My Father's Death and Legacy - Part 6 of 6

Hi. If you're a first time visitor to my blog, welcome! My father, Daniel Alagaretnam Devadason, died at 1 am on Friday April 4th 2008. To celebrate his life, I've decided to share six enrichment lessons I learnt from him. So, on this last day of 2008, which has been an especially tough year for many of us, for various reasons, it gives me great pleasure to write for you the sixth and final lesson of this series honouring my father's memory.

The first lesson was 'Pay for High Quality', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-1-of-6.html

The second was 'Focus on Professionalism', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-2-of-6.html

The third was 'Respect Books', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-3-of-6.html

The fourth was 'Record Expenses', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-4-of-6.html

The fifth was 'Give Generously', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-5-of-6.html

From my perspective, my father was a balanced workaholic. The very fabric of his being was tied up in his identity as a lawyer. When he died, he was the most senior lawyer in Malacca and by some accounts the most senior throughout Malaysia. He appeared in court well into his 80s, and loved the law, with its nuances and scope for intellectual application. He was professionally successful and believed in hard work, yet he also realised that lifelong abiding success required another element - trust in God.

Therefore, the sixth and last lesson of this series is:

Work hard and then leave the rest to God

Even though we aren't Catholics, my father used to stop at the beautiful St. Peter’s church each Monday morning, on his way to the office from our family home in Bukit Baru, Malacca – it is the house I was born in 44 years ago.

Alighting from his car, my father would then walk toward the church and light a candle. It was his way of attempting to connect with God and to seek the Almighty's blessings upon his children, life and work.

While my own work nowadays involves helping individuals and groups manage money better, my heritage from my father has taught me that money is only a tool; it should never be an end in itself!

So, I hope you will follow my father's example by heeding D.A. Devadason's Principle Number 6: Work Hard and Then Leave the Rest to God.

Also, I do hope you will make the time to read all the lessons in this series and, if appropriate, point your friends to those that are the most use to you.

Even though this posting marks the last of this series, I hope you will stay in touch. You may do so by revisiting this blog from time to time to see what else I've written here. You may also sign up for my free ezine Get Better, or read some of my free articles on financial planning, goal-setting and time management at http://www.freecoolarticles.com/

Take care and don't be a stranger to the those who cross your path. Do take - or, better yet, make - time for the people around you.

In closing, if you live in Malaysia, preferably in or close to Seremban and the Klang Valley, AND if you would like to use my services to attain long-term goals, you are especially welcome to learn about my financial planning or retirement planning consulting services by reading my bio. Thank you and take care.

Warmest regards,


Rajen

PS. I'm on extended year-end leave, so please use the comment facility, via the 'COMMENTS' link below, should you wish to leave a message for me or even a thought to share with others about what I've written today. Thank you, once again.

Rajen Devadason is CEO of RD Book Projects and its sister company RD WealthCreation Sdn Bhd. He lives in sunny, peaceful Malaysia with his gorgeous wife Rachel. He's a Malaysian Securities Commission-licensed financial planner, a life planning consultant, a professional speaker and a serial author... which probably explains why he's so exhausted! Some of his books are available here, and, if you're interested, here are some quotations he reckons are accurate, bold or cool.

My Father's Death and Legacy - Part 5 of 6

Hi. In case you're a first time visitor to my blog, welcome! My father, Daniel Alagaretnam Devadason, died at 1 am on Friday April 4th 2008; so, to celebrate his life, I've decided to share six enrichment lessons I learnt from him.


The first was 'Pay for High Quality', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-1-of-6.html

The second lesson was 'Focus on Professionalism', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-2-of-6.html

The third lesson was 'Respect Books', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-3-of-6.html

The fourth lesson was 'Give Generously', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-4-of-6.html


My father was often incredibly generous. I learnt from him the importance of being willing to share with others some of the bounty God has blessed me with...


In that vein, here's the fifth of six lessons derived from my observations of his life:

Give Generously.

As I write this, at the tail-end of 2008, it is a foregone conclusion that 2009 is going to be a year fraught with economic challenges. There is a great need to conserve cash and to work harder to try to bring in more money, if possible.

However, I have observed that those who are the wealthiest, in every sense of the word, aren't always those who have the largest bank account balance. There are many forms of wealth: financial, physical, social, spiritual and emotional.

Arguably the best way to live a life that's marked by gratitude, abundance and holistic wealth is to be generous. Some people find it easy to be magnanimous and others not so...

Regardless of which group you fall into, I urge you to heed the example of my late father. You see, he gave to charities without discrimination throughout his long life.

He showered gifts of money and even of useful appliances, like portable fans, to worthy causes. Even in death, one of the key clauses of his will was to give a monetary gift to a church.

Although my father did not die financially wealthy, he left a legacy marked by generosity. Many people will remember him to their own graves for the way he extended himself on their behalf. And that's why, in my own consulting practice, I often teach clients the importance of generosity for its own sake and also as a conduit for opening channels of blessing into their lives.

