Righteousness Brings Wealth

20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.
21 Those who love me inherit wealth. I will fill their treasuries.
Proverbs 8:20-21 (NLT)

The theme for this article is righteousness. This term has been widely used in churches including religious churches that are under the bondage of theology. I was familiar of this term when I was in my previous religious church. The religious preachers of my first church had given me the impression that righteousness means obeying God. (To those who had never been to religious churches, the phase “obey God” always means obey everything the preachers said.)

It should not surprise you that I hated righteousness. I thought it was another oppressive tool for the preachers to promote missions and squeeze money from their congregation.

I thank God for delivering me from the lies of theology. Today, I understand that righteousness means being right with God and I am righteous by faith and not by obeying the lies of theology.

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:16-17 (NLT)

This means as Christians, we do not try to be righteous. We are righteous the moment we believe. Nothing and no one can change this truth, including the most perverse of all theologians. Righteousness is our natural state the moment we were born again into God’s species.

Proverbs 8:20-21 tells us the relationship between righteousness and wisdom. Since righteousness is our natural state, it is wise for us to walk in it. It is like birds flying in the air and fishes swimming in the water. All creatures can live in their best prosperity when they are in their natural state. This is the same for us, the sons and daughters of God. We can live in the best state of prosperity when we walk in righteousness, as stared in Proverbs 8:20-21.

20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.
21 Those who love me inherit wealth. I will fill their treasuries.
Proverbs 8:20-21 (NLT)

The wisdom of God walks righteousness, in paths of justice. Those of us who choose to love wisdom will do the same. As a result, we will inherit wealth. Our treasuries will be filled. Some may ask what kind of wealth? Theologians and doctrine worshippers have the habit of adding the word “spiritual” to every promise on health and wealth in the Bible. This is the way they propagate the lie that God never promised health and wealth to Christians. However, if you read the entire Psalm 8, you will find that the context of wealth is physical assets.

This means living in righteousness will always bring us wealth, true physical wealth like having a lot money. This is the truth that Satan fears the most. This explains why he has been sending his theologians and doctrine worshippers to persecute Christians who believe in this truth.

There is no escape. If you are a Christian who believe in the truth of the Bible, you will be persecuted by the theologians and doctrine worshippers with labels like “Prosperity Gospel”. This is only a sign that you are on the right path. You are living the life God wants you to live. The result is prosperity in every area of your life, including health and wealth, both spiritually and physically.

In conclusion, “righteousness” is not an oppressive word nor is it a dirty word. It our natural state as sons and daughters of God. Through righteousness, we are in position to receive prosperity in every area of our lives, including the area that is dreaded by the Theologian (also known as Satan) – lots of money.

Guard Your Heart

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

We are all familiar with the phrase “God is in control.” Even theologians and doctrine worshippers have no objection over it. However, the difference lies in its meaning and application.

In the minds of carnal Christians like the theologians and doctrine worshippers, the phrase “God is in control” means God is micro managing us. God is the one who decides on everything in our lives. Here are some examples.

 If you were hit by a car in an accident, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be in that accident. That accident brings glory to God.

 If you were infected by cancer or H1N1 flu, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be in sick. Your sickness brings glory to God.

 If you were raped, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be raped. The rape brings glory to God. God loves to see you being raped.

 If you were killed, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be killed. Your death brings glory to God because God loves murder.

 If you were poor, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be poor. Your poverty brings glory to God because God loves to see people suffer in poverty.

The above are not exhaustive. By now I am sure you get the idea on how perverted theology is. Are they correct? If they are right about the Bible, I suggest we throw away the Bible. Who needs a perverted God?

Thank God, they are wrong. The truth is, God will never micro-manage us. The phrase, “God is in control” simply means God has the power to turn our situation around but he will never force his will on us. Let me give you an example.

The Bible has stated very clearly that it is the will of God for all believers to be rich on earth as in heaven. Being rich includes having a lot of money. If you happen to be a believer and you are poor, it is the will of God for you to receive your riches and be rich. However, you will not be forced nor threatened to do so. You have the freedom to reject God’s will in your life, believe in the heresy of theology and remain in poverty. This is the reason why so many Christians are poor. They choose to believe in the lie that God does not want them to be rich. This false belief has caused them to reject the blessing of prosperity from God.

While God has the power to exercise full control over our world, he will never do it without our direct approval because he has too much respect for us. The above verse tells us that it is the will of God that we as individual believers are the masters of our future. We have the right to determine which course we wish to take in our lives and we do it by guarding our hearts above all else.

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

The term “heart” refers to our mind. Every day our senses receive a lot of news and this news is transmitted to our brains. Our brains will acknowledge and make sense on this news. Then the information is passed on to our minds. God has designed our minds to be extremely powerful. Our minds have the power to turn what is spiritual or virtual into its real or physical equivalent.

