3 Keranjang Kehidupan Finansial

Semua orang harus bekerja / berusaha untuk mendapatkan penghasilan. Penghasilan tersebut akan digunakan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan hidup dasar masing-masing. Kebutuhan hidup tidak akan sama untuk semua orang, karena standar hidup tiap orang juga berbeda. Akan tetapi semuanya akan mempunyai persamaan yaitu setelah pemenuhan kebutuhan hidup terpenuhi, maka sisanya akan ditabung.

Jika Anda menanyakan kepada orang-orang apa yang dilakukan mereka terhadap tabungannya, yakinlah bahwa jawabannya pasti beraneka ragam. Kenapa? Karena mereka menabung untuk memenuhi tujuan hidupnya masing-masing. Ada yang ingin mempunyai rumah, ada yang ingin menyekolahkan anak, ada yang ingin mempunyai mobil mewah, ada yang hanya ingin membantu orangtua. Apa pun tujuan orang untuk menabung, secara garis besar bisa dikelompokan ke dalam 3 keranjang kehidupan seperti berikut:

Keranjang Pertama (I) - Security (Keamanan)

Keranjang ini berisi dana darurat, asuransi jiwa, asuransi kesehatan, tabungan pensiun dan tabungan sejenis lainnya.

Keranjang ini adalah yang pertama dan yang utama. Seharusnya setiap orang harus mengisi terlebih dahulu keranjang I ini. Akan tetapi kenyataannya banyak orang yang mengabaikan keranjang I ini, mereka lebih memilih untuk langsung mengisi keranjang II. Mereka tidak sadar bahwa banyak sekali resiko yang harus dihadapi seseorang dalam kehidupan ini. Coba perhatikan ilustrasi di bawah ini:

Ada 2 orang yaitu Mr Siap dan Mr Belum, keduanya bekerja di perusahaan yang sama. Mr Siap memfokuskan tabungannya untuk menyiapkan dana darurat, sedang Mr Belum hanya memfokuskan diri untuk investasi saja. Setelah beberapa waktu mereka sudah mempunyai tabungan yang cukup, tiba-tiba perusahaan tempat mereka bekerja mengalami masalah sehingga harus melakukan PHK masal. Mr Siap dan Mr Belum termasuk orang yang terkena PHK tersebut. Kita lihat bagaimana hal tersebut mempengaruhi kehidupan mereka.

Untuk keperluan sehari-hari, Mr Siap tidak terlalu bermasalah karena dia sudah menyiapkan dana darurat yang cukup untuk mengantisipasi hal ini. Sekarang dia sedang memfokuskan diri untuk mencari pekerjaan yang baru, dan masih memungkinkan bagi Mr Siap untuk memilih pekerjaan yang sesuai dengan dirinya. Sebaliknya dengan Mr Belum, dia sekarang sedang pusing memikirkan bagaimana caranya memenuhi kebutuhan hidupnya sehari-hari. Mr Belum menginvestasikan tabungannya dalam bentuk properti dan tidak dapat menjual properti tersebut dengan mudah, sehingga Mr Belum harus cepat-cepat mencari kerja dan dia pasti akan menerima pekerjaan apapun demi mencari penghasilan.

Dari ilustrasi di atas, Anda dapat melihat mengapa kita mengutamakan keranjang I lebih dahulu. Keranjang I ini, kita tidak terlalu mementingkan return atau hasil tapi lebih mengutamakan kemudahan dicairkan pada saat dibutuhkan (liquidity).

Keranjang Kedua (II) - Growth (Pertumbuhan)

Keranjang kedua adalah tabungan berupa properti, usaha, investasi dan tabungan sejenisnya.

Pada keranjang ini seseorang mulai mengharapkan bahwa apa yang ditabung akan bertumbuh menjadi lebih banyak. Ada banyak cara untuk mengembangkan aset Anda.

Keranjang Ketiga (III) - Luxury (Kemewahan)

Keranjang ketiga adalah tabungan yang ditujukan untuk kemewahan, seperti jalan-jalan ke luar negeri, mobil mewah, rumah mewah, executive club, dan tabungan yang ditujukan untuk kemewahan lainnya.

Jika Anda mengisi keranjang ini pastikan bahwa Anda telah mengisi keranjang I dan II. Keranjang ini adalah keranjang biaya, tidak ada pertumbuhan di keranjang ini. Seseorang harus sudah mempunyai kemapanan finansial atau kebebasan finansial (financial freedom) baru dia boleh mengisi keranjang ini, jika tidak akan sangat berbahaya.