And as I mentioned just now, some find charitable giving easy, others don’t.

I do, largely because of my father’s compelling lifelong example. Because of that trait, I often have the joy of knowing that an act of exuberant generosity can make someone's day and simultaneously allow me to feel like a million dollars!

You should try it. In doing so, you would be heeding D.A. Devadason's Principle Number 5: Give Generously.

I hope to write on my father's sixth lesson soon, so please return here to The Cool Time and Money Blog ; you might also care to bookmark its URL, http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/

Finally, if you live in Malaysia, preferably in or close to Seremban and the Klang Valley, and if you would like to use my services to attain long-term goals, you are warmly welcome to learn about my life planning, financial planning or retirement planning consulting services by reading my bio. Thank you and take care.

Warmest regards,


Rajen

PS. I'm on extended year-end leave, so please use the comment facility, via the 'COMMENTS' link below, should you wish to leave a message for me or even a thought to share with others about what I've written today. Thank you, once again.

Rajen Devadason is CEO of RD Book Projects and its sister company RD WealthCreation Sdn Bhd. He lives in sunny, peaceful Malaysia with his gorgeous wife Rachel. He's a Malaysian Securities Commission-licensed financial planner, a life planning consultant, a professional speaker and a serial author... which probably explains why he's so exhausted! Some of his books are available here, and, if you're interested, here are some quotations he reckons are accurate, bold or cool.

My Father's Death and Legacy - Part 4 of 6

Hi. For those who may not know, my father, Daniel Alagaretnam Devadason, died at 1 am on Friday April 4th 2008. I've decided to celebrate his life by sharing six enrichment lessons I learnt from him.


The first was 'Pay for High Quality', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-1-of-6.html

The second lesson was 'Focus on Professionalism', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-2-of-6.html

The third lesson was 'Respect Books', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-3-of-6.html


My father lived a long, full life. One marked by joy, wartime travails, success, controversy, disappointment, fresh starts, and great love for all of his 10 children. I hope you enjoy reading this...


Here's the fourth of six lessons derived from my observations of his life:

Record Expenses.

In my home country of Malaysia, my work - as a financial planner, with a major eccentricity! - has brought me some level of notoriety. You see, one of the foundational principles of my practice is Delayed Gratification. In a recent series of radio interviews on BFM 89.9 (in the Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan and some parts of Malacca), a station that may also be listened to online at http://www.bfm.my/, more specifically at http://www.bfm.my/assets/media/bfmfeed.html, the excellent presenter Norina Yahya often made reference to that phrase, saying it was what I was 'famous for'. The context of Norina's assertion is my high personal savings and investment rate of 50%; my ongoing work with financial planning clients to help them gradually ratchet up to a 40% to 50% net savings rate, if that's what they want; and my reputation as a cheapskate who drives an old car.

Although my father did not plan for me to turn out like this, the formative lesson was his admonition for me to Record Expenses.

Note: My father did not die financially wealthy. In fact, I remember during my secondary school years, he would often talk to me, as we drove back from my extracurricular school activities at Malacca High School (MHS), about how he was admittedly a good lawyer but a bad businessman. He was also an unapologetic Anglophile.

So, when I won a scholarship from a London-based A-Level college, I remember my father sending his driver to MHS to find me and bring me back to his law office, behind Christ Church in the heart of historic Malacca, to read the letter awarding me that life-changing scholarship!

Before I left Malaysia for the UK in 1982, he took me aside to show me several of his ‘555’ notebooks in which he’d recorded his daily expenses while studying in London in the late 1950s. It was his way of tracking the utilisation of limited resources.

I followed his advice during my initial months in the UK, but soon tired of the exercise. That lapse contributed to my making a shambles of my finances during my eventual 7-year stint of living, studying and later working in England.

It took me several years after returning to Malaysia to repay every one of my UK credit card bills, but clear each one I did! I also repaid every single friend I borrowed money from back then to tide me over when I came up short of cash - which was often! (Every friend that is except my excellent housemate Vivek Mahendru who lent me 50 pounds before he returned to India. I've been trying to contact him for years, thus far unsuccessfully. Sigh!)

Both my parents made it clear that obligations must be met and all debts repaid.

In the ensuing years, one of the books I've written is on debt eradication. It's entitled Liberty! From Debt-Slave to Money Master, which you may learn more about here.

Ironically, given my troublesome history with debt, I have in recent years been hired by the Malaysian Central Bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, to train its debt counsellors!

Furthermore, today one of the hallmarks of my initial meeting with new fee-paying life planning, financial planning or retirement planning clients is my giving a little notebook to each one with instructions to record all expenses for at least one month. Some clients have found it a powerful pattern-breaking exercise that begins the process of turning their financial lives around. They have my father to thank for that idea.

You might want to try the idea out for yourself by heeding D.A. Devadason's Principle Number 4: Record Expenses.