If we do not exercise control in guarding your mind, all type of bad news will get into it and your mind will turn them into real for you. Our minds may be very powerful but they have no common sense. It is our role to use our common sense to control the information that goes into it. We need to guard our hearts.

Let me give you an example in this. Whenever you read the news, you will hear a lot about the soaring unemployment rates, the bad economy and how people have been suffering. If your mind is unguarded, it will take in this information and make it real in your life. You will end up unemployed and suffer in this bad economy. When that happens, it is not God’s fault. It is not the will of God for you to be unemployed and suffer poverty. You made it happen by not guarding your heart as stated in Proverbs 4:23.

The question here is, how to guard our hearts? How are we supposed to prevent bad news from getting into our minds? The answer is we can’t. Everything we see and hear will go straight into our brains and minds. We cannot stop this flow. However, we can present the information to create a positive impression for our minds. Let me give you an example.

You read the news about many people getting laid off from their jobs and how much they are suffering. When this information gets into your brain, you are to add in a few lines like:

“Thank God, I am in this world but not of this world. God’s promise to prosper me will still hold despite the poor state of economy right now.”

“I want to help these suffering people but I cannot afford to do so now. I want to be very rich so that I can help them.”

“Jesus died poor for me to live rich. I am glad Jesus’ death at the Cross is more powerful than the effects of the bad economy right now. So, I will still be rich regardless of the circumstances.”

When you add in positive interpretations to your mind, you are effectively positioning your minds to think positive and subsequently your mind will make those positive impressions come true. This is the way we guard our minds/ hearts.

In addition, we should not meditate on the bad news. After you read the bad news, put it aside and move on. Do not meditate on it or you mind will start making it real for you.

In conclusion, God has made in clear that he has given us the freedom to decide on the course of our lives. We are the masters of our destiny. Why type of future do you want? Do you want to be rich, healthy and successful? If you do, your role is to guard your heart. Never allow your heart (mind) to think on anything that you do not wish to have and you do it by flooding your mind with thoughts on the future you want.

In short, guard your heart.

Sources Of Passive Income

In my earlier article, I have explained that our retirement or financial security should be based on the passive income we have and not on our net asset. The reason is simple. If you rely on a huge pile of money to live on, you may finish it one day. Even if you don’t, you might do something foolish in your old age and cause the money to be gone. In contrast, if you have a regular flow of money, you can never run out of money. Even if you do some foolish things and lost all your money, you can always wait for the inflow of income next month. Therefore, passive income is the only way to achieve financial freedom.

In this article, I am going to give you a brief run down on the various sources of passive income. Please note that this article is not exhaustive in itself. It is only a brief introduction. You have to do in-depth study on the topic you are interested in. In addition, this is article is only an expression of my personal opinion. I am an engineer, not a financial expert. The difference between engineers and financial experts is, financial experts are trained to obey everything written in their textbooks while engineers are trained to think and analyze.

Let us begin.

Rental Properties
I have used this as examples in my earlier article because it is the most obvious form of passive income. You buy a property and rent it out. Every month you receive rents. Everyone can understand this. Not only that, you don’t have to fork out money to pay for the whole property. Banks and financial companies are willing to provide loans with favorable interest to help you to buy your property. (This is my only appreciation for banks. I like to take their money and not give them money.)

So, you only need to come out with a fraction of the property price and borrow the rest. As long as the rents you receive are more than the total of loan installments and other expenses, you have a net positive cash-flow. Your tenants pay for your mortgage installments and give you some income. Don’t you think this sound like a business from heaven?

There are basically 3 benefits from this option:
1. Positive cash flow which can serve as passive income.
2. Amortization because your equity in the property increase each time you pay off the mortgage installment from the rents you receive.
3. Capital appreciation of the property.

The main obstacle is in finding the right property, buying it and renting it out. The hard work is in the beginning. After that, you only have to wait for money to flow in.

How to start? You have to do your homework and read up on the subject. I am attempting to start my real estate empire but I currently cautious of the property prices in Singapore. Property prices here have been rising despite the absence of any clear economic recovery. I don’t like to get in now. My strategy is to wait for another downturn in property prices before I make my move. I am also looking at properties in Malaysia. All I need now is a reliable agent in Malaysia. Any recommendations?

Dividend Shares
This is also simple to understand. Buy shares on companies that have a good track record in giving out consistent dividends. Companies that can afford regular dividends must be very stable and have secured profit base. They should be quite safe. However, the problem is the shares of such companies will also be in high demand. Their share prices must be very high. So, the dividend yield, (derived by dividing the dividend per share with share price) will be very low, thus making such shares unattractive.

