How much to own your own Mc Donalds?

Hi kids!

I've always wanted to own my own Mc Donalds Restaurant ever since I first stepped into the playhouse.

Now you can with RM3 million ringgit.

Here's the breakdown of your investment:

RM171,000 - Franchise fee paid upon or prior to the commencement of the franchise

RM45,000 - RM70,000- Interest-free security deposit for the faithful performance of the franchise (approximately 2 months' deposit for service fee, royalty and marketing contribution or 3 months' rental deposit), refundable when the franchise ends.

RM180,000 - RM200,000- Approximate cost of kitchen equipment, signage, seating, decor and landscaping paid to individual suppliers.

Range from RM2 million to RM600,000 depending on store type (Drive Thru, Mall, Oil Alliance or Shop Front)- Approximate cost of all civil works, ventilation system and renovations to the premises paid to individual contractors. (Applicable for Developmental Franchise Only)

complete link here

Well, I can still dream on. But it's good to know the facts.

Have a nice day and I'm heading off for my Big Mac.

Supersize me!

Lebanese billionaire: I was set up

KUALA LUMPUR: Lebanese businessman Dr Elie Youssef Najem, who announced he was making a US$275mil (RM1.04bil) donation for cancer research, has landed himself in an unwanted spotlight.
The 45-year-old self-professed billionaire came out in defence of himself following allegations made against him.
“All the allegations against me are trumped up and untrue,” he said when met at his condominium here.
“I come from a very important family in the Middle East and my donations to the National Cancer Council (Makna) involves people high up in Malaysian society.”
He was asked to respond to allegations that he was charged with three counts of cheating on Sept 30 last year. He is said to be on bail pending trial.
Police are also said to be conducting investigations into his activities follow
ing several other complaints against him.
City Commercial Crimes deputy chief Supt Azham Othman confirmed that they would be checking with Makna on its dealings with Dr Elie.
But said Dr Elie: “Nobody would go public with the information regarding my donation without due diligence.”
Claiming to come from a wealthy family of doctors, Dr Elie said he had controlling interests in banking, construction, telecommunications, software, palm oil, and oil and gas industries in Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Dubai, Qatar and Malaysia.
He showed bank statements which showed account balances running into hundreds of millions in US dollars, sales documents of him buying seven luxury cars, and various business contracts totalling about US$13bil (RM49.4bil).
“I am hurt and angry at all these allegations,” he said when asked about the cynicism from some sections of Malaysians about him.
Dr Elie, who said he suffered from cancer, added he lived in a modest three-bedroom condominium due to safety reasons as he had been kidnapped twice.
“Why would I want to get kidnapped again?” he asked, saying there had also been three attempts on his life.
During the three-hour interview, there were two bodyguards in his apartment. They were dressed in suits and armed with a pistol each. Another 15 uniformed security personnel stood outside his home.
Dr Elie said the only court case he had been involved in since coming to Malaysia was with a business partner.
“The argument is clearly a civil dispute and is only a contractual problem involving the both of us,” he said, adding that he had 95 companies registered in Malaysia.
He also alleged that he had been the victim of a set-up involving some disgruntled former employees.
“I had hired four women workers when I came to Malaysia but when they found out I was getting married to Farinnie (Farid) they all resigned on the spot,” he said, adding that his 19-year-old Malaysian wife is now three months pregnant.
“They then lodged a report against me for not paying their salaries,” he said.
Dr Elie alleged he was kept in the police station overnight last September.
“When I was released the next day, I settled the payments immediately, but was subsequently re-arrested by the police,” he added.

Link

Is there a loophole in our economy to get free education?

Yes. To some point.

Well, this happened by accident.

I have always had my personal point of view that education should be free. But here's a black and white from an academician. He's into free education.

Sometimes you may ask yourself. Should you get a commercial loan for your own education? Well most people go fo it without doing much economic reseach. Why? because it's too much hassle. Waste of time. Excuses and so on.

Nevertheless, read this rally of emails between myself and an academician who is striving for free education. Enjoy.

................................................................................................................
Dear Charles,

I apologise for not replying earlier. I have been a bit swamped withwork and meeting deadlines.I've actually addressed the question of taking loans for education onthe PhD Blog.

Basically, a commercial loan does not make financial sense, not if you work out the return on the investment. I would earn more money in mylifetime joining the work force now with my education up to theMasters level than I ever would with a PhD.

Furthermore, buying an education is not the same as buying other physical assets - there are distinct differences in the "goods/products" that have implications on structuring loans. Both these arguments combined forms the basis forthe argument that educational loans have to be provided on a"subsidised" basis, with repayments scheduled according to the level of future income streams.

Many economists now support this view and ithas been implemented in both Britain, Australia and a few othercountries.Furthermore, commercial loans demand collateral - if I had collateral,I would not need a loan. Finally, as I have argued elsewhere, my investment into my education will have external benefits to society,particularly since I intend to be an academic - so from a strictly economic point of view, society should also bear some of the cost of my education. This is one of the arguments for free public education(to a certain degree/level).

