Get Financially Fit!
by Brion Lau
The World’s Wealthiest Royals
Aug 22nd
According to the recent Forbes article, the following are the top ten wealthiest:
- King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Thailand)
- Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Abu Dhabi)
- King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz (Saudi Arabia)
- Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (Brunei)
- Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid (Dubai)
- Prince Hans-Adam II (Liechtenstein)
- Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (Qatar)
- King Mohammed VI (Morocco)
- Prince Albert II (Monaco)
- Sultan Qaboos bin Said (Oman)
The petro-kingdoms of Middle East and Asia clearly dominate the list thanks to the soaring oil pirces.
A Million is Not Enough
Aug 18th
I skimmed CNNMoney.com’s article, “Millionaires in the making”, earlier today. Sure, it’s important to live below your means. However, there is a fundamental problem with featuring potential millionaires. Becoming a millionaire is no longer enough by today’s standards.
Determining how much you need for retirement depends on life span and cost of living. Using the CNNMoney Retirement Calculator, will bring this assertion to life. So, I decided to enter the Rodrigueses retirement needs based on the following parameters:
- Their current age is 27.
- Their annual income is $174,000.
- Their retirement age is 40.
- Their post-retirement annual income is 80%.
- Their life expectancy will be 85 years old.
- No pension or social security income.
Guess what? They will need more than $4.173 million. This is not too far off for the average person. Instead of trying to become a millionaire, most people need to think about how they’re going to save between $5 – 10 million in order to maintain the same living standards.
If this is not a practical goal for your current situation, then there’s always the choice to retire in a foreign country where the cost of living standard is lower and your US dollar will go further such as places in Asia, Central America or South America.
Looking for Credit Cards
Aug 17th
Before you apply for that next credit card, you might want to visit www.credit-card-authority.com to do your research.
Credit-card-authority.com is especially noteworthy due to the following features and benefits:
- Detailed listings of the credit card offers with side-by-side comparison of terms, conditions and benefits.
- Credit card suggestions for various categories such as No Annual Fee, Business Credit, Student Credit, Instant Approvals, Rewards Programs, etc.
- Specific credit card recommendations based on credit history.
- A Credit Card eZine with up-to-date articles on credit cards.
- An International section for Belgian and UK credit card reviews.
- Customer care service to answer all your credit card related questions.
I also like the design of the website; it is intuitive and easy-to-use. This is a big plus especially if you want to scan the info quickly and read summaries instead of wading through tons of information. In addition, you’re likely to find the right credit card for your specific needs.
Bottom line, if you’re doing research on credit cards, this site is one worth visiting. This site may not have every single credit card application available, but it certainly features the best ones that most customers are likely to want or need.
World’s Most Expensive Cities
Jul 29th
Mercer Cost of Living Survey – Worldwide Rankings, 2008
The indices are based on Mercer’s cost of living database and are modified to include rental accommodation costs and to reflect constant weighting and basket items. We do not recommend that expatriates use the figures represented here to compare their own compensation packages.
|
Rankings |
City |
Country |
COL Index |
||
|
March 2008 |
March 2007 |
March 2008 |
March 2007 |
||
|
1 |
1 |
Moscow |
Russia |
142.4 |
134.4 |
|
2 |
4 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
127.0 |
122.1 |
|
3 |
2 |
London |
UK |
125.0 |
126.3 |
|
4 |
10 |
Oslo |
Norway |
118.3 |
105.8 |
|
5 |
3 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
117.7 |
122.4 |
|
6 |
5 |
Hong Kong |
China |
117.6 |
119.4 |
|
7 |
6 |
Copenhagen |
Denmark |
117.2 |
110.2 |
|
8 |
7 |
Geneva |
Switzerland |
115.8 |
109.8 |
|
9 |
9 |
Zurich |
Switzerland |
112.7 |
107.6 |
|
10 |
11 |
Milan |
Italy |
111.3 |
104.4 |
|
11 |
8 |
Osaka |
Japan |
110.0 |
108.4 |
|
12 |
13 |
Paris |
France |
109.4 |
101.4 |
|
13 |
14 |
Singapore |
Singapore |
109.1 |
100.4 |
|
14 |
17 |
Tel Aviv |
Israel |
105.0 |
97.7 |
|
15 |
21 |
Sydney |
Australia |
104.1 |
94.9 |
|
16 |
16 |
Dublin |
Ireland |
103.9 |
99.6 |
|
16 |
18 |
Rome |
Italy |
103.9 |
97.6 |
|
18 |
12 |
St. Petersburg |
Russia |
103.1 |
103.0 |
|
