Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Difference between Gambling and Investing






Gambling – It involves a game of chance where the money is put at risk with the aim of making a profit. The rules of the game are set by the banker where the odds are against the player. There is no tangible ownership of assets.




Investing – It involves putting the money in a tangible asset with the hope of making a profit after doing research. The investor takes calculated risk based on available research data and hope to expect good returns within a time horizon.

Both can result in profits or losses. But from observations of other successful people, investing is a better choice to prosper as the chances of making profits are higher.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Road to Financial Freedom

Money problems are everywhere! Is there a road to Financial Freedom? I agree there is and it’s obstructed with many obstacles. In May 2010, I’d attended a five session series on this topic organized by my church. The speakers from Crown Financial Ministries shared from their life experiences on how they managed to make their personal journey on this road.

Many examples of money management were shared from the Bible. The key point of the series of messages was about investing for eternity. The material things on Earth are temporal. The speakers shared on how to enjoy the blessings of giving. The Bible states clearly that it is more blessed to give than to receive. To really achieve Financial Freedom is to follow God’s economy and understand that He as a creator owns everything. The promise in Matthew 6:33 states, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Claim this promise and prosper with me on this journey.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Vacation at a Mountain Resort

My wife and I went to a mountain resort in Malaysia for a short free and easy vacation from Mon 16 Aug 2010 to Thu 19 Aug 2010. The trip was arranged through the internet. (Refer my earlier blog: Doing Things Online Saves Me Time).

I booked a premium coach with video screen to watch movies while traveling. The journey was smooth and comfortable. We had an enjoyable time at the resort enjoying the cool fresh air and food.

Vacationing is a good habit to recharge and renew ourselves. This habit is regularly practiced by many Singaporeans. Travel fairs held annually at Exhibition Halls are always very crowded. Those who read Dr. Stephen R. Covey top selling book on the “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” will understand that renewing ourselves is one of the good habits to practice. Effective people are prosperous people.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Gambling is Not a Good Choice to Prosper

Recent news of a Singaporean businessman losing $26 million (about US$ 19 million) within 3 days of gambling in Resorts World Sentosa Casino had become the talk of the town. Many opinions and questions were circulating in forum pages. Gambling is a favorite activity for many people. The hope of winning a large sum of prize money to fulfill their dreams is a strong pulling factor that draws many to queue at lottery booths and travel to casinos. Some are casual gamblers while some become gambling addicts. In Singapore, 4D and Toto are the most popular gambling activities. You can see long queues at various booths on most days.

Reasons for ruling out gambling as a choice to prosper:

• In gambling, the odds are against the players. The bankers laid out the gaming rules to have a higher advantage over the players. For Toto, there is 1 chance in 8,145,060 of getting the Group 1 prize from choosing 6 unique numbers correctly out of 45. For 4D, there is 1 chance in 10,000 of winning the first prize for choosing 4 numbers which can be repeated.

• Prolong gambling will lead to addiction which will affect family life. Most gambling addicts are prone to become abusive to their spouses and children. I’d seen gamblers who won and lost again by betting more aggressively due to greed.

For those who like to gamble, I wish them well as some of the bets collected are channeled to government funded charities. Just hope that they don’t become addicts which are harmful.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Answer for National Prosperity

If you follow the history of Israel in the Old Testament, you will notice a clear trend. When the people were truly following God, they prospered in all they did. When they fell away and worshipped false gods, they suffered humiliating defeat at the hands of their enemies.

Here is one very popular promise that is the basis for some great prayer movements. It applied to ancient Israel, and there is no reason why it would not apply to us as a nation (any nation) today.

If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Note that it is referring to God's people. That is all that's required! We needn't expect the enemies of God in our nation to humble themselves and pray. If God's own people commit to doing it, that is enough! The rest will then fall into place.