The only time, you can get them at attractive yield is during a bear market. At the time where the whole world is rushing to sell, we can find good bargains like companies that pay regular dividends. The main problem here is companies only pay dividends once a year. Dividends are more like bonuses than salary.

Is there any way to get monthly income from shares? The answer is yes. That is the next category.

Selling covered call options.
This only applies to optionable shares. I am not going to provide a comprehensive explanation on options here. I suggest you find out yourself if you are interested.

Here is the trick. Sell one call option on every share you own at a higher strike price. You will receive the money from your sales immediately. Your broker will lock up the shares that you sold options on. The shares are still legally yours but you are not allowed to sell them as long as the options you sold are still around. Those shares will only be released on either one of these conditions:
1. The sold options expired worthless.
2. You buy back the options you sold.

What will happen then? First, as explained you will receive a certain amount of money for selling the options. This money is yours to keep. Then it depends whether the underlying share prices exceed the strike price of the options you sold.

If the share prices remain below the strike price within one month until the expiry of the options, the options will expire worthless. The broker will release the shares back to you and you can repeat the process of selling options on the following month. The point to note here is that if the company pays dividend, you can still receive it even if the options you sold are not expired yet.

The question here is how much can you get by selling covered call options. Based on my study in US Stocks, it is possible to sell one month call options at more than 3% of the underlying share price. If the shares are worth $10, you can sell options at $0.30 for every share you own. If you repeat the process every month without compounding, you will receive a total of $3.60 a year from the $10 share you own. This works out to the annual yield of 36%. You would have beaten most of the fund managers.

However, the above scenario only works if the share prices stay below the strike price at the expiry of the options. What happens if the underlying share prices shoot above the strike price at the expiry of the option? Your broker will force sell your shares at the strike price.

Here is a numerical example.

1. You have shares worth $10.
2. You sell the call options at strike price of $11 for $0.30.
3. You get to keep the $0.30.
4. Your shares price move above $11 at option expiry.
5. Your broker will take away your shares and pay you $11 per share.

In short, you still get to keep the money from the sales of options and additional profit from the force-sell of your shares. However, you will not be able to repeat the process of selling covered call options because you no longer own the shares to cover.

What is next? You have a lot of cash in your broker account but no more shares. Do you intend to buy shares to sell options on or sell cash covered puts? You need a Plan B on what to do when share prices go above the option strike price. Only then, will you have a complete option selling plan.

This method is not completely passive. You still have to do some work but the work is only once a month. After you sold your options, you only have to wait for them to expire in one month. Then, you work again either on Plan A or Plan B. All you need is a computer, internet connection, broker account and some capital. You can do this anywhere in the world as long as there is internet connection.

Please note that this is not options trading. Trading involves buying and selling. This method is only about selling only.

Automated Trading
The advancement of internet allows the trading on almost everything by everyone. Trading basically involves identifying entry points, make the entry with direction and exit with either profit or loss. There are many books and seminars out there teaching people how to trade. The trading method you can get from the are all mechanical systems. All you have to do is to follow the rules and odds are supposed to be in your favor.

This is not exactly passive unless you can get the computer to trade for you based on specific rules. Such facilities already exist. In fact this is something I am doing right now. I have a forex trading account that allows me to choose the automated trading system I want and I specify the risk parameters. The software will do the rest.

Let me tell you why this is the best business ever. Most businesses require commitment. You can either commit a lot of money or a lot of time. If you have a lot of money, you can put in a lot of money. If you do not have a lot of money, you will need to commit a lot of time and hard work.

Automated trading is the exception here. It requires relatively lesser money to start with and it does not require a lot of time to manage it. The money I invested into this account cannot be used to start a restaurant. I do not wake up in the middle of the night to trade. The computer program does it for me.

So, I suggest you consider this option seriously.

Network marketing
This is the type of business that requires you to commit a lot of time. Network marketing sounds good in theory. Here is how it works. You recruit 10 people. Each of the 10 people recruits 10 other people. The process keeps repeating until the entire city becomes your network.

The problem is it does not always work as planned. I got into it once but never make any money out of it. What I don’t like about it is I am not suppose to use the word “network marketing” when I introduce myself as though it is something I am ashamed of. I don’t like that. If I am in this business, I want to be able to state unashamedly that I am into it but doing so will scare my prospects away.

Another problem with this option is the products they sell are expensive despite the claims that they have eliminated many middleman. So, their marketing strategy is to sell the business rather than the products.

I don’t mind doing it if the products are cheap and common like toothpaste. I can then tell my neighbours, “Instead of going to the supermarket to buy toothpaste, why don’t you buy from me? The price is the same and you can save on the transport cost.” Unfortunately, I cannot find any network marketing groups that sell cheap and common stuffs yet.

