Friday, November 30, 2012

Bali Escapade Part 8

After riding in the rain, reached my villa, took a warm shower. I am settling down in bed to watch a romantic comedy. I am not a fan of romantic movies. Give me conspiracy theories, war or horror movies!

Asked my wife what we were watching, she told me 'Life As We Know It'. Never even heard of the movie title before man!

But surprisingly the show was actually quite good! In fact it made me see my business in another light.

Read the full synopsis of the movie here.
The movie was about a couple and their single friends. The husband tried to pair his best buddy with his wife's best friend. Well the resulting effect is funny as they never really hit it off the first time they met, though the husband and wife was sure they were meant for each other.

The show started getting interesting when the husband and wife were both involved in car crash and died. The daughter they had was fortunately left with the babysitter. Both their single friends rushed to the hospital and they eventually met up with the couples lawyer.

The lawyer told them that the deceased couple had insurance for the mortgage of the house and nothing else and they have left the custody of their daughter to the both of them. They could  also move into their house. Imagine 2 single with no intention to settle being stuck in a situation like that. They went through a lot of sh*t, but eventually like all Hollywood romantic movies they lived happily ever after.

I enjoyed the movie but also left me with loads of questions. I know I am covered slightly more than 1 million dollars upon my death, my wife knows too (sometimes I sleep with one eye open just to ensure my wife does not try and kill me in my sleep :p .. just kidding Ling) but more importantly, does she know what to do if death was to occur to me? Even if she does, will she be in the right frame of mind to do it? What if we get knocked down while we are on the scooter or the plane crashed, nobody will know I have this coverage. Nobody will know who will take custody of the children. What will happen to them then?

I buy coverage because I know my wife and kids still need the income I am providing now when I am dead. I buy because life is unpredictable as we know it (though many people still do not think so), therefore we expect the unexpected, thus Murphy's Law. Whatever can happen, will happen.

Too many times we turn the newspaper and you get articles telling you perfectly healthy people dying or contracting illnesses. Whether premature death or illnesses is going to happen or not is unpredictable, therefore I choose not to control the unpredictable but control the predictable in unpredictable. 

Wah! So deep!

Unpredictable: 
  1. Premature death
  2. Illnesses
  3. Accidents

Predictable: 
  1. Loss of work/ income
  2. Hospital bills
  3. My share of the household expenses
  4. Kids' education
  5. Inflation
  6. Liabilities
  7. Emotional anguish
I know I cannot do anything for item 7, but I know if I can take care of item 1-6, I do not add on more anguish financially.


The movie opened another paradigm for me. So what if I have planned for my predictable during the unpredictable when there is no predictable someone to execute it when I am gone? Who will be that someone? I have been to will writing talks but the movie actually hit it home.

Went to bed with those questions in my head, glad that we have already planned to go Ubud the next day. Don't think I could have planned much with those questions in my head. 



Have you planned for your unpredictable? Have you asked yourself the above questions? 

Let me know if you are.

Email: tngjinyau@gmail.com

Bali Escapade Part 7

The rain never came and dinner has arrived. An old friend had left a comment on my check-in in Bali, telling me to visit Ultimo in Seminyak. I also recalled reading about it in tripadvisor. The truth was I did think to myself that I came to Bali for Italian food? Decided to suggest to my wife and she was all for it.

I was also kind of worried that the price for anything western on the island was going to be exorbitant. Well figured its our honeymoon stop being the financial planner and start living, enjoy the holiday. And so off we went to Ultimo.

We walked into Ultimo and the service there was excellent. We were shown our table by one of the waitress to our table which is in the air conditioned area. The lighting was dim but not dark. Had tealights on all the tables. The waitress was bubbly and handed us the menu. Looking at the ambience and all the place looked classy. I flipped open the menu and my eyes skimmed the price first. It was unbelievably affordable. The pizza cost less than $10 sing dollars! Damn you cannot even buy a pizza at Pizza Hut!

Don't get me wrong, I am not a cheapo.. Its just that I dare to say I am competent in preparing western cuisines and pastas are my specialty. I make a killer plate of pasta in white wine sauces. I also ensure that my pastas are prepared Al Dente. So I never like indulging in western food cos many a times I think I can do better. So I usually do not mind paying for chinese or japanese cuisine.

