Piso and Beyond

The Parable of the Pipeline

2018-02-28T09:01:00.004+08:00

Once there lived two men named Pablo and Bruno in a small village. They were good friends and big dreamers. They used to endlessly talk about how they would become the richest men in the village.

They were both smart and hard-working. But what they needed was an opportunity to prove themselves and become wealthy.

One day an opportunity knocked on their door. They were both appointed by the villagers to carry water in buckets from a nearby river to fill the water reserve at the Town Square. They shall be paid by the amount of every buckets that they will be able to deliver. Both were overjoyed and started to work immediately. After a month, Bruno was very happy with the opportunity, while Pablo was not very sure about the hard work and pain of carrying the heavy buckets. He didn’t really feel like going to work the next day and vowed to think of a better way of bringing water into the water reserve.

The next day Pablo told his friend about his idea on how to bring water to the village more efficiently. He suggested that instead of carrying buckets back and forth to bring water from the river they can build a pipeline from the river to village. But Bruno was not very pleased with the idea as it sounded unfamiliar and there were no short term benefits from doing so. He rejected the idea as he was happy with whatever he was earning, anyway.

But Pablo did not give up and worked on building the pipeline alone. He worked during the evenings and weekends while still doing his task of bringing water from the river to the town. This brought down his productivity and was not able to earn as much as Bruno did. Soon, Bruno earned quite a fortune and decided to hire more men that would help him carry more buckets. But Pablo did not give up on his pipeline. He believed that one day his dream of bringing water to the town automatically would come true.

While Bruno spent his evenings and weekends at the bar or relaxing at home, Pablo had to work hard on his pipeline. Some people, including Bruno, would laugh at him and his pipeline. “You’re just wasting your time and energy on something useless! It will never work!” But Pablo kept on reminding himself that “Tomorrow’s dreams are built on today’s sacrifices. Short-term pain equals long-term gains”, he reminded himself repeatedly. Bruno would often tease him and ask, “Why are you working harder on your pipeline?”, yet Pablo would not say a single word and just smile.

Days turned into months and months turned into years. Pablo worked hard on his day job but worked harder on his pipe line. Then came his big day. People gathered around the Town Square to witness either a miracle or be part of a raucous crowd waiting for the ultimate fiasco.

With a deep breath, Pablo carefully pulled a lever and within seconds, the water started flowing out of the pipeline straight into the water reserve! The crowd roared in awe and praised Pablo for his creative idea! Indeed, the pipeline maker came to be known as Pablo, the miracle maker. He was lauded for his efforts all over the town as his friend Bruno silently sobbed, wishfully thinking of going back to the day when Pablo offered him his idea.

Amidst the rejoicing crowd, Pablo walked towards Bruno, gently tapped him on the shoulder and said, “If I’m going to work hard anyway, I’d rather work hard on something that I actually own.”

How about you?

Are you running with buckets or are you building a pipeline?


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How To Make Ipon Nga Ba?

2018-02-21T12:23:00.001+08:00

Saving is one of the most important foundations of building wealth. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most common problems we encounter when we finally decided to establish our finances.

Some people believe that you need to have more money in order for your to start saving. But there is absolutely no truth behind this money myth.

A jobless person and a person who earns up to 6-digit income can both struggle when it comes to saving money.

Saving requires discipline

The logic would always be that if you can't save when you're earning less, then you probably can't save as well even when your income has doubled. How many OFWs do you know have promised to save-up for their future only to go home with nothing after many years of hard work? How many bonuses and salary increase have come and go in your pocket? Expenses will always be there, so the real secret to “making ipon” finally work is to actually have discipline.

Below are five practical steps on how you can finally make ipon of your money na:

1. Monitor your expenses
The first step if you really want to start saving is to determine where your money goes. I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase, “Kasusuweldo pa lang, ubos na!” or “Sa'n ba napunta ang pera ko?”. A soda, candy, cigarette, lunch-out and all other small expenses, when added up, eats a significant portion of your budget. What you need to do is buy a small notebook, or download a mobile app that will help you list down all your daily expenses such as fares, food, toiletries, etc.

After a month, you need to sort or categorize all your expenses. This will give you a clear picture on how you're spending your money. It will help you realize that small purchases could actually hurt your budget and that some items you bought were actually unnecessary. As one hugot best tells it, “Minsan 'pag ramdam mong namumulubi ka na, maiisip mo nalang 'yung mga bagay na walang ka-kwenta kwentang pinagbibili mo noong may pera ka pa.”

In addition, listing down your expenses sends a conscious signal to your brain about what you're spending for. It will somehow make you think twice before spending, compared to not being completely aware of it. After a week of doing this, you may start feeling guilty when writing down an unnecessary purchase, and that's a good sign.

2. Asses your finances
The next step is to divide your expenses in two: needs and wants. “Needs” are required purchases or expenses such as fares, meals, payment of debts and rent. “Wants”, on the other hand, are unnecessary purchases such lunch-outs, movies, cigarettes, etc. Compute the total amount of all the purchases you made with your “Wants”. You will be surprised with this amount! You will then have the answer to one common question people have, “Eh paano naman makaka-ipon kung sakto lang ang sinasahod ko?” It's not how much you earn, it's how you spend what you earn.

Of course, you will also need to list down all your income streams, including your salary (if you have a regular job), or your average monthly income (if you have a business or a freelancer). If you have both (job and business), then combine them to determine your average monthly net income. This should give you a preview of how much money is coming in and going out of your pocket.

3. Make it compulsory
Forced savings is a basic formula that the rich apply: income-savings=expenses. Meaning, since you've already determined in step 2 the amount that you spent on unnecessary things, you need to find a way to save this amount right after receiving your income to help you avoid spending it on unneeded things. Therefore, the amount that will be left with you will be your budget for all your “Needs”.

4. Make it Automatic

The concept of “forced saving” is to actually have the money saved or placed somewhere BEFORE you even touch it. It would be better if it's not easily accessible or convenient for you to withdraw the money, so you can't simply use it whenever you're tempted to. Therefore, avoid placing your savings in an ATM savings account as much as possible. Know all your possible options on how you can effectively and conveniently save.

The following are some of the options for doing “forced savings”:

Payroll Deduction
If your company has an existing cooperative for its employees, be sure to register and take advantage of it. Talk to your HR staff and ask if it's possible to have your shares or savings automatically deducted to your salary, just like tax and all those mandatory contributions. Some companies, especially those in the financial industry, offers other form of investments thru salary deductions with their employees. Learn about these features if your company have one.

Auto-Transfer
If you're receiving your salary through a bank payroll account, you may open a separate personal savings account with the same bank. Then ask the bank if it has a feature that would let you automatically transfer a certain amount from your payroll account to your savings account.

Regular Savings Account
If you do not have any savings account yet, it's time to open one. But again, I encourage you to opt for a Passbook account instead of an ATM account. But if you already have an ATM savings account, you still can use it - just make sure to leave the ATM card at your home.

5. Have a specific goal
Your purpose or end goal will ultimately help you stay on track with your plans. It's a crucial thing that most people often forgot. Saving with vague plans, such as “save just so I have so-called savings”, usually fails. So it's important that you ask yourself, “What do I want to do with my savings nga ba?” or “What am I saving for?”. If you do not have a purpose, then a simple mall-wide sale or Lazada coupon is all it would take for you to break your piggy bank.

Whatever it is that you want to achieve, be it for building an emergency fund, buying a new car, an Asian cruise, putting up a Sari-sari store business or investing in the stock market, be sure to have a goal and stick to it!

Final Thoughts

As what best works on almost everything, your consistency will be the key! Always remember that your goal is to save regularly. Start from small, but do it regularly. Consistency is the difference between those people who have savings and those people who want to save.

Once you've managed to do step 4, you can find other means to increase your income and help speed-up your savings plan. Because the point here is not to just always live below your means but to increase your income so you can enjoy more of life.


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The Elephant Rope

2018-01-30T08:54:00.001+08:00

Miguel, a call center agent for more than 5 years now, decided to celebrate the milestone in an unusual way: visit a Zoo. While he's certain that it would raise eyebrows from his colleagues, he still pushed through.

He was hoping that doing something different, if not child-like, would somehow help him navigate his own ship on the right course.

Miguel, like most people, never really got to do what he wanted. He was one of the thousands who took nursing because his parents and the TV said so. And who wouldn't? A greener pasture overseas awaits! Except that they never realize that there were already thousands of unemployed nurses, care-givers and doctors that are more than enough to fill the demand.

So when Miguel finally graduated, the competition got the better of him. He was presented with 2 options: apply as a volunteer and wait until Lady Luck smiles on him to land a minimum wage job in a hospital or start with a higher pay grade in the BPO industry.

Fast forward more than 10 years since enrollment, Miguel never really got to pause and think, “What do I really want to do?”

As he enters the gate of the Zoo, he can clearly remember dreaming of becoming an Architect. He was discouraged by his family because according to them, only a handful makes money from this job. His second choice was to become a Teacher. But his cousin, Noy, told him: “The subjects are difficult! That's why I shifted to HRM! It'll be difficult for you, too!”

When he graduated, he wanted to earn units in Graduate school so he can teach and somehow, pursue his passion. But his family expected him to provide sooner than later, and waiting for at least another 2 more years were none of their options.

After a year of working as a Call Center agent, and by reading books, mostly about entrepreneurship and investments, Miguel wanted to try something different on the side. He started thinking about opening a Softdrinks dealership business, or starting a small tutorial services company. But his schedule won't allow him to attend seminars to learn more. He was quite busy! But of course, he still has time to grab a bucket of beer with his colleagues during pay day. It also didn't help that Mang Boy, a tricycle driver, told him that it's a bad idea to start a softdrinks business on their area because, well, he thinks it's bad.

As Miguel was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they don't!

When he saw a trainer nearby, he asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well,” the trainer said, “when they were younger and smaller, we used the same size of ropes to tie them. At that age, that's enough to hold them. As they grew up, they were conditioned to believe that they can't break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

Miguel was in awe. These animals could break free from their bonds at any time, but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were!

The trainer's response drowned him. He realized that just like these elephants, he was going through life hanging onto a belief that he cannot do something, simply because he either failed at it once or that he was told he can't! He always thought that he can never do it.

It's when he realizes a striking lesson: “Failure is part of learning, so we should never give up the struggle in life. No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.”


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Which Investment is Best for You?

2017-12-19T12:33:00.001+08:00

The are many ways to grow your money. It's just a matter of knowing which among these opportunities would best help you meet your targets. That's why one of the most important advise you'll get before starting is to always consider your plan, target and timeline.

Identifying these three is very crucial in deciding which investment vehicle will make most sense to you.

One of the most common mistake when people decide about investing is that they always look first with how much money or gain will they make. So when the returns fall short of their expectations, they are easily discouraged and subsequently look for another one.

Your plan, target and timeline are important because they would give you a clear entry and exit points. You should plan when to invest, how much, how long and how often. You should also have a clear target of how much your target is, be it on gain or total invested amount.

Where do you plan to use the money? Are you planning to buy a franchise worth P100,000? Do you simply want more financial security for your golden years? Are you a passive or active investor? Are you okay with letting other people manage your money for smaller gains or are you more aggressive in doing it on your own, including the risks? These are only some of the questions that you need to ask yourself.

Once you're ready with your plans, target and timeline, it's time to learn more about the different investment options that are available. Here they are..

PERA

The Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA) is a voluntary savings and investment account that is primarily intended for, obviously, retirement. Note that you may only invest up to P100,000 per year (P200,000 for OFWs).

While the earnings may not be as high when compared with the other investment options included in this list, rest assured that it will earn better than that of a regular savings account. That's because the money will also be invested and regulated by the government. But as a bonus, the income you'll earn from your PERA account is exempted from tax (provided you withdraw at age 55 and beyond).

PAGIBIG MP2
The Modified PAG-IBIG 2 (MP2) program is an optional savings scheme (5 years, renewable), designed to provide PAG-IBIG I members with another savings option that would grant them with higher earnings than those given under the PAG-IBIG I membership program.

Therefore, you must be an existing PAG-IBIG I member in order to avail the MP2 program. One notable feature of this program is that the contributions and earnings are guaranteed by the government. Find out more about PAGIBIG MP2 program here.

Stock Market
The stock market, as tricky as it may sound, is simply a platform where you can buy shares of known, big companies in the country. The logic on how you'll earn is quite simple as well: buy low, sell high.

The good news is that you don't need a broker or physically go to a company you wish to buy shares from. You just need to open an account with an online broker, fund your account and start buying shares! A simple and detailed explanation for beginners can be found here.

Mutual Funds / UITF

A Mutual Fund is basically an investment company that pools together money from different investors and invests them in the stock market, government securities and other investment options available to the public.

If you want to invest in the stock market but you have no feel for trading or deeper study of it, mutual funds is a safe choice. Unlike in the stock market where you directly invest and do it yourself, there are professional fund managers that will do the work for you. These funds are being managed by professional fund managers, people whose job is to study the market and all kinds of investment instruments. You can learn more about Mutual Funds (and UITF) here.

VUL

Variable Universal Life (VUL) is a type of life insurance that carries both a death benefit and an investment feature. The investment feature works almost the same with mutual funds, which allows the policy holder to also choose the fund type of the investment feature.

One major advantage of VUL over traditional term insurance is that if the policy holder is still alive after the maturity date of the policy, he or she receives the invested money based on how the fund performed. The disadvantage is that getting a VUL is more expensive than getting a term insurance.

Franchising

Franchising is probably the most popular option on this list due to its high demand and awareness of the public. People are enticed by the idea of running a business with a proven system on their own. Simply put, a franchise is a license or permit that allows the franchisee the use of, but not limited to, the system, trademarks and sell the products or services of the franchisor.

However, getting a franchise does not automatically translate to success or fortune. There have been numerous failures among franchisees, especially when they really don't understand what they're getting into. There are pros and cons in getting a franchise or simply starting your own. But the most basic advise is to only get a franchise with an already popular and stable business. Some people simply get a franchise because it's cheap, and that's very wrong! Why not create your own instead?

The advantage of getting a franchise is that you're saved from all the headaches of what the usual start-up company is required. Company name, logo, marketing, product development, permits, training, hiring, and a long list of to-dos go on. With a franchise, you'll simply pay, attend the training, find a location, get your crew and that's it. They'll even assist you on your opening day and marketing!

However, you're not allowed to sell other products or change the pricing. Some also require loyalty fees which you have to pay on top of the initial investment you paid, while most franchisors also collect renewal fees every three or five years.

Cooperative
A cooperative or simply coop, is an association of people who voluntarily cooperate for a mutual benefit. It typically runs one or more businesses that are owned and managed by the members of the coop themselves. In short, it's a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supplying of services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit. Coops are regulated by the government body called Cooperative Development of Association (CDA).

There are different types of cooperative and many cooperatives registered under that type. Just be sure to check if it's registered at CDA. Also, the earnings and rates varies from one coop to another, so the best way to find out more about a specific cooperative is to attend their Pre-Membership Seminar (PMES) which is a mandatory requirement before you can join one. You can read the basic things you need to know about cooperatives here.

Crowd Funding

Crowd Funding has the same concept of a cooperative. You buy shares or fund a percentage of a certain business and co-own that business.