Should you get into it? It depends. If you happen to be a very outgoing person and have a lot of friends, you may want to give it a try. Just remember not to spend too much money in it.

Franchise
This option is those who has a lot of money sitting around. Think of McDonalds. How much talent do you need to open one? The answer is none. All you have to do is to pay them what they want and they will provide everything you need to start one. Your work as the boss is only to follow instructions from the franchiser and you get to call yourself an entrepreneur.

Since the job is about following instructions, you can even hire a manager to do it for you. Your role then is to collect money.

Personally, I find this to be a good balance to properties. When the rental yield is high, buy properties and rent them out. However, if the rental yield is low you can rent some space and do some franchise in it. You get to benefit no matter where the rental rates move.

Conclusion.
This is all for now. Let me remind you again that this article is not exhaustive in itself. You have to to your own research.

God’s Plan For Us

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

I believe all Christians know that God has plans for each of us. The only difference is in what type of plan God has for us. When I was in my previous religious church, I could only think of “missions” each time I think of God’s plan for me. I hated missions. So, by extension I hated God’s plan. I tried to avoid being called as much as I could. I am not surprised that all religious churches that are under the bondage of theology preach the same thing. Yet the above verse says otherwise.

The truth is, God has plans for us but those plans are not about missions. They are good for us. They give us future and hope. What type of future and hope does God want us to have? Based on the whole context of the Bible and the fact that God is not a sadist, we can deduce that the future and hope that God wants us to have must be prosperity in every area of our lives. God wants us to have healthy bodies, strong families, good friends, successful careers, blooming business, a lot of money in the bank and everything else that we desire. The Bible is filled with the promises of God wanting us to live prosperous lives.

This means we don’t have to scheme to make God give us what we want. God wants us to be rich more that we want to be rich. When we pray, we are not trying to persuade God to give us what we ask for as though he has no intention of doing so in the first place. The above verse has made it clear that it is the intention of our God to give us good future and hope. So, stop trying to make God do what he wants to do in the first place.

Instead, our role as believers is to position ourselves to receive the blessings God has given to us. When we pray, confess, tithe and practice any other spiritual disciple, we are effectively positioning ourselves to receive the prosperity from God. We are not trying to persuade God. This is something we must always remember in our spiritual walk. God has made it clear that he wants us rich. We don’t have to persuade him to do so.

How about missions? Does God want us to do missions? The answer is, mission is a by-product of God’s plan for us. Think. How are we going to convince the rest of the world that they need to believe in Jesus? Will you tell them that Jesus is God because the Bible says so and the Bible is the true Word of God because it says it is? The real problem the world has with the Gospel comes from the bad impression given by those religious “Christians” out there. They thought those religious “Christians” are real Christians and thus avoid becoming one.

The case in point is the event that happened in Singapore a few months ago. A few women from a local church ganged up to seize power in a women NGO. The reason for the coup was they accused the organization of promoting homosexual lifestyles based on some flimsy reasoning. These female crusaders became the persecutors, judges and executioners at the same time. Their evil acts had sparked outrage in the entire nation. Even the church pastor openly supported their evil acts. To cut the long story short, the women in Singapore joined forces to throw these crusaders out. The entire event gave the impression that Christians are evil and cannot be trusted.

It is up to us, the true Christians to correct those impressions. What are we supposed to do? The answer is to live the life God wants us to live. We need to live in accordance to the good plan God has for us as stated in the above verse. When our lives display clear prosperity like good health, abundant wealth, successful careers and blooming businesses, we become lights in the midst of darkness. We become attractive. People will be attracted to us because they want to live the same lives as us. They will then be more receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the real mission God has in mind for us.

Do you intend to obey?

The Optimist’s Creed

I promise myself:

1. To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.

2. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person I meet.

3. To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

4. To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.

5. To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.

6. To be as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am of my own.

7. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

8. To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet.

9. To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others.

10. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

11. To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds.

12. To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is to me.

Christian D Larson (1874-1954)

Is There A Lion Out There?

13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”
Proverbs 26:13 (NLT)

What I like most about the book of Proverbs is its practicality. It contains scenarios, which we can identify easily around us. The above verse tells us one of the favorite excuses of those who are lazy. They are convinced that there is a lion out there waiting to eat them if they go out. So, it is better to stay inside the house, be poor and die of starvation that to go out. This is the characteristic of those who are lazy. They always prefer the option of doing nothing.

I would like to expound the meaning of laziness here. It is not limited to the idea of not physically working. There are many people who have been working hard physically but they mentally lazy. They refuse to think of ways to improve themselves and their earning power.