My arguments here are abbreviated - there is a whole literature outthere on the economics of education that I will be happy to direct youto. The work of Nicholas Barr, a UK economist at the LSE is a goodplace to start. You'll find his academic webpage here with links tosome articles that he has written:http://econ.lse.ac.uk/staff/nb

That said, given the funding gap, I may yet have to borrow money atsome point - hopefully it will be from members of the family wherethey would hopefully not expect a market rate of return.Getting a loan for education is really not such a simple matter.

BEST WISHES

jikonOn 12/27/05,


My first mail to him:


Charles <charleskylow@gmail.com> wrote:> Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by> Charles (charleskylow@gmail.com) on Tuesday, December 27, 2005 at 09:13:25> --------------------------------------------------------------------------->> realname: Charles>> email: charleskylow@gmail.com>>

Subj: Why dont you get a loan???>>
Message: Simple. Get a loan, graduate, get job, pay off loan.>> Anyway, maybe you could

visit>> http://wealthmalaysia.blogspot.com

>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------->>",0]

Genting expects to clinch S’pore licence
By Yvonne Tan
GENTING Bhd is looking at a busy 2006 as it expects to clinch one of the two Singapore casino licences to operate in Marina Bay and Sentosa Island.
The de-regulation in Britain's gaming sector and return on capital re-rating from the expansion of its non-gaming assets, specifically energy, also augur well for the group.
The success of Genting International Ltd’s (GIL) earlier initial public offering (IPO) puts Genting in a “commanding” position to win one of the Singapore’s integrated resort (IR) licences, ECM Libra said in a report.
It said the offering of 800 million shares was oversubscribed by 8.1 times while demand in the retail portion was at 13.8 times. According to ECM, with the IPO exercise, GIL would have increased its free float from 8% to 23% - more than one billion of GIL’s 5.4 billion shares.
“With such a large number of shares in the market, it is quite foreseeable that GIL will be actively traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange and ultimately have a strong retail following despite most of the IPO initially allocated to institutional funds,” said ECM.
It said this implied that the Singapore public could end up being the strategic local investor in Genting’s IR bid. The research house said by using GIL for the IR bid, Genting was well ahead in the game - in terms of capital raising.
Should Genting not get anything out of Singapore, ECM said there was always the other pillar of gaming liberalisation - Britain's casino de-regulation.
Besides gaming, Genting has value in energy as well.
The company still has interest in the Muturi Block of BP’s Tangguh gas field off Indonesia. Although it sold 9.66 % effective rights in the gas reserves to BP in 2001, to reclaim most of its investment,
Genting would still be able to take 30% of it original rights to pre-tax profits of liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales when production begins in 2008, said ECM.
It said although it expects Genting’s share of the initial profits from the Tangguh LNG to be minimal in the first few years, the long-term value of still having 30% of its original rights cannot be ignored.
Shares in Genting ended yesterday as one of the top gainers, adding 40 sen or 1.9% to RM21.50.
According to an analyst, sentiment on the stock was boosted following reports that James Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd and Stanley Ho have withdrawn their joint bid for the Marina Bay IR-cum-casino, raising Genting’s chances of securing the bid.
However, a local research house said despite this, it believed Genting’s prospects lay with the Sentosa Island IR, not the Marina Bay IR as the former fitted in with Genting’s track record and experience.

Link

No money wor? How?

Frankly, I couldn't care less if I knew anything about The Great Depression in the 1930s in America. But having watched King Kong, Peter Jackson's remarkable remake which stresses on The Great Depression, I just had to look into history to see what it is all about.

And so I searched. How sure am I about the resources from the internet? Well, to me it doesn't really matter. As long as the information sounds logical, I'll take it's word for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression

Here's wikipedia for you. I'm reading it. So can you.

Is there an easier way to understand the stock market?

Yes there is!

Found this on the "money" channel of www.howstuffworks.com.


Quotes that I find interesting:

No one can become really educated without having pursued some study in which he took no interest ... T.S. Eliot

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simplier... Albert Einstein

How to Make A Million Ringgit!

Press this link:

http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm

With the compound interest calculator above, key in these values:

Current principal: RM1000 (your initial value)

Annual Addition: RM24000 that is RM2000 a month

Years to grow: 26

Interest rate: 3.7% (which is according to our local bank's fix deposit interest rates: link here)

Compound interest: 12 times annually (once a month)

Press calculate and you will get:

RM1,052,144.98

The basis of this calculation:

http://www.moneychimp.com/articles/finworks/continuous_compounding.htm

Conclusion:

You have to earn at least RM2000 a month. By hook or by crook you have to put in RM2000 a month into the bank as fixed deposits. Do this religiously...(yes money can be a religion to some people) for 26 freakin' years and you WILL have RM1,052,144.98

So lets say you are 24 now, by 50 years old you can purchase your dream Ferarri by cash. Amen to that brother!

Tips for earning at least RM2000 a month is available here:

http://www.kellyservices.com.my/eprise/main/web/my/services/en/document_center/SalaryGuide_05M.pdf

But of course, there ARE other ways of making money. I heard that football bookies earn ten times more than your legal salaries. Will look into that later.

As Paul Zane Pilzer says, "God loves savers".

Read God Wants You To Be rich