For example, I wanted to open a 7/11 franchise, which costs 1 million pesos, but I only have P500,000 on my savings. Instead of applying for a loan and pay high interest rates, I can find other people who are willing to invest their money on my proposed plan, which is to open a 7/11 store. Of course, we'll share both the profits and the risks. But the good thing is that I will manage the business, while you just wait for your earnings.

Agri-Business

More popularly known as online pa-tanim or pa-iwi program, this type of investment creates a win-win scenario for both investors and farmers. It's basically the typical “pa-iwi” program where you fund a certain project, such as raising a goat or planting crops, and the farmer takes care of the rest. The profit is then divided between you and the farmer on a mutually agreed percentage.

Imagine that same scenario, only this time, using an online platform. It will eliminate the need for you to physically visit the farm before, during and after harvest since you can monitor everything from your online account.

Cryptocurrency
Arguably the option with the highest risk in this list due to its high volatility, more and more people start to catch up with the Crytocurrrency mania. There has been quite a lot of fuzz going on about Cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin. For some, they say that the Cryptocurrency is the next big thing in the financial world. While skeptics see it as another bubble, waiting to explode as it is not backed by anything.

In countries that accept it, you can buy groceries and clothes just as you would with the local currency. You can use it as a form of payment for your online transactions the way you do with online banking. The notable difference, of course, is that Bitcoin (or any form of Cryptocurrency) is entirely digital. Meaning, no one is carrying actual Bitcoins in their pocket. There have already been numerous articles that best explains what Cryptocurrency is and why you should or not invest on it.

There are 2 ways to earn money: (1) mining and (2) trading. Mining involves solving some heaven-knows-what-algorithm-is-it problems where you are rewarded for doing so. There are 2 ways to do mining: (1) via cloud and (2) setting-up your own hardware. Trading is just like how the stock market works, you buy digital money using your real money, hope it gets high, and you sell to take profits.

As with any form of investment, never put your money on something you don't truly understand. Don't invest only because your friends are doing it.

Real Estate
This option needs the least explanation as it's already a popular and relatively old way to earn money. Of course, there are two major ways to earn through real estate investing: (1) buying a property, develop it and sell for a higher price and (2) buying a property and have it leased or rented. An important addition to what you may already know is that there are actually three broad categories of real estate (based on its use): residential, commercial and industrial. Residential include undeveloped land, houses, condominiums and town houses. Commercial include office buildings, warehouses and retail store buildings. Industrial include factories, mines and farms.

But contrary to what many think that real estate investing requires huge capital, some investors are actually making money out of zero to little capital. How? They'd find a good property, loan an amount for paying the upfront, and have it rented. Some claim that the rental fee would sometimes cover not only the monthly amortization of the unit but also the monthly fee of the loaned amount used for paying the downpayment. Of course, this method requires serious study and probably, years of experience in real estate.

Forex
The concept of trading and making money from Foreign Exchange, or simply “Forex”, is similar on how the stock market works. You buy at a price then sell for profit. The notable difference is that instead of trading shares of a company, you trade money. Yes, Forex trading is where the currency of one country is traded for that of another, having the US Dollar (USD) as the most commonly traded currency pair.

Forex trading is always traded in pairs. The most common currency pairs are the Euro Dollar (EUR/USD), British Pound (GBP/USD) and Japanese Yen (USD/JPY).

Your Turn

If you have other investment ideas you'd like to share, please let us know in the comments section!


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Starting a Softdrinks Dealership Business

2017-12-05T12:14:00.001+08:00

Most business advise would start from telling you about the location and the amount of capital that you'll need, and they were for good reasons.

Starting a softdrinks (and beer) dealership business, of course, is no exemption. But aside from the location and money, you'll also need a ton of patience, hardwork and a lot of network.

To save you time from learning the basics of running this kind of business, allow me to teach you as much as I can in this article.

Please note that everything you're about to read are all based on the author's years of personal knowledge and experience from managing a softdrinks and beer dealership (wholesale, retail and delivery) business.

Market Saturation

At some point, I'm sure you've already heard or will be hearing a lot of this, “Naku, marami nang nag-gaganyan sa'tin.” True enough, when we started our softdrinks business, there were a lot of discouraging thoughts that we naively entertained, particularly those about our market already being saturated. But we refused to let go of our idea and pushed on! Indeed, you need to be stubborn and positive to get what you want in today's world full of “Naku, baka malugi ka. Buti pa ganito nalang.”

But that's not to say that you just carry on without doing your homework. We pushed on with our plan because we studied the market and did some risk analysis. We started from an initial twenty thousand peso capital and grew the business steadily. Fast forward today, the business is still thriving, thanks to our commitment to grow our entrepreneurial spirit and the business.

Know your suppliers

This would have to be your very first step when you've finally decided that you really wanted to do this kind of business. Normally, big companies (such as San Miguel Brewery) only allow one direct dealer per town or municipality. So the first thing you should take a look at is if there's already an existing dealer for the brand in your place. There's a very slim chance that your area has no direct dealer of SMB yet, so if this is the case, then start as soon as you can! However, if there's already one, then that means you can only apply to become a sub-dealer of that particular brand. In short, instead of the mother company directly dealing with you, their dealer will accommodate you.

You also need to consider the terms of the supplier. Some are OK with mixing-up their products with other brands, while others are more strict and only want you to sell their products exclusively. From my personal experience, don't go into such terms, because you need to sell all brands available as possible. Customers would not want to buy Brand A from you and then go to another store to buy brand B (unless the price difference is really big). In addition, the terms of minimum purchase for delivery may vary. Some suppliers require a minimum of 30 cases for them to deliver, while others may require higher.

Price is King

As of this posting, here are the prevailing market price (range) of most of the common brands available (drum rolls):

Coca-Cola Philippines

Mismo (Coke/Royal/Sprite/Sarsi/Sparkle) - P108/pack (12)

Sakto - P112/case (24)
8oz. (Sprite/Royal) - P125/case (24)

Kasalo (Coke/Royal/Sprite) - P170/case (12)
Sparkle Mega - P152/case (12)
Sparkle 8oz. - P125/case (24)
Coke Litro - P224/case (12)

PET (1.5L Coke/Royal/Sprite) - P600/pack (12)
Wilkins 6L - P78/pc

Pepsi

Pepsi 8oz. - P112/case (24)
Mirinda - P118/case (24)
Mt. Dew 12oz. - P192/case (24)
7Up 12oz. - P192/case (24)
7Up 8oz. - P132/case (24)
Gatorade 8oz. - P210/case (24)

Asia Brewery
Cobra - P216/case (24)
Tanduay Ice - P480/case (24)

San Miguel Brewery
SMB Pale Pilsen - P590/case (24)
San Mig Light - P658/case (24)
San Mig Apple - P580/case (24)
Red Horse Beer - P410/case (12)

RC Cola

RC Cola 8oz. - P148/case (24)
RC Flavors 8oz. (Fruit Soda, Lemon, Rootbeer, Seetrus) - P148/case (24)
RC Mega (RC Cola, Fruit Soda, Lemon) - P220/case (12)

Please note that the prices stated here are NOT the SRP or the standard market price for each product. A plus/minus of five to ten pesos is advised.

Location

Your location, if not obvious, would play a crucial role in the set-up and success of your business. If you plan to have it in your own place, you need to consider at least two things:

the storage area where you can stock at least 50 or more cases and
free delivery

Since you're not strategically located on a commercial spot, offering free delivery is the way to go in order to boost your sales. You can do this in three ways:

do it yourself, to limit your expenses to only gasoline and some other occasional maintenance fees for your vehicle (e.g. flat tires, welding, tune-up, etc.),
hire someone or
find a person willing to do business with you in a win-win scenario where he will do the selling and delivery and you'll give him discount. You earn, he earns. The only caveat for this set-up is that he may realize how huge the potential is if he decides to open up his own business instead of just getting the products from you.

If you prefer to put up your store in a commercial area, you (most likely) won't need to offer free delivery services anymore. This is because of the high foot traffic that your business will get because it's what you paid for, in the first place. The disadvantages, on the other hand, are higher operational costs for your employees (since you can't do it alone), rental, water and electrical fees.

How much you'll need

You may plan to start small and then add more capital as you learn more about the business. You can even go to junkshops or closed stores to find empty cases and bottles that are relatively cheaper compared when you buy them at your distributor.

Currently, here's what you need to know about the cases:

Small cases have 24 bottles each; where a case costs P42 while each small bottle costs P2. Therefore, 1 case with complete empty bottles would cost P42 + (24 x P2) = P90.
Big cases have 12 bottles each; where a case costs P52 while each big bottle costs P4. Therefore, 1 case with complete empty bottles would cost P52 + (12 x P4) = 100.

Now that you have an idea of the actual prices for each product, you may now decide on how much capital you'll be needing for you to start. To make it graphic, here's a sampler:

-----------------------------
Sample Computation 1
-----------------------------

*10 cases of RC Cola 8oz.

RC Cola:
P112 x 10 = P1,120

Deposit:
P90 x 10 = P900

TOTAL: P2,020

-----------------------------
Sample Computation 2
-----------------------------

*20 cases of assorted Coke/Royal/Sprite Kasalo

Kasalo:
P170 x 20 = P3,400

Deposit:
P100 x 20 = P2,000

TOTAL: P5,400

-----------------------------
Sample Computation 3
-----------------------------

*30 cases of Red Horse beer

Red Horse:
P405 x 30 = P12,150

Deposit:
P110 x 30 = P3,300

TOTAL: P15,450

Establish your market

Once you have your initial stocks, start letting the community know about your business. Make some calls to friends nearby who owns stores and ask if you can be their supplier. Check out your calendar and look for dates for known occasions such as fiestas. Prepare small business cards and a printed price list of your available products. Again, one of the advantages of being in a commercial area is that you don't have to do these things anymore.

Dealing with Spoilage

One of the most common problem with this kind of business is spoilage. These are the products that no longer have sale value because of either breakage, expiry or manufacturing defects. You must also take note that products that are contained in plastic bottles have shorter shelf life (about 3 to 4 months from manufacturing) compared to those contained in glass bottles. Always check the expiry label in plastic bottles to ensure that you don't overstock. A product may have 4 months period before expiry date, but remember that they are not being delivered to you after production. Meaning, they are transferred or stored from the plant to the warehouse so by the time it reaches you, the product may only have 1 month shelf life!

Dealing with Bottles and Cases

When it gets really hot, bottles have a higher tendency to break on their own even if it's just stacked or while in transit (I was not exempted, there was one time when I pulled a case upwards and one bottle broke, good thing I did not hurt myself). The solution is to simply store them in a location that is not exposed to sun light, or spray some water before being delivered to cool down the temperature (just advise your customers to wipe them upon delivery to prevent rusting on caps). Also, do not stock more than 5 cases.

Promos and Marketing

Your customers are people - which makes it a no brainer to tell that giving them gifts will boost their loyalty to you. It's a simple way to show your appreciation for their patronage. A calendar, bottle opener, mug or umbrella are the common ones. You may also do a simple point-based reward system, where your customer gets a gift based on the sales you made on them (example 200-peso umbrella for Pedro and 50-peso mug for Jose). Make sure to announce the mechanics to them in order to avoid jealousy and misunderstandings.

You can also partner with existing establishments such as carinderias, sari-sari stores, canteens, bars, food stands and bakeries to expand your market. Reward them with special pricing or discounts for bulk orders.

Take care of your customers

It takes months to establish a solid relationship and only one late or failed delivery to ruin everything. This is fairly true especially when your competition in the area is tight. Customers tend to have this "privileged" attitude that they feel they can replace you anytime with other suppliers.

Save their contact numbers both in your phone and a notebook. In case your phone is lost or gets corrupted, you can easily inform them of your new phone number via call or text. Want more tip? Ask for their birthday and have them marked on your calendar. A simple text or call will surely be appreciated. You may also give them a simple gift if you wish.

Register your business

Regardless if your business is in a commercial area or in your own place, registering your business is still a responsibility. The usual checklist would include:

Brgy. Business Permit
DTI Registration (valid for 5 years)
BIR Registration
Mayor's Permit

Monitor your growth

Lastly, you need to monitor how your business is performing. Are you actually earning or just having enough to cover-up your expenses? One good way to do this is to have a simple spreadsheet (Excel) to list down all your expenses in a day or month, and your sales.

You can also use this to list down all your existing customers, their contact details and the last date when he or she placed an order so you can always get back on them. For example, if a customer has not been placing orders for over a month, then you can ask them why to find out. Did they replaced you as their supplier because someone offered them lower prices compared to yours? Or did their business closed? At least you would know and this could help you strategize.

On taking profits

Much like a sari-sari store, your earnings from being a softdrinks and/or beer sub-dealer would only range between 2 to 20 pesos per case. Again, that's per case and NOT per bottle. So the number of sales is really the key to earning more. For example, if the profit per case of Red Horse beer is just P4, yet you're able to sell at least 50 cases per day, then that's 200 pesos profit per day for Red Horse alone!

You can take the profit in your business with the approach you want best for you. But here's my advise: NEVER TAKE PROFIT ON THE FIRST YEAR OF YOUR BUSINESS. When we started, we agreed that we will only take profits after the first year of the business. Meaning, all the earnings were rolled over on the business so we can grow it.

When you're ready to earn the fruits of your hardwork, you can apply the Rule of 10 (meaning, you just get the 10% of the sales for each day as your profit), or you can save a fixed amount each day. You can also apply what we do in our business: we only get 50% of the net earnings. The remaining 50% is further divided into two: 20% is rolled over and 30% is saved on a local bank only to be used for future or major expenses (such as buying new delivery trike, store construction, etc.)

Contact Details
Are you excited to start but have no clue where to start? You can try asking stall or mini-grocery owners about the contact number of the agents that roam around your area. If you can't, then you may try contacting them directly. How?

Here's a little bonus. I'm listing all active contact details for each of the major distributors. From the headquarters, you'll probably be transferred to the nearest agent or warehouse in your area. Just be patient as some response takes a day or two. Note that the information posted herein are all publicly available on their respective websites and I do not guarantee that everything is active and working:

Coca-Cola Philippines
Tel: (02) 834-0526
Mobile: 0923-845-5930
Web: https://www.coca-colafemsa.com/contact.html

Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc.
Tel: (02) 88PEPSI
Web: https://www.pepsiphilippines.com/contact.php

RC Cola
Tel: (02) 712-0941
Web: http://www.arc.com.ph/contact.html

San Miguel
Tel: (02) 632-BEER
Mobile: 0922-632-2337
Web: http://www.sanmiguelbrewery.com.ph/contact-us.php

Emperador, Inc.
Tel: (632) 421-0671
Web: http://www.emperadorbrandy.com/contact.html

Your Turn
How was it? Did you find these tips helpful? If you're running this kind of business as well, please share your ideas and experiences on the comments section so other people can learn from you as well.


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The 10 Biggest Companies in the Philippines

2017-11-14T11:43:00.001+08:00

Have you ever wondered which are the country's top companies? Or if which company is being patronized the most by Filipinos here and/or abroad?

