the form carefully. No liquid paper can be use on the form.

4. I have to get a banker’s cheque. Personal cheques are not allowed. I blog about it yesterday, it was done too.

5. I have to buy two 50sen stamp, one for A envelope and one for B envelope. They will send you back the A envelope with your cheque if it is not successful.

6. I need to send it, it says using Ordinary mail. You can opt to drop it into their office if you are staying in KL. It is really impossible for people outstation to send ordinary mail and reach the destination before date due. I send it using Express Mail, not sure whether they will reject my application. By the way, register mail is a no no because PO box cannot sign when receive. :giggles:

7. Mail it and wait for response. Phew.

Now all I have to sit back and wait for them to tell me if it is successful. By the way, the company will ballot, if you get pick, the shares will be sold to you. If I don’t I need to go back to the bank, to claim back the money.

I just learn that you can do all the above except for number 1, using Internet banking. In order to do that, you need to setup the account first by submitting a physical form. For Maybank, you can use ATM or Internet Banking. Somehow, I don’t know why StemLife was not listed.

It was a great experience though to beat the deadline. If it was from some company that I don’t know, it will probably end up in the bin.

Anyone want to know how to invest in US share?