Monday, April 13, 2009

Belajar Usaha Yang Kedua: Kisah Sukses TKI; Property dan Real Estate.

Tulisan ini untuk memberikan motivasi sendiri bagi penulis dan keluarga…
Photo: Seminar Marketing
 
Motivasi bisnis dari salah satu perusahaan MLM di Dubai
Beberapa kali saya mengikuti presentasi perusahaan MLM di Dubai, sekitar tahun 2005-2006 dengan maksud untuk memahami bagaimana seluk beluk marketing dengan segala tetek bengeknya termasuk motivasi-motivasi yang diberikan leader. Kalau kita ingin menguji kemampuan marketing, silahkan gabung dengan salah satu perusahaan MLM, tapi ingat MLM yang memiliki credibilitas terpercaya.
Dari hasil mengikuti presentasi-presentasi inilah saya mulai mengenal nama-nama pengusaha Amerika yang sering dijadikan referensi oleh para pembicara, diantaranya RTK (Robert T.Kiyosaski), Warren Buffet, Michael Dell, Mc-Donald, Donald Triump dll. Tapi diantara nama2 tersebut, RTK (Robert T. Kiyosaki) lah yang membuat saya lebih tertarik. Para pembicara menganjurkan untuk memiliki buku-buku karangan para pengusaha Amerika ini. Saya faham betul, walaupun pola pikir mereka kapitalis tapi tidak ada salahnya kita pelajari dan kombinasikan dengan entrepreneur wisdom-nya Rasulullah SAW.

Yang paling berkesan bagi saya ketika mengikuti presentasi selama 3 hari di Hotel Jabel Hafid, Al-Ain UAE. Selain biaya ditanggung oleh perusahaan MLM tersebut juga materi presentasinya yang berkualitas. Dari mulai membicarakan bisnis secara umum, motivasi, produk dan strategy pemasaran produk.

Sekilas tentang Dubai
Dubai bisa dikatakan megapolitan untuk timur tengah karena pembangunannya yang pesat, tujuan wisata dan tentunya di kota inilah beberapa gedung tertinggi dunia berada. Ada satu hal yang membuat warga expatriate termasuk saya, gerah tinggal di kota ini, mereka rata-rata sudah hampir tak berdaya dengan biaya hidup yang melambung tinggi, apartment/flat dengan harga selangit membuat expatriate harus angkat kaki dari kota yang menjanjikan jutaan harapan bagi para pendatang. Mereka yang bertahan adalah mereka yang mendapatkan fasilitas perumahan dari perusahaan mereka bekerja. Saya pikir hampir semua negara di teluk ini memiliki biaya hidup yang tinggi, entah itu di Qatar, Oman, Kwait, Bahrain dsb.

Photo: Burj Al Arab- Dubai
 

Pindah Ke Oman
Diakhir tahun 2006, saya mendapatkan tawaran kerja sebagai karyawan permanent dari salah satu perusahaan minyak dan gas yang berpusat di UK dan memiliki kantor cabang di Sharjah – UAE untuk wilayah timur tengah. Tanpa pikir panjang saya terima penawaran tersebut dan mendapatkan penugasan di Oman. Hari demi hari terlewati sampai akhirnya sampai dipenghujung tahun 2007, saya mulai sadar bahwa sampai saat itu Allah SWT sudah melapangkan rizki, tapi… saya merasa belum mengerti benar bagaimana cara menginvestasikan rizki yang sudah terkumpul ini. Cobalah kita renungkan para pemenang lotre yang asalnya miskin kemudian kaya dan jatuh miskin lagi, kenapa? Jawabannya singkat karena mereka tidak memiliki kecerdasan financial, tidak mengerti harus diapakan uang tersebut, dan akhirnya habis ditipu orang, dipakai hura-hura dan pengeluaran yang tidak berarti lainnya. Atau mungkin juga harta dari lotre atau undian tersebut tidak barokah sehingga ditarik lagi oleh Allah SWT.

Photo: Oman

Saya teringat kembali pesan seorang pembicara dari perusahaan MLM di Dubai yang menyarankan untuk membeli buku-buku yang dikarang oleh pebisnis Amerika. Ketika itu saya sudah tertarik dengan Robert T. Kiyosaki. Ketika saya berada di Seeb Airport, Muscat Oman, saya cari buku karangan RTK di toko buku – Duty Free dan menemukan buku dengan judul Rich dad and Poor dad. Setelah saya telaah, akhirnya saya beli buku-buku tersebut.