But for less than $10 a pizza, heck this is small risk! I ordered a soup and a main course. My wife ordered only a main as I have also said we order a pizza to share. The waitress took our orders and asked if they should serve the soup and pizza first. Yeap sounds like a plan!

She left to place our order and returned with a basket of bread and butter! Wa, I cannot use words to describe the breadsticks in the basket. The bread too was solid! Warm too. Before I could finish the breads the pizza and soup came. I had this sudden fear that we have ordered too much. The pizza is not those personal pan pizza you get at Pizza Hut but a full size one which may be able to feed 4, and we still have mains!

Even though there was a long queue at the front of the restaurant our waitress came and asked whether she should bring our mains after we were done with our soup and pizza.

In Singapore, the waitresses would have  brought out our mains half way through the soup or appetizer, trying to find every available space to put the mains down in the midst of appetizer, clear our plates really quickly and give dirty stares if we chilled longer to chat. Eating in Singapore can be so stressful and uncomfortable some times.

Here at Ultimo, I looked at my waitress who have just cleared my soup and pizza plate and told her while rubbing my tummy: can you give us 10 mins before you bring the mains? Sure! was her reply not a wane in her smile, not a change in her chirpy tone. The whole experience was so comfortable, so cozy. Even my wife agreed.

After chatting for awhile, we decided the food has settled enough for the mains. Asked our waitress for it and once again: Sure!

I am leaving her a tip after this, I thought. Finished our meal and asked for the bill, price was reasonable and when the change came, my wife swiped everything. You not leaving anything? Got service charge, no need to tip. Well, ok. Guess thats fair.... but....

Anyway, I remembered having this discussion with a group of my friends: Is the tipping culture in the states or the 10% service charge we have here better? To discuss this here is not appropriate but that can be another blog post.

Walked out of the restaurant and realised that there was a long line of people waiting for seats. Was glad we came early. Walked towards our scooter and I was thinking of dessert or coffee then BOOM! Thunder and lightning in the distance.

Scrapped the dessert and coffee plan. Anyway, my wife was saying there's coffee in the villa and you also say you will watch a movie with me tonight. Yeah better hurry back, do not want to be caught in the rain. And yes, I vaguely remember agreeing to watch a movie with her, I also know its a romantic comedy.... guess it will not be that bad right? Anyway I don't have my PS3 with me, guess a movie is the only thing to do.

Set the course for our villa on the GPS and rode as fast as we could. Felt a drop of water on my face wondered if its aircon condenser water. Then another drop on my arms then face then arms then figured it cannot be aircon condenser water. In a few seconds it seemed that somebody turned on the shower in the bathroom. Pulled into Circle K, their 7-11 equivalent. Whipped out the ziplock bags that I have prepared from my haversack, feeling damn proud that I have prepared these contingencies. Being a biker who have been to many touring trip up north to Malaysia, ziplock bags are necessities. Stuffed all the electronics in, zipped it up and continued on our way.

Got back to the villa, showered and settled into bed to watch the movie, praying that I will not fall asleep.



Thursday, November 29, 2012

Bali Escapade Part 6

Tripadvisor recommended that Jimbaran is to be visited in the evening to enjoy the sunset. But I figured I do not have much time in my 4 days 3 nights Bali holiday. Decided to go there during lunch. Bali is synonymous to beaches and in my 4 days 3 nights, Jimbaran is the only beach I went to, and i did not even touch the sand. This shot was taken while sitting in Menaga Cafe.
Yes yes I know... Bali without beaches, what were you thinking?! Maybe because I have rode almost an hour in the sun and the thought of being in the sun again...

It does not help that I have something against sun block, hate the feeling it leaves on my skin after. My wife kept urging me to splash on the sun block but I said no.

Anyway, users of tripadvisor has been raving about Menaga Cafe and its 2 person set. $420,000 rupiah gets you 1 lobster, 1 fish, 6 sotong, 6 clams, 2 drinks, plain rice and kang kong!

 $53 Sing dollars! Shiok! We could not even finish the spread. The bbq seafood with the sauces was fantastic! The smoky flavour of the bbq blended with the sauces, heaven! Had a cup of Bali coffee to finish the meal. Bali coffee has this distinct unfiltered coffee beans that will sink to the bottom when left undisturbed. Then you drink the coffee and finishing it just before you reach the bottom. I love it!

