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Anyway, I googled the article and found it. The original article was in Chinese and it was just translated to English. The article outlined Li Ka-Shing's 5-year plan on how to improve one's life.
Basically, he advises that you split your income into 5 sets of funds. Since the total income he used for illustration purposes may not be applicable to our local living expenses, I just got the percentage split for easy reference.
30% - basic living expenses
20% - expanding your interpersonal circle
15% - buy books
10% - travel overseas
25% - save for future business capital
------
100%
Here are some advice on the 5 sets of funds:
1. Living expenses. He advocates simple living.
2. Budget to expand your interpersonal circle. He encourages one to make friends. He suggests treating 2 friends for lunch every month - specifically, people who are more knowledgeable than you, richer than you and people who have helped you in your career. (Culturally though, our practice is reverse so this is something entirely new for us.)
3. Budget to buy books. He says that one should read books and apply the strategies learned, and to share the learnings with others. He also encourages one to save up and attend training courses. And he says when you earn more later on, to continue attending advanced training. He says not only do you learn from these courses but also meet like-minded friends who are not easy to come by.
4. Travel budget. He suggests traveling overseas at least once a year to have different experiences in various countries. Travel is a great way to recharge yourself so you'll be able to keep your passion burning at work.
5. Future business capital. He encourages one to save and grow a fund to serve as startup capital. He says one can put up a low risk, small business and learn how to operate one. Even if you lose, he says, it's just small. But if you start earning money, he says, you will start gaining confidence. As you earn more, you can start buying investment plans for yourself and family to ensure you can preserve your quality of life no matter what happens.
Mr. Li Ka-Shing has good sense of humor too. Here's an excerpt from the article after explaining the 5 types of fund buckets:
Well, after struggling for a year and if your second year salary is still 2,000 (the starting salary he used for illustration purposes), then that means you have not grown as a person. You should be really ashamed of yourself. Do yourself a favour and go to the supermarket and buy the hardest tofu. Take it and smash it on your head because you deserve that.
(Hahaha...)
And for those whose monthly income increased, he still admonishes that one has still to work very hard. He recommends looking for a part-time sales job. He says that a sales job is very challenging but it is the fastest way for you to acquire the art of selling which is something you could use for the rest of your career. He points out that all successful entrepreneurs are good sales people - they have the ability to sell their dreams and visions. Selling also hones your pulse to detect market sentiments so you would know what products would click or not.
Here are the rest of the excerpts which I really like from Mr. Li Ka-Shing's interview:
On why we need to split our money into 5 funds:
No matter how much you earn, always remember to divide it into five parts proportionately. Always make yourself useful. Increase your investment in networking. When you increase your social investment, expand your network of contacts, your income also grows proportionately. Increase your investment in learning, strengthen your self confidence, increase investment in holidays, expand your horizons and increase investment in the future, and that will ultimately increase your income.
On why our fate is within our control:
Life can be designed. Career can be planned. Happiness can be prepared. You should start planning now. When you are poor, spend less time at home and more time outside. When you are rich, stay at home more and less outside. This is the art of living. When you are poor, spend money on others. When you’re rich, spend money on yourself. Many people are doing the opposite.
Life can be designed. Career can be planned. Happiness can be prepared. You should start planning now. When you are poor, spend less time at home and more time outside. When you are rich, stay at home more and less outside. This is the art of living. When you are poor, spend money on others. When you’re rich, spend money on yourself. Many people are doing the opposite.
On what to do when you're poor vs when you're rich
When you are poor, be good to others. Don’t be calculative. When you are rich, you must learn to let others be good to you. You have to learn to be good to yourself better. When you are poor, you have to throw yourself out in the open and let people make good use of you. When you are rich, you have to conserve yourself well and don’t let people easily make use of you. These are the intricate ways of life that many people don’t understand.
When you are poor, be good to others. Don’t be calculative. When you are rich, you must learn to let others be good to you. You have to learn to be good to yourself better. When you are poor, you have to throw yourself out in the open and let people make good use of you. When you are rich, you have to conserve yourself well and don’t let people easily make use of you. These are the intricate ways of life that many people don’t understand.
When you are poor, spend money so that people can see it. When you are rich, do not show off. Just silently spend the money on yourself. When you are poor, you must be generous. When you are rich, you must not be seen as a spendthrift. Your life would have come full circle and reach its basics. There will be tranquility at this stage.
On an interesting Harvard theory:
Famous theory from Harvard: The difference of a person’s fate is decided from what a person spends in his free time between 20:00 to 22:00 . Use these two hours to learn, think and participate in meaningful lectures or discussion. If you persist for several years, success will come knocking on your doors.
Famous theory from Harvard: The difference of a person’s fate is decided from what a person spends in his free time between 20:00 to 22:00 . Use these two hours to learn, think and participate in meaningful lectures or discussion. If you persist for several years, success will come knocking on your doors.
(Uh-oh. I need to be more productive during these hours. Haha...)
On moving on:
Whatever happened in the past is over. Do not dwell on past mistakes. There’s no point crying over spilt milk. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s what you learn from the mistakes, and promising yourself not to repeat those mistakes that matters. When you miss opportunities, don’t dwell on it, as there are always new opportunities on the horizon.
On moving on:
Whatever happened in the past is over. Do not dwell on past mistakes. There’s no point crying over spilt milk. Everybody makes mistakes. It’s what you learn from the mistakes, and promising yourself not to repeat those mistakes that matters. When you miss opportunities, don’t dwell on it, as there are always new opportunities on the horizon.
On having a healthy EQ:
Being able to smile when being slightly misunderstood is good upbringing. When you’re wronged and you smile with calmness, it is generosity. When you’re being taken advantage of and you can smile, you’re being open-minded. When you are helpless and you can do a philosophical smile, you’re in a calm state. When you’re in distress and you can laugh out loud, you’re being generous. When you’re looked down and you can calmly smile, you’re being confident. When you’re being jilted in relationships and you can smile it off, you’re being suave.
Being able to smile when being slightly misunderstood is good upbringing. When you’re wronged and you smile with calmness, it is generosity. When you’re being taken advantage of and you can smile, you’re being open-minded. When you are helpless and you can do a philosophical smile, you’re in a calm state. When you’re in distress and you can laugh out loud, you’re being generous. When you’re looked down and you can calmly smile, you’re being confident. When you’re being jilted in relationships and you can smile it off, you’re being suave.