Saya baca berulang-ulang sampai faham isinya. Tidak salah, buku ini memang best seller di Amerika karena dikemas dengan bahasa sederhana sehingga mudah dimengerti padahal tema yang disampaikan adalah masalah yang rumit yaitu accounting yang menurut pengamat ekonomi termasuk subjek yang membosankan. Dengan alur cerita yang didasarkan pada pengalaman kisah hidup nyata RTK, dia bisa menyampaikan semua ide dan saran-saran yang banyak dipakai oleh para pebisnis muda dan menjadi populer di seluruh dunia.

Ketertarikan saya tidak hanya sampai disitu, saya telaah tentang Aset dan liabilitas yang di deskripsikan dengan bahasa yang sederhana oleh RTK. Aset berarti segala sesuatu yang masuk ke kantong kita sedangkan liabilitas berarti segala sesuatu yang menguras kantong kita walaupun itu 1 rupiah.

RTK bersikeras mengatakan bahwa rumah tempat tinggal kita bukanlah Aset. Saya teringat ketika di Dubai, sekitar tahun 2004, seorang teman sedang membangun rumah dan baru selesai sekitar tahun 2007, Rumahnya sangat besar berlantai dua dan ratusan juta biaya yang dikeluarkan. Menurut RTK, karena rumah tinggal bukanlah Aset tapi sebuah liabilitas (tanggungan), maka janganlah uang kita difokuskan hanya untuk rumah tempat tinggal yang mewah, karena kita harus mengeluarkan biaya-biaya tambahan, entah untuk pajak, perawatan dan asuransi (kalau diasuransikan).

Kalau kita hanya mendapatkan income dari gaji saja dan uang tersebut habis untuk membuat rumah tempat tinggal, maka secara tidak langsung sudah masuk kedalam perlombaan tikus, dimana hasil kerja habis untuk membangun rumah mewah dan memaksa kita harus bekerja keras lagi dari pagi sampai sore untuk menutupi kebutuhan sehari-hari karena gaji kita sudah terkuras untuk pembuatan rumah yang mewah tersebut. Tidak ada yang salah dengan membangun rumah mewah, mungkin orang mengikuti pepatah “rumahku, surgaku”, mereka ingin senyaman mungkin ketika tinggal di rumah.

Orang berpikir bahwa membangun rumah mewah adalah investasi. Kita harus tahu benar tentang investasi. Kita harus bisa membedakan bahwa orang yang berinvestasi belum tentu bisa disebut investor. Karena investor akan mendapatkan hasil dari apa yang diinvestasikannya baik itu passive income perhari, perminggu, perbulan ataupun pertahun. Nah kalau anda menghabiskan uang untuk membangun rumah yang sangat mewah, saya hanya bisa memberikan selamat atas investasi yang telah dilakukan, tapi ingat anda belum bisa dikatakan investor.

Saya pribadi tidaklah memiliki rumah mewah, hanya rumah kecil mungil yang saya ubah fungsinya dari rumah tinggal menjadi rumah toko (lihat tulisan saya tentang belajar usaha yang pertama: Fotokopi) kebetulah rumah saya tersebut berada dipinggir jalan kemudian Saya ubah fungsinya yang semula hanya sebuah liabilitas menjadi sebuah asset.

Usaha kos-kosan dan Property
Belajar dari pengalaman RTK tentang investasi, Saya mulai mengincar property yang bisa dijadikan asset dan memberikan cashflow positif dengan kata lain bisa memberikan passive income dari waktu ke waktu selama saya masih bekerja sebagai karyawan di Perusahaan Mi-Gas. Walaupun berstatus permanent di perusahaan tempat saya bekerja sekarang dan merasakan sudah memiliki sekuritas pekerjaan tapi belum merasakan kebebasan atau freedom.