In Singapore, you can seldom find people who are physically lazy. We are not a welfare state. Our “welfare” policy is: If you don’t work, you don’t eat. The only welfare pay out here is limited to those who are disabled and old. The welfare payment is very small. So, no one can take advantage on the welfare payment. On the whole, we Singaporeans are not physically lazy because we cannot afford to do so. However, that does not mean we are not immune to mental laziness. What is mental laziness? I shall explain in this article.

Most of us have no problem in looking for jobs and work in it. If we don’t earn enough, we may think of moonlighting at night. Is that the only way to get more wealth? How about starting a business or taking up additional courses? When faced with this question, most people will come up a lot of reasons why business will not work. There are no limits to the reasons they can come up with.

No money for capital.
No money for school fees.
Economy is bad (when the economy is really bad).
Cost is too high (when the economy is good)
Too tired after work.
No time to study.
Do not have the knowledge.
Not good in studying.
Not everyone can be rich because economists say there is a limit on money supply.
It is better to be happy that to be rich.
If God wants me to be rich, I will be rich.

The above list is not exhaustive. I am merely showing that there is no limit on the excuses people can make in order to stay inside their comfort zone. If you happen to be one of those who is doing the same, remember this, while you are producing reasons why you cannot be rich, there are others out there who are working their way to achieve their riches. 10 years from now, you will wish that you had done the same.

So, the moral here is, stop making excuses and move forward to get all the riches you desire.

Some may ask, “How about you? You are teaching others. What have you done yourself?” Here is my answer.

I am presently a resident engineer in a condominium development. The pay is good and the position is stable at least for 2 years. However, this job can basically be called “Jack of all trades and master of none,” I am not that naïve to think that I can ask for more money being a generalist. I need to specialize. Right now, I am giving myself one week to decide on which area to specialize in and I will take action on this coming Monday. For the moment I am more inclined towards steel structures. I want to be a specialist in this subject. Specialists earn more than generalists.

Next, I have an auto trading account in place. It is basically a forex trading account that comes with the option of incorporating various computer trading programs to trade for me. What I have to do is to choose the programs I want and set the risk parameters. The programs will trade for me 24 hours a day and five days a week even when I am sleeping. It is my wish that over time, I will see an avalanche of profits rushing into my account.

I have attended a property investment seminar. However I have not started anything because the property market in Singapore is quite erratic. Properties have been selling like hot cakes since May despite no real indication of economic recovery. Not only that, rents have been falling. All these tell me that the property market may face a downturn soon. I am waiting for it to happen so that I can pick up properties at low price.

You may also notice that I have this blog. Right now, I don’t think I can sell this blog for a few billion dollars but that does not mean I cannot do so in the future. I am working to develop it into a source of inspiration for people around the world. It is my wish that people around the world will visit this blog, read the articles, be inspired and go out to achieve their own breakthroughs in their lives. This blog is also a medium for me to showcase my capability and talent that can help me to make money in other areas.

These are the areas I am currently working on. I am looking at an entrepreneur course but I plan to take it after this project ends. I don’t want to overwhelm myself. After all, the Bible advised us not to wear ourselves out to get rich. I will just focus on these few areas.

The above are the actions I took in securing my future and to advance to the next level. I hope it inspires you to take your first step to do the same.

Do Not Fear Failures

16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)

The theme for this article is failure. The above verse begins with ,” The godly may trip seven times..” The “seven” here is not literally the number 7. It means no matter how many times. So, I can rephase it into, “No matter how many times the godly fail, they will get up again.”

This is the characteristic of the godly. We are resilient. We can withstand all the attacks from Satan and hit him back until he collapse. This reminds me of the last episode of Star Trek Voyager. Starship Voyager entered a Borg infested region in her attempt to enter the transwarp conduit to find a way home. Usually the Borg cubes have superior firepower than Voyager but this time is different. Voyager is equipped with the future armor technology, thanks to the time travelling Admiral Janeway.

As Voyager entered the Borg region, a few cubes took up defensive position and fired at her. The armor technology enabled Voyager to take those blasts with minimum dent in her shields. Then, Captain Janeway ordered 2 trans-phasic torpedoes to be fired at one cube. The cube exploded on impact and was destroyed. The Borg retreated.

I like this scene. It gives me a picture on the difference between the godly and the wicked. The wicked can fire all their phasers and torpedoes at us, creating the impression that they have the upper hand but what they do not realize is we have God on our side. Our God has given us everything we need to withstand those attacks. Our shields and armor can hod those attacks. Our shields will not fail. We will not be boarded and the warp core will not breach. If God does not think we can overcome the trouble, he would not have allowed the attacks to happen in the first place.