I hope to write on my father's fifth lesson soon, so return here to The Cool Time and Money Blog ; you might also want to bookmark its URL, http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/

Also, if you live in Malaysia, preferably in or close to Seremban and the Klang Valley, and if you would like to use my services in helping clients attain long-term goals, you may learn about my life planning, financial planning or retirement planning consulting services by reading my bio. Thank you for reading. Take care.

Warmest regards,


Rajen

PS. I'm on extended year-end leave, so please use the comment facility, via the 'COMMENTS' link below, should you wish to leave a message for me or even a thought to share with others about what I've written today. Thank you, once again.

Rajen Devadason is CEO of RD Book Projects and its sister company RD WealthCreation Sdn Bhd. He lives in sunny, peaceful Malaysia with his gorgeous wife Rachel. He's a Malaysian Securities Commission-licensed financial planner, a life planning consultant, a professional speaker and a serial author... which probably explains why he's so exhausted! Some of his books are available here, and, if you're interested, here are some quotations he reckons are accurate, bold or cool.

My Father's Death and Legacy - Part 3 of 6

Hi. For new readers who may not know me, please note that my father, Daniel Alagaretnam Devadason, died at 1 am on Friday April 4th 2008. I've decided to celebrate his life by sharing six enrichment lessons I learnt from him.


The first was 'Pay for High Quality', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-1-of-6.html

The second lesson was 'Focus on Professionalism', which you can read more about at:
http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-fathers-death-and-legacy-part-2-of-6.html

I had originally planned to complete all 6 lessons within a very short time of my father's passing. But after posting the first 2 lessons, I found that I needed to keep myself very, very, very busy with other - less contemplative - work to deal with the pain of his loss. So, here I am a little after Christmas Day 2008, after celebrating the very first Christmas without my father being around, trying to pick up the threads of my thoughts...


Here's the third of six lessons I want to leave with you:

Respect Books.

I love books. It is one of my few major extravagances. I've got to the point now that both my libraries at home and in my office are overflowing, with newer book purchases and recently reread favourites forming mini-skyscrapers on cabinets, desks, chairs and even parts of the floor! It is easy for me to figure out where that passion for reading came from:

My father surrounded himself with books, as does my mother to this day.

In fact, I remember when I was very young he gave me a complete set of a children’s encyclopaedia. I avidly dipped into it throughout my primary education years. In school, first in Seremban and later in Malacca from Form 1, I discovered his generous gifts of books had permitted me to leapfrog most of my classmates in terms of linguistic development and general knowledge.

Today, I find the lifetime love affair with books has granted me an edge in each of the 3 key areas of professional endeavour I have chosen to pursue. For those of you who don't already know me well, those 3 areas are consulting, professional speaking and writing, mainly on financial planning and retirement planning funding.

As I write this, 2008 is down to its waning days. God alone knows just how bad, how deep and how long the global recession we find ourselves in now will be. But strangely enough I have this abiding sense of calm that I've been preparing half a lifetime for this very season of crisis. Some people say that in every crisis there is an element of danger and another of opportunity. The awful economic news emanating from every corner of the globe is an effective means of alerting everyone to the danger that lies ahead of us, specifically the danger of serious wealth destruction. But there is also a great opportunity in the weeks and months ahead; it is an opportunity to place yourself on the side of the winners who will grow wealthier in the vast transfer of global riches that will take place throughout 2009.

My own preparation has hinged upon my father's lesson to respect books. If you are already a reader, wonderful. If you aren't, I suggest you plant seeds today to turn your children into readers. It may be a cliche, but it is true that readers are, generally, leaders. That's because leaders require vision above all else, the ability to perceive in the mind's eye a better tomorrow, a preferred future! That vital ability is developed over a lifetime of intelligent reading that develops the imagination and informs the intellect.

We live in a Knowledge Economy. Dare you call yourself a true 'player' in this 21st century K-economy if you aren't reading about the world we live in and the world we might be inheriting?

I hope you will choose to follow D.A. Devadason's Principle Number 3: Respect Books, and gradually see that respect grow into love and eventually passion!

I hope to write on my father's fourth lesson soon, so if you wish to read about it, please do check back here at The Cool Time and Money Blog by making a note of this URL, http://the-cool-time-and-money-blog.blogspot.com/

Finally, for the sake of completeness because this blog is often read by individuals in my home country of Malaysia who might wish to solicit my help in reaching long-term goals, you may learn about my life planning, financial planning or retirement planning consulting services by reading my bio. Thank you for dropping by. It's been a pleasure writing for you.

Warmest regards,


Rajen

PS. I'm on extended year-end leave, so please use the comment facility, via the 'COMMENTS' link below, should you wish to leave a message for me or even a thought to share with others about what I've written today. Thank you, once again.

Rajen Devadason is CEO of RD Book Projects and its sister company RD WealthCreation Sdn Bhd. He lives in sunny, peaceful Malaysia with his gorgeous wife Rachel. He's a Malaysian Securities Commission-licensed financial planner, a life planning consultant, a professional speaker and a serial author... which probably explains why he's so exhausted! Some of his books are available here, and, if you're interested, here are some quotations he reckons are accurate, bold or cool.