Photo: Kosan untuk Mahasiswa

Kembali ke property, pilihan pun jatuh pada bisnis kos-kosan yang sedang booming di Jatinangor Sumedang, melihat potensi pasar yang bagus karena mahasiswa dari penjuru tanah air datang ke Jatinangor untuk melanjutkan kuliah di PT seperti UNPAD, ITB, IPDN, UNWIM dan IKOPIN. Untuk menajamkan keinginan dan supaya mendapatkan deal yang baik dan benar, sebelumnya saya ikuti beberapa konfrensi on line dengan para pengusaha muda Indonesia khususnya yang selalu membahas tentang real estate. Tatap muka dengan para motivator bisnis membuat saya bertekad untuk menempatkan asset di atas liabilitas.

Saya ikuti semua saran para pengusaha real estate tentang bagaimana caranya deal property dan memilih Rumah kosan yang prospektif. Sekarang ini banyak rumah kosan yang ditawarkan di media masa ataupun internet yang kurang memiliki prospek baik kedepannya. Training dari Pak Didik Eko Cahyono yang mengajarkan kiat-kiat membeli property dan real estate tanpa uang, merupakan gebrakan-gebrakan baru di Indonesia.

Rumah lantai dua dengan sepuluh kamar sekitar 300 meter dari pintu gerbang UNPAD jadi pilihan saya, tepatnya didaerah ciseke-Jatinangor, rumah kosan tersebut memiliki akses untuk kendaraan roda dua dan empat. Bangunannya masih cukup baru tapi perlu sedikit renovasi pada bagian lantai dasar. Rumah kosan ini bisa memberikan passive income net yang cukup lumayan setelah mendapat potongan listrik dan biaya perawatan lainnya. Saya pikir tidak terlalu jelek untuk langkah bisnis kedua saya.

Di tahun 2004, ketika masih berada di Dubai, saya mencoba berinvestasi tanah dengan membeli dua kavling tanah di sebuah perumahan di Tanjungsari. Pada saat itu saya belum mengerti tentang asset dan liabilitas. Saya pikir tanah, kendaraan pribadi dan tempat tinggal adalah asset. Tapi sampai sekarang tanah tersebut saya anggap hanya sebagai liabilitas, walaupun dalam jangka panjang kalau saya jual mungkin bisa beberapa kali lipat dari harga pembelian.

Di tahun 2007, kebetulan saudara dari pihak istri ingin menjual bangunan dan tanahnya dipinggir SMU Tanjungsari dan lokasinya pas pinggir jalan raya Bandung Sumedang. Pada saat transaksi ini, saya masih belum mengerti tentang Aset dan Liabilitas, tanpa pikir panjang saya beli dan saya diamkan beberapa bulan. Tapi setelah mengerti tentang Aset dan Liabilitas, bangunan tersebut saya kontrakan ke orang lain yang dipakai usaha pembuatan kusen. Walaupun passive income yang didapatkan tidak terlalu besar tapi saya telah puas karena telah memenuhi kewajiban untuk menjadikan liabilitas menjadi aset. Sebelumnya, saya dan istri berencana untuk menghancurkan rumah ini dan membangun ruko photokopi dan grosir. Karena modal belum mencukupi sehingga saya kontrakan terlebih dahulu sehingga bangunan dan tanah tersebut menjadi asset yang menghasilkan passive income.

Di tahun 2008, saudara istri kebetulan berencana ingin berangkat ziarah ke Mekah dan harus menjual sawah 100 tumbak dgan tanah daratnya sekitar 25 tumbak yang bersatu dengan sawah tersebut. Pada saat ini saya sudah mulai mengerti tentang asset, apapun yang saya beli harus mendatangkan hasil, maka tidak salahnya kalau saya beli sawah dengan penghasilan tiga kali panen dalam setahun dan tanah daratnya juga ditanami ubi kayu. Hasil dari panen ini kemudian dijual dan hasilnya ditabung.

Yang masih ada dalam benak saya dan diharapkan bisa tercapai dimasa yang akan datang yaitu melaksanakan saran pakar real estate dan RTK diantaranya untuk bisa mendapatkan property dengan “Triple Net Lease Real Estate (Sewa-menyewa real estate dengan keuntungan tiga kali lipat). Dengan alasan sebagai berikut:
Investasi Triple Net Lease sering berada di lokasi komersial yang menguntungkan seperti di pertigaan atau perempatan jalan.
Penyewa biasanya dari perusahaan untuk kepentingan masyarakat, seperti farmasi, franchise, perdagangan retail, supermarket, minimarket dll.
Penyewa biasanya bertanggung jawab segalanya, keuntungan tiga kali lipat (triple net) artinya sebagai tambahan untuk sewa tanah atau bangunan, penyewa juga membayar untuk perawatan bangunan, asurasi, pajak dan reparasi.

