RTX 4060. 165Hz display. 16GB RAM. The Predator Helios Neo 16 laptop in my Lazada cart had everything I’d been waiting for.

I’d been eyeing this for weeks, watching every review video, checking the benchmarks, reading through Reddit threads. This wasn’t an upgrade. It was finally being able to play new releases without lag, stream without dropping frames, and actually see what my teammates are pinging in team fights.

I had the money and I’d been saving specifically for this. But that laptop sat in my cart for two weeks because every time my finger hovered over the checkout button, something stopped me.

I’m 28 and I earn enough to afford nice things now, but my gaming ‘setup’ is honestly embarrassing. A five-year-old laptop that sounds like a jet engine whenever I open more than three Chrome tabs. Meanwhile, my friend Darren just posted his new battlestation on our Discord. Custom-built PC, RGB everything, dual monitors, the works. Probably cost him RM8,000.

I wanted that feeling. Not his exact setup, but just once, I wanted something that was mine, current-gen, not some budget compromise. Then my older brother came over for dinner one weekend, and everything changed.

After dinner, my brother mentioned his ASM dividend just came in. RM450.

“For doing what?” I asked.

“Nothing. It just sits there.”

I thought about my RM6,000 sitting in savings earning maybe RM2 a month. That gaming laptop suddenly felt different.

Two Weeks Of Going Back And Forth

I’m not going to lie. I almost bought it anyway.

Darren kept posting clips of his gameplay, all smooth and beautiful with zero lag. We’d been gaming together since uni, and I was still the one going “Eh, can we turn down the graphics settings?” in every new game.

I kept thinking about what my brother said though. His ASM just sits there, quietly growing. Him planning for a landed property while I was planning for better frame rates.

I want to get married in the next few years, buy a house, maybe start a family. A gaming laptop would give me two years of better graphics before it became just another thing I owned.

I sat there staring at my Lazada cart, wondering what I was actually giving to my future self here.

The Day I Chose Differently

I closed the Lazada tab on that RM5,299 laptop and opened Maybank2u instead.

I’ve never invested in anything before. My brother walked me through it, explaining that ASM was beginner-friendly with a fixed price, government-backed, nothing complicated. Good for someone like me who didn’t know much about the market.

ASM worked for me, but it could’ve been unit trusts or EPF top-ups or something else entirely. The point was just starting somewhere.

I transferred RM3,000 to my ASM account as a start. Then I did something my brother suggested and opened a unit trust account, putting RM2,000 into a low-risk fund. Diversification, he called it.

The whole thing took maybe 45 minutes. No grand ceremony, no unboxing video, simply  numbers moving from one account to another. 

Six Months In

My laptop crashed twice in the first month after I invested. Both times I stared at that Predator Helios still sitting in my Lazada cart.

I kept checking my investment accounts obsessively. The numbers barely moved. Some days the unit trust was up RM15, other days it was down RM8. I started wondering if I’d made a stupid choice.

Then three months in, RM33.75 appeared in my ASM account. Not much, barely enough for a decent lunch, but I didn’t have to work for it. It just appeared because my money was sitting there.

Now it’s been six months. RM5,500 total across both accounts.

Some nights I watch Darren’s streams and feel that itch. Won’t lie, it stings a bit when everyone’s talking about new games and I’m the one still lagging.

But I sleep better now.

Not because I’m rich. My ASM balance is RM3,300 and my unit trust is at RM2,200. I’m nowhere near that house down payment yet. But I know the version of me at 35, the one who wants to get married and buy a house, will be grateful I started this now.

My brother helped me run the math one evening. If I keep adding RM500 monthly, in 10 years I’ll have roughly RM80,000. That gaming laptop? In two years it would’ve been worth maybe RM2,000 on Carousell, outdated and replaced by newer models.

Every Month, Same Question

My laptop crashed again last week. I looked at that Predator Helios still sitting in my Lazada wishlist, still available, still RM5,299.

Darren messaged asking if I wanted to try the new game everyone’s playing. I told him my laptop probably couldn’t handle it. He sent me a link to a gaming laptop sale.

“You’re overthinking this,” he said. “You’re only 28 once.”

He’s probably right. Most of my friends think I’m being ridiculous. They see me adding RM500 to investments every month while gaming on a laptop that sounds like it’s preparing for takeoff. Nobody’s going to congratulate me for having RM5,500 in ASM and unit trusts. There’s no way to make an investment portfolio look cool on Instagram.

I added another RM500 to my investments anyway.

Maybe I am overthinking this. Maybe 35-year-old me will look back and think I should’ve just bought the laptop and enjoyed being 28 while I could.

But I don’t think so. In a year, three years, ten years, I’m going to look back and thank my past self for thinking ahead, for choosing the boring option, for investing in the future instead of working until I’m old and grey.

So yea, the best gift I bought this year wasn’t under anyone’s Christmas tree. It didn’t come in packaging, doesn’t have RGB lighting or a high refresh rate. But it’s the gift that keeps giving.

And honestly? Future Me is going to love it. 

What’s one purchase you skipped to invest instead? Share your story in the comments.

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