One basic step in checking a company's status and performance is simply to check if it's listed in the Philippine Stocks Exchange or PSE. After all, being listed in PSE takes a serious business with a serious income.

In a nutshell, for a company to be included in PSE, the market capitalization of the company must be at least P500 Million and should be operating profitably for at least 3 years upon application.^[1] Therefore, it just make sense that 10 of the biggest companies are included in this list.

What is a 'Blue Chip'

Investopedia describes a Blue Chip as “a nationally recognized, well-established, and financially sound company. Blue Chips generally sell high-quality, widely accepted products and services. These companies are known to weather downturns and operate profitably in the face of adverse economic conditions, which helps to contribute to their long record of stable and reliable growth.”

And in case you're wondering, the name “Blue Chip” came from the game of poker in which the Blue Chips have the highest value.

Understanding 'Fast Facts'

Below each company name, you will see 'Fast Facts' items which simply shows the readily available information about the particular company.

STOCK SYMBOL or sometimes called ticker, is the abbreviated form of the company name which is mainly used for PSE-related or stock market activities.

The name you will see as the CHAIRMAN pertains to the person who currently runs or represents the company. Meaning, don't expect the founder's name there, such as Henry Sy and John Gokongwei, who are now both too old to run their respective companies, but are recognized as “Chairman Emeritus” instead.

YEAR INCORPORATED is different from the year when the company was founded, rather, it refers to the date when the company was registered as a corporation.

If you want to learn more about the company, you may check the provided company WEBSITE.

The PRICE PER SHARE refers to the actual trading price of the company from the last 12 months up to posting date. That is, if you see P112 to P186, that means that you can buy a share of that company between 112 pesos (lowest) and 186 pesos (highest) within the one year range (i.e. 2016-2017).

Finally, the MINIMUM SHARES or more commonly known as “Board Lot”, refers to the minimum number of shares that you need to buy from the company.

How was the list defined?

You must understand that no scientific, statistical, mathematical or any other strategically-motivated formula or method was used in determining the list you're about read. The list is based solely on two criteria: (1) the company is part of the PSE index and is a “Blue Chip” and (2) the company's Market Capitalization, which is computed by multiplying the current price per share with the total number of outstanding shares. For example, if ABC Corporation has 1,000 shares and each share costs P18, then the Market Cap of ABC Corporation is 1,000 x P18 = P18,000.

Also, please remember that we are ranking the companies, not their owners (because you will see that some companies are headed by the same person).

Market Cap

The values indicated in the Market Cap of each companies are NOT real time. The actual values will significantly change because the price per share changes every minute of each trading day. Meaning, ABC Corporation may have a Market Cap of P18,000 today, but would have P17,500 or P19,000 Market Cap the next day, depending if the price per share goes up or down. To achieve our objective, we'll just get the Market Cap of the companies based on the highest price per share it reached within the last 12 months.

Are you ready to find out who made it top our Top 10 List? Here they are..

#10. MANILA ELECTRIC COMPANY

Market Cap: P342 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: MER

Chairman: Manuel V. Pangilinan

Business Line: Electricity, Energy, Power & Water

Year Incorporated: 1919

Website: http://www.meralco.com.ph

Minimum Shares: 10

Price Per Share: P254 to P304

About MER
Manila Electric Company (MER) is a private distribution utility that constructs, operates, and maintains the electric distribution system in the cities and municipalities of Bulacan, Cavite, Metro Manila, and Rizal and certain cities, municipalities, and barangays in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Pampanga, and Quezon.

The principal business of MER is the distribution and sale of electric energy through its distribution network facilities in its franchise area. The Company's market is categorized into four sectors such as residential, commercial, industrial, and streetlights.

#9. UNIVERSAL ROBINA CORPORATION

Market Cap: P409 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: URC
Chairman: James L. Go
Business Line: Food & Beverage
Year Incorporated: 1954
Website: http://www2.urc.com.ph
Minimum Shares: 10
Price Per Share: P135 to P186

About URC
Universal Robina Corporation (URC) is involved in a range of food-related businesses, including the manufacture and distribution of branded consumer foods, production of hogs and day-old pullets, manufacture of animal feeds and veterinary products, flour milling and sugar milling and refining.

URC operates its food business through operating divisions and wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries that are organized into three core business segments: (1)branded consumer foods, (2)agro-industrial products and (3)commodity food products.

Majority of URC's branded consumer foods business is conducted in the Philippines, but the Company has expanded into other Asian markets through its subsidiaries in Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Australia.

#8. PLDT INC.

Market Cap: P420 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: TEL

Chairman: Manuel V. Pangilinan

Business Line: Telecommunications

Year Incorporated: 1928

Website: www.pldt.com
Minimum Shares: 5

Price Per Share: P1,260 to P1,944

About TEL
PLDT Inc. (TEL) is a telecommunications service provider with its business activities categorized into three units: wireless, fixed line, and others. The Company’s services are marketed under the Smart, Talk 'N Text and Sun Cellular brands.

TEL's subsidiaries include Smart Communications, Inc.; ACeS Philippines Cellular Satellite Corporation; ABM Global Solutions, Inc.; Bonifacio Communications Corporation; and ePLDT, Inc.

#7. ABOITIZ EQUITY VENTURES, INC.

Market Cap: P439 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: AEV

Chairman: Jon Ramon Aboitiz

Business Line: Holding Firm

Year Incorporated: 1989

Website: http://www.aboitiz.com

Minimum Shares: 10

Price Per Share: P66 to P78

About AEV
Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) is the public holding and management company of the Aboitiz Group of Companies. AEV's core businesses, conducted through various subsidiaries and affiliates, are grouped into six main categories: power distribution, generation and retail electricity supply; financial services; food manufacturing; real estate; infrastructure; and portfolio investments.

The significant subsidiaries of AEV are Aboitiz Power Corporation, Pilmico Foods Corporation, and Aboitiz Land, Inc.

#6. JG SUMMIT HOLDINGS, INC.

Market Cap: P630 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: JGS

Chairman: James L. Go

Business Line: Holding Firm

Year Incorporated: 1978

Website: http://www.jgsummit.com.ph

Minimum Shares: 10

Price Per Share: P64 to P88

About JGS

JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGS), which is controlled by the Gokongwei family, is the holding company for a group of companies with substantial business interests in foods; agro-industrial and commodities; real estate and hotel; air transportation; banking; and petrochemicals. The Company also has core investments in telecommunications and power generation and distribution.

Among JGS' subsidiaries are JG Summit Petrochemical Corp., Cebu Pacific Air, Universal Robina Corporation, Robinsons Land Corporation and Robinsons Bank. The Company also holds interests in PLDT Inc., Manila Electric Company and Global Business Power Corporation.

#5. BDO UNIBANK, INC.

Market Cap: P650 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: BDO

Chairman: Teresita T. Sy

Business Line: Financial (Bank)

Year Incorporated: 1968

Website: http://www.bdo.com.ph
Minimum Shares: 10

Price Per Share: P103 to P149

About BDO
BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO), originally known as Acme Savings Bank, was acquired by the SM Group in 1976 and merged with Equitable PCI Bank 2007.

BDO offers an array of products and services, including retail banking; lending (corporate, commercial, consumer, and SME); treasury; trust; credit cards; corporate cash management; and remittances. Through its subsidiaries, the Company offers leasing and financing; investment banking; private banking; bancassurance; insurance brokerage; and stock brokerage services.

The Company also has foreign subsidiaries in Hong Kong; USA; Japan; Europe; Germany; and Canada. The Company's associates are Manila North Tollways Corporation; SM Keppel Land, Inc.; Northpine Land Incorporated; Taal Land, Inc.; and MMPC Auto-Financial Services Corporation.

#4. AYALA LAND, INC.

Market Cap: P692 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: ALI

Chairman: Fernando Zobel de Ayala

Business Line: Property

Year Incorporated: 1988

Website: http://www.ayalaland.com.ph

Minimum Shares: 100

Price Per Share: P30 to P47

About ALI
Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is engaged in the planning and development of large scale, integrated estates having a mix of use for the sale of residential lots and buildings, office buildings and commercial and industrial lots, leasing of commercial and office spaces and the development, operation and management of hotels and resorts.

ALI also develops commercial and industrial parks and is also engaged in property management, construction and other businesses like retail and healthcare.

Among the Company's subsidiaries are Alveo, Avida, Makati Development Corporation; ALI-ETON Property Development Corporation; North Triangle Depot; Laguna Technopark, Inc. and Ten Knots Philippines, Inc.

#3. AYALA CORPORATION

Market Cap: P693 Billion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: AC

Chairman: Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala

Business Line: Holding Firm

Year Incorporated: 1834

Website: http://www.ayala.com.ph

Minimum Shares: 10

Price Per Share: P670 to P1,116

About AC
Ayala Corporation (AC) is the holding company of the Ayala Group of Companies, with principal business interests in real estate; financial services; telecommunications; water infrastructure; electronics manufacturing; power generation; transport infrastructure; automotive; international real estate; healthcare; and education.

The significant subsidiaries of AC are Ayala Land, Inc.; Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc.; and Manila Water Company, Inc. Other affiliates and/or joint ventures of the Company include Bank of the Philippine Islands and Globe Telecom, Inc.

#2. SM PRIME HOLDINGS, INC.

Market Cap: P1.1 Trillion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: SMPH

Chairman: Henry T. Sy, Jr.

Business Line: Property

Year Incorporated: 1994

Website: http://www.smprime.com

Minimum Shares: 100

Price Per Share: P24 to P39

About SMPH
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH) was incorporated on 1994 to acquire and develop real estate, conduct and maintain commercial shopping centers including shopping center spaces for rent, amusement centers, movie or cinema theaters, and to construct and manage buildings such as condominium, apartments, hotels, restaurants, stores and other structures for mixed use purposes. The Company has now four business units, namely, malls, residential, commercial, and hotels and convention centers.

As of 2016, SMPH has 60 malls in the Philippines and seven shopping malls in China. The Company has 33 residential projects, 31 of which are in Metro Manila and two in Tagaytay. SMPH also owns Sky Ranch, an amusement park in Tagaytay and SM Pampanga.

Among the Company's subsidiaries are SM Development Corporation; Costa del Hamilo, Inc.; Highlands Prime, Inc.; Tagaytay Resort and Development Corporation; SM Arena Complex Corporation; SM Hotels and Conventions Corp.; and SM Land (China) Limited.

#1. SM INVESTMENTS CORPORATION

Market Cap: P1.2 Trillion

Fast Facts:
Stock Code: SM

Chairman: Jose T. Sio

Business Line: Holding Firm

Year Incorporated: 1960

Website: http://www.sminvestments.com

Minimum Shares: 10

Price Per Share: P599 to P1,005

About SM
SM Investments Corporation (SM) is the holding company of the SM Group of Companies engaged in businesses through its subsidiaries, namely: retail (The SM Store, SM Supermarkets, SM Hypermarkets, SaveMore and Walter Mart Supermarket); property (SM Prime Holdings, Inc.); financial services (BDO Unibank, Inc. and The China Banking Corporation); and others (Belle Corporation, Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corporation, and The Net Group).

In 2016, several specialty retail stores were merged with SM Retail, Inc. These include Ace Hardware, SM Appliances, Homeworld, Our Home, Toy Kingdom, Watsons, Kultura, Baby Company, Sports Central, Pet Express and other specialty stores.

How was the list?

And there you have it! Was it how you expected it to be? Did your favorite business made it on our list? If not, you can personally check out the details of all the publicly listed companies on the official PSE Website.

[1] PSE Consolidated Listing and Disclosure Rules


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Three Pieces of Advice: Retold

2017-10-03T10:25:00.001+08:00

A young man named James and his friend who lived in a small town decided to start a small livestock business. They were both enthusiastic and hard-working, but they have very little funds to make it a good business.

They also realized that if they grow their business, they can help their community by providing jobs and other source of livelihood.

So one day, James made the following proposal to his friend:

“I will leave our farming business for a while. I will look for a job and other opportunities in order to make more money that we can use to expand our small business. I will send all my earnings regularly while you manage the business so we may have a comfortable life that we deserve. We shall grow our business so we may also help those who are in need. I do not know how long will this take, I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am away, do not betray my trust, because I trust that you will be a good business partner to me.”

His friend agreed, so James left. He traveled many days until he found a rich businessman who was in need of someone to help him on his business. He offered his services. When James was accepted, he discuss his terms with his boss:

“Sir, we have our own little farm back in my town. For you have offered me free food and lodging, I do not want to receive my salary. I ask you to send it to my friend instead. The day I decide to go, please give me my separation pay and I will go my way. ”

They agreed on that. So, James worked for ten years without holiday and off days.

After 10 years of working tirelessly, he came to his rich boss and said:

“Sir, I am returning home. I am confident our small business is now bigger and ready for expansion.”

The boss replied: “All right, after all, I made a deal with you and I will stick to it. However, before you go I want to offer you something new: I will give you all your money from your separation pay and send you away; or I will give you three pieces of advice and send you away. If I give you money, you lose the three pieces of advice. If I give you the three pieces of advice, you lose your separation pay. Now, go to your room and think about your answer.”

He thought for two days. Then he went to the boss and told him: “I want the 3 pieces of advice.”

The boss stressed again, “If I give you the three pieces of advice, I will not give you the money”, and the man replied: “I want the 3 pieces of advice.”

The boss then told him:

1: Never take shortcuts in your life, shorter and unknown paths can cost your life.

2: Never be too curious, for curiosity towards evil can be deadly.

3: Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain, because when you repent, it could be too late.

After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the boss said to him: “You're my best employee. Although you wanted my 3 advice, I'm still giving you your one month salary as your travel allowance.”

Never take shortcuts in life
At the first day of his travel, he met an agent who greeted him and asked: “Where are you going?”

He replied: “To a distant place which is about 10 days away if I continue walking.” The agent said to him: “Oh man, this path is too long! Why make it hard for yourself to walk when you can drive a car? I know a way where you can earn 20 times more in just 2 days! You won't have to do anything but wait for your earnings!”

James agreed to know more about the opportunity the agent was saying. He was about to give his only money when he remembered the first piece of advice. He immediately turned his back from the man and said he's not interested. Then, he returned and followed the long path.

Days later he learned that the offer was a pyramiding scam and the agent was nowhere to be found.

Never be too curious
After a few more days of travel, he found an inn by the roadside, where he could rest. He paid for a room and after taking a bath he lay down to sleep. During the night he woke up as he heard some people screaming. He rose to his feet and went to the window to check what was happening. He saw a group of men yelling to a group of people as if they were preaching! “Buy! Buy! Buy” were the only words loud enough that he could here.

He became more curious. But as he was opening the door, he remembered the second piece of advice. So he returned, lay down again and slept.

At dawn, after breakfast, the owner of the inn asked him if he had not heard the screaming at night. He affirmed that he heard. Then, the host said:

“Were you not curious to see what happened?”

And he replied: “No, I was not.”

“You are one of the few not enticed to buy shares and sell too soon because of regret and fear! My neighbors are quite crazy. They usually hype people to buy shares of a certain company. When people buy shares and they saw that the price is climbing, they sell their shares for profit and those who where hyped were left with regret!”

The man continued his long journey, eager to arrive soon.

Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain
After many days and nights walking, he was very tired, but he finally saw their farm from far away. It was night, but there were a lot of people! He heard some people shouting but was not clear as to what they were saying.

When he saw that scene, his heart was filled with hatred and bitterness. “What happened to our business?”, he asked himself. “People look enraged! What were they protesting?” He thought of killing his farmer friend mercilessly for not taking care of their business and keeping his word.

However, he took a deep breath and he remembered the third piece of advice. Then he stopped, reflected and decided to sleep outside that night. He slept in the midst of the bushes, determined to make a decision the next day.

At dawn, he was calmer and thought: “I will not kill my friend and business partner. I am going back to my boss and ask him to take me back. But before I go, I want to tell my friend that I have always trusted him.”

He went to the farm entrance and almost forgot his anger when he saw all the changes since he last stepped on it ten years ago. He was in awe.

When his friend recognized him, he cried and embraced him warmly. He tried to push him away, but he was not able. Then, with tears in his eyes he told him: “I trusted you but you betrayed me. What did you do to our farm?”

He was shocked, so he replied: “How did I betray you? I have never betrayed your trust. I waited patiently for you for ten good years.”

Then he asked: “How about the mad people outside last night who were shouting? Weren't they protesting something?”

His friend replied: “Oh man, those people were not protesting! Those were our farmers and they were rejoicing! We just forged a partnership with one of the biggest company in the Philippines! Bounty Fresh will now outsource the majority of their livestock needs from us!”

Hearing that, James asked for forgiveness. He hugged his friend. Then he told them all the things he had experienced while away.

Meanwhile, while his friend was preparing some coffee and bread for them to eat together, one of their staff handed a check to him.

James' eyes grew large as he saw the figure, one million pesos only. Written above it was a name where the check came from: Bounty Fresh Food, Inc. Along with the check was a note:

“Those 3 pieces of advice were merely a bonus. So here's your money for working 10 years for my company. By the way, I'm looking forward to a meaningful partnership with you and your partner.”

Your ex-Boss,

Tennyson G. Chen
CEO, Bounty Fresh Food, Inc.


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Where to Invest My Blank Thousand Pesos?

2017-07-04T14:18:00.002+08:00

You just received some huge amount of money that is way above your usual income, and the next thing you'll probably do is ask, “Where do I invest my blank thousand pesos?”

You can do this in two ways: (1) ask anyone (if you know what I mean, it's like asking a doctor for some tips on about farming) or (2) ask in Facebook groups.

If you do number 2, just wait for a few minutes and you'll get some good, if not the usual answers like “open a mutual funds account!”, “get an insurance!”, “buy stocks!”, “join an MLM!”, “invest in yourself! Attend our seminar!”, “open a business!”, and a lot of “PM Sent!” (Trust me, you'll get a lot of what I mentioned last.)

Where you are

The fact that you're asking what to do with your money would say that you have zero to little knowledge on the subject of personal finance.

So it's not hard to assume either that you probably have zero to little savings as well. It's OK, we all started from zero at some point, anyway. So let's base the more appropriate answer under these assumptions:

You have zero to little savings.
You have zero to little knowledge how money works.
You got this money from either an inheritance, balato, a gift or a loan (because you applied for a loan without a purpose). In short, you're not expecting the money you just received.

What's the best thing to do with your money

While most people would suggest the samples I mentioned above (such as investing in stocks, mutual funds, crowd funding, online farming, networking, cooperatives, investment-linked insurance, etc.), I would suggest that you open a savings account (preferably a passbook and not an ATM) instead.

Why?

This idea would not sit well for most people, of course. They'd probably go berserk and start saying things like “But your money would earn very little on bank interest!”, “That's a stupid idea! Why not invest?” and the list would go on.

Please, just hear me out.

Nothing is mathematically wrong with all these advice, mind you. The only problem I have with them is:

They would not work for people who are just starting to understand how money works.

Opening a savings account would increase your psychological wallet. How? Remember - you have zero to little savings, so the point of having a savings account with bigger amount compared to what you are used to would have a significant impact on your financial mindset! It would bring confidence to your financial state.

Psychological what?
Again, psychological wallet determines the capacity of our brain to handle money. In essence, you're actually training your brain to handle bigger money by having a savings that has much bigger value compared to what you normally have. Plus, it saves you from committing mistakes or bad decisions such as impulsive buying (buying things you don't really need) or opening a business just because they said so.

Of course, this is a two-way test - either it increases your brain's wallet or it takes you back from where you started - zero.

So what I mean by bringing confidence is not going to the market and not worrying about what to put in your cart because “Hey, I have money anyway!”. Instead, it's the confidence to start investing or trying a business without much fear of failure or losing all your money. For this part, most people would agree that before you start investing, it's important to have what we call an emergency fund.

What's an emergency fund?

It's simply the money you would use in case you badly needed money while your business or investment is not doing good or is not liquid (easily convertible to cash).

Again, the main objective of this advice is to start training your mind to get used to having bigger money and proper financial mindset.

Did you get that?

Hoping for you,

Jeff


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What Happened to that Child?

2017-03-02T18:44:00.004+08:00

Remember when you were a child and the best toy you probably had was a large cardboard or a Balikbayan box? With a few pens or crayons armed with a seemingly wild imagination, that box could become a space ship, a horse, a home or an escape room that no amount of force could ever destroy.

Inside it, you could go anywhere and be anything.

My question now to you is, “What happened to that child?”

You were once that child full of big dreams. Until reality hit you hard right after graduation. When I was a graduating student, I was very confident I'd do good in the real world. Why not? It was pretty simple: study hard, get good grades and then I'd get a high-paying job. So I really don't get it why people back then were having hard time dealing with life, particularly with their finances. I believed then that all I ever needed to do was to be good and to work hard.

That's it.

Or so I thought.

After graduating, I was offered a teaching position as my first job. It was a very proud moment! While probably 90% of my batch were still clueless on what lies ahead and were anxiously thinking whether they'd ever get a job, I was enjoying a post-graduation party, feeling secured about my future. But after months in the job, I realized I had a problem: all employees were quite good and were also hard-working, yet they still struggle financially!

I asked myself, “What would make me different from them?”

It took me five long years before I figured it out. I was already 25 when I first encountered the words investment and business. Why not? No one ever taught me. Just like most of the people today, I was clueless.

How about you?
When was the first time that the phrase “start my own business” ever crossed your mind? A year ago? Two years? Last month? How about a friend asking you to start your business together? Did you ever checked out his proposal or hardly said “No?”

Many people want to start their own business. But here's the thing: everyone can start, but not everyone will.

Let me now tell you the most common reasons people have about NOT starting:

Culture and Upbringing
Think of this: when you were a child, nothing was impossible. You really believed in “Someday, I'll be..” Yet today, you'll realize that just thinking of a starting a small business, such as opening a sari-sari store or doing network-marketing is very hard to do!

“Nah, it's impossible!”

“I can't be rich!”
“I can't make money!”

“I can't sell. I can't do that.”

What happened? It was the result of our life-long education. We were programmed to think as an employee, to follow a standard set of rules, to do this and NOT do that! And unless you break free from those beliefs, you'll find it really hard to start doing something you have long been planning to. To break out of the norm, you need to start thinking differently. Keep your imagination healthy and believe in yourself that you can still do it!

So what business do you have in mind? Did you know that creativity is linked to innovation? As someone puts it, “Creativity is the ability to develop something new - seeing things in a new and different way.” Just think of all these new technologies that we have today, even the food business serves innovations! Have you heard of 'chili ice cream?'

People
Unfortunately, the people around you may also hamper your ideas. Remember that they were programmed just like you were, and so saying things with them might not be the best place to start with. This is critical because you may have created an atmosphere of judgment, so you're afraid to reveal your ideas to them for fear of being ridiculed or appearing stupid in front of them. Harsh feedback from them can lead to your lack of confidence, which may result in just walking away from your ideas - and even your own dreams!

This is very evident every time we want to start a business. We normally consult our closest friends or relatives only to be disappointed by their opinions.

“That business is already saturated.”

“It will only fail.”

“Forget that, just work.”

“Only rich can make it big, others were just lucky.”

The problem is that we usually ask for people that don't even own a business or never had experience running one! We can't blame them. As people who really cares, it's just normal for them to protect us from a possible loss or failure. They love us, remember? The problem again? We fear what we do not understand. They don't understand how a business works (because all they have are personal biases, perceptions and rumors), so they really can't give a meaningful advise. When we started our small business a few years back, all I heard were negative feedbacks that it can't make money. That business is now four years old as of writing.

Sadly, there would always be people that were just simply negative and skeptic about almost everything. And the ironic part is that the person who should be actually helping you turn your ideas into reality is the same person who would pull you down and discourage you. Some people calls them 'dream stealers.' Personally, I think a partner who is so reluctant to change, too lazy to even try or would see nothing but negative in every opportunity, should at least work four or more times as he or she is the reason behind why they're not doing well!

Choose the people you associate yourself with. I personally know a person who temporarily left his own family and chose to stay at a friend's house so he could focus on his business and came back a year later when he already had a significant result. If your partner is a pessimist, drag him every time you'll attend seminars or workshops so he or she may start seeing things a little differently.

Resources
Another thing that will surely stop you from starting anything is your lack of resources: money, time and skills. Most people would say that their primary reason of why they can't start a business is money. What they don't realize is that time, and not money, is actually the more important commodity they needed to start. Because even if you're employed and receives big salary, but have no time or lack thereof, chances are you still can't start your “passion project” anytime soon.

Money, on the other hand, is easier to solve rather than time. You could borrow money from the bank, apply for a loan on a cooperative, ask for some personal loan from your parents or other members of the family, or you can pool funds with your friends!

The more serious problem about dealing with time though is yourself and the way you spend it. The number 1 and most popular excuse is, of course, “I'm busy.” Are you busy about attending seminars that will teach you new things but free on attending concerts and mall shows? Are you busy about reading self-help or business books but free on watching videos about a dancing cat, a singing dog and a flying monkey? The way you spend your time dictates the results you have in life.

So let me ask, “What are you busy about?”

If you were given an empty box to play with today, would you find as many fascinating uses for it as you did back then?


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Saudi Boy

2016-10-06T13:30:00.002+08:00

Are you an Overseas Filipino Worker? a Balikbayan? Or do you know someone who works abroad? I'm sure most of us know at least one, right?

Well, this article is for all the hardworking Pinoys abroad, Super heroes, if you may, who dared to literally go beyond the distance just to provide a decent and more comfortable life to their dependents back home.

May this be a gentle reminder to all your life goals, para hindi naman mauwi ang lahat ng pinagpaguran n'yo sa wala...

Long-back haircut? Check.

White 'Hanes' shirt? Check.

White walking shorts? Check.

'Beach Walk' slippers? Check.

Gold bracelet? Check.

Gold necklace? Check.

Do you know this guy? You do!

Meet “Saudi Boy”
In a country that takes pride of its creative (and sometimes foolish) way of branding things out of damned wit, it's not hard to plead my case why I chose Saudi over UK, US or whatever. We look for Colgate when it's Close-up we wanted. We ask for Coke while it's Pepsi we wanted. We say Xerox, not knowing it's actually a company name, and not a verb for copying. Finally, when you ask an OFW dependent if where does his or her father works, they answer you, “Saudi!”. Who cares about Singapore, Dubai or Japan, right? Saudi rocks!

And that, friends, is what made me pick the title of this article. Ha-ha! Now seriously, I think OFWs from Saudi mirrors the struggles, misfortunes, mindset and life after overseas of most OFW who haven't yet acquainted themselves into the world of proper money mindset.

Also, my late father was once an OFW for many years in, of course, Saudi. I got the checklist above from him and some of his co-balikbayans who would visit our home back in the '90s. While the checklist of “How to spot a Balikbayan” may have already changed, a major problem still exists among many OFWs - a problem that has kept them clueless and blinded on how to make things work as planned.

That problem starts with having the “wrong mindset".

It was a problem then. It's still a problem now. And unless you start the change today, more generations will still get trapped by the wrong belief that Working Abroad = Instant Yaman! Heck, we all even have that one friend who made it a life-long dream to work abroad.

“Makapag-abroad lang ako, <INSERT DREAMS HERE>”

Call it a drug, a cure, a sign, a blessing or whatever, for many people, being in overseas seems to be an escape from poverty, problems and the poor government!

Let's talk about you
OFWs are close to my heart, it is you who deserves more in life because of the sacrifices you have to endure all these years. Besides, my father, sister, brother and in-laws are working abroad, so I've seen the struggles and mistakes.

Vague plans for the future
It normally starts with the wrong reasons for leaving your beloved families in the first place. Either to pay-off a huge debt or a plan to have more money to send your kids to school or have a better and more comfortable life, the ending are still the same when you have no clear plans of what you want to do in life after your contract expires.

Today, the most common plan is to work for x number of years and run a business after exiting from the country. Does it ring a bell? Unfortunately, once you encounter the greener pasture and started earning about twice or as much as 5 times your income here in the Philippines, you start to lose focus. You start to indulge with buying things that are not even part of the plan.

Suddenly, you now wanted to buy a new car, another house, renovate a newly renovated house, buy Wii for Junior, Xbox for Boy, new iPhone for Cara. And, oh, it won't leave the bucket list, a gold necklace or bracelet for you and the entire family!

The reason behind all these impulsive spending may somehow be attributed to the longing for your families, which is rightfully and understandably so. You compensate the missing link by material things that would somehow alleviate the pain of being away from your family. Those smiles while your family open those Balikbayan boxes?

Priceless.

Except that it normally lasts shorter than the warranty period of all the gadgets you bought.

Except that no gadget can still replace your presence on all those special occasions. Ever.

Huwag lang #iPoniPon pag may time, dapat #iPoniPon HABANG may time.

The point here is to never lose focus on the goal! You're not getting younger. Let me help you have
some sense of urgency in your plans by asking,

“If today, you received a notice that you're being deported back here in the Philippines for good and will NEVER be allowed to set foot on any foreign country again, how ready are you?”

“But we still have bills to pay!”

“I just got a car loan!”

“My son is still in college!”

“Bahala na siguro, may awa ang Diyos.”

If one of them is the first thing that crossed your mind, maybe it's time to re-think about your plans and start acting on their fulfillment. And by 'acting', I didn't mean you render more overtime or get a third and fourth job, but to start studying how money works, investing and saving, not for the upcoming fiesta, but for your goal such as retirement or business when you get home.

But you can't do it alone, trust me. What you'll need is to talk with your family or dependents first about your plans, so that they would adjust to the “extras” that you plan to cut or minimize.

Dress to Impress
I think this is mostly true for people, not just OFWs. They're everywhere! From Makati to Ortigas, from North all the way to the South! But it's hard not to notice that people take exception for OFWs, especially your, uhmm, relatives. People think highly on people who has set foot on a foreign country a.k.a the promised land. I can clearly recall how our entire clan would fetch my father from the airport. Hail a taxi? Eew! Bring a jeepney! Viola! It's an automatic fiesta for the neighborhood!

Again, time has changed many things. You'll no longer see jeepneys now being used to fetch balikbayans, 'coz duh, may Uber at Grab na kaya!? But still, many people are still excited for your homecoming!