Banyak orang disibukan oleh pekerjaannya dan tidak pernah ada waktu untuk belajar usaha. Mereka sering bilang, “Bagaimana saya mau berbisnis, waktu yang tersedia tidak memungkinkan”, atau ada yang mengatakan “Dari mana saya harus memulai usaha?” dan masih banyak “Excuse”lainnya.

Kadang saya berpikir kalau orang kaya saja yang setiap hari sibuk menghasilkan uang banyak, tapi saya yang juga sibuk dengan pekerjaan, hanya mendapatkan gaji sebagai karyawan biasa. Kalau Allah SWT menghendaki, saya ingin mengubah jalan hidup ini dari seorang karyawan yang memiliki job security menjadi seorang Investor atau bisnis owner yang memiliki freedom.

Belajar usaha yang ketiga akan menyusul……

Salam Bisnis

TKI-Diaspora Indonsia di LN

Lihat Artikel Lain:
Belajar Usaha Yang Pertama: Kisah Sukses TKI; Fotokopi Adalah Usaha Kami Yang Pertama
Belajar Usaha keTiga: Kisah Sukses TKI; Kursus Mental Aritmetika - Sempoa ASMA dan Bahasa Inggris

Belajar Usaha keempat: Kisah Sukses TKI; Usaha Toko Besi dan Bangunan

Friday, April 3, 2009

Money 101, Financial Education. Lesson # 10 Employee Stock Options

Top things to know

1. Employee stock options are no longer reserved for the executive suite.
From cash-poor Silicon Valley startups to old-line manufacturing and service firms competing for top talent, more and more companies are offering stock options to the rank and file as well.
2. Stock options are still popular.
According to the National Center for Employee Ownership as many as 9 million employees participate in some 3,000 plans. In 1990, only 1 million U.S. employees had them.
3. Stock options can be expensive to exercise.
The lesson of the dot-com crash: Improperly exercising stock options can cause real financial headaches, particularly when it comes to paying taxes on your profits. Even if you keep the stock you purchased, you'll still have to pay taxes. But if you're careful not to overreach, options can be a lucrative benefit.
4. You'll see these common terms:
An employee stock option gives you the right to buy ("exercise") a certain number of shares of your employer's stock at a stated price (the "award," "strike," or "exercise" price) over a certain period of time (the "exercise" period).
5. There are two common types of plans:
Employee stock options come in two basic flavors: nonqualified stock options and qualified, or "incentive," stock options (ISOs). ISOs qualify for special tax treatment. For example, gains may be taxed at capital gains rates instead of higher, ordinary income rates. Incentive options go primarily to upper management, and employees usually get the nonqualified variety.
6. Nonqualified plans are special.
Unlike ISOs, nonqualified stock options can be granted at a discount to the stock's market value. They also are transferable to children and charity, provided your employer permits it.
7. There are three main ways to exercise options:
You can pay cash, swap employer stock you already own or borrow money from a stockbroker while simultaneously selling enough shares to cover your costs.
8. It's usually smart to hold options as long as you can.
Conventional wisdom holds that you should sit on your options until they are about to expire to allow the stock to appreciate and, therefore, maximize your gain. In the aftermath of the tech stock swoon, that logic may need some revision. In any event, you should not exercise options unless you have something better to do with the realized gain.
9. There may be compelling reasons to exercise early.
Among them: You have lost faith in your employer's prospects; you are overweighted on company stock and want to diversify for safety; you want to lock in a low-cost basis for nonqualified options; you want to avoid catapulting into a higher tax bracket by waiting.
10. Tax consequences can be tricky.
Unlike the case with nonqualified options, an ISO spread at exercise is considered a preference item for purposes of calculating the dreaded alternative minimum tax (AMT), increasing taxable income for AMT purposes.