So, it is important for us to remind ourselves that whatever trouble we are in right now, God thinks we can overcome it. In other words, the existence of the trouble is the proof that God has given us everything we need to overcome it. We have a choice in this situation. Will you choose to agree with God and overcome the trouble or will you choose to contradict God and allow your self to be defeated? The choice is yours.

Another point I want to make here is, we are not immune to troubles. Being a Christian does not mean you can have no trouble in your life. We may not be of the world but we are physically in the world. We are as physically vulnerable as the rest of humanity but we have a secret weapon that they don’t, our faith.

 Through our faith, we are linked to the supernatural blessings of God.
 Through our faith, we can triumph over every trouble.
 Through our faith, we can turn our poverty into prosperity.
 Through our faith, we can turn our sickness with health.
 Through our faith, we can turn our failures into success.

In conclusion, no matter how many times you appeared to have failed, do not give up your faith. The movie is not over yet. The only way the movie can end is when you win. You are the hero in this movie. God has decreed that this movie must have a good ending and good ending means you win.

Improve Your Competence

29 Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people.
Proverbs 22:29(NLT)

I have written on this verse before. This time I am taking another approach. The key word here is “competence”. Being competent means being able to perform our normal duties with higher efficiency, which in turn leads to faster results, better quality and lesser mistakes.

In the above verse, God wants us to be competent in our jobs and area of expertise. He pointed out that competent workers serve kings, not ordinary people. It seems to me that God wants us to improve in our jobs in order to get higher salaries. I am sure many of us will find such advice to be redundant. It is basic common sense. Why would God gave us such a common sense advice?

I believe he wants to remind us of a blind spot we often miss in our quest for improvements. Let me ask you this question. What comes into your mind when you think of getting rich? Most people with think of going out there to start a business, taking courses to get a better job or migrating to a richer country. Most of us cannot see how we can get rich in working in our current jobs. After all, if my job can make me rich, I am already rich by now.

The only exceptions are those high flyers who are on track to higher promotions. As for the rest of us, we look at the greener pastures at the other side of the fence and wish we can get there. So, Proverbs 22:29 is a timely reminder from God that there is also wealth where we are right now.

Let me give you a biblical example. David was a shepherd boy before he was summoned into the palace to serve King Saul. Do you think he had wasted his time as a shepherd? The answer is no. When David was working as a shepherd, he learned many things like building up his faith in God, fighting skills (like sling shots) when he fought the predators and familiarized with the topography of the region. When David took up the post of army commander, he was able to put in use the skills he had learned when he was a shepherd. So, David did not really waste his time as a shepherd.

This is the same for us. You may not see any opportunity for advancement in your present job. However, you need to realize that just because you don’t see it, it does not mean opportunity does not exist. God wants us to capitalize on the opportunities he has provided in our current jobs. He may wants you to move to another company or stay on with the existing one but the bottom line is there are many things you can do right now in your current job to improve your competency.

The following are some suggestions on how we should do it.

Work with the mentality of abundance.
People can tell the difference whether you work with a positive mindset or work grudgingly. When you fulfill the responsibilities of your job with a positive mindset, you will feel happy and more enthusiastic. People around you will be able to sense your joy and they will be drawn to you. You will have favor from God and men.

Not only that, working in a positive mindset is also a lifestyle of faith. When you are in faith, you can have everything you want. This is a guarantee from God.

Make it a habit to improve your job.
Even if your job is routine, it does not mean that you cannot think of ways to improve it. If you are a dish washer, think of ways to wash your dishes faster and cleaner. If you are selling burgers, think of ways to serve better and deliver the burgers faster to your customers. Whatever you are doing right now, there is always way to improve them. When you make it a habit to keep improving your works, your competence will also improve and you will be on your way to move up your career ladder.

Specialization.
I don’t think I need to convince anyone that specialists can earn more money than generalist. Being a specialist means focusing your efforts in acquiring knowledge and skills in a specific area of interest in order to become one of the best people in that area.

If you are a civil engineer, you can specialize in the construction of tall buildings, tunnels, bridges, dams or any other critical areas. If you are a chef, you don’t have to have the expertise to cook a lot of dishes. You can even specialize in desserts or cakes. So, you don’t even have to know how to fry a fish to be a high paying chef.

Specialization can indeed improve our income but it comes with a high price. It takes hard work in learning and taking additional courses after work. It won’t be a bed of roses but the reward is great.

Niche combinations.
Let me give you an example in this area. Supposing an music company needs to hire a manager to expand their business. The ideal candidate will need to have basic competence in management. However, if the job requires close interaction with the musicians, the company may want the candidate to have some music background. So, we have a special niche here, someone with both management and music background.

If you happen to fit into these 2 categories, you can demand a higher salary due to your uniqueness. There are many people out there with management expertise but you are the one who know music. There are many musicians out there but you are the one with management expertise. You may not be the best in management and music but the combination of both gives you an advantage.

