That’s what I was taught to do from my mother.
I was 3 years old when my mom gave me my first piggy bank.
It was a yellow globe with two white gloves sticking out to greet me with a wide open smile on its painted face.
Mom said that this was mine and I should pay attention to it.
It was to be my future.
Every week, mom will give me 20 cents and ask me to put it into the yellow globe.
So week after week, I will do so.
The coins inside grew slowly.
A year will pass and mom will open up the little hole underneath it and help me count the coins.
Of course it was not much.
20 cents for 52 weeks will only amount to 10 ringgit 40 cents.
But to a young child it was a large amount.
Once all the accounting work is done, dad will take me to the bank to deposit it into my kiddy account in our local bank.
Mom will always insist on topping up the amount to 50 ringgit so that it looks nice and orderly in the account books.
So year after year, I will diligently save up my money and put it into my account.
And eventually it became a life habit.
Even today, as an adult, I still save up my coins in a little box beside my bed counter.
Granted, my actual savings is no longer being accumulated in that manner.
But the habit stuck.
Since I began earning wages 14 years ago, a portion of my income will always go into a savings account separated from my spending account.
What do I save it all for?
Anything.
Everything.
That’s where I went when I needed the money for my wedding.
Now that I am married to my love of life.
The money I save will be used to better secure our future.
Investments and smart purchases will be in the agenda.
A shrewd investment plan is essential to see us get to where we want to be in the future.
People like Robert.T.Kiyosaki might say other wise.
He would say I should start taking up a loan and invest with other people's money.
I understand that concept and generally agree with the idea.
But I am too much a pragmatist to ever go boldly where I can't see the end of a tunnel.
Don't get me wrong.
People should take risk; those who dare not venture out of their comfort zone will never leave their "shire".
But you should only risk that which you are willing to loose.
Some have huge buffer zone on what is the acceptable risk to them.
To others it’s a tiny red line which seems to be billion of miles away.
As a war strategist, I am very much predictable.
I will only attack when I am sure of success.
But there are times where I will chance a risky maneuver as long as I can live to fight another day.
So plan for you future.
And I don't mean just your financial aspect.
Everything.
Think ahead.
Dream.
That’s one of the steps to building a meaningful and eventful life.
