3 Ways to Gain Knowledge and Reduce Your Tax Bill

Tax

The government of Malaysia encourages people to be more knowledgeable and in this respect, the government offers several tax incentives to encourage people to gain more knowledge in the following ways:

• Purchase of books: A relief of up to RM1, 000/= is given every year for the purchase of books. You can buy any books: education textbooks, fiction and non-fiction books, and magazines. However, newspapers are excluded. This is the way of the government to stimulate the reading habit among the subjects. Keep the receipts of your purchases in order to make claim . You may also buy books as gifts to promote reading habits in others.

• Purchase of a personal computer: Every three years you are allowed a tax relief of RM 3,000 for the purchase of a personal computer. This incentive has a far-reaching impact on the people. With a computer, you possess an essential tool. You can surf the net and you are exposed to more information in the World Wide Web.

• Postgraduate education: The government is also granting a tax relief of up to RM5, 000 per year when you take up postgraduate study in law, accountancy, Islamic finance, technical, vocational, and industrial training, science or information technology. Again, with this incentive, the government wishes to build up a pool of experts in various fields.

Knowledge is power. A country with many experts is a powerful country and Malaysia is going in that direction.

How to Present your Article Content to Attract Readers

How to Present an Article

Image source: https://writingcooperative.com/which-is-the-correct-length-for-an-article-25e7d71cd31d

As you know the title of an article is the most important thing that attracts readers’ attention. Readers will decide whether to read your article or not just by having a quick glance at your article title. 

 The way you present your article content will also be another deciding factor by the readers to peruse your article. Here are a few tips to present your article content to attract more readers:

• Articles about stories and facts: This is best to present a story from one event to another and facts from one fact to another in paragraphs.


• Articles about tips and benefits: The most effective way to present this kind of article is to put them in bullet points so that the reader can read and digest the article easily and quickly.


• Spacing: Having a page full of writing with paragraphs close to one another will surely turn your readers off. Provide ample spacing from one point to another and from one heading to another.

• Images: Whenever possible an image should be included in an article. It will definitely spice up your article and the readers are stimulated to read your article. As an example my article, Baby Boomers – The 7 Ingredients of Happiness, there is an image of an elderly couple walking hand in hand along a deserted beach. The image is so romantic and it serves very well to complement my article because the picture vibrates a feeling of happiness and contentment. The readers will be fascinated to read the article. In fact, there is a website, Myera, linking to this particular article. There is another article of mine, Girls – 10 Safety Tips to Look After Yourselves, with an image of a frightened girl which is featured on Google Video. Just fancy that.


Present your article content in such a way that the readers are captivated to read.

Pay by Credit Cards to Reduce Your Expenses

Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship

                                                          (Benjamin Franklin)


I have a few credit cards and I take advantage of the cards to reduce my spending:


• EON Bank Visa: I have made arrangements with the bonk to charge all my insurance premium, monthly telephone bill, and mobile phone and electricity bills to this account. It is very inconvenient to pay so many bills all by yourself. The advantage of charging them to my credit card is that I get one point for each ringgit charged. With the accumulated points I can redeem for useful household items such as cookers, Thermos flasks, ovens, and wallets. You have to pay for these items normally. EON bank credit cards are not free for life. You have to charge 12 times on your classic card or 24 times on your gold card in a year in order to waive the annual fee. With the standing orders, I don't have to worry about the annual fee. I will keep this card.

• EON Bank MasterCard: I use the card to purchase big-ticket items like a mobile phone at 0% interest in installments up to 24 months with no extra charges for the purchase and it does not hurt my monthly budget. The monthly installments and other purchases will offset the annual fee. I will give up this card upon full payment of the monthly installments.


• Citibank Giant Visa: Every time I shop at Giant I get 2% rebate. I also get up to 1% rebate at other outlets. This card is only free for the first year. You don't get an instant discount. The rebate is in the form of Giant vouchers in the denomination of RM20/= each. I will surrender this card by end of the year to avoid the annual fee.

• CIMB Bank Petronas MasterCard: I get 2% discount every time I fill up at Petronas petrol station. On top of that, I get a 0.5% discount on all other purchases. This card is free for life and the discount is given at the end of the month. You only need to pay for the discounted amount. I will keep this card.


By year-end I will maintain only two cards; EON Visa for the insurance premium and utility bills and CIMB Petronas MasterCard for petrol and other essential expenses.

In order to really enjoy the reduction in your spending, you need to set aside an amount every month so as to make payment promptly to avoid late charges and finance charges. The other point is that you must be disciplined enough not to use the cards to spend on other non-essential items. Buy the things you need and not the things that you want.

The best credit card to keep is the CIMB Bank Petronas MasterCard. It is free for life and there are no conditions attached to it. You get an instant cash rebate and you pay only the net amount monthly.