“Kelan ka papainom?”

“Pare, kunin kita Ninong ha?”

“Kelan ka pa dumating? Sa'n na pasalubong ko?”

“Wow! Mars, ang ganda naman ng relos mo, arbor ko na yan ha?”

“Jepoy, alam mo ba nung maliit ka pa..............?” (You know what's next, right?)

Once you're 20 years old
You know too well that you worked hard for the last two, three or even five years away from your loved ones, and never did these people bother to even say “Hi!” or ask “How you're doing?”, yet here you are, having so much trouble just to say “No” or “Pass”.

So there, feeling an outright shame (or lack of it) as if you owe them a lot, you just say yes to whatever they ask of you 'til you're left with nothing again but the money you need to go back to “Saudi”.

Then you're back to square one.

Soon you'll be 60 years old
Are you familiar with this scenario? Or should the question be, does this happen to you or your working member of the family, where the money you spent in a month-long vacation equals or even exceeds your allowance for almost a year? Then maybe it's time to learn when to say “No!”.

Here, maybe we can all learn a thing or two from my High School friend:

Classmate: “Uy, pahingi naman ng papel!”

Friend: “Sorry, hindi ka kasama sa budget ng Mama ko.”

Weather-weather lang 'yan
Here's one classic story for the ages - a sweet revenge! May it be a story of wanting more in life because you grew up poor or you're motivated in life because your neighbor or relative once ridiculed you about having and being nothing, such would-have-been-a-great success story unfortunately becomes a plot for a bitter ending when your motives take a sour turn. The worse part is when your own family have to take the burden.

I'm talking about broken families, those that were a result of lack of communication, understanding and failed expectations. I'm sure it's just a normal story you hear, about a married man having an affair to also a married woman. While we were thankful that my father never had such an affair, I witnessed some close relatives' family broke into pieces because of cheating. I guess what sometimes push OFWs to do the what-seemed-to-be-unimagineable-before-going-abroad, aside from the more obvious culprit named “homesickness”, is the attachment-gone-cold.

How can you say if it's happening?

Wife: “Hello, Papa?”

Husband: “Hello, Ma? Kamusta jan?”

Wife: “Ok lang. Kelan ka magpapadala ng pera?”

What's Next?
Now that somehow (I sincerely hope so) you were able to realize some of the wrong things you've been doing, or lack of action for doing the right things, it's time to start planning for the better days ahead.

So where do you start? Start first with yourself. It's time to cut-off the time you spend watching, reading and sharing nothing but negative and non-sense articles or news. Instead, you should start reading business books, articles or watch programs that tackles success stories of businessmen. But you must remember that, as Zig Ziglar once said, motivation, just like taking a bath, doesn't last long (that's why it's recommended daily). So feed your mind and body with positivity and inspiration, and make sure that just before they expire and leave you, you use them to act on your plans.

Thanks for reading this article. I hope that this would help you and your plans to prosper. If you find this helpful, please share it to your friends (OFWs or not) so they can have a clearer vision in life as well.

Cheers to a better future for you and your loved ones, dahil kay tagal mo mang mawala, babalik at babalik ka rin...


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The Opportunity Building

2016-07-13T17:51:00.004+08:00

One day, John received an invitation from a friend to check out this building called, “The Opportunity Building”. “John, you need to see this! It boasts different investment and money-making opportunities every floor!”, his friend told him over the phone.

One week later, he decided to check the building out of curiosity and excitement.

He was greeted by a man in a black corporate suit, “Hello, Sir! Welcome to the Opportunity Building!”, the man exclaimed, “Can I get your name?”

“Hi, my name is John.”

“Welcome, Sir John! Let me give you the simple rules about this building. Every floor has an offer to make to its guests. From small to big, peso, dollars, you name it, we have it here! And every floor will be different with the other. But no guaranty of any kind will be given - you decide what to do with your own money. No one will be held liable but yourself, so choose wisely. An elevator will take you from one floor to the next, one at a time, until you say 'PASS!'. Here's the catch: once you say PASS on the opportunity and decided to go to the next floor, there's no turning back. That also means you need to take the stairs on the way down. Are you ready?”

John: “Sounds good. I'm going now.”

“Good luck, Sir!”, said the man as he pointed his finger towards the elevator.

FIRST FLOOR
“Hi, here at the first floor, we offer an opportunity to grow your money at 1% per year! The great thing about it is that anytime you needed your money, you can have it! And the best part? There's almost zero risk of losing your hard-earned money, since it will be covered by an insurance company.”

John: “But don't you think that's too low for an interest in a year? Not so nice way to welcome your guests, don't you think? PASS!”

SECOND FLOOR

“Hello there! The second floor guarantees that your money will grow by as much as 4% per year! However, unlike on the previous floor, you only get to withdraw your money after the agreed term. Do you like that?”

John: “Not bad compared to the first one. But if you hold my money for that long and will only give me that profit, I think that's way too low for a return. PASS!”

THIRD FLOOR

“Sir, third floor brings you to a totally different scenario. You see, the power of pooled funds is well conceived here. Our members pool funds and run small and medium businesses. Earnings are called dividends, which are divided equally based on your share percentage. Sounds good?”

John: “Wow. Now that's what I'm kind of looking for here. But are the earnings guaranteed?”

Man: “No, Sir. Since earnings will depend on the performance of our businesses and cooperation of our members.”

John: “I see. In that case, I'll say PASS!”

FOURTH FLOOR

“Hey man, fourth floor gives you the freedom of owning big companies without having to create them from ground-up or run them! Exciting huh? You simply buy shares and that's it! Just wait for the companies you bought to grow big!”

John: “Really? So I just buy shares from these companies and I get to earn regularly?”

Man: “Oh, you didn't understand me, Sir. Investing on us means you buy shares from our companies and earn once you sell your shares at a higher price. The price of the shares changes from time to time. There might actually be times when the price are lower than the price when you bought them.”

John: “Holy cow!? Then why are you even offering this thing to me! This is so dangerous! PASS!”

FIFTH FLOOR

“Hi, Sir! Have you played Farmville before? You'll love farming with us here at the fifth! The concept is simple: you invest, our farmers do the farming job. When it's harvest time, the farmers earn, your investment earns! It's a win-win thing! So, what vegetables would you like for your first season?”

John: “Seriously? Do you have permits from SEC or DTI? I mean, how could your concept be working? You want me to place my money on some virtual farm where I can't even see a pot of soil? PASS!”

At the back of his mind, John was thinking. “I get it now!”, he said to himself. “The higher it gets, the better the opportunity is! Although there are catches, this is no-brainer, I just need to get to the highest floor!”

SIXTH FLOOR

“How about owning a property and have other people pay it for you? Or do some repairs and sell an old house for a price of a new one? Well, Sir, you came to the best floor there is on this building! Because this floor will obviously make you rich! Given the right knowledge on how to do this, you'll make millions soon!”

John: “But that also means I need to have a million first, right? Also, I'm not good at selling. I don't think I'll do good at this kind of opportunity. Nice offer, but I'll PASS!”

SEVENTH FLOOR

“Hi Sir! Are you open-minded? Welcome to the seventh floor! Please come, would you like some coffee? Seventh floor boasts the fastest way to earn money - by leveraging. I'd love to think that this floor could be exactly what you need to bring your dreams into reality! Yet you don't need a huge amount of money to start doing so. You just need to decide and stay committed to do whatever it takes! The best part? You can start with zero to little capital and build an empire!”

John: “Uhmm, excuse me, is this the last floor?”

Man: “Yes it is, Sir.”

John: “You mean this is the best that there is on this building? I don't think so! How could such business be on the top of this building? You must be playing with me. Is this some sort of test?”

Man: “I'm afraid it is not, Sir. Besides, it was never stated that the last floor is the best, nor the worst.”

Opportunities were random, just like in real life outside this building, were opportunities come and go - in no particular order.

John: “But I thought that's how it was! How do you expect a shy, timid guy like me to be successful at your floor? I don't sell. I hate selling! I don't know how to talk to people!”

Man: “Actually, you're good at it, Sir. You just sold me an idea that you were not good at sales - and I bought it.”

John: “Whatever! I'll go figure it out myself then!”

John walked out of the floor confused and disappointed. He was about to take the stairs down when he noticed a shiny, elegant and well-polished door above! As he went closer to the door, lights started to glow, making the door more shiny, attractive and inviting..

“So this must be it then. I knew it! That guy on the seventh floor was just lying! He wanted me to think that I have no other choice but to grab the offer since it's the last floor! I was right! Maybe it was not on the layout so only genius like me can get a hand on it! Ha-ha!”

And so John entered the door and boy, what a lovely scenery - the tiles were so shiny as if he's standing on a mirror. Everything was as nice as the door. Finally, a man came and shook his hands,

“Welcome to the best floor, Sir!”

“This is the last and highest floor of opportunity! Congratulations on not deciding to go into any of the lower floors, or you would not make it here! You see, on this floor, you just give your money - and you earn! How does that sound to you? No selling, no recruiting, no nothing! Your money will double in a few weeks after you invest! You will earn huge money for doing nothing! Isn't that amazing?”

John: “Wow! This must be it! I'm going be rich without doing nothing! Cool!”

After a few more chat, John made his decision.

Lights out.

Money down.

And he happily walked away and took the stairs down to the ground floor.

He was humming to the tune of Bruno Mars' “Billionaire” when he was met by a security guard at the lobby...

Guard: “Hi, Sir! You look happy! You must be feeling so fulfilled with your decision, don't you?”

John: “Yes, of course! I never knew that there was this great opportunity here! I'm so excited to go home so I can share it with my family and friends!”

Guard: “I'm happy for you, Sir!”

John: “Thank you!”

Guard: “Sir, I hope you don't mind, but may I ask what floor have you invested your money?”

John: “Oh, of course I placed it on the best floor - on the last one - the 8th floor!”

Guard: “Sir, I've been working here for 10 years. This building has only 7 floors!”


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The Reunion

2016-05-05T09:57:00.001+08:00

Four BFFs re-connected on a social networking site and decided to meet after 5 long years. They were college buddies that shared the same sentiments of growing up from a happy and a sometimes-chicken-sometimes-egg-dish kind of family.

Although they came from the same school and earned the same degree, they each took a different path after college.

One was a hardworking employee in a multinational company; the other was an IT consultant in an Insurance firm; the third one turned out to be a real estate broker; while the fourth is a network marketer.

On the day they decided to meet up in order to catch up with their lives, everyone was excited and suited up their best branded shirt, watch and sneakers.

Alfred, a real estate broker, brought his sedan.

Not long after, Vincent (the IT consultant who is now an entrepreneur) arrived with his second-hand car.

The two shared high-fives and couldn't wait to see their two other friends. They were on the middle of a comical conversation when they spotted a gray 2017 model of a Corvette Stingray parked outside their meeting place. (Just saying the car model made them salivate!). Both were car enthusiasts, they sure know what the car's worth is! They were examining the fine details of the car when Caleb (the network marketer) came.

Caleb: “Hey guys! I'm sorry I was a little late. I needed to find a nearby store to buy something. What's up?”

Alfred and Vincent almost failed to realize that they haven't seen Caleb for years and should be rejoicing for their reunion. The simply hugged while still looking at the car.

Vincent: “Why are you walking anyway? Still haven't saved for your first car?”

Suddenly, a man wearing formal long sleeves came down from a taxi.

It was Eugene, the brightest among the four.

When they were done sharing hugs and high-fives, Eugene started fuming on his boss because of the extra work he had to do, which was the very reason why he was late.

They went inside the coffee shop and ordered something that is fast becoming a glorified symbol of wise men conversation -- coffee. (Of course, what else were you thinking?)

Each had their turn to share their stories of success after graduating from college five years ago.

Eugene was the first.

Eugene: “Well, I am now running the region's largest IT organization. And I was fortunate to have passed the Microsoft examination! Cool huh?”

Alfred: “Wow! You've always been great, man!”

Vincent: “Yeah! I guess you're richer than 3 of us combined.”

Eugene: “HA-HA-HA..Ha....ha...ha?”

Vincent: “Yes, of course! What are achievements for if you're not paid for it, right?”

Eugene: “Well, not everything's bound to be paid, man.”

Alfred: “But you get to pay our orders as a treat, right?”

Eugene: “Yes, but maybe next time. Not when it's 5 days earlier than pay day. Ha-ha!”

Alfred: “Come on, man! Just this once! Don't tell me you're still living from paycheck to paycheck?”

Vincent: “Is your tax bigger than your savings? I can't blame you. I used to be like that before I finally had enough and started thinking about my future. I tried to study how money works and how to put it into good use. That's when I decided to begin my journey towards financial freedom.”

Eugene: “Of course not! I'm doing good, so cut it already! I just don't feel like treating you guys today. Ha-ha!”

After more than an hour of chatting, they found out what kept them busy for the last five years and how are they doing financially:

Vincent invested in mutual funds and stock market and runs a small business while keeping his day time job. He also opened a small sari-sari store!

Alfred mastered the art of selling, closing deals after deals and has now acquired his own small property and a car thru his commissions.

Caleb, quiet and observant among the group was smiling and nodding to all his friends' stories and accomplishments.

Eugene: “How about you, Caleb? What happened to your network-marketing business now? Ha-ha!”

Caleb: “Oh, well. It's been a heck of a ride. There were ups and downs, of course. But I persevered and worked hard to get where I am right now.”

Eugene: “Huh? You mean you gave up your profession so you can walk from your house up to here? Ha-ha!”

Vincent: “Cut it out, Eugene! Don't be so rude, man.”

Caleb: “It's OK. I'm used to it.”

Alfred: “So, how are you earning from this business now?”

Caleb: “I'm earning pretty good. I have no boss to deal with, traveled to a lot of places already, and now earns a good sum of money.”

Eugene: “You're not serious, are you?”

Caleb: “Of course I am.”

Alfred and Vincent, being open-minded nodded in amazement to their friend.

Vincent: “I'm doing well generally, but I'm still dealing with some money problems of my own. Of course, we all know stocks and mutual funds are for my retirement fund.”

Eugene: “Come on. We're supposed to enjoy life! It's the reason why you get to work in the first place, right? Besides, my company and the government will take care of my retirement.”

Vincent: “Now that is the real joke, Eugene. Your company and the government combined will never be enough to cover your retirement. That's why you should start saving and investing for your future. Not unless you plan to work FOREVER.”

Caleb: “Well I hope we can all retire young and rich.”

Alfred: “Yeah. Sorry we doubted you before, Caleb. But you know what's amusing that happened to me?”

Caleb: “What?”

Alfred: “Remember what I told you when you first invited me to join you in your networking company? I told you I'm not good at sales and that sales are for weak, untalented and dishonest people. I was totally wrong! Because I've now come to realize that sales is actually one of the most important aspects that a person should have in order to succeed.”

Eugene: “No, I think you're just being bias here. You can only say that because you're a salesman now, remember? So you can't make a conclusion for everyone else.”

Alfred: “Exactly. That's why not everyone can drive a sedan.”

Vincent: “Whoa! Hold it right there you two! Let's just ask our friend right here how his business works.”

