What to Do With the Falling Malaysian Ringgit?

As I’m writing this, the Malaysian Ringgit is trading at a pretty low level:

1 USD = 4.46 MYR

It seems to be sliding lower and lower every week. And it’s getting worryingly close to its historical low: January 1998; 1 USD = 4.885 MYR.

If you can’t remember, that was back in the days of the Asian Financial Crisis. Malaysia and many of our Asian neighbors lost a lot of money (and confidence). South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand had to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Malaysia imposed strict capital controls, and fixed the exchange rate at 1 USD = 3.80 MYR for a couple of years.

The good news is that we all recovered.

The bad news is that the Ringgit is dropping again. And while we probably can’t do too much about it now, here’s some ideas on what you can do — the next time you’re thinking about preserving the value of your money.

 

1. Park Your Money in “Safe” Local Assets

On paper, it looks like we’re doing terrible. The Ringgit dropped more than 6 percent alone in November 2016.

If you travel overseas a lot and use a lot of branded, imported stuff — I’m sorry for your pain.

Domestically though — it’s a less direct link between the falling Ringgit and a painful life. For example, if you’re doing all your spending locally, buying from local producers — you won’t feel the impact of currency drops immediately. The RM 10,000 you have in the bank is still RM 10,000 — as long as it’s used within Malaysian borders.

If you’re still worried about your Ringgit losing value though, you could consider holding less money in the bank, and investing more in good local assets.

Cash is always going to be affected by currency fluctuations and inflation. RM 3,000 might have bought you a nice Coach handbag from Suria KLCC in 2015, but you might need RM 3,300 in 2017.

But say you buy an apartment to stay in. It’s a hard asset — it’s still your home regardless if 1 USD = 3 MYR or if 1 USD = 5 MYR. You can still sleep in it at night.

(Unless things get catastrophically bad and there are hungry rioters trying to break into your apartment. But in that case, we’re all screwed anyway.)

High property costs scaring you off? You can start by investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) instead — where you get the benefits of investing in properties — but need less money to start.

 

2. Park Your Money in USD-Priced Assets

This probably doesn’t make sense right now, as the Ringgit is trading near its historic low. (But you can use this point to protect yourself from currency fluctuations the next time 1 USD = 3.2 MYR.)

Unless of course you think the Ringgit is going to drop even lower.

Say you own an asset that is priced in US dollars. When the USD strengthens against the MYR, your USD-priced asset is also now worth more in Ringgit. So technically, you’ve made a profit.

What are some USD-denominated assets people can buy?

  • Gold is commonly described as a safe haven by investors. I’m not a fan of it (Warren Buffett even said gold is almost completely useless), but a few Malaysian banks have investment accounts where you can easily buy gold. Check them out here.
  • Silver is the precious metal that I prefer to store value in. I’m no expert, but a basic way to tell when silver is overpriced or underpriced vs gold is to look at the Gold/Silver price ratio. Right now the ratio is about 71 (1 ounce of gold costs 71 times more than 1 ounce of silver). For most of the twentieth century, that ratio has been about 50. So I’m betting that silver goes up. You can buy into silver here.
  • Bitcoin. I told my boss that I owned some Bitcoin, and she asked me if it was some kind of new get-rich-pyramid-scheme. So yes, it’s really new — and not many people understand it. It’s also volatile as hell. But my Bitcoin account holds its value in US dollars. You can find out more about Bitcoin here.

Point Number 2 applies to other currencies as well. For example, if you believe that the Euro or SGD holds its value better than the USD — you can invest in assets which are priced in those currencies.

 

Gold bullion in vault
Could I have one of these for Christmas?

 

3. Make Money in USD

So far we’ve been talking about defensive strategies. So here’s an offensive one: take advantage of the exchange rate and start making money in international dollars.

It’s not as difficult as it sounds.

Most of us are very familiar with the Internet, online banking and the freelance “gig” economy.

What are some valuable skills you already have that you could sell freelance online? Even better — which skills could you sell internationally to earn US dollars?

Here are some examples: Accounting, Bookkeeping, Graphic design, Photoshop editing, Digital marketing, Proofreading, Writing, Blogging, Video editing, Animation, Programming, Website design, Admin support, and Business consulting.

Check out Upwork.com or Freelancer.com to find out more.

A couple of my Malaysian friends already do this for a living. One of my friends who does freelance writing even made five figures last month. The “weak” exchange rate helped.

 

4. If Things Crash — Buy Low

If you’ve been well prepared, this one’s for you.

Yes, I’m just as upset as the general population that the economy is doing badly, and the Ringgit is depreciating. But if you have reserves, this might actually be the “perfect” opportunity for you.

The theory goes like this: Assuming things continue to go bad, Malaysia might end up in a recession. Like back in 1997 — if the stock market crashes, assets would lose value, and a lot of people would lose money.

It’s not a fun time and I really hope it doesn’t happen. If it does however, markets tend to overreact. So that expensive Nestle or Dutch Lady stock you’ve been wanting to buy might actually become cheaper. A lot cheaper. You might be able to pick up other assets like property at a discount too — because a lot of people would be wanting to sell.

Of course all the above is speculation. No one — not even famed Wall Street analysts — predicts things correctly all the time.

But if you have sufficient cash reserves, and the country goes through a recession — it might be time to bring that cash out and get some valuable assets for cheap.

 

– – –

 

I hate to be all doom and gloom, but it looks like we’re gonna be in rough times for a while.

However I also believe that behind every challenge lies opportunity. While we continue to be alarmed at the painful slide of the Ringgit, we can also do things to prepare ourselves for tough times ahead. Maybe it just needs some creative thinking and willingness to change.

As someone wise once said:

“You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can always control the way you respond.”

 

– – –

 

Pics from Pexels and Pixabay.

Originally published at mr-stingy’s column on iMoney.


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7 comments

  • If you travel overseas a lot and use a lot of branded, imported stuff — I’ll probably not worry about you at all haha 😛

  • Good read, and thanks for linking to my blog! 😀

    Slight clarification – bitcoin is not valued in any particular currency, not even USD. It’s similar to gold, if you will – if it goes up, the value in USD and MYR (and other fiat currencies) will increase, too. BUT it’s also depending on location. In some countries (like China and India), bitcoin is sold at higher price due to local demand. A lot of people do arbitrage this way. Risky, but very profitable when done right. Hope this helps!

    • Hi Suraya,

      Thanks for the explanation! I was of the impression that my Account in E-Coin was a USD-denominated account i.e. if I liquidate my Bitcoin, it will convert to USD first, and then any other conversions are additional (including charges) from there onwards?

      • That’s correct! If you have accounts in other currencies (RM, for example), then it’s straightforward BTC>RM. E-Coin/Wirex has three fiat currencies: USD, GBP and EUR, so it’s BTC>USD, BTC>GBP and BTC>EUR, respectively.

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