By Hanniz Lam

Where did January go? Have you identified how you want to make your money work better for you? Where you want to invest your money? How to spend your money wisely? How to prepare for taxes?

Personal financial planning is an ongoing, lifelong process—not a one-time event.

When you break your financial planning into small, achievable tasks, it’s a lot less daunting—and it can pay huge dividends to you and your loved ones over time.

The following personal finance calendar should help you get started.

January

Resolve to make yourself financially fit in 2022:

Manage your debt. Start by paying off all of your high-cost, non-deductible credit cards, and then establish an emergency fund equal to three to six months of expenses, if you haven’t already.
Create (or update) your cash flow statement (prior year income minus expenses) and statement of personal net worth.
Give your portfolio a checkup, and make sure its mix of assets still matches your time horizon and risk tolerance.

Market changes can cause your portfolio to drift away from its original target asset allocation because as investments gain and lose value, they become a larger or smaller part of your overall portfolio. This may be a good time to rebalance your portfolio back to your chosen asset allocation.

If you’re retired and drawing from your portfolio, you can combine your portfolio rebalancing with your cash-flow planning for the next 12 months.

Double-check if and how much you can contribute to your workplace retirement plan. If possible, try to contribute enough to take full advantage of any available employer match.

Do a Quarterly review of your investment portfolio- identify which stock needs to be added or sold

READ MORE ABOUT EPF CONTRIBUTIONS

Ask your tax auditor about Deferment of CP500 tax instalments for last installment YA 2021 or read more about it here

CP500 is a “Notis Bayaran Ansuran” which is “Prepayment of Income Tax by Installment”.

Form CP500 is a tax installment schedule for a taxpayer that has income which is other than employment income such as business income, rental income and royalties issued by Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (“IRBM”).

Create a tax return file receipts folder to prepare for 2022 tax filing
Create a budget or spending plan

February

Check your insurance policies (property and casualty, liability, health, disability, life) to be sure you’re not paying too much for the wrong kind of coverage.
Consider which insurance you may want to add due to global warming/climate change- flood protection? Or for areas increased in crime – Theft Protection? If you have increased in your net worth perhaps Kidnapping Protection?

For those in employment, you should receive your Form EA on last year’s salary by 28th February 2022. The EA form is used in reporting your personal tax.

An EA form is a report of employees’ salaries and statutory contributions paid for the past year. There is updated version being uploaded in the IRBM portal

March

If you received an annual bonus from your employer, use it thoughtfully to increase its potential benefit. It’s tempting to splurge, but consider using a bonus to pay debt, contribute to your retirement plan, or build an emergency fund.

Starting from 1st of March, the e-filing system for personal tax submission is open. You can file your tax early in order to get refunds early, if any.
Deferment of CP500 tax instalments for 1st installment YA 2022.

April

Create (or update) an inventory of your home and personal property for insurance or estate planning. Use your phone to record a video of your valuable possessions, and then store the video in a secure, remote location.
Review your estate plan.
The deadline for submission of the Form BE is 29 April 2022 since 30 April 2022 falls on a Saturday for individuals with no business income and the Form is submitted by hand.
Do a Quarterly review of your investment portfolio- identify which stock needs to be added or sold

May

The deadline for Form BE submission is by 1 May 2022 for individuals with no business income and the Form is submitted by way of e-filing.
Deferment of CP500 tax instalments for 2nd installment YA 2022.

June

Perform a mid-year review of your finances to be sure you’re on track:

Double check your actual year-to-date income and expenses against your cash-flow projections.
Are you on track with your retirement contributions and other savings?
The deadline for submission of Form B is 30 June 2022 for individuals with business income and the Form is submitted by hand.

July

Build or refresh your money skills. Add at least one good book on personal finance or investing to your summer reading list.
The deadline for the Form B submission is 15 July 2022 for individuals with a business income and the Form is submitted by way of e-filing.
Taxpayers are required to pay the CP500 tax instalment for the 3rd instalment YA 2022
Do a Quarterly review of your investment portfolio- identify which stock needs to be added or sold

August

Compare what you actually spent on vacation to the amount you projected in your annual cash-flow plan. Start thinking about your end of the year holiday budget.

September

Taxpayers are required to pay the CP500 tax instalment for the 4th instalment YA 2022

October

Do a Quarterly review of your investment portfolio- identify which stock needs to be added or sold

November

Don’t use your credit card to pay for holiday gifts more than you can comfortably pay for in full when the January credit card statements come around.
Take time to give thanks for another year of financial success. Review your charitable giving program and consider making tax-deductible gifts to charity or to a donor-advised fund account before the end of the year.

December

If you have investments that have lost value during the year, consider tax-loss harvesting to potentially lower your tax liability and better position your portfolio going forward.
Taxpayers are required to pay the CP500 tax instalment for the 5th instalment YA 2022.
Redeem all unused credit card points and treat yourself or a free gift!

To learn more about tax planning, contact Ken Chin, KC Advisory at malaysiataxation[@]gmail.com