Eugene, being the ever skeptic among the four, quickly dismissed the idea and showed no interest. “How could you stomach fooling people? Now you even dare to fool your own friends?" Eugene told himself as Caleb started to explain how network marketing business works.

Finally, when Caleb was finished explaining:

Caleb: “So, are you guys ready to be free?”

Alfred: “Of course! I'm already into selling, why not maximize my skills?”

Vincent: “Well, I'm already running my own business too! So I see no point why I should not give it a shot. How 'bout you, Eugene?”

Eugene: “Seriously? You believe Caleb and his networking thing? Come on guys, you're a lot better than this!”

Caleb: “No, Eugene. You are better than this.” (Caleb pointed a picture of man depicting a problematic employee on a magazine)

Alfred: “Listen, Eugene. You know better than any of us. You're intelligent and more technically skilled than us. I'll never advise you to quit your job or pursue a different path. But at least try something that will make you financially comfortable. Where have all your medals and certifications brought you so far? Tell me.”

Eugene: “That's easier said than done, especially now that you're 5 years ahead of me.”

Caleb: “5 years ago was probably the best time to plant a tree. But there's always a second, third or even fourth time to best do it. It's just a question of 'When do you plan to plant your own tree?'. The second best time would probably be NOW! Or you can wait another 5 years and wait for Alfred's and Vincent's tree to grow. My only concern is that there may never be another best time for you to do this. But that's just a maybe, who knows?”

Vincent: “I passed on the first 2 years and only decided to plant my own 3 years ago. Now I'm able to harvest small fruits from it. Caleb, on the other hand, started to plant earlier and never gave up nurturing that plant until it became a tree. We may have the same efforts on how we wanted to grow our trees, but the outcome is obviously different. Not when time is involved. The earlier you start, the better.”

Eugene: “OK. Give me a proof that you've been successful on what you do and maybe I'll consider your advice.”

Suddenly, the gray car parked outside the shop alarmed! Everyone took their heads to the oh-so-lovely car! Caleb picked something from his pocket -- a key -- and pressed a button attached on it that instantly turned off the car's alarm.

Caleb: “Oh, sorry about that. I think I sat on its key.”


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A Broke Man's Playlist

2016-04-21T08:32:00.001+08:00

***

Patingin-tingin, di naman makabili.

Patingin-tingin, 'di makapanood ng sine!

Walang ibang pera, kundi pamasahe!

Nakayanan ko lang, pambili ng dalawang yosi.

Paamoy-amoy, di naman makakain.

Busog na sa tubig, gutom ay lilipas din..

***

Bart took out a low-end phone from his pocket, a constant reminder of his once shiny, elegant and brand new iPhone 6s that he had to sold to pay some debts. He plugged the earphones and turned on his phone's FM radio. With a tired body and another frustrating day, a good music might be what he needed to give him a little lift.

Bad idea.

***

'coz if one day you wake up
And find that you're missing me,

And your heart starts to wonder
Where on this Earth I could be?

Thinking maybe you'll come back
Here to the place that we'd meet,

And you'll see me waiting for you
On our corner of the street,

So I'm not moving,

I'm not moving..

***

"Wow", Bart said in amusement, "Of all songs, this is what you'll play? Really?", he asked as if the DJ will hear him. So he decided to just unplug the earphones.

Bad idea.

The music player on the bus was playing. He quickly flashed a bitter-sweet smile upon hearing the song.

***

Nais kong matulog,
Ngunit 'di makatulog.

Sa pag-iisip
Ang utak ko'y nabubugbog.

Pahamak na pag-ibig 'to,
ako'y gulong-gulo.

Tumatakbo ang oras
Ngunit gising pa rin ako...

Kung di lang dahil sa kanya,
Ngayon ay masaya.

Ayos lang, kahit pa
Nasasaktan ang puso ko,

Kung sino pang minamahal,
'Sya pa ang ayaw sa'yo..

***

"Seriously?", was the only word he mumbled. A lovely song for a lonely man travelling on his way home after an exhausting day looking for a job. Why not? He just lost his job some months ago. He was one of the many employees that their company had to lay-off when it was acquired by a bigger company. Actually, "lonely" would be an understatement to describe him. His girlfriend for two years just broke up with him few weeks after losing his job, adding insult to an already troubled man. As if it's not enough, the next song went playing,

***

Lumilipas ang panahon,

Kabiyak ng ating gunita.

Ang mga puno't halaman,

Bakit kailangan lumisan?

Pana-panahon ang pagkakataon,

Maibabalik ba ang kahapon?

***

"What the ...?", Bart silently exclaimed as the song almost punctuated the summation of all his problems. He was just about to escape the pain yet again by sleeping through the music when the bus came to a halt to pick-up other passengers. An old man sat next to him and the bus hit the road again, and so were the songs..

***

Come to me and hold me,

And you will see the love I give

For you still hold the key.

Every single day,
You always act this way.

For how many times I told you,

I love you, for this is all I know.

I'll never go far away from you.

Even the sky will tell you,

That I need you so.

For this is all I know,

I'll never go far away from you..

***

"Ang lakas naman maka-One More Chance nang kanta.", said the old man seating beside him. Bart looked at the old man who was smiling.

Thanks to the songs that the sanctified DVD player was tasked to play, memories started to flash back. Bart was at the point when everything around reminded him of the past. From the trees, plants, billboards, foods and cars, they all reminded him of someone and something.

It was a four-hour trip back to his province and needed to let go of his frustrations and everything that was holding him back, or he might find himself looking like a cry baby inside a bus. He decided to talk to the old man seating beside him. "He's a total stranger anyway.", he told himself.

"I was a well-paid, talented, good if not great, damned Engineer. Who knew this would happen to me?", he said with teary eyes.

"What's wrong?", asked the old man.

With an almost hoarse voice, Bart replied, "I lost a job I thought I'd never lose. Then my girlfriend broke-up with me. Can you believe that? I thought she was happy with me all those years. I gave her everything I could. But I was a fool to have believed that she loved me for who I was, and not for what I had. I never imagined a day in my life that I'd borrow money from my relatives to ride a bus just to attend a job interview!"

"You mean you have no savings at all from being a well-paid, talented, good if not great, damned Engineer?", asked the old man while appearing serious.

MONEY CAN'T BUY HAPPINESS

Bart gave him a quick smile. He got the old man's humor. "Why save when you knew you had everything going your way? It's the moments that counts. Money can't buy happiness, right?"

"You think so? Well, money can't literally buy happiness, for the same reasons that you can't buy time or any other things that you can't see with your eyes or hold with your hands. But you needed money when you bought her a bouquet of flowers to make her smile. Was it the flowers that made you happy? Nah. It was seeing her smile and happy. That was what you actually paid for. Now tell me, son, that money can't buy happiness.", said the old, wise man.

***

Can't believe that I'm the fool again.

I thought this love would never end..

How am I to know?

You've never told me..

***

Bart blankly stared on the window. It all made sense to him - all the dates, flowers, chocolates, movies, out-of-towns and the gadgets - he needed money to enjoy those. So how could he not take good care of his money by at least saving?

Bart continued to share his story with the old man, from what-used-to-be to what-could-have-been. The timing of the next song that played couldn't be more perfect..

***

Kumupas na,
Lambing sa'yong mga mata.

Nagtataka kung bakit
Yakap mo'y di na nadarama?

May mali ba akong nagawa?

Tila nag-iba ang mga kilos mo at salita.

Bakit kaya,
Parang hindi ka na masaya..?

Ika'y biglang natauhan,

Umalis kaagad ng hindi nagpapa-alam.

Ang sabi ko hindi kita mami-miss,

Hanggang kalian ito matitiis?

Ngayon ko lang natutunan,

Na subukang mabuhay
Na para bang may kulang.

Pag nawala doon lang ma-mimiss

Paalam sa halik mong matamis..

***

"About this girl..", said the old man, trying to break the silence. "I'm quite sure she didn't broke up with you just because you lost your job."

"But that's what she told me!", Bart said with a firm voice. He was quick to apologize to the old man for raising his voice though. "Ok, if it's not the reason, then what could it be?", he asked.

"Maybe, she saw the same person I saw in you: a man of no direction, blinded by a vicious fallacy with money and love of material things. You do and buy things to impress. I'm sure you didn't visit Boracay because you planned to create memorable moments there with her, but because you wanted to let your friends know that you went there. All you ever cared for is your job. She might love you that much that she made herself look bad so you can move on easily by hating her."

***

Take time to realize,

That your warmth is crashing down on in.

Take time to realize,

That I am on your side.

Didn't I? Didn't I tell you?

But I can't spell it out for you.

No, it's never gonna be that simple.

No, I cant spell it out for you.

If you just realize what I just realized,

Then we'd be perfect for each other
And will never find another.

Just realized what I just realized,

We'd never have to wonder
If we missed out on each other now..

***

Bart's face was all red. If the old man's statement insulted him or made him angry wasn't the case. Whether his assumptions were correct or not didn't matter. The old man had a point. Bart started to recall where or when it turned sour. He never cheated on her, sure. But he would work on weekends, including moments that required his full presence. He invested on gadgets and material things instead of time and life experiences with her. He never confessed about the importance of money, yet he would trade time to earn money.

As if the bus, the DVD player, the driver and everything around him conspired, every song that played seemed to be especially dedicated for him...

***

I need to talk with you again,

Why did you go away?

All our time together,

Just feels like yesterday,

I never thought I'd seen,

A single day without you,

The things we take for granted,

We can sometimes lose.

And if I promise not to feel this pain,

Will I see you again?

'Coz time will pass me by,

Maybe I'll never learn to smile,

But I know I'll make it through,

If you wait for me.

And all the tears I cry,

No matter how I try,

They will never bring you home to me..

***

After a heart-breaking moment of silence, Bart swallowed with an empty mouth, prompting his throat to sound as if he swallowed something called pride.

"You know what I call people like you?", asked the old man.

"What?"

"A loser.", said the old man as he stood up and waved to the driver signaling his taking off the bus, leaving Bart alone and wandering, as the last music on the playlist played...

***

..Too dumb to realize,

That I should have bought you flowers

And held your hand.

Should have gave you all my hours

When I had the chance.

Take you to every party,

'Cause all you wanted to do was dance.

Now my baby's dancing,

But she's dancing with another man..

***

PS: #WalangForever sa pagiging broke, kaya magbago ka na sa buhay pinansyal mo.


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The Parable of Stewardship: Revisited

2016-01-14T18:25:00.003+08:00

A wealthy man goes to a faraway land to build a new housing project to expand his business, and he'll be gone for three years. So he summoned his three faithful servants and gave each one hundred thousand pesos.

“Take this with you and grow my money as much as you can for I shall collect them with interest when I come back exactly three years from now.”, he declared.

The first servant had little knowledge about money. It was the first time he ever got a hand on such huge amount! So he started to ask for help from friends and relatives. Armed with a burning desire to grow his Master's money and a newly created Facebook account, he started to seek advice from everyone whom he thought might help him, until one particular thing struck his attention: invest in the stock market. “This is it!”, he told himself. And just after a week, the first servant was all smiles. He bought shares of almost every PSE company he'd see on FB groups that are being recommended by so-called traders.

The second servant, who regarded himself smarter than the other servants, went to a computer shop and asked Google:

Where to invest one hundred thousand pesos - Philippines

The third servant who was afraid to even count the money, intelligently dug a hole inside his house and buried the money there. He even stored foods inside his house in anticipation that should a war break out, he'd never have to leave his house.

True enough, after three years, the Master came back from his business project. He immediately summoned his servants to see how well they did with his money.

“I invested on stocks!”, said the first servant with brimming confidence. “Hmm..very well then”, said the Master as he quickly pulled out his 17" Android Tablet and opened an online app to check the stock price of the companies that his servant had bought.

“Anyare?!”, the Master exclaimed! “All I see is an ocean of red! All your stocks are at a loss! Oh, and why buy Jollibee shares when all you eat is Aldub meal? Don't tell me naniniwala ka na rin sa forever?”

“But Master, they say investing on stocks is my best option if I want to grow my money in the long term, and these companies are their bets!”, answered the servant.

“Fool! Even the best investment instruments are doomed to fail if done without purpose! Haven't I told you that I'd be back at exactly three years? Are you that smart to predict that in three years’ time, your portfolio would be green!?”

“Oh, I was blown away by all these inspiring stories I read”, said the servant as his confidence slowly melts.

“Well this ain't that movie, boy!”, yelled the Master.

The first servant started to shake in fear. He knew there was nothing left to do but to beg for his Master's forgiveness.

“Listen well”, said the Master. “It may have worked for them, but that doesn't mean it would work for everyone else! Not when North Korea tests bombs and Russia is trashing their we'll-destroy-America-in-30-minutes spiel! Always remember that before you invest on anything, you should have a clear plan and purpose. I don't see three years as long enough for your LONG TERM plan. You should know when to lock in your gains and when to make changes with your plan.”

“So what shall I do, Master?”, asked the servant.

“Why don't you ask Facebook?”, the Master angrily replied.

The first servant was about to cry for his Master's mercy when the second servant spoke with arrogance, “Master, forgive my friend's foolishness for he has not taken the same path that I took.”

The Master looked at the second servant and asked him what he did.

“I have invested the money in myself”, he calmly said. “I bought books and attended seminars, including that 18-thousand-peso-early-bird-rate-ticket from a world-renowned financial guru! You will not believe how knowledgeable I am today about all these investments. Forgive my english, but even you might beg me to teach you all these things inside here, Master.”, as he arrogantly pointed his finger towards his cerebrum.

“Now that's comforting to hear!”, said the irritated Master. “So where is my money now? How much did you make?”

“You see, Master, I now have a mini-library in my house. You would love my collection of personal finance books...and...”

The Master interrupted his servant, “Yes, yes! But enough of the bragging! I want to know first where is the money I have entrusted with you.”

“I just told you, Master. I have invested it in myself to acquire knowledge.”

“P#$^!&G*0@!?? Three years! Three years and you're saying that all you did was study? What's with all these learnings if you did not apply a single thing you learned?”, asked the infuriated Master.

“Because I'm afraid I have not yet learned the A to Z of money-making, Master.”

“Fool! Investing does not require you to memorize A to Z in its entirety! You just have to learn the A-B-C and you go on from there. What good does it make for you to be this financially literate when you have grown the money to nada, waley, zero, zilch, kaput, none?”

Finally, the third servant quietly smiled because he knew that he will win their Master's heart by at least not losing the money entrusted to him.

“Master!”, he said, “I may have not grown your money, but at least, unlike them, I have not lost a single cent of your money! I buried the money inside my house!”

“Oh, how genius of you!”, the Master exclaimed.

“Thank you, Master!”, and the servant's heart started to beat as fast as a horse!

“Fool! And you really expect me to praise you for that stupidity?”, asked the Master.

The servant quickly replied, “But Master, isn't it that money saved is money earned?”

“Yes! But that was about a hundred years ago when price of goods do not change!”, said the annoyed Master and asked, “How many kilos of corn can you buy with 1,000 pesos five years ago?”

“About ten, Master.”

“...and now?”

“Uhm..only about eight?”, answered the confused servant.

With his eyes grown wide, the Master asked him, “And you're telling me you did not lose my money?”

The room was filled with deafening silence.

