If you dread reading boring theoretical textbooks, this is the book for you. “In/Outcome” by Malaysian financial expert Amelia Hong – managing director and founder of consulting firm FinAIMS – is filled with many interesting stories, including personal anecdotes from Hong and others, that carry insights as to how we can better improve our finances.
This book is suitable for fresh grads, and those who wish to have better control or be more well-rounded when it comes to managing their money. Notably, most finance companions are authored by men, which makes this book a bit of a refreshing outlier.
Books authored by men tend to focus on intellect and, therefore, lack the heart and emotional aspects relating to money. This gap is filled by Hong, who touches more on the “person” than the “money” in and of itself.
The following are some of the interesting discussion points from “In/Outcome”:
1. Savings
As much as we want to invest and build a financially rich life, it’s only possible if we are able to save money. Hong places a lot of emphasis on why many of us struggle to do as such – from family upbringing and personal values to other complications in life.
Beyond the “how” of saving money, Hong also explains the “why”. So, if you wish to tackle these challenges head-on, understand why you find it so hard to save money, and – importantly – have some money in the bank, you should check this book out.
2. Investments
This is not a book that talks about how to invest in any asset classes, or what you should be putting your money in. Instead, Hong focuses on the investor – why we invest, our risk profile, the mindsets and attitudes required to manage investments.
All of these are underrated but crucial for those who wish to build sustainable portfolios over the long term.
3. Estate planning
Hong includes a full chapter on estate planning. More often than not, people tend to focus on wealth accumulation but not protection. In planning our finances, it is critical for us to not just focus on the offence but also be very much prepared for the defence.
In brief, Hong highlights six “Ds” we all should prepare for: death, disability, disease, divorce, debts, and disasters. Her book touches on the practical use of insurance, wills and trusts to tackle these to the best of our abilities.
Final thoughts
Many of the methods covered in “In/Outcome” – such as using preloved items, cooking at home, and avoiding branded purchases – are practical if one has a net worth of under RM100,000 or struggles to save RM1,000-RM2,000 a month.
Indeed, these steps are workable if you wish to save your first RM100,000 before you turn 40. If, however, you wanted to go from RM100,000 to RM1 million, it would take a lot more than “saving cost” to get there – you’d also need to have the financial smarts.
In that regard, the book would’ve been more complete had there been discussion on strategies for people at different stages in their financial lives.
Get your copy of ‘In/Outcome’ here.
This article first appeared in KCLau.com. Ian Tai is a financial content writer, dividend investor, and author of many articles on finance featured on KCLau.com in Malaysia, and ‘Fifth Person’, ‘Value Invest Asia’ and ‘Small Cap Asia’ in Singapore.