19 |
19 |
Vienna |
Austria |
102.3 |
96.9 |
|
20 |
20 |
Beijing |
China |
101.9 |
95.9 |
|
21 |
22 |
Helsinki |
Finland |
101.1 |
93.3 |
|
22 |
15 |
New York City |
US |
100.0 |
100.0 |
|
23 |
38 |
Istanbul |
Turkey |
99.4 |
87.7 |
|
24 |
26 |
Shanghai |
China |
98.3 |
92.1 |
|
25 |
25 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
97.0 |
92.2 |
|
25 |
29 |
Athens |
Greece |
97.0 |
90.6 |
|
25 |
62 |
São Paulo |
Brazil |
97.0 |
82.8 |
|
28 |
26 |
Madrid |
Spain |
96.7 |
92.1 |
|
29 |
49 |
Prague |
Czech Rep. |
96.0 |
85.6 |
|
30 |
37 |
Lagos |
Nigeria |
95.9 |
88.0 |
|
31 |
31 |
Barcelona |
Spain |
95.2 |
89.2 |
|
31 |
64 |
Rio de Janeiro |
Brazil |
95.2 |
82.5 |
|
31 |
23 |
Stockholm |
Sweden |
95.2 |
93.1 |
|
34 |
24 |
Douala |
Cameroon |
95.1 |
92.9 |
|
35 |
67 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
95.0 |
82.4 |
|
36 |
64 |
Melbourne |
Australia |
94.2 |
82.5 |
|
37 |
39 |
Munich |
Germany |
93.1 |
87.6 |
|
38 |
45 |
Berlin |
Germany |
93.0 |
85.9 |
|
39 |
44 |
Brussels |
Belgium |
92.9 |
86.5 |
|
40 |
40 |
Frankfurt |
Germany |
92.5 |
87.4 |
|
41 |
33 |
Dakar |
Senegal |
92.2 |
89.0 |
|
42 |
28 |
Kiev |
Ukraine |
91.7 |
91.4 |
|
43 |
43 |
Luxembourg |
Luxembourg |
91.3 |
87.0 |
|
44 |
30 |
Almaty |
Kazakhstan |
90.7 |
89.6 |
|
45 |
31 |
Bratislava |
Slovakia |
90.6 |
89.2 |
|
46 |
45 |
Düsseldorf |
Germany |
90.4 |
85.9 |
|
46 |
72 |
Riga |
Latvia |
90.4 |
81.5 |
|
48 |
52 |
Mumbai |
India |
90.3 |
84.9 |
|
49 |
59 |
Zagreb |
Croatia |
90.0 |
83.5 |
|
50 |
57 |
Hamburg |
Germany |
89.9 |
84.2 |
Cost of living comparisons in €s – 2008
Selected cities worldwide: 1 Euro= US$1.57
The World’s Youngest Women Billionaires
Jul 29th
Forbes recently released their list of the world’s youngest women billionaires. Who made the list?
- Hind Hariri (Lebanon) – the youngest child of slain Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
- Yang Huiyan (China) – the daughter of Chinese real estate mogul, Yeung Kwok Keung.
- Begumhan Dogan Faralyali (Turkey) – the daughter of billionaires Aydin and Sema Isil Dogan.
- Serra Sabanci (Turkey) – sits on the board of family’s conglomerate, Haci Omer Sabanci Holding.
- Hanzade Dogan Boyner (Turkey) – sister of Begumhan and daughter of billionaires Aydin and Sema Isil Dogan.
- Vuslat Dogan Sabanci (Turkey) – sister of Begumhan, Hanzade, Arzuhan, and daughter of billionaires Aydin and Sema Isil Dogan.
- Chu Lam Yiu (China) – Chair of Hubao International.
- Dinara Kulibaeva (Kazakhstan) – Dinara with her husband Timur Kulibaev, also a billionaire, owns shares in Halyk, Kazakhstan’s third-largest bank,
- Filiz Sahenk (Turkey) – Filiz is an heir to Dogus Holding fortune.
- Margaret Magerko (United States) – Magerko learned about the lumber business from her father Joe Hardy, who opened his first lumberyard in 1952 and founded 84 Lumber in 1956.
- JK Rowling (United Kingdom) – Welfare mom turned Harry Potter scribe is the only author on Forbes’ billionaires list.
- Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag (Turkey) – The trailblazing daughter of Turkish billionaires Aydin and Isil Dogan and sister of fellow heiresses, Begumhan, Hanzade and Vuslat, Arzuhan.
- Zhang Xin (China) – She and husband Pan Shiyi (SOHO China’s chief executive and chairman, respectively) are one of China’s best-known business couples, renowned for their property developments’ sleek, modern style.
- Elena Baturina (Russia) – The powerful wife of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. In 1991 she started plastic-products company Inteko, which produced furniture and crockery but
has since expanded into construction and construction materials. - Abigail Johnson (United States) – Johnson, with her family, controls Fidelity Investments, America’s largest mutual fund company.
- Susanne Klatten (Germany) – This trained M.B.A economist inherited stake in automaker BMW from her father Herbert Quandt, who rescued it from bankruptcy decades ago. She also inherited a 50% stake in pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer Altana.
- Jean Pritzker (United States) – A filmmaker, Pritzker is the granddaughter of A.N. Pritzker, who, with sons Jay and Robert, created industrial conglomerate Marmon and hotel chain Hyatt.
- Nancy Lerner (United States) – The daughter of Al Lerner (d. 2002), who made billions in credit cards via MBNA and brought professional football back to Cleveland
- Winnie Jahnson-Marquart (United States) – Jahnson-Marquart’s father was Samuel Curtis Johnson (d. 2004), great-grandson of the salesman who founded floor wax company S.C. Johnson in 1886.
- Penny Pritzker (United States) – Barack Obama’s campaign finance chief is also the CEO of Classic Residence by Hyatt and chair of airport parking company The Parking Spot.
That’s it!