We planned to go shopping but the heat was getting to us. The thought of soaking in the pool is now so much more appealing, though I still wanted to stop by Harley Davidson. Decided we will stop by Harley then go back to the villa, come out only after the sun has set abit. 

We got back to the villa and the first thing I did, changed into my swim wear and dived into the pool. Accidentally rubbed my forearms against the pool wall and I knew I needed sun block tomorrow.

As I was lazing in the pool, the sky turned ominously black. I recalled the driver of my airport transfer telling me that it usually rains in the night. Quickly looked at the time, its about 4pm, thought to myself that from my experience this rain should be here and gone by the time dinner comes. I was half right..

Monday, November 26, 2012

Bali Escapade Part 5

After setting course for Uluwatu on my trusted GPS, we are off. While travelling I spotted a Harley Davidson dealer and told my wife I want to stop by here on our way back. I was hoping there will be good deals. My wife was holding onto the iphone and she was telling me: 2km turn left. 2km? How far is 2km man! I blame our old school traditional method of education on that.

Let me explain. If you recall when we were younger and we were told to learn our multiplication tables, we were told to memorize, be it off the back of our exercise book or sometimes its printed on the side of our plastic ruler. Mom will ask: What is 2 x 2? 4 I'll reply. What is 2 x 3? Eeerrr... 7? WHACK! (either getting hit by the exercise book or plastic ruler) WRONG! Go and memorize again!

So I grew up knowing 2 x 2 = 4, 2 x 3 = 6 because the back of the exercise book said so. Do I really understand the rationale? No. Lets do a test

1) How much is 1000ml?

2) How much is 1000m?

3) How much is 100cm?

If you answered 1 liter, 1 kilometer and 1 meter, you are absolutely right! But when we were younger, do we physically know HOW much is that? If you never was an athlete, you do not know how much is 400m, 200m or even 100m. 

And it is not only when I started doing my own marketing for my groceries did I recognise a Coke bottle as 1.25 liters. If not I knew 1 liter as 1000ml. 1km as 1000m and 1m as 100cm. Back to multiplication, I knew the answer but never understood why. Today the education system has changed, schools teach modeling where kids draw pictures for every maths problem. This gives them something more visual to solve problems thus in turn giving them more understanding then memory work. 

I asked my 5 year old niece WHAT does 2 x 2 means. She told me 2 sets of 2!!!! My jaw dropped, I stared at her as if she was an alien trapped in a child's body. Damn I do not even think I knew that when I was 5!

Anyway back to my journey to Uluwatu. Not surprisingly, I missed a couple of turns cos my wife expected me to know how far 2km was.... till she finally gave up. She decided she will just shove the GPS in my face just before the turn was coming, well that worked far better. Hhhmmm then again, could it be because we (men) are visual creature? Never mind that can be a separate blog post.

I knew that one of the highlights of Uluwatu was that it was built on top of a cliff. After riding for almost half an hour, I realise we have been riding on flat ground. How to have cliff? Just as I finished that thought, a winding uphill appeared. I twisted the throttle so as not to lose speed. But the horsepower on a 125cc bike with me as a rider (I weigh 100kg or some of my friends say 0.1 ton) became more apparent on the slope. I hit the slope at 70km per hour it fell to 60km, 50km, 40km. Tried to twist some more, no more! Speed is dropping further, 30km, 20km and for a moment I was afraid the bike may just stall totally, but it held at 20km per hour. Those of you schooled in the traditional method of memory, let me put it into perspective for you: bicycles can do more than 20km per hour easily. 

From the GPS I saw that there are small roads that actually lead out to the cliffs and I asked my wife if we should just make a small detour and see where one of these small roads will lead to. I know she hesitated saying lets go, because the sun was shining down on us. She was afraid of getting sun burnt and she also has told me my forearms are getting damn red. But before she can say anything we were down one of these roads. It was really nice without the traffic of the major roads. And it was worth it coming down this path as at the end of it was this:
Blown away by this sight. No ship in sight and we practically can see to the horizon, in fact I did not know where the sea ended and the sky began. Took in the sight for awhile, took some photos and we are off again. 

