Push notifications for MSN instant messaging is wonderful. Being on MSN 24/7 and receiving an SMS-like notification whenever someone sends me a message.

This is good stuff.

Tethering also works very, very well. I can hook my iPhone to my Mac effortlessly via cable or Bluetooth, and the speeds are really nice for something that’s mobile.

<3

Calling all cynics and skeptics - just what are you saying no to?

In my line, I expect a lot of rejections. It’s only natural, seeing how misunderstood the industry is. What I don’t understand is why some people are just so insistent in saying that they are not interested in something that they don’t even know about.

Most reasons people give for not wanting to meet up for a financial planning session stem from not being interested. Not being interested in what exactly?

So far I’ve meet with about twenty friends, some close and most not so much, and all but one found it useful in some way or another. I would say that the singular person was of exceptional background, so I guess it was quite hard for that person to understand what financial planning can do for him, but the rest took something home from the session and I am glad that I am able to do that.

In fact today I met with one of my friends, whose sister works at the exact same company as me. I went there knowing full well that no matter how well I manage to put my case across, any commission will go to his sister, but I am okay with that. All I want to know is that I am able to benefit that person, and I am able to brush up my skills. Anything he picks up from me is a bonus. I’m glad I did because he feels that I am able to provide him with certain things that his sister did not.

I’m not saying I’m the best, Of course, one can always look for another financial planner. There are really a lot of them out there, and they probably won’t be as straight-forward and sometimes too direct as me, but there’s a reason why this industry is misunderstood, and that’s because there are a lot of black sheep out there.

I can’t wait a week for the official release, so I got it not-so-officially.

Wide-screen texting is nice. Also seen is copy/paste and the MMS icon.

SMS forwarding… I’ll claim my money from him tomorrow when I see him.

Emailing of multiple photos.

The most recent OS brings features such as MMS, copy/paste and SMS forwarding, amongst many other features, to the iPhone. These missing features have been the biggest complaints by detractors, but I cannot remember the last time I ever needed to MMS or forward an SMS.

Oh well, they are still nice to have. The real nice thing that I’m looking forward to is all the push-enabled apps that will hit the App Store next week. Finally, I can be on MSN Messenger 24/7 on the go!

Saving isn’t something that is meant to be comfortable.

If one saves $100 per month over the next 25 years, one will get $30,000. To Person A earning $500 now, $30,000 is significant. This is because $100 makes up a significant 20% of his income. $30,000 is less significant to Person B who draws a $5,000 monthly salary. However, if Person B saves the 20% of his income every month for the next 25 years, he will get $300,000, which is significant to him.

Person B will find saving $100 a month very comfortable, but that will result in a sum of money that is insignificant to him. As income rises, it is only logical that savings increase such that it will amount to something significant.

Savings is plainly a trained habit. There is a reason why we are all encouraged to save even when we were young. The significance lies not in the cents we saved when we were in primary school, but in the discipline that we build up. If you are used to not committing yourself to save when you have a $500 income, you will not commit yourself to save when you have a $5,000 or even $50,000 income.

Yes, one will have more money to play around with when one is drawing a higher salary. And that is precisely what one would do - play with his money. As your income goes up, your expenses will follow suit. Why is it that one used to be able to live with $1 a day in primary school, but can hardly make it through a day with $10 ten years from then?

It’s not how much you earn, it’s how much you save. One who earns $1,000 but saves $500 will be richer than one who earns $2,000 but saves $250.

Of course, the latter person will find it more comfortable.

It wasn’t long ago when our grandparents put money into biscuit tins. Why put money in the bank, they would think, when it’s not safe and I can’t get it out anytime I want?

As people became more financial savvy, they recognized that they should reap the interest that banks offer, and banks replaced the biscuit tin as the default place where savings ended up.

At the same time, however, instruments for investments and savings growth also evolved. This has quickly made bank savings the biscuit tin of our generation.

Aptly, the interest they give is also what you would find in biscuit tins - crumbs.