Masa depan Anda bukan hanya ditentukan oleh kesempatan, melainkan pilihan. Jadi, bijaklah dalam memilih dan bangun kehidupan keuangan Anda dengan penuh hikmat.

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Siapkan Dana Masa Depan Anak


Memberikan serta merencanakan yang terbaik untuk anak tentunya akan Anda lakukan. Karenanya tak heran apabila sebelum anak melangkah ke jenjang berikutnya, sebagai orangtua, Anda akan mempersiapkan diri dengan segala hal yang berkaitan dengan kehidupan anak di masa depan. Mulai dari merencanakan pendidikan yang akan dijalani hingga mungkin mempersiapkan dana untuk biaya nikah sang anak kelak.

Wah apa tidak terlalu jauh tuh pemikirannya? Rasanya memang aneh apabila hal tersebut terbersit dalam pemikiran Anda saat ini. Sebab siapa tahu kondisi Anda sendiri saat ini masih serba pas-pasan. Boro-boro buat menyiapkan apa yang dituliskan di atas, bisa mencukupi kebutuhan sehari-hari saja sudah rasanya masih bisa bersyukur.

Ya memang, mengingat segala sesuatunya sulit diperoleh saat ini, hal pemikiran tesebut wajar saja mematahkan keinginan Anda untuk mempersiapkan yang terbaik bagi anak. Namun jika dipahami benar arti mempersiapkan segala sesuatunya untuk anak Anda, bukan berarti berupa materi saja, bahkan mungkin secara tidak sadar Anda sendiri sebenarnya telah mempersiapkan banyak hal demi masa depan anak. Contoh kecilnya saja Anda telah membeli satu buah unit desktop PC. Hal itu sebenarnya merupakan investasi yang cukup berarti untuk anak Anda. Karena dengan hadirnya desktop PC tersebut, Anda dapat memperkenalkan atau mengajarkan pada anak bagaimana menggunakan PC dengan baik. Dan hal tersebut tentunya bekal yang cukup besar artinya bagi anak. Karena bukan tidak mungkin di saat serba modern seperti sekarang ini dunia komputer semakin canggih dan si anak telah mempelajari kecanggihan yang ada sedini mungkin.

Sementara itu bagi Anda yang memiliki kemampuan di atas rata-rata, menyisihkan dana yang ada demi masa depan anak tak dilarang untuk dilakukan. Walaupun pada awalnya Anda hanya mampu untuk menyisihkan sedikit dari pendapatan Anda. Namun setidaknya Anda telah berupaya. Tanamkan dalam benak Anda bahwa bukan nilai nominal yang Anda hitung, karena nilai nominal akan berkembang secara sendirinya seiring dengan waktu. Namun mungkin nilai perhatian Anda pada masa depan anak jauh lebih besar nilainya. Dengan demikian Anda, makin terpacu untuk melakukan hal tersebut.

Joy Of The Moment - Leo Buscaglia

Ada anak yang berharap cepat masuk SMA supaya bisa tampil keren, setelah SMA ingin kuliah supaya bisa pacaran, ketika kuliah ingin kerja supaya bisa mencari uang sendiri, ketika kerja ingin menikah, ketika menikah ingin jadi manager, manager ingin jadi direktur, dan seterusnya. Dalam pengejaran pengejaran kebahagiaan masa depan dia telah melupakan kebahagiaan masa kini. Lupa akan nikmat dan indahnya "sekarang". Tulisan Leo Buscaglia ini mengingatkan kita untuk belajar menikmati "sekarang" dan benar2 hidup, karena sebenarnya hidup ini hanyalah perjalanan, diujung sana hanya kuburan 2 x 3 m, hanyalah kematian. Siapapun dia, betapa kayapun dirinya, semua berjalan menuju titik ujung yang sama, kematian. Salam.

Learn the Joy of the Moment
by Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D.

Freud said a lost of really nice things and one thing that he said was so many of our problems and our inability to live stem from the belief and we will never die. We think we have forever. If you thing about it in the back of your mind, you always think it's the other person who dies, not you. Well I have news for you, We areall going to die! The is the most democratic thing that has ever happened. No matter who you are, how wealthy you are, how illustrious you are, how many degrees you have, how fouled up you've made your life, how beautiful you've made your life, you're going to die.