In fact, this is the direction I am planning to take. Instead of taking courses in more advanced level in engineering, I am planning to expand my competence into area like quality. I want to be an engineer with expertise in ensuring overall quality in buildings. I will need to broaden instead of deepening my knowledge. I am learning more on architectural, electrical and mechanical works.

I am sure such expertise will be in demand as Singaporeans emphasize more in quality now.

Conclusion
No matter how bad your job situation looks like right now, there is always something to learn. You can only learn if you adopt a positive attitude in your job. Use it as an opportunity to improve in your competence. When you are truly competent, you will serve kings not ordinary men. You can even be the king’s business partner.

God wants us to improve in our competence. Don’t give up.

The Lord Directs Our Steps

24 The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?
Proverbs 20:24 (NLT)

I like this verse because it gives me the assurance that God will always be on my side and he will be personally see to it that I will always have the prosperity I want. So, it is not necessary for me to understand everything along the way. Please note that the verse does not say it is wrong in wanting to understand things. It is natural and praiseworthy in wanting to understand things. After all God gave us brains for us to use. So, being a scientist is not a sin.

However, if you have lived long enough in this world, you will realize that situations are not always straightforward and can be easily understood. Welcome to the real world. I like the school environment because everything is so structured. As a student, you will attend lessons in accordance with the established timetable and be taught according to the established syllabus. You know in advance where you will be. You will also be told on what will you be tested in and where you can go if you achieve a certain grade in your examinations. Everything is clear and structured.

This was how I live my life until I completed my engineering degree in the National University of Singapore. After that, I suddenly found myself in a new world. When I started working, I was quite disoriented. No one told me what was my next level and what I must achieve in order to reach it. It short, my early working life had been a constant struggle until I learned about the truth of the Bible.

Today, my life is different. While I am still physically in the same world as I was when I first graduated, I no longer think the same. I am not lost nor disoriented. I may not know completely what is in store for me in the future, I can still live in peace because I know the Lord is directing my steps. God is still in control and he is leading me in his path of prosperity.

I seek to learn and understand the things around me. If I can understand them, I thank God for it but if I can’t, I am still in peace because I know my God is on my side. This is important for us if we want to have peace in our lives. We cannot afford to secure our peace on our limited understanding on the situation around us. If we do so, our peace may end up fluctuating like the stock market. When we hear good news, we are happy. When we hear bad news, we are sad. The bigger problem here is, there are usually more bad news than good from the media.

Consider this. When a thousand planes managed to take off and land safely, no media bothers to report on them, but when one plane crashed, the media make it their headlines. Our current mass media system favors bad news over the good. If your peace depends on what they report, you will have a very miserable life.

Therefore it is essential for us to put our trust in God. The situations around us make look good or bad but our God will never abandon us. He is always on our side and constantly working behind the scenes to bring us prosperity. Why worry over the situation? It does not matter if you cannot understand what is happening. What truly matters is you must believe that the Lord directs your steps.

A Revolutionary Concept In Retirement Planning

I am sure most of us are familiar with the concept of retirement planning. Financial institutions like banks, insurance companies and independent financial advisory firms have been promoting it to improve their business. Wherever you go to for your retirement planning needs, you will always get some standard textbook answers on this subject, which will result in commission income for these institutions.

In this article, I will run through these “textbook answers”, reveal their flaws and propose the true engineering solution to it.

Let us begin with the basic definition.

What is retirement?
All of us will have to retire unless we happen to die in our jobs. Retirement is a stage where we no longer do the jobs we used to do nor do we receive the salary we used to receive. Why do we retire? There are 2 basic reasons for people to retire:
1. Too old to work.
2. Too rich to work.

As you can see, the first case is the equivalent of being thrown out of your job while the second case is the situation of you throwing out your job. The objective of retirement planning is to ensure that we retire for the second reason. We retire because we become too rich to work and not because we become so old that our employer wants to get rid of us.

Now, that we have determined the reason for retirement, let us move on to the standard textbook answers on how to plan for retirement.

Standard textbook retirement planning.
Here are the basic steps on how to plan for retirement according to the standard textbook:
1. Determine the annual expenses needed to pay for your desired lifestyle after retirement.
2. Estimate the amount of years you are expected to live from your retirement onwards.
3. Multiply the annual expenses to the amount of years you are expected to live after retirement.
4. Factor in the expected rate of inflation from now until your retirement age.
5. The result is the retirement fund you need to build up in order to fund your ideal retirement.
6. Create a wealth building plan to build up that amount. This plan will invariably involve putting aside a portion of your current income to the recommended investment portfolio.