The Master was the first to break it.

“I may rattle my head and ask a thousand ifs on my mind right now. What if I did not leave for three years? What if I entrusted my money on my other servants instead? What if I told you what exactly to do with the money? What if? What if? But I don't want to kill myself to bed thinking all these what ifs. As one of those good movies I watched would suggest, It's brave to ask what if, but it's braver to embrace what is. We should all learn and move on from this.”

“Very well then, let's just see the beauty on what happened, shall we? John, you put knowledge into action. Some people, like Simon, acquire knowledge and let time pass by because of several things that holds them back: fear, greed and finding the best time to start which will never come anyway - because it's always a day before they come to realize it. Simon, you actually did something that most people forgot to do first - to invest on your education. But do not let your learning lead to knowledge, or you'll become poor. Instead, let your learning lead to action, and you can become wealthy. There is nothing more pitiful than a man who is smart and broke! And, Peter, you showed your capability to save and live within your means. Otherwise, you may have spent my money on something useless.”

“Peter, go get the money you buried in your house. John, we shall study your portfolio and see if we need to sell at a loss and buy when the market panic subsides or if we can still hold them and do cost-averaging. Simon, you shall manage the funds.”


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Juan's 360 Degree Financial Journey

2015-12-20T12:46:00.002+08:00

Juan's life got better than it was before. He is living “the life” but he's reserved with his career and flow of income. “I have everything I need.”, he tells himself.

Few years later, Juan got married.

One night, after watching a TV commercial from a known financial institution, he told himself, “I should have one.”

Juan kept investing on the stock market and mutual funds, having big-time goals in mind.

One day, the stock market crashed! Some people needed to pull out their funds or sell their shares at a loss because of fear. A colleague approached him and asked, “Are you one of them?”

Yep.

Juan learned from an old friend that one of their friends from college met an untimely accident and his family were left with nothing. He knows how big his friend's paycheck was, as they were both on the same industry. Yet all what was left with his friend's sobbing wife and 2 year old daughter were credit cards, loans and bills to pay.

Because of what happened, Juan realized he needed to set-up an emergency fund first and started saving for it. He also decided to approach a financial advisor and got a life insurance for himself.

Peter, Juan's older cousin, visited him to borrow some money. On how Peter found out about Juan's savings, that's another story. For now, let's just say Peter embodies most of our fellow OFWs' relatives with the special power to sense if someone has money. He told his sad regret about not being able to save during his twenties, especially for emergencies, and that however hard he tries to start saving or investing, unexpected expenses always catches-up with him.

Juan started to educate himself more about managing his finances and changed the way he thinks about money. He knew that in order for him to be successful and financially literate, he needed to spend money, time and effort to study and learn the ropes.

He attended seminars and workshops, both free and paid, and considered them as investments. He bought books, not only financial or business books, but any book that he thought would help him become a better person, employee, leader and live a happy, fulfilling life.

Juan started to understand the value of having a discipline to save is crucial to start preparing for his future, and that the ultimate purpose of being wealthy is to help others.

- o0o -

What if Juan educated himself first? Will it make a 360 degree impact on his life?
Let's find out!

- o0o -

Juan started to understand the value of having a discipline to save is crucial to start preparing for his future, and that the ultimate purpose of being wealthy is to help others.

He attended seminars and workshops, both free and paid, and considered them as investments. He bought books -- any book that he knew would help him become a better person, employee, leader and live a happy, fulfilling life.

He knew that in order for him to be successful and financially literate, he needed to spend money, time and effort to study and learn the ropes.

Juan started to educate himself more about managing his finances and changed the way he thinks about money.

Peter, Juan's older cousin, visited him to borrow some money. On how Peter found out about Juan's savings, that's another story. For now, let's just say Peter embodies most of our fellow OFWs' relatives with the special power to sense if someone has money. He told his sad regret about not being able to save during his twenties, especially for emergencies, and that however hard he tries to start saving or investing, unexpected expenses always catches-up with him.

Because of what happened, Juan realized he needed to set-up an emergency fund first and started saving for it. He also decided to approach a financial advisor and got a life insurance for ~~himself~~ his family.

Juan learned from an old friend that one of their friends from college met an untimely accident and his family were left with nothing. He knows how big his friend's paycheck was, as they were both on the same industry. Yet all what was left with his friend's sobbing wife and 2 year old daughter were credit cards, loans and bills to pay.

Few years later, Juan got married. One night, after watching a TV commercial from a known financial institution, he told himself, “I ~~should~~ have one.”

One day, the stock market crashed! Some people needed to pull out their funds or sell their shares at a loss because of fear. A colleague approached him and asked, “Are you one of them?”

~~Yep.~~ Nope.

Juan kept investing on the stock market and mutual funds, having ~~big-time~~ long-term goals in mind.

He is living “the life” and he's ~~reserved~~ fulfilled with his career and flow of income. “I have everything ~~I need~~ to be thankful for.”, he tells himself.

Juan's life was better than it was before.


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How Failures Can Tame The Shark in You

2015-10-01T11:53:00.002+08:00

I hope you learn something valuable on this short story. The author of which is unknown.

“During a research experiment a marine biologist placed a shark into a large holding tank and then released several small bait fish into the tank. As you would expect, the shark quickly swam around the tank, attacked and ate the smaller fish.The marine biologist then inserted a strong piece of clear fiberglass into the tank, creating two separate partitions.

She then put the shark on one side of the fiberglass and a new set of bait fish on the other. Again, the shark quickly attacked! This time, however, the shark slammed into the fiberglass divider and bounced off. Undeterred, the shark kept repeating this behavior every few minutes to no avail. Meanwhile, the bait fish swam around unharmed in the second partition. Eventually, about an hour into the experiment, the shark gave up.

This experiment was repeated several dozen times over the next few weeks. Each time, the shark got less aggressive and made fewer attempts to attack the bait fish, until eventually the shark got tired of hitting the fiberglass divider and simply stopped attacking altogether.

The marine biologist then removed the fiberglass divider, but the shark didn’t attack. The shark was trained to believe a barrier existed between it and the bait fish, so the bait fish swam wherever they wished, free from harm.”

What's your “divider?”
Sadly, the same fiberglass divider exists in life. It is “something” that keeps you distant from your goals and dreams. It could be in the form of excuses you make for not being able to achieve what you want in life, the failures you had for doing something, or the distractions around you that keep on telling you to do something later (which sometimes becomes never).

The truth is that your “fiberglass divider” is more complex that what the scientist did on the shark. Because (1) you create your own “divider” between you and your goals, (2) it's hard to identify (and admit) what the “divider” in your life is (because it could be in so many forms) and (3) when opportunities come that could at least help you get past through it or completely remove it, you fail to see this and act accordingly. Either you're too tired to try again or worse, didn't even bother trying at all. You act like the shark on the experiment that even long after that fiberglass divider has been removed, it was fool and tired enough to believe that a barrier existed.

What's the “divider” that's been keeping you away from your dreams?

How long do you plan to keep it there?

Will you break free or live the rest of your life believing there was a “divider” that never existed?


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9 Proven Ways to Become Rich

2015-09-18T11:11:00.000+08:00

Our own definition of being rich will always be different. Some would define it as being able to afford the things that they want such as a Maldives get-away or a cup of coffee on their own Starbucks, or being able to drive a nice, luxury car.

For others, it could also mean as simple as being able to spend quality time with the people they love.

Again, money is NOT the most important thing. Unfortunately, money affects every important things in life - from inflation to taxes to salary to food to dating to basketball to gaming and the long list goes on.

So for someone who says that being rich means being able to spend quality time with his family, can you conclude that money wasn't important? How can he spend quality time when he's busy looking for money to feed his family? The truth behind the statement is that the person wants time (and financial) freedom so he can do the things that he wants (with his money to support his passion, interests, hobbies and fill his and his family's stomach).

Which now leads us to the most common question of a person with dreams:

How do I become rich?

1. Win the lottery

This is perhaps the most popular way to become an instant millionaire here and abroad (well, at least for the ~~hopeless~~ hopefuls).

Unfortunately, the chance of being struck on lightning is greater than the odds of winning the lottery. Yet many people are still hoping that they would hit it one day, big time!

2. Join game shows and talent search

Do you need to have a talent or something interesting to share on the show and its viewers? Nah..all you need is a dramatic, tragic and entertaining story of your life; on how poor you are and that joining game shows is your only hope in life!

In an era where judges and hosts demands more attention that the actual talent being showcased, how could you not think of using your story to win their hearts? The more unfortunate your financial status in life is, the more chances you get on receiving a bigger reward!

3. Inherit a fortune

This option, sadly, is quite reserved for some telenovelas. You know the story: Juan is a poorest of the poor until one day, a long-lost diary was found that revealed his true identity as the son of a billionaire.

So unless your surname is Ayala, Sy, Gokongwei, Tan, Caktiong, Reyes (ehem!) or other wealthy-sounding surnames, there is little hope that you'll inherit something big that would make you an instant millionaire ala Juan.

4. Marry a rich person

If your surname is none of the mentioned names on item 3 and you happen to be a freaking hot, attractive woman, marrying a rich man is the answer!

Oh, this is becoming harder for me, because I think this is quite more popular nowadays. Unfortunately, this mostly applies to women only. A rich, old foreigner looking to settle in the Philippines? You get it.

5. Become a celebrity

Rise to stardom is just a few wave, smile and post today, thanks to social media and online streaming channels such as YouTube. There have been plenty of successful celebrities today who made it big through social media. But there are still a lot of people, especially teens, who tirelessly cry, sing and dance from one audition to another just to get that cameo role until lady luck of showbiz smiles upon them.

Do you know what the good news is? You don't have to be talented to get the spotlight! Killer smile, good looks and a toned body will do. Who cares about a handsome guy lip-syncing or a gorgeous artist who can't even cry on a movie?

6. Get into sports

From all the options, I think this is the hardest from the human body perspective, not to mention the little chance of making it really big on the world of sports. Because unless you become a sensation or an endorser of vinegar, energy drink, battery, pain-reliever and shoes, your future does look not so bright on a country where image comes first before talent.

7. Run for public office

I don't know about you, but most politicians I know of are making it BIG TIME. No wonder why they're willing to do crazy stunts and circus just to win our votes. And who cares about stealing money from people? People forgive and forget anyway.

8. Start a business

If you do a quick summary of the list, you'll notice that all of the people who became rich by doing or becoming any of the first seven ways have something in common - they eventually started their own business.

Of course, thinking to start a business does not happen overnight. But at some point on their wealthy life, lotto winners, game-show winners, heirs, artists, politicians and athletes realize that they need to start a business in order to sustain and increase their cash flow.

Does owning a business always mean starting from scratch and doing all the hard work, from finding a location to hiring employees to selling to customers? Not necessarily. In fact, you can own a fast-food chain, a mall, a telco, a school and a media company all at the same time!

How?

By doing the last (but should always be the first) way of becoming rich:

9. Save and Invest

So how can you own a fast-food chain, a mall, a telco, a school and a media company all at the same time?

Invest in the stock market.

This allows you to actually co-own the business you have always wanted! The only difference is that you're saved from all the headaches of running the business on your own. But saving should come first, as it will teach you the discipline required to building your wealth over time.

Saving is a crucial habit that would make a person's future brighter. Believe it or not, it will depend on our attitude towards money that can make or break our own financial life.

Have you heard of a lottery winner who is now living on the streets? A former celebrity who now lives under the bridge? Or a family of a once freaking hot, attractive woman forced to live on the squatters area after her rich Japanese husband left her?

How's the list?

If you have tried another way that made you rich, or other ideas you plan to do to become one, don't be selfish, please let us know by commenting below!

If you've taken the first few steps towards financial independence, kudos! It's just a matter of time when all your hard work starts paying you. And for those who dream to get rich and still haven't found what you're looking for in this article, or perhaps you don't even buy a lotto ticket, or have good looks (like me) but wants a private life, I hope you start saving and investing instead, because it may have the longest period of waiting time, but at least -- you're bound to become rich, sa tamang panahon.


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Getting to Know a Cooperative

2015-09-08T13:02:00.000+08:00

Meet Macoy, a pedicab driver. For the benefit of those who are not aware of what a pedicab is, it's simply a three-wheeled bicycle which runs not on engine, but by pedaling. One ride would cost you about 10 to 20 pesos, depending on the distance.

So what financial lessons do you think can we learn from someone like Macoy?

During one of my talks, a student asked, “..but investments such as Mutual Funds are quite out-of-reach especially for low-salaried people, like pedicab drivers!”. She nailed it. The brutal reality is that, 5,000 pesos is 5,000 pesos, psychological wallet preaching be damned. How could possibly a man who earns roughly about 150 to 300 pesos a day can ever start to save or invest? Until I realized, there are many investment options out there, one of which, is called a Cooperative.

What is a Cooperative?

A cooperative or simply coop, is an association of people who voluntarily cooperate for a mutual benefit. It typically runs one or more businesses that are owned and managed by the members of the coop themselves. Wikipedia defines it as “a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supplying of services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit.” Coops are regulated by the government body called CDA or Cooperative Development of Association.

Types of Cooperative

Just like a business, there are also different types of cooperative, which includes:

Credit Cooperative

Consumer Cooperative

Producers Cooperative

Marketing Cooperative

Service Cooperative

Multi-Purpose Cooperative

Advocacy Cooperative

Agrarian Reform Cooperative

Cooperative Bank

Dairy Cooperative

Education Cooperative

Electric Cooperative

Financial Service Cooperative

Fishermen Cooperative

Health Services Cooperative

Housing Cooperative

Insurance Cooperative

Transport Cooperative

Water Service Cooperative

Workers Cooperative

Bonds of Membership
Since a coop has a common bond of interest, it is therefore important that its members are bonded by something in common. In other words, for you to become a member of a certain coop, you must qualify in any of the below cases:

Residential
Associational
Occupational
Institutional

Risks, Organization and Management of Cooperatives

However, like any other business or organization, a cooperative is vulnerable to mismanagement risks as well. So you need to know your board of directors well and the history of the cooperative before deciding to join. That is why every individual who wish to become a member is required to attend the PMES or Pre-Membership Seminar first. This a government-mandated requirement for all would-be members of any coop, so as to ensure that the person who wants to become part of the coop knows and understands what he or she is getting into.

How do I know if it's legit?

The complete list of accredited and duly authorized cooperatives can be found at the Cooperative Development Authority website at www.cda.gov.ph It is the very first and basic step that you must do before deciding to join any cooperative. The next step is to attend their PMES in order for you to learn more about the cooperative, including its chairman, staff, board of directors, products and services, financial status, historical earnings, book of accounts, and other things you'd like to ask after the orientation. If you notice that the board of directors is composed of more than two people that are relatives, that may be a red flag to watch out for.

General Assembly

General Assembly, or the highest body in a coop, are simply its members. Remember that as a member of the General Assembly, you have the power and right to vote for the board of directors and attend the Regular Annual General Assembly which is held yearly on a date fixed in the bylaws, or if not, on any date within 90 days after the close of each fiscal year (March).