Reached Uluwatu Temple and I had my sunglasses on. After I bought my ticket, counter guy said, sunglasses careful, monkey. Wa! really ah the monkey here so fierce? Walked through the gates and another guy collecting our tickets told me: be careful, sunglasses, monkey. Made me kind of worried but I remembered watching National Geographic, the more you show your fear the more they will know it. In the animal kingdom there will always have an alpha male. I AM the alpha male, I thought. That already made me feel bigger and walk with confidence down a path lined with trees and bushes. Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes. Careful, sunglasses, monkey came into my head, scan the bushes hoping I can spot the monkey so I can show him my alpha male stance and confidence before he can sneak up on me and grab my sunglasses. 

Kept scanning then there was another rustle, saw the bush moved! Ha! I know where it is now! Stood my ground and suddenly the animal came into view, it was a cow...

Walked further down the path, another rustle, now my wife jumped. Cow... where's the monkeys?!

No encounter with monkeys and when we reached the end of the path, this: 
We could see the temple in the distance, magnificent view from where we stood. Figured since we were here we will have to go up to where the temple stood. I could see the path leading to the temple and under the hot sun it looked crazy. But then it was all worth it when we saw this:
The small little hut is where I shot the first photo.
Shot a few more photos and we were off to Jimbaran for lunch. Monkeys there were and I think my alpha male stunt worked. Walk big,walk tall. Or maybe they were just taking shelter in the shade from the blistering heat.





Bali Escapade Part 4

After having a great dinner and getting back to our villa, I had asked my wife where she wanted to go the next day and she mentioned Uluwatu. A quick surf on the internet revealed it was on the southern tip of Bali. Google maps also revealed Jimbaran was along the route to Uluwatu. Made a quick plan that we will visit Uluwatu and  have lunch at Jimbaran before heading to Kuta for some shopping. Keyed in all the places into my GPS. Continued surfing on the tripadvisor on which warung to go for seafood on Jimbaran.

Did I mention I love the internet. The whole trip have been planned online. The places recommended by peers on trip advisor. The journeys planned on Google Maps. And the new google on Android (and maybe the iphone) is fantastic! It knew I was overseas. It immediately gave me 3 very important 'cards' on my google homepage.

1) the places i have searched before: tells me how far I am and how long it will take me and if there are any delays along the route

2) gave me the exchange rate for rupiah to sing

3) gave me a card to translate from english to bahasa indonesia and vice versa!

It also has recommended place to visit on the page. i was blown away, whatever you need as a traveler is there on google homepage! Well done google! All shopping and dining bills is immediately converted back to Sing at our finger tips! If only google Navigate can also be available there, would have been fabulous.

Morning came and after breakfast that was served in the villa we set off to Uluwatu. From the GPS it said it was about 25km and will take about 40 mins. We walked over to the scooter turned the key and started the bike to warm it up. In the mean time my wife was putting on her shower cap before putting on the grubby helmet they provided. Guess being a guy I did not bother or I have been through worst at SSDC when I was getting my bike license before. But the plus point was it did not smell.

Off we went on our 2nd day's adventure!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Bali Escapade Part 3

I have spent half a day in Bali and it has been eventful. Just want to relax a bit, cool down from the scorching afternoon sun before heading out. I was also thinking that since this is our private villa with pool, make full use of it!

But I must say a dip in the pool was great! Relaxed on the lounge chair, sipping coffee... Then I realised I haven't seen my wife coming out for sometime and decided to take a peek. She was sleeping! Sleep?! We came all the way to Bali and sleep? (then again I must say it is quite good not waking up at night because of baby cries). Well at least it gave me time to plan what to do next.

Whatsapp a friend who gave me a name card of a particular restaurant he insisted I must try when I was in Bali. He strongly recommended the flying gurame and the oxtail soup. He whatsapped me the name card, keyed it into the GPS on my jail broken iphone (which is now my travel phone and GPS) and waited for my wife to wake.

Continued surfing on tripadvisor on what to visit in Bali (wanted to dive but figured next time). And when my wife finally woke we took the scooter out to Kuta for dinner at Pawon Pasundan. My friend was spot on with the Flying Gurame and ox tail soup. Fabulous! The soup was surprisingly not salty! The spread we had. The Flying Gurame that is fried gurami fish, butterflied then fried to a crisp. Even the bones were edible! Perfect! Went back to the villa and planned for our next day's trip. More adventure awaits!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Bali Escapade Part 2

In our line of work contingencies is what we plan for and on my own Bali trip, I have thrown caution to the wind and expect every thing to fall into place nicely. My receptionist just told me my scooter is coming at 3pm. Time now 12pm. Sigh! We could wait till 3 then have lunch or we could order in or we could walk.. WALK!?