The rise of employee stock options
Employee stock options used to be reserved for the executive suite. No longer. From cash-poor Silicon Valley startups to old-line manufacturing and service firms, more and more companies are offering stock options to the rank and file as well.
The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) estimates that about 9 million Americans hold stock options and that the plans account for at least several hundred billion dollars.
In 1990 there were only about 1 million workers covered by a few hundred stock option plans. Today there are nearly ten times that many employees participating in some 3,000 plans.
Still, management continues to receive the lion's share of stock option grants. Of companies that grant options to more than half their employees, nonmanagement receives 45 percent of total options allocated, on average.
At the largest companies, this average is 29 percent. At biotech and computer firms, however, 55 percent of option grants go to nonmanagers.

The ABCs of ESOs
An employee stock option is the right given to you by your employer to buy ("exercise") a certain number of shares of company stock at a pre-set price (the "grant," "strike" or "exercise" price) over a certain period of time (the "exercise period").
Most options are granted on publicly traded stock, but it is possible for privately held companies to design similar plans using their own pricing methods.
Usually the strike price is equal to the stock's market value at the time the option is granted but not always. It can be lower or higher than that, depending on the type of option. In the case of private company options, the strike price is often based on the price of shares at the company's most recent funding round.
Employees profit if they can sell their stock for more than they paid at exercise. The National Center for Employee Ownership estimates that employees covered by broad-based stock option plans receive an amount equal to between 12 and 20 percent of their salaries from the "spread" between what they pay for their option stock and what they sell it for.
Most stock options have an exercise period of 10 years. This is the maximum amount of time during which the shares may be purchased, or the option "exercised." Restrictions inside this period are prescribed by a "vesting" schedule, which sets the minimum amount of time that must be met before exercise.
With some option grants, all shares vest after just one year. With most, however, some sort of graduated vesting scheme comes into play: For example, 20 percent of the total shares are exercisable after one year, another 20 percent after two years and so on.
This is known as staggered, or "phased," vesting. Most options are fully vested after the third or fourth year, according to a recent survey by consultants Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
Whenever the stock's market value is greater than the option price, the option is said to be "in the money." Conversely, if the market value is less than the option price, the option is said to be "out of the money," or "under water."
During times of stock market volatility, a company may reprice its options, allowing employees to exchange underwater options for ones that are in the money. For example, if options were originally exercisable at $50, and the stock's market price dropped to $30, the company could cancel the first option grant and issue new options exercisable at the new $30 share price.
Does that sound like cheating? Maybe, but it's perfectly legal. Outside investors, however, generally frown upon the practice - after all, they have no repricing opportunity when the value of their own shares drops.

Types of options
Companies can offer different kinds of plans, depending on what they're trying to get out of the offering.
The various plans offer very different tax advantages and disadvantages, both to the company issuing the options and to the employee receiving them. In general, most options fall into one of two categories: nonqualified options or incentive stock options.
Nonqualified stock options
These are the stock options of choice for broad-based plans. Generally, you owe no tax when these options are granted. Rather, you are required to pay ordinary income tax on the difference, or "spread," between the grant price and the stock's market value when you purchase ("exercise") the shares. Companies get to deduct this spread as a compensation expense.
Choosing the right moment to exercise is not as easy as it looks. For example, let's say you were granted an option to buy 1,000 shares at $5 per share. The stock hits $10 in the public market, at which point you cash in because your grant is about to expire. Your exercise price nets you a gain of $5,000 in this example, which you'd claim on your tax returns as ordinary income.
Now, let's say you think the stock is going to go higher, so you hold onto the shares. Sadly, the market crashes, bringing your shares down to $5, at which point you sell. Here's the bad part: you still owe income tax on that $5,000 profit, even though you never turned it into cash.
From the IRS point of view, that gain was income, which you chose to use to make an "investment" in the stock you kept. If you subsequently sold those shares at $5, you will get a $5,000 capital loss to show for your efforts, which will offset your notional gain somewhat but not entirely.
In a happier example, let's say you hold on, and the stock rises. Any subsequent appreciation in the stock is taxed at capital gains rates when you sell. Keep the stock for more than a year, and you'll have a long-term capital gain, taxed at a top rate of 15 percent; hold for one year or less, and your gain is short term, taxed at higher, ordinary income tax rates.
Nonqualified options can be granted at a discount to the stock's market value. They also are "transferable" to children and to charities, provided your company permits it.
A safe way to deal with potential uncertainty in share prices is to take out some cash when you exercise, at least enough to cover the tax bill.
An even more conservative way to deal with stock options is to view them exactly the way the IRS does: as income. When you decide to exercise, take 100 percent of your profits in cash - don't hold onto any shares. Then, manage that money as you see fit.
Incentive stock options
These are also known as "qualified" stock options because they qualify to receive special tax treatment. No income tax is due at grant or exercise. Rather, the tax is deferred until you sell the stock.
At that point, the entire option gain (the initial spread at exercise plus any subsequent appreciation) is taxed at long-term capital gains rates, provided you sell at least two years after the option is granted and at least one year after you exercise.
ISOs give employers no tax advantages and so generally are reserved as perks for the top brass, who tend to benefit more than workers in lower income tax brackets from the capital gains tax treatment of ISOs.
High-paid workers are also more likely than low-paid workers to have cash to buy the shares at exercise and ride out the lengthy holding period between exercise and sale.
If you don't meet the holding-period requirements, the sale is ruled a "disqualifying disposition," and you are taxed as if you had held nonqualified options. The spread at exercise is taxed as ordinary income, and only the subsequent appreciation is taxed as capital gain.
Unlike nonqualified options, ISOs may not be granted at a discount to the stock's market value, and they are not transferable, other than by will.
Two warnings apply here:
1. No more than $100,000 in ISOs can become exercisable in any year.
2. The spread at exercise is considered a preference item for purposes of calculating the dreaded alternative minimum tax (AMT), increasing taxable income for AMT purposes. A disqualifying disposition can help you avoid this tax.