How do I become a member?
The following are the basic qualifications for being a member of a cooperative:

Qualified based on at least one of the Bonds of membership of the cooperative.
Attended the PMES
Has paid the required membership fee
Has paid required initial paid up share capital (amount will depend on the Cooperative)
Pledge to pay the required subscribed capital (amount will depend on the Cooperative)
Not be a member of same type of cooperative or same area of operation

How do I earn?

After a year, CDA will audit the earnings and financial status of the cooperative and will declare the Net Income or Net Surplus. From this, the allocation and distribution will follow. Remember that the earnings/reports are to be determined by CDA, not the cooperative itself. The following are the minimum percentage allocation that the government requires all cooperatives to allocate the Net Surplus:

Reserve Fund

This fund will serve as the emergency fund of the cooperative in case of an unforeseen business loss. Ideally, this fund is placed on the coop's bank account and can only be used when authorized by the General Assembly. The minimum Reserve Fund mandated by the government is at least 10% of the Net Surplus.

Optional Fund

This fund is to be used only for major purchases such as fixed assets acquisition (e.g. buy new delivery truck or warehouse) upon approval of the board. The minimum percentage allocation that the government requires for this fund is 5%.

Education & Training Fund

This fund will be utilized for continuous trainings and development of the coops' staffs, committee members, board of directors and the manager. This is to ensure that the key persons running the coop are equipped with the right knowledge in running the business. The minimum allotment should be 5%.

Social Services Fund

To give back to the community, the government requires all coops to allocate at least 3% of their Net Income to conduct community-driven activities such as medical missions, tree-planting, making donations, caravans, etc.

Dividends

The remaining percentage from the Net Income will be declared as the dividends, which will be divided to all members based on the number of shares that they own in the coop. Thus, the highest possible percentage or allotment that can be given to all the members is 77% (if the cooperative decides to comply only the minimum percentage required by the government). The good news? Your dividends are tax-free!

Coop Savings Account
Most coops also offers Savings Program. This is different account from your share capital, which you can't usually withdraw partially. It's simply like having a savings account in a bank but with two notable advantage: same or higher interest rate and zero tax deduction (because cooperatives are exempted from paying taxes).

Wait, there's more!
On top of the tax-free dividends you get from your share capital, you also enjoy free or discounted services and/or products from your cooperative. Some coops even give Christmas gifts such as hams and Gift Certificates to their members! Banks would never give you a biscuit!

Remember Macoy?

The good thing about a cooperative is that they allow people like Macoy to start saving and investing! Would you believe me if I tell you that Macoy drops to the cooperative and deposits 40 Pesos a day(20 for his Share Capital and 20 for his Savings)? Yes! He does it.

Every. Single. Day.

But every time I tell this story to people, they laugh. “Where will his 40 a day bring him?” is probably the thought that they have on their minds. But guess what? Pick a random coat-and-tied employee in Makati on a date that is not pay day, and you'll be surprised that Macoy got more money than that person.

Look who's laughing.


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The Bank Account You Didn't Know Exist

2015-08-04T15:20:00.004+08:00

Ever dreamed of having a healthy bank account of your own? Do you find it sweet? Now what if there's actually a bank account that credits your own each morning with a lot of money? If you don't know about this bank yet, it's OK. Don't panic. Nope. This bank isn't BDO or BPI (or one of those commercial banks) we have in the Philippines.

Let me share with you more about it with a short story from an unknown author:

Imagine a bank account that credits your account with 86,400 Pesos. It carries over no balance from day to day. Meaning, every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day! What would you do? Draw out every peso, of course! But the question then would be, “How do you plan to spend your 86, 400?”

Each of us has such a bank called TIME.

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against “tomorrow.”

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who just missed a train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask someone who just avoided an accident.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with. And remember time waits for no one. There is a saying, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why its called the present.”

You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!

The clock is running.

Make the most of today.

~ Author: Unknown


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To Tithe or Not to Tithe?

2015-07-09T12:14:00.001+08:00

I've been trying to restrain myself from writing any article about “Tithing” since I started blogging. Because if “practice what you preach” is a law, then I would have already been jailed for its violation.

The harsh reality is that, tithing is a misplaced practice and problem among many people, even those earning six-digit income in a month or in a week!

This thing called Tithing
Like most people, I would never run out of gas for my stubborn car named excuses. “I barely have enough for this month”, “I'll give my Tithe next pay day”, “I have so many bills to pay first”, “I'm not yet rich, let the rich donate!” and the list goes on. These were just some of the many excuses I used to tell myself. I'm sure you have your own, too!

What is Tithing and why do we need to do it, anyway? “Tithe” is what we give to God to glorify him. Okay, let's not complicate things. Let me just explain it using this simple story:

Juan is a “tambay”. Juan has nothing. Juan is nothing.

One day, Greg, a rich OFW who owns a mango farm in a province came home for a month-long vacation. So Juan dragged himself to the house of Greg to ask for some pasalubong. But Greg told him, “Juan, you're like my own son. And it's a pity to just give you some chocolates. Instead, I'll let you manage my mango farm.”

“Wow! That's so kind of you, Boss Greg!”, Juan exclaimed with joy! “But how do I get paid?”, he asked. “We'll split the profits. Since I'm abroad and my son, Junior, is still studying, you'll be in charge of everything in my farm -- so you deserve the bigger part for your hard work. How about we split it 90/10? You take home 90% of the profits from the mango sales and just give me 10%?”

You don't need to know what Juan answered to Greg's offer, right? (He took it, of course!)

Time came when mangoes were harvested and sold to the market, and Juan was rejoicing as he counts all the money he just earned!

Junior was summoned by his father to the farm to ask Juan about the 10% he and Greg agreed. “You know what, Junior? I have never worked harder my entire life than working on this farm. Would you believe I even worked harder than a carabao? I go to work before the sun shines, and go to rest only when the sun sets. Where was your father all those times? And here you are, asking me to give him something he was never part of. So, tell me, Junior, why should I give your father 10% of the profits? Tell me!”

Junior: “Uhm, because he owns the farm?”

You think Juan was unbelievable? I hope you got the point. Juan is you and me, that 10% was the so-called “Tithe” that should be given to Greg, the Owner of our farms. How many times have we used Juan's excuses?

Why should I?
The following excerpts from Chinkee Tan's “Till Debt Do Us Part” nailed it:

Do you believe that God owns everything?

Do you believe that it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth?

Do you believe that God is your partner in the business?

If you believe that He is your partner, once the profit comes, how should you divide your profit? 50/50?

You see, God is so good, fair and just that He didn't ask for 50%.

He asked for only 10%.

How many times have we robbed God?

Then it hit me, as I recalled that most (if not all) books about personal finance I have read has the same chapter, paragraph or a few pages that discuss and promote tithing. Was it the reason why we're not financially blessed as we could be? Was it the culprit to our losses on our businesses and unexpected expenses? Was it one of the secrets to becoming wealthy?

Chinkee Tan might have the perfect answer:

I started to give. The first income I received was P10,000, so I gave 10% of

it, which is P1,000. Then true enough, God's promise came. God allowed me to earn P50,000 the following month. My previous earning multiplied by 5. Wow! It worked! The 10% now amounted to P5,000. I then realized there was a huge increase in my giving. I could buy a lot of things for P5,000 at that time.

I started to hesitate and think aloud and started a conversation with God. “Lord, since I've given you P1,000 last month, can I just give you P3,000? It's still a big increase compared to my last month's giving.” God agreed! How did I know that He agreed? He never answered back. Silence means yes, right? Yeah! I was right. Then, I gave the envelope to our church.

On the same day, I rented two laser disc videos but forgot to get them from my car when I got home. For the benefit of the people who weren't born yet during that time, laser discs are just like DVDs but five times bigger and five times more expensive. Laser discs were expensive, so what we used to do was to just rent them. Because I left the laser discs inside my car, they were directly exposed to the heat of the sun. The weather that time was extremely hot. The hot weather then destroyed and deformed both discs and permanently damaged them. Because the discs were damaged, I couldn't return them. I had to pay for them.

Do you know how much a laser disc cost before? P2,500 per disc. P2,500 times 2 is P5,000. How much did I rob from God? P2,000. But I paid P3,000 more for the two laser discs.

How many times have I experienced this in my life? I failed to give God what is due Him. Then I experienced losses and damages in my life - appliances were broken, a mobile phone was lost (or stolen), a car was damaged, or someone in the family got sick.

I couldn't really experience breakthroughs and financial freedom because I was under a curse. God's blessings and prosperity were withheld.

How much should I Tithe?

Ironically, this is same as asking, “How much is ten?”, because “tithe” (from Old English) means “tenth” or “is a one-tenth part of something”. Hence, the 10% rule.

Malachi 3:8-10
Did you know that Tithing was the only part in the Bible where God challenged man?

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say,

“How have we robbed you?” In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

“I'll give when I'm rich!”
How many times have you heard this line? A storm hits a province, and the donations start to pour in and people on TV were like, “If I were rich, I'd donate!” There's a 90% chance that it's a lie. The logic is quite simple: if you can't give P100 of your P1,000 income, you can't give P100,000 when you have a million!

Giving vs. Tithing
I love how Bo Sanchez differentiated Giving from Tithing. I'm sure you'll love it too:

Giving may be something that you do occasionally.

But Tithing is something that you do regularly.

Because Tithing means that every time you earn money, you give 10% or more to the Lord.

Let me ask you a big question: Do you want your rewards to come occasionally or regularly?

You decide.

Final Thoughts

Today, I have come to realize that the purpose of earning more is to give more. It may sound cheesy, but I guess it makes all the difference to a person whose purpose of saving and investing is just for the sake of having savings and investments.


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The Great Salesmen

2015-04-17T11:10:00.001+08:00

One day, some of the greatest and seasoned salesmen from around the world gathered for an international convention. They were invited to share (and boast) some of their best skills in the field of sales and marketing.

There were practitioners, brokers, researchers, network-marketers, marketing specialists, agents, dealers and freelancers among many other skilled salesmen that came to witness the invite-only gathering.

Soon, the event's host started the program and challenged all the participants to line up according to the importance of what they sell.

Everyone was astounded by the task issued to them! The room was immediately filled with noise and cracks! What was earlier a festive, yet serene mood turned into a bustling atmosphere...

“Is this really a part of the program? How could we possibly outweigh one another?”, asks one person.

A young woman asked the host, “Should we line up according to the current market value of what we sell?”

The host was about to answer the woman when suddenly, an old man stood in front of the crowd and spoke, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.¹For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?² So I suggest that the Preacher standing right there be the first on the line.”

The room was packed with silence.

Surprisingly, a wealthy salesman from the crowd raised his hand to catch everyone's attention and declares, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”³

The preacher flashed a smile to the wealthy man and with a profound voice he answered, “You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”³

Everyone nodded in agreement and gave the preacher a standing ovation.

“I guess that makes the Preacher grab our first spot!” declares the host. “So the second position in the line is up for grabs!”

“I sell books,” says a book merchant, “Faith is a must, and so is our wisdom! And it's on the books I am selling that we find wisdom. A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.⁴ It's the reason why we're told that, if we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.⁵ ”

Suddenly, a beautiful woman interrupted the book merchant, “There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book.”⁶

Some people agreed and cheered for the beautiful woman!

“So what do you sell that you think is more important than a book, Madam?”, asked a banker.

The woman quickly replied, “I offer confidence. Confidence is the sexiest attribute a woman can have. If you feel good, you’ll look good.”⁷

“Confidence, Madam? How?”

“I sell soaps”, the woman proudly exclaimed!

The Book Merchant quipped, “Must we borrow confidence from glutathione, Madam?”

People started laughing at the beautiful woman. Then, a man started to clap until the crowd noticed him, “Precisely, my fellow sales gurus! One must not borrow confidence from soaps nor borrow knowledge from books! That's why I, a Real Estate Broker, should carry on with the second spot!”

“And why should you be ahead of me?” asks the man who carries books.

“Because with all due respect, you may keep reading books, but remember that a book is only a book. At the end of the day, you should learn to think for yourself.”⁸

“Ahh! Beautiful and fancy houses and condominiums! Those, Sir and Madam, are more worth deciding! Worry not, for my rooms will shelter your books and my bathroom will comfort your soaps! A house is an asset! So I'll take the next spot.”

“Of course you need books! Because a house without books is like a room without windows,”⁹ interrupts The Book Merchant.

“Asset it is, but only if you do not live on it!” shouts The Investor.

The crowd was divided with The Investor's argument!

“You can cry your hearts out, but that spot belongs to cars,” the Car Dealer announced to the crowd!

“Remember, everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car.¹⁰ Besides, the cars we drive say a lot about us.”¹¹

“Tell me, Mr. Car Dealer, will you bring a car to your grave?” asks an Insurance Agent.

“In a snap, your car can get crushed. Yet what I sell will give you back your car! Or worse, give your dependents an income replacement for your death!”

“There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?¹²Oh sorry, I'm afraid that's you!” the Car Dealer grinned.

The crowd was on its feet once again, some holding their laughter while others, dismayed by the Car Dealer's statement.

“Ha-ha! Easy right there my brothers! But I do have a question for Mr. Insurer: “Is there relationship insurance? You know, in case someone steals your significant other? If not, there should be,¹³ because if that's the case, I think I deserve a better spot ahead on both of you. I'm a Spell Caster, or simply, a Counselor who sells ways to resolve conflicts.”

“Insurance is only good if you die too soon! But what if you live too long? Investments can take care of that. That's why I should get the second spot of this line,” claims The Investor.

“But investments are risky and they take too long! I can give you higher returns by as much as 500% in 3 months, with zero risk!” shouts a ~~scammer~~ ~~Gold Trader~~ Gold Networker.

“Golden potatoes, señora?” quips one person.

And the room was once again filled with laughter. More and more arguments continued as to who gets the spot next to the Preacher when suddenly, a frail voice was heard saying, “You take all the spots; I'll get the last one!”

“But why, Sir? Won't you even dare to challenge what others sell and just concede your case?” asked one man.

“I'm used to it,” says the young man.

“What do you sell, anyway? I guess it's not that valuable that you're willing to be placed last. Ha-ha!”


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How to Avoid Breaking Your Piggy Bank

2015-03-27T15:02:00.000+08:00

Summer is officially here! It's the season when parents (and parents alike) get some rest from the many bills they need to pay for sending their loved ones to school. Yet, it's also the season when many people splurge for a couple of days' rest at a nearby resort or an out-of-town for their much-needed getaway!

I can still remember, I used to sell ice candies back when I was in elementary during summer breaks.

I would proudly deposit most of the profits to my piggy bank. You think I'm an entrepreneur by heart? Ha-ha! But being exposed to such environment taught me a lot of things. And one of the things that I realized back then was that saving is actually easy, it's “how you keep your savings” that makes it awful hard work! Agree? Good thing, guest writer Kyle Kam of Moneymax, will teach us how can we avoid breaking our piggy banks:

When you were a child, your first lessons in money management usually came with your first piggy bank. At an early age, your parents showed you how those coins left over from your baon could be dropped in a coin slot and saved for a rainy day. Sure, you didn't fully understand why, but you knew that keeping a piggy bank was a good habit to have.

These days, our piggy banks usually come in the form of savings accounts at the local bank. The problem comes when we start seeing those piggy banks as a second wallet we can take money