But why fear it? You only fear death when you're not living. If you're involved in the process of life, you won't wail and scream. If you've treated people in your life beautifully while they were alive, you will not throw yourself over thief caskets screaming, "Don't go, Don't Go!" For goodness sakes! We don't even let people die in dignity. We let them die guilty by screaming, "Oh, please don't die."

What a weird concept we have of death. We don't want to take children to funerals. Some of you had it explained that everything dies as flowers die in winter and then grow again. Death is a continuous beautiful process of life. Then when you've seen it, you don't fear it, Death is a good friend, an awfully good friend, because it tells us we don't have forever and that to live is now; therefore, you see how precious every minute is. We read it and say, "oh yes, that's so true." But do we live that way? How wonderful it is to be with the moment when you see a flower. When somebody is talking to you, for goodness sake, listen and don't look over a shoulder at wheat else is going on. Cocktail time. There's no greater insult. If you don't want to be with me, don't be with me! That's all right, I can adjust to that.

But if you are going to be with me, will you be with me? You say, I am going to look at the ocean." Do you look at the ocean? "Oh, isn't that a beautiful sunset." Do you mean it, do you see it, do you recognize it will never come again?

Death teaches us--if we want to hear--that the time is now. The time is now to pick up a telephone and call the person that you love. Death teaches us the joy of the moment. It teaches us we don't have forever. If teaches us that nothing is permanent, It teaches us to let go, there's nothing you can hang on to. And it tells us to give up on expectations and let tomorrow tell its own story, because nobody knows if they'll get home tonight. To me that's a tremendous challenge. Death says, "Live now."

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While teaching at the University of Southern California, Buscaglia was moved by a student's suicide to contemplate human disconnectedness and the meaning of life, and began a non-credit class he called Love 1A. His book and numerous recorded and televised lectures, some of which became available through PBS, became extremely well received. He argued that social bonds are essential at transcending the stresses of everyday life and enriching it above the limitations of poverty as well as crossing communication gaps between generations. At the end of each of his public lectures, he would invite the audience to come up on stage for a hug. Often, every person did.


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Secure Your Vista PC in 10 Easy Steps
By making a few judicious changes using the security tools within Windows Vista--and in some cases by adding a few pieces of free software--you can lock down your operating system.

1. Use Windows Security Center as a Starting Point

For a quick overview of your security settings, the Windows Security Center is where you'll find the status of your system firewall, auto update, malware protection, and other security settings. Click Start, Control Panel, Security Center, or you can simply click the shield icon in the task tray. If you see any red or yellow, you are not fully protected. For example, if you have not yet installed an antivirus product on your machine, or if your current antivirus product is out-of-date, the Malware section of the Security Center should be yellow. Windows does not offer a built-in antivirus utility, so you'll want to install your own. For free antivirus, I recommend AVG Anti-Virus 8.

2. Use Windows Defender as a Diagnostic Tool

The Malware section also covers antispyware protection, and for that Windows Vista includes Windows Defender. The antispyware protection in your antivirus program usually trumps the protection Microsoft provides, but there are several good reasons to keep Windows Defender enabled. One is that every antispyware program uses a different definition of what is and what is not spyware, so redundant protection can actually offer some benefit.

Another reason to keep Windows Defender enabled: diagnostics. Click Tools, and choose Software Explorer from the resulting pane. You can display lists of applications from several categories such as Currently Running Programs, Network Connected Programs, and Winsock Service Providers, but Startup Programs is perhaps the most useful. Click on any name in the left window, and full details will appear in the right pane. By highlighting, you can remove, disable, or enable any of the programs listed.

3. Disable the Start Up menu

Windows Vista keeps track of all the documents and programs you launch in the Start Up menu. This can be convenient for some users, but it can also compromise your privacy if you share a computer within an office or household. Fortunately Windows Vista provides an easy way to tweak this setting. To protect your privacy, follow these steps:

Right click on the taskbar and select Properties.
Click on the Start Menu tab.
Uncheck Store and display a list of recently opened files.
Uncheck Store and display a list of recently opened programs.
Click OK.

4. Get Two-Way Firewall Protection

No desktop should be without a personal firewall, but even if the Security Center says you're protected, you may not be. The Windows Firewall within Vista blocks all incoming traffic that might be malicious or suspicious--and that's good. But outbound protection is not enabled by default. That's a dangerous situation if some new malicious software finds its way onto your PC. Microsoft did include the tools for Windows Vista to have a true two-way firewall, but finding the setting is a little complicated. (Hint: Don't go looking the Windows Firewall settings dialog box.)