The above are the basic steps for the conventional retirement planning. They are available in every financial institution that is interested in making money out of this idea. Can you see the flaws in the above steps? Let me start by pointing out the obvious.

Flaws in the standard textbook retirement planning

Consider the last step, Step 6. How are you going to build up the amount for retirement derived in the above steps? You will probably be told that you need to invest regularly into a portfolio that will give you a certain percentage of annual growth. However, there is no guarantee in the estimated growth. Your advisor will not be liable if the recommended portfolio fails to achieve the targeted growth stated in the plan.

By the time you realize that your investment fails to achieve the target for retirement, it is too late for you. You will not going to retire in style. As for the financial planner who planned the failed investment, he or she will still be keeping the commission you paid from your investments. You need to be aware that financial planners get rich from the commissions from clients like you, not from their own investments. Their expertise is in persuading others to invest with them so that they can earn their commissions.

Financial planners are expert salesmen. They are not expert investors. So, if you choose to trust your financial planners with your life savings, you are heading for your own doom.

Next, let us assume that you can really achieve the targeted amount for your retirement. Let us assume some numbers here. Consider the following:

Based on your retirement planning, you need $5 million at age 60 to enjoy your desired retirement lifestyle for the next 30 years and you have successfully achieved the $5 million.

What is next? What are you going to do with that $5 million in your investment? Are you leaving the amount in the stock market? If you do that, you are exposing your retirement nest eggs vulnerable to the fluctuations of the stockmarket. Any market crash happens during your retirement will have the potential to cancel your retirement.

However, if you choose to liquidate your investments and keep the $5 million in your bank account, you are subjecting your retirement fund to inflation. No one can predict how high inflation can rise. When inflation becomes very high, you will lose a significant portion of your $5 million savings. Your retirement plan can still be cancelled.

What are you going to do? If you are thinking of withdrawing half into cash and leave the other half in investment, you will still face the risk in both sides.

So, the question is, how can such a bad plan become a standard textbook retirement plan? Who invented such a bad plan? Obviously that person cannot be an engineer. Engineers will never come out with such a toxic plan. Trusting a non-engineer for your financial future is very risky.

I believe that one of the main reason the global finance is in such a mess is the financial sector is run by non-engineers. Non-engineers should not be allow to be involved in the financial sector, let alone becoming financial advisors or planners.

Please note that I have nothing against non-engineers. I am sure most of the readers of this blog are not engineers. I have nothing against you. However, if we truly want to have a prosperous economic system and retire comfortably it is essential that we regulate the financial sector and only allow people with proper engineering background and training to manage it. In the end all of us, (engineers and non engineers) will benefit from a properly managed financial system.

There are many jobs that non-engineers can do but finance is not one of them.

At this point, I believe many will ask me what is the solution to the flawed retirement planning? Here is the answer.

Yeap Chee Seng’s engineering solution to retirement planning.
The engineering way toward retirement planning is to look at the retirement income and not the total amount. Instead of asking, “How much money do I need to save to retire?”, the engineering question is, “How much passive income I need in order to retire?”

The key word here is passive income. Passive income is defined as the income we receive without having to work for it. The clearest example is the income from rentals. If you have a property which you rent out, the rent will come to you every month without you having to work for it. If the amount of rents you receive is more than your total expenses, you are free to retire.

This means the correct way to plan for your retirement is to build up sources of passive income. In the above passage I use rental properties as an example but it is not the only source of passive income. There are many others, which I will cover in future posting.

How do you execute your retirement planning? This article is not meant to be exhaustive by itself. I can only give you some brief guidelines here. Maybe I will expound on this in future.

First, start your own research on the sources of passive income. The internet has many choices for us choose from. Then, make your move to build up your source of passive income. As you do, keep improving and enhancing your system. You have to keep reminding yourself that the real objective is regular passive income.

It will be helpful if the field you are involved in to be one of your hobbies or areas of interest. It is less tiring to do the things you like. Your hard work will not feel like hard work if you enjoy it.

Yes, it requires hard work. You have to do additional work after your regular paid job. In your paid job, you work to make your employer rich. It takes basic common sense to start working to make yourself rich by building up some sources of passive income to fund your retirement.

Is there an easier way? Of course there is. Give your money to the financial planner with no engineering background and hope for the best.

How about the target of my passive income? Your current income is a good guide. Let us assume that you own an internet business that gives you an income of 10% of your salary. What you have to do is either to increase the sales of your internet products by 10 times or set up 9 other internet businesses that gives the same result.

Once your passive income matches your earned income regularly, you are ready to retire anytime. You have to make sure that you don’t spend more than your passive income. At this stage, you can choose to resign if you want to. If you choose to keep on working, use your salary to build more asset base to create a bigger buffer in your financial fortress.

The result is financial independence the engineering way.