I was thinking: the warung from where I saw it, did not look very far. I think its possible to walk. Wife said: let's walk. And off we went. I clearly underestimated the distance or it could have just been the sun shining down on us. It was hot! And I mean hot with a capital F! (pardon my language) Look up at the sky and its blue. The road was on a slight gradient up. The walk probably took us 5 minutes thereabout but it felt like 5 hours!

Finally made it to a warung, though not the one I saw earlier as the quaint little one was further down the road. Popped into the first one we saw and sat down. Waited for service but none came. My wife whispered to me and said: I think they only sell one thing here. They see us come in they start preparing liao. True enough, few minutes later this came
Looked at it, looked at my wife. Both of us looked at each other, highly suspicious of what we were about to put into our mouths. I picked up the spoon tasted the soup first. I knew it was going to be salty, just like everywhere in Indonesia, somehow they love their soup salty. But I also love how their soup always taste like Soto Ayam in Singapore.

The salt in the soup numbed my tastebuds. Maybe this is how they eat their food: numb the taste buds so all the food taste the same. I pushed some rice, vegetables, nuts (nuts looked safe), and some weird looking stuff on my spoon, slowly brought it up to my mouth, dreading how bad its going to taste. At the same time, glad I've got travel insurance to cover me in case of food poisoning and all.

As my mouth closed over the spoon, my eyes widened, I stared back at my wife and she was looking at me too with a look! It was unbelievably good! As I started chewing, the nuts added a crunch to every bite. The aroma of the weird stuff and vegetables mixed very well together! Wash it down with Teh Botol! Heaven!

After we finished, we had 1 more bottle of Tel Botol each to prepare ourselves for the walk back and asked for the bill. $35,000 rupiah. That works out to be $5! OMG! Had to ask the server what I just had, he said something like peh peh or pek pek. That sounded vulgar. Looked at my wife as she is Malaysian, hoping to get an answer since she is conversant with Bahasa Melayu. She gave me a shrug. At that moment I didn't care, the vulgar sounding, weird looking stuff was good!

The walk back was not as bad. Downhill and with food in our belly, the walk was better. Had to stop and take a picture as I am sucker for wide open areas.
When we got back to the villa, my steel pony was waiting. The adventure begins!

Bali Escapade Part 1

As a financial planner, I plan for people's future and ensure most unpredictable moments becomes predictable. But on the 11th of October 2012, as I sat in the office, opened up my Google calendar, it hit me! I have been so caught up with other people's planning I totally forgot mine! My 1st year wedding anniversary is a month away and I haven't started planning! (Ling, if you read this, sorry I know I should have started earlier)

At least my plan of having my wedding on 11/11/2011 have worked! I remembered the date. Scambled on the internet, went on one of the budget airlines website searched for flights to Bali, it cost $580. Was about to click 'buy' then I remembered Zuji. Went onto Zuji and found Garuda to Bali was only $596. Duh! No brainer $16 more for 2 pax on a regular flight, bought! Zuji rocks!

Went onto Agoda website searched for a private villa, read the reviews, bought! Agoda rocks too! In fact, I love the internet! We can be our own travel agent! The next one month was a balancing act to plan for my 4 days 3 nights Bali trip and my clients' entire life. No guessing which should take more time. (Sorry, ling :p)

Anyway, the day came for our Bali trip. Alarm clock did not go off. Woke up at 6am which was the time we should be at the airport. Mad scramble to get dressed and get to the airport. Glad we stay in Simei.

Arrived in Bali, saw the whole line of drivers holding names of their guest they have to pick up. Did not find my name. Die! The resort screwed up what a start to our trip! Alarm clock didn't ring, now this! Walked up and down the terminal, thinking of finding somewhere to buy a pre paid card to call the resort.

This whole time I was kicking myself in my head for not confirming with the resort the night before. What an idiot! But its a resort, this is one thing you don't expect right?

Cannot find anywhere to buy the card walked back to the pick up area. Just then my wife saw this guy holding a sign with a name that resembles mine but somewhat distorted. I realise most people see my surname TNG and they think I must have forgotten my vowels.

