When you graduate, can you afford to live with the salary of your career choice?

As reported in the Star, “Malaysia’s inflation rate is expected to edge up to 3.4% for the first nine months of this year from 2.1% in the same period in 2013 driven by slower consumption as prices of consumer products have increased.

Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) South East Asia Global Research Regional Head of Research Edward Lee Wee Kok said the slower consumption was because goods have become more expensive due to further subsidy rationalisation.

“You have less income to buy the goods. This would possibly lower the private consumption for the economy,” he told reporters after a briefing session on “Rising East, Emerging West” today.

Lee noted that the inflation projected for Malaysia this year was the highest among its regional peers. ”

According to tradingeconomics.com, “The inflation rate in Malaysia was recorded at 2.90 percent in November of 2013. Inflation Rate in Malaysia is reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Inflation Rate in Malaysia averaged 3.72 Percent from 1973 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 23.90 Percent in March of 1974 and a record low of -2.40 Percent in July of 2009.

In Malaysia, the most important categories in the consumer price index are Food and non-alcoholic beverages (30 percent of total weight) and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (23 percent of total weight). Others include: Transport (15 percent);

Communication (6 percent); Recreation and culture (5 percent) and Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (4 percent). The remaining components are Restaurants and hotels at 3.2 percent and miscellaneous goods and services at 6.3 percent.”

In the past few years, all the following below have happened to make your Ringgit smaller and decrease your spending power.

• petrol price increase
• sugar subsidies being cut
• electricity tariffs increasing
• toll increase
• property prices soaring
• Government Service Tax (GST) 6% on all items & services sold
• price of stationeries increasing in 2014
• school bus fares increase
• school canteen food price increase
• assessment rates in KL increase

With the incredible rise in property prices, can you afford to buy a house after you graduate? 

Kuala Lumpur has the country’s most expensive housing, with average house prices of RM497,535 (US$164,241), followed by Sabah and Selangor, with average prices of RM382,414 (US$126,239) and RM372,499 (US$122,966), respectively.

By property type, nationally:

• The average price of terraced houses rose by 7.8% y-o-y to RM211,957 (US$69,969) in Q3 2012
• The high-rise price index soared 9.6% during the year to Q3 2012, to an average price of RM206,973 (US$68,324)
• The average price of detached houses increased 4.8% y-o-y to RM375,202 (US$123,858) in Q3 2012
• The average price of semi-detached houses rose by 5.7% to RM359,849 (US$118,790) over the same period

Selangor saw 13.4% house price increases over the same period (10.8% inflation-adjusted), followed by Sabah (9.8%), Terengganu (8%), Pulau Pinang (7.9%), Negeri Sembilan (7.2%) and Sarawak (7.1%). Kuala Lumpur’s house price index rose 2.4% y-o-y to Q3 2012 (0.1% inflation-adjusted). Pahang and Perak had the lowest y-o-y price growth, at 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively. (as reported in http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Asia/malaysia/Price-History)

Can your salary support the cost of life?

According to the recent report by Jobstreet, the average starting salary for a fresh graduate is only RM2,100. However, although this may be true across the board, the graduate can increase the salary on a much faster rate through promotions.

With a starting salary of RM2,100, do you think that you can survive in Kuala Lumpur? If you are from outstation, you will need to pay for room rental at about RM400 a month. You would budget about RM600 for food and about RM500 for transportation. This doesn’t leave you much to save. Keep in mind that you do not actually take home RM2,100 a month for your salary as there will be deductions for EPF, Socso and Income Tax.

With a good command of the English language, executives can gain higher salaries (25% higher) and faster promotion according to a report in the Star newspaper. Students must prepare themselves while at university to equip themselves with the necessary skills so that they can get the right job and get promoted quickly.

Choosing a cheaper university that does not prepare you will in the end make the next 60 years of your work life very difficult. You will get a low salary and slower promotion and salary increments.

Choosing the right course and university can change your life, so choose wisely.

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in Malaysia, Singapore and Ireland. EduSpiral Consultant Services also represents MDIS Singapore and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

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These universities and colleges are chosen by EduSpiral because they represent the best in their fields in Malaysia and affordable. EduSpiral provides in-depth information and counseling on their courses so that students are able to make the right choice. Students interested to find out more how to change their lives and to change the world please contact us.

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