Exercising stock options
Many employees rush to cash in their stock options as soon as they can. That's not always so smart.

There are three basic ways to exercise options: pay cash, swap company stock you already own, or engage in a "cashless exercise."
Cash exercise
This is the most straightforward route. You give your employer the necessary money and get stock certificates in return. What if, when it comes time to exercise, you don't have enough cash on hand to buy the option shares and pay any resulting tax?
Stock swaps
Some employers let you trade company stock you already own to acquire option stock. Say your company stock sells for $50 a share, and you have an ISO to buy 5,000 additional shares for $25 each.
Instead of paying $125,000 in cash to exercise the option, you could exchange 2,500 shares (with a total market value of $125,000) you already own for the 5,000 new shares. This strategy has the additional benefit of limiting your concentration in company stock (see below). Note: You must have held the swapped ISO shares for the required one- and two-year holding periods to avoid having the exchange treated as a sale and thus incurring tax.
Cashless exercises
This is a case in which you borrow from a stockbroker the money needed to exercise your option and, simultaneously, sell at least enough shares to cover your costs, including taxes and broker's commissions. Any balance is paid to you in cash or stock.
When to exercise
Although conventional wisdom holds that you should sit on your options until they are about to expire to allow the stock to appreciate and therefore maximize your gain, many employees can't stand to wait that long. One pre-bear-market study found that the typical employee cashed out of options within six months of becoming eligible to do so, thereby sacrificing an estimated $1 in future value for every $2 realized.
There are many legitimate reasons to exercise early. Among them:
1. You have lost faith in your employer's prospects and therefore in its stock.
2. You are overdosing on company shares. (It is generally imprudent to keep more than 10 percent of your portfolio in employer stock.)
3. You want to avoid getting pushed into a higher tax bracket. Waiting to exercise all your options at once could do just that. Exercising a portion at a time can alleviate the problem.
During the tech stock bubble, for example, at least a few conservative employees took profits in their high-flying companies' shares. Turning paper gains in options into real cash - despite exercising "early" according to conventional wisdom - seems to have been extraordinarily prudent in retrospect.
A quick way to estimate the value of your options is to calculate how much you would pocket after exercising them and immediately selling the shares. (Remember also that income tax will be due on that gain.)
You may be tempted to lock in a low-cost basis for your nonqualified options. Since the spread at exercise is taxed as ordinary income, it might make sense to exercise early so you can take most of your earnings in stock appreciation, taxed at lower, capital gains rates. This assumes, however, that you expect the price of the stock to continue rising in the future.
It's vital to remember that when you hold onto shares that have been converted from exercised options, it is the same as making an investment in the stock. Any time you hold stock - regardless of the method by which you acquire that equity - it carries the same potential risk. If you're not comfortable with the possibility of a decline, don't hold onto the shares.