The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Planning for early retirement crucial to avert playing catch-up
- Bumi Armada JV secures RM9.5b FPSO contract off Angola
- Japan factory output slides, sales tax looms
| Planning for early retirement crucial to avert playing catch-up Posted: 30 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT WHENIwas in the university, I never liked to be behind in my revisions or exam preparations.The thought of having to play catch-up in my studies was enough to get me studying consistently. When it comes to our financial health, it should be the same. Every part of your financial life needs to have a plan so that no sudden surprises will catch you off guard. Life is so full of surprises a sudden illness or disability, a long-drawn expensive divorce settlement, death of a spouse, an unexpected retrenchment, and manymore. We need to plan early, for sure. Playing catch-up can be stressful. It maymean we have to take on more risk in order to make back the time we have lost. Sometimes, that may not be the prudent thing to do and you're stuck with few options. I have met retirees or those close to retirement who lament that they only realise now that their savings may not last so long, especiallywith the escalating cost ofliving. If their medical and hospitalisation coverage is insufficient, savings will deplete at an even faster rate. They feel that if they had started to plan for their retirement earlier, theywould have been better off in their retirement years. When you hear such lamentations, there are lessons to learn. If you are young, start with a plan that disallows you to withdraw the money over the course of time until you are retired. The Private Retirement Scheme is a great start. But if you are close to retirement and know that you are still financially insecure, you may really need to play catch-up now. What can you do? Here are seven use ful thoughts to work on: 1. Work longer and harder. Retire later. 2. Quit giving money to your adult able bodied children. 3. Accept a lower lifestyle than what you had planned for. 4. Review your investments if you have been too risk averse and not growing your money. 5. Stop thinking that your finances are 'a OK'. See them in the light of rising prices and interest rates. 6. Stop going into risky or speculative quick profit schemes just to play catchup. 7. Speak to a reliable planner who understands your goals. Avoid product pushers or those who sell based on dividend declarations. The writer can be contacted at info@successconcepts.biz |
| Bumi Armada JV secures RM9.5b FPSO contract off Angola Posted: 30 Mar 2014 07:00 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Bumi Armada Bhd has received a letter of intent from Italy's eni Angola S.p.A for a RM9.5bil floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) contract at Block 15/06, East Hub off Angola. In a statement on Monday, Bumi Armada said the letter of intent was issued to its subsidiary Bumi Armada Offshore Holdings Ltd and Angoil Bumi JV Lda. The letter authorises Bumi Armada to start engineering and procurement work on the FPSO immediately on March 28,2014. "First oil is scheduled for end October 2016," it said. Bumi Armada chief executive officer Hassan Basma said the letter of intent is its second largest capital expenditure of more than US$1bil FPSO award in six months and underscores its successful migration into the large-project FPSO sector. "This is the second time eni has turned to Bumi Armada for an FPSO in West Africa and we will continue to collaborate with our tried and tested value-chain, as we have done in the past, to successfully deliver this project for our repeat customer. "This project is our first VLCC-tanker conversion. The Armada Ali will be used for conversion. The 15/06 FPSO will be delivered in 31 months and this project will take Bumi Armada's FPSO fleet to eight, clearly moving us into the top-tier of global FPSO players," he said. Bumi Armada said eni Angola is a unit of eni S.p.A., an Italy-based multinational oil and gas company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Block 15/06 is operated by eni Angola (35%) with SSI Fifteen Ltd (25%), Sonangol P&P (30%), Falcon Oil Holdings Angola SA (5%) and Statoil Angola Block 15/06 (5%). The contract is expected to contribute positively to the revenue and earnings of the Bumi Armada for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014. |
| Japan factory output slides, sales tax looms Posted: 30 Mar 2014 06:58 PM PDT TOKYO: Japan's factory output unexpectedly fell in February at the fastest pace in eight months in a possible sign that the benefits from last-minute demand before an impending sales tax hike may have run their course. The data adds to growing concerns of a stumble in the economy, and comes on the heels of a separate survey showing manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in March. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said industrial output fell 2.3% in February from the previous month, compared with a 0.3% rise expected by economists in a Reuters poll. The weak result followed a solid 3.8% gain in January, which was driven by brisk production of cars and household appliances. Manufacturers surveyed by the ministry expect output to rise 0.9% in March but decrease 0.6% in April, the METI data showed, suggesting a lack of confidence in domestic demand. The data comes a day before the national sales tax rises to 8% from 5% on Tuesday. Analysts are also looking out for the Bank of Japan's key tankan survey due on Tuesday, which may offer clues on any impacts of the sales tax hike on business sentiment in the three months to March and their outlook in the following quarter. "Companies are curbing production to keep inventories low because they are worried about demand after the sales tax hike," said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities Research & Consulting Co. "This suggests the economy may not rebound quickly, and the burden may fall on the BOJ as the government has already committed to fiscal stimulus spending." Auto-makers, manufacturers of mobile phones, personal computers and heavy machinery led declines in industrial production, the data showed. Unusually cold weather and snowstorms also weighed on output, Miyagawa said. The METI stuck to its assessment that industrial output is picking up, and in a press briefing noted that the weakness in February was largely a one-off event due to bad weather. A survey of manufacturing released earlier in the day also showed weather-related impacts. The Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to a seasonally adjusted 53.9 in March from 55.5 in February, keeping above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction for a 13th consecutive month. Analysts believe factory output is maintaining a rising trend, underpinned by firm domestic conditions and a pickup in external demand and reinforcing expectations that the economy can weather the sales tax rise. Last-minute demand for big-ticket items such as cars and housing has peaked, with growth in housing starts seen decelerating sharply in February. Still, rising sales of household appliances and non-durables such as foods and clothing before the tax hike are expected to fuel growth in the current quarter, analysts say. The Japanese economy is expected to contract in the April-June quarter as consumer spending dips after the sales tax hike takes effect, before rebounding in July-September. – Reuters |
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