Now, let's move from a relatively well known verse to a relatively unknown, but fascinating, prophecy in Zechariah:

It will be, that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn't go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt doesn't go up, and doesn't come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that don't go up to keep the feast of tents. (Zechariah 14:17-19)

I believe this prophecy is being fulfilled today, in the Church Age. "Jerusalem" is in the New Testament equated to the true Church of Jesus Christ. "Rain" is a symbol of God's blessings. With that in mind, here are a few scenarios to consider:

• The United States was founded as a Christian nation, with its Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and laws based largely on the Bible. It grew to become the greatest nation in the world.

• Over the past few decades, the USA has largely tried to push God, and especially Jesus, out of the picture in the name of "tolerance." What has that bought us? Exponential increases in crime and the national debt, for starters. And loss of jobs to countries such as India (which, by the way, is in many ways opening up to Christ).

• Uganda's AIDS rate 10 years ago was over 25%. In the last few years, the country has been committed to Christ. People are changing their ways and God is moving. The AIDS rate today is under 6%.

• North Africa was once a breadbasket of the Roman Empire. There was much Christian influence in the area, including the great theologian Augustine. Since then, however, Islam has spread throughout the land -- and the Sahara Desert has spread with it! It's interesting that the prophecy specifically mentions Egypt, which of course is in North Africa.

Coincidence? You decide.

Do you want your nation to prosper? Then get as many citizens of that nation as possible to confidently proclaim that Jesus Christ is the answer!

All Scripture is taken from the World English Bible (WEB).

Author : Micah Yoder; 11/11/2004
Extracted from http://jesusislife.net/articles/ChristIsTheAnswer.html

Note : Singapore had just celebrated her 45th National Day on Monday, 9 Aug 2010 and is expecting the economy to grow between 13 per cent and 15 per cent this year. Singapore's foreign reserves as at Jul 2010 is about US$ 206,933.90 million and is one of the top ten richest countries in the world. Christian population is approximately 14.6% based on census of population 2000 as compared to 12.7% in 1990.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Buying Insurance to Protect Wealth

My car insurance is due soon. I’ve been comparing prices to check the current price trend. It seems that car insurance premium is ever increasing in Singapore. By comparing prices, I can see a wide range of quotes. The variance from the lowest quote to the highest can differ by 25%. Most of the time, I bought from friends who are insurance agents to maintain relationship. The premium must be reasonable though I don’t expect it to be the lowest.

Buying insurance can be quite confusing for many people who are unfamiliar. There are many different policies in the market. This is the reason, I bought from friends who can patiently explain and advise me on what policies to buy to suit my needs.

The main objective of buying insurance for me is to reduce my risk against unexpected events that will drain my wealth and affect my family’s lifestyle. By buying insurance, I transfer my risks to the insurance companies who normally have a large pool of customers to spread out the costs. With this objective in mind, I normally opt to include a rider scheme where I don’t collect back my premiums paid in exchange for higher insured amount

It’s a blessing to have insurance agents as good friends. They help me in my journey to prosperity.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Doing Things Online Saves Me Time


With the popularity of internet, thousand and one things can be performed online. From playing games, education, chatting, emails, banking, buying and selling products, etc. There are many factors that contributed to its fast acceptance worldwide. Computers and internet speed have become cheaper and faster.

As doing things online saves time, it means money is saved. Money saved is money earned. Earning money is the basic principle to prosper. I save on transportation cost to the physical location to do my transactions. I need not worry whether it’s rain or shine. There are still some users who are still fearful of doing things online. Fear of cyber thieves using Trojans to steal passwords. To deter such activities, our Singapore government has set stringent laws under the Computer Misuse Acts. How do I prevent cyber theft? My computer is installed with anti-virus and anti-virus software. Clearing temporary files and cookies have become a routine daily. Passwords are changed regularly.

I'm looking forward to the implementation of the nationwide multi-million fiber optic network in Singapore. The broadband speed will be enhanced tremendously to 1Gb/s from my current average broadband speed of 16Mb/s. Much time will be saved for the whole nation. This installation project should be completed by end of 2012 ... just hope the subscription price is reasonable to let us continue to have a wonderful experience with the internet.