7 Characteristics of Happy People

What do happy people do? You can follow in their footsteps and be happy too:


• Kind People: For those who are always doing random acts of kindness are happy people. They are passionate and they have confidence in themselves because they are capable of helping others who are less fortunate. According to James M. Barrie, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

• Physically active people: Regular physical activities increase a person’s sense of well-being so that he is not easily succumbed to disappointments and frustrations. When you exercise regularly you are better equipped to withstand the nervous strain of life.

• Busy people: Busy people are happy people. Those people with the most leisure are more likely to suffer from negative feelings of boredom and dissatisfaction.

• Clever people: Investigation reveals that those with high IQ’s are generally happier than those who are less intelligent. Intelligent people find more to occupy their minds. The less intelligent are more likely to suffer from boredom.

• Decisive people: Indecision produces unhappiness. It is because the inability to make up one's mind produces anxiety and frustration – negative emotions lead to unhappiness.

• Connected People: Happy people are those who are well-connected. They maintain a cordial and committed relationship with their partner at home and they have mutual friends for support. They are happy in the company of their friends and relatives. A new Cornell University study finds people in relationships are generally happier than other people.

• Contented people: They live within their means and they are happy to enjoy what they have. There is a Chinese saying,” When you are contented, you are always happy.” – 知足常乐 (zhi zu chang le) And Socrates says,” He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have.”


The easiest way to be happy is to follow those decisive people: Just decide to be happy by changing your negative thoughts to positive thoughts and you will be happy as a lark.


Have a happy day every day!

Answer These Three Questions to Determine Your Future Direction

When you make a choice for a course of study or a job you are asking yourself one question: What do I want to achieve?

In order to chart your future course, all your need to do is to answer the following three questions:

1. What do I like to do?

You have your likes and dislikes. No two persons are the same. There is no difference between choosing a course of study or looking for a job. What do you like to do? The obvious characteristics of the answer are that nobody is asking you to do it and you do it all by yourself wholeheartedly. So, find out the things that you do that make you happy.

2. What am I good at?

You may like a certain course of study or take up a certain job that you fancy but you may not have the ability to do it. Good at something means you are able to do it better than others with the least effort. Ask yourself what are the things that you can do better than others with ease?

3. What is the most meaningful thing that I can do?

It is meaningful when you do something it benefits everyone and it creates a positive impact on you and others. Ask yourself what is the thing that you do can have a great influence on you and others?

You create a powerful one-directional energy to spur you to success when you do the thing that you like to do and you are able to do well and it is something that means a lot to you.

In addition, you should consider the following external factors:

• The expectation of your family: Though you can decide what you want to do, when you have the support of the family it will give you a further boost in whatever that you are doing.

• Study the demand of society: Gather information to find out the demand of our society. The fact is that a job could be a hot career now, by the time when you have completed the study it may not be as promising as expected.

• The world trend: In view of the development in technology and globalization yon need to look carefully at the trend of the world. Competition is so much greater than before; you need to equip yourself exceptionally well in order to survive in the future.

Summary:

When you select a course of study or take up a job you must know your interest, your ability, and how much it means to you. The other thing to consider is the expectation of your family, the demand of the market, and the trend in this world

Google and Superbrands Malaysia 2009

The following are Malaysia’s top 10 favorite brands for 2009, according to the latest findings from Superbrands identified over 500 of Malaysian consumers' favorite brands across 93 categories of consumer products and services. The brands were then ranked according to the greatest number of consumers identifying the brand as their favorite. 

 1. 100 Plus 

2. Sony 

3. Google

 4. Maggi 

5. Panasonic 

6. Shell 

7. Gardenia 

8. Colgate 

9. Dulux 

10. Honda 

 It is interesting to note that Google is the only online brand among the top favorite. For the rest of the brand, you can either eat it on its own or drink it or drive in one or use it at home but you can’t keep Google to yourself. Can You?

Are You Receptive to New Ideas and Changes at the Workplace?

You are comfortable with the way you work, but how receptive are you to new ideas and changes?

Take the following quiz to find out:

1. Do you look for new ways to do things so that you can get better results?

2. Do you find happiness and satisfaction in your job?

3. Do your co-workers enjoy working with you?

4. Are you the first person that comes to mind when there is a task to be done right?

5. Do you offer changes for the better in the workplace?

6. Do you accept constructive criticism with an open mind?

7. On a daily basis do you try to learn something new or learn something from others for self-improvement?

8. Are you happy to discuss new ideas with your boss?

9. Do you accept good advice and better ways of doing things from others?

10. Do you welcome changes in the workplace?

The more positive answers to the above questions mean you are flexible and able to adapt to changes.

Way to go!