SOS Is Malaysian Wealth Destroyed over TIME?

Wealth actually is relative (in USD, in GOLD, in CRB, in Property). As you can see, one's wealth in RM will change and it is not within its control. In US dollar terms, since 1997 to March 2011, market capitalization in USD term has dropped 11% although the index has increased. In gold terms, RM has dropped 80% (meaning, on 1997, Malaysian can buy 11.28 oz of gold with RM10,000 and today, we can buy about 2.33 oz of gold with RM10,000). The point here is to say, after the Asian crisis, Malaysia, did not grow in terms of USD or Gold. It would be interesting to know how Malaysian did in terms of AUD dollar and SGD dollar, which a lot of Malaysians seem to migrate there. Based on 10 years (available data 2001-2010), Malaysia currency had dropped 38% against Australia and about 14% in Singapore dollars. Suprisingly, against sterling, ringgit has improved 11%. Bear in mind, this is all based on a time 10 yrs ago and today, not the average. MyView The above is not the absolute comparison (which non is in existence), cost of living of each country is different at different point of time as well. One can always argue, should I keep my money in Malaysia, my fixed deposit compounding return may be better than Australia over the last 10 years, so I may have more RM today than 10 yrs ago. One of the best way is to compare with hard assets instead of fiat money, perhaps against CRB Index. That means, how much each ringgit can buy in term of CRB Index. Yet again, this is also not absolute measurement, it is just an indication of fiat money against hard asset price over a period of time. Should you be not be travelling or using other currency at all, than the best measurement of your wealth is simple, with the same amount of money, how much food can you buy, how much more petrol can you buy, how much more property can you buy, how much more education cost increase. I think, an average range would be around 8-10% (JUST GUESSING).