And for those who still think I have forgotten my vowels, let me set the record straight. TNG is hokkien means soup. Like in cheng tng, the dessert. In chinese 汤. Hanyu Pinyin: Tang.

Got onto our van and we were on our way. And when we finally got to the villa, I heaved a sigh of relief. Now to enjoy some lunch. I have told the resort to prepare a scooter for me, and I had recce the route we came in and saw a nice little quaint warung. I was thinking: later we can take the scooter here. My receptionist said: Sir, your scooter will be coming at 3pm.

Oh no! Not again!

Friday, November 9, 2012

The Unseen Monster

Read this in the papers yesterday and I was thinking of the times when I was in corporate, working 9 to 5 and receiving a take home pay at the end of the month.


I have always wondered 'Why does my pay never seem to be enough even when I get a raise every year? Why is it that I get a raise every years yet, you never seem to have more savings or a better standard of living?

After being in the financial industry I started realising the mistakes that most of us make and I have been through it myself.

Firstly, inflation has been slowly eroding away the value of our monies. We all know about inflation but many do not do anything about it. 

The government tells us CPI increased. CPI? What's that? Can eat or not?

For those who knows what CPI represents, most will also ignore the consequences of high CPI.

Some who knows what CPI is, what is its repercussion and consequences, they will still procrastinate about doing something about it.

So what is CPI? CPI, Consumer Price Index or what we know commonly as Inflation is the silent killer that has been eating at our monies. So how does inflation affect us.

I remembered the year 2003 when I started to indulge in kopi-o. One cup of kopi-o then cost $0.50. 8 years on in 2012, my indulgence is now, $0.90 per cup. (And I do not take only a cup one day.) What do you think inflation of my kopi-o has been the past 8 years. On an average the inflation for my cup of kopi-o per year is 7.6%. 

 Many of you might think: 'But its only $0.40 what! Tang why you bother write blog for $0.40!'

Let us move the decimal points, something that cost $5 will cost $9. Something costing $50 will cost $90. Something that had cost $500 now cost $900. The difference is now, $4, $40 and $400 respectively. The difference will get bigger once the sum of money becomes bigger. $0.40 seems acceptable, but does $40,000 in 8 years sound reasonable?

To put inflation into perspective, imagine you earn $4000 every month, you spend $3,500, and save $500. You get a pay raise of 4% and inflation has been at 7%. After 8 years, your income after a pay raise of 4% every year will be $5,475. Your expenses that is growing with inflation of 7% will be at $6,013, with no more extra for savings.

Based on the above example, how can we maintain our standard of living when the cost of our expenses are moving faster than our pay! It has moved beyond our means and we have to start digging into our savings just to maintain the lifestyle we enjoyed just 8 years ago. And once our savings run out, we either start signing our credit cards or compromise our standard of living.

Being young and having my first credit card was detrimental. With inflation increasing, and me trying to keep up with my standard of living, I ran up a total of almost $30,000 in credit card bills. And with the interest rates of credit cards at 24% p.a it is almost impossible to clear my debt while just trying to pay off the minimum amount. 

But when I started in the financial industry, the idea of planning began to sink in. I always thought that Income - Expense = Savings, but some seminars I attended changed my whole perspective. One speaker actually mentioned that the real formula to be rich and financially independent is to save and to save the formula is Income - SAVINGS = Expenses!

That blew me away! I had been a slave to my money! I have allowed myself to work for money, I have not allowed money to work for me. I have to be a master of money and not a slave to it! That day, I got home, took out my scissors, cut away my cards. 

Found some personal loan that will give a slightly lower interest and transferred my balance so that I can pay off my debt in a very systematic way. 

In the mean time, I also walked into POSB,  ask them about an account that will take my money from my salary on a monthly basis on a fixed date. I do not want an ATM card or internet access for this account. They told me about the fabulous MySavings account that allowed flexibility of setting aside a fixed amount of my salary on a user defined date! If I need to withdraw from the account I had to go to the branch, queue, to get my money. (Though now the account has changed, they now give internet access and tie it to your ATM card. But the habit of savings has been formed)

Life changed, debts was cleared and inflation was still a concern. 

Savings interest: 0.125%
Inflation: 7%
Real rate of return on my money: - 6.875%

I knew I had to do something about it.