To get two-way protection in Windows Vista, click on the Start button; in the search space, type wf.msc and press Enter. Click on the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security icon. This management interface displays the inbound and outbound rules. Click on Windows Firewalls Properties. You should now see a dialog box with several tabs. For each profile--Domain, Private, and Public--change the setting to Block, and then click OK.


5. Lock Out Unwanted Guests

If you share your computer with others (and even if you don't), Windows Vista includes a neat way to keep unwanted guests from guessing your system administrator password. When you set up users and declare one user as administrator (with full privileges), Windows Vista allows outsiders unlimited guesses at the password you chose. Here's how to limit the guesses.

Click Start, type Local Security Policy.
Click Account Lockout Policy.
Choose Account Lockout Threshold.
At the prompt, enter the number of invalid log-ins you'll accept (say, 3).
Click OK and close.

6. Now Audit Your Attackers

With the Account Lockout policy in place, you can now enable auditing to see any account attacks. To turn on auditing for failed log-on events, do the following:

Click the Start button, type secpol.msc, and click the secpol icon.
Click on Local Policies and then Audit Policy.
Right-click on Audit account logon events policy and select Properties.
Check the Failure box and click OK.
Right-click on Audit logon events policy and select Properties.
Check the Failure box and click OK.
Close the Local Security Policy window.
You can then use the Event Viewer (by running eventvwr.msc) to view the logs under Windows Logs and Security.

7. Secure Your Internet Explorer Settings

The Windows Security Center will also report whether your Internet Explorer 7 (or IE Cool security settings are at their recommended levels. If the screen shows this section as red, you can adjust the settings within the browser itself.

Within Internet Explorer, click Tools in the menu bar.
From the drop-down menu, click Internet Options.
Choose the Security tab.
Within the Security tab, click Custom Level.
Here you'll see a window with all the security options for the browser. If any are below the recommended level (if, say, some kind of malware reconfigured your browser settings), these options will be highlighted in red. To change an individual setting, click the appropriate radio button. To reset them all, use the button near the bottom of the tab. You can also change the overall security setting for Internet Explorer from the default Medium-High setting to the recommended High or Medium, if you wish. Click OK to save and close.


8. Use OpenDNS

Domain Name System (DNS) servers act as a phone book. When you type "pcworld . com" in the address bar, for instance, Internet Explorer sends that common-name request to your Internet service provider's DNS servers to be converted into a series of numbers, or an IP address. Lately, DNS servers have come under attack, with criminals seeking to redirect common DNS preferences to servers that their interests control. One way to stop such abuse is to use OpenDNS.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet, and then click Network and Sharing Center. Under the tasks listed on the left, click Manage Network Connections. In the Manage Network Connections window, do the following.

Right-click on the icon representing your network card.
Click Properties.
Click Internet Protocol Version 4.
Click the Properties button.
Select the Use the following DNS server addresses radio button.
Click OK.

9. Live With User Account Control

One area where some people might want to see the Windows Security Center turn red is User Account Control (UAC), perhaps the most controversial security feature within Windows Vista. Designed to keep rogue remote software from automatically installing (among other things), UAC has a tendency to thwart legitimate software installations by interrupting the process several times with useless messages. In Windows 7 you'll be able to set UAC to the level you want. Until then, you do have some options.

One is to disable UAC. I would caution against that, since UAC is meant to warn you of potential danger. Instead, install TweakUAC, a free utility that offers the ability to turn UAC on or off as well as an intermediate "quiet" mode that keeps UAC on but suppresses administration elevation prompts. With TweakUAC in quiet mode, UAC will appear to be off to those running as administrator accounts, while people with standard user accounts will still be prompted.

10. Check Your Work

Now that you've tweaked Windows Vista, you can keep tabs on your system's security with the System Health Report. This diagnostic tool takes input from the Performance and Reliability Monitor and turns it into an information-packed report that can spotlight potential security problems.

Open Control Panel.
Click System.
In the Tasks list, click Performance (near the bottom).
In the resulting Tasks list, click Advanced tools (near the top).
Click the last item on the resulting list: Generate a system health report.
The report will list any missing drivers that might be causing error codes, tell you whether your antivirus protection is installed, and declare whether UAC is turned on. You may want to run this report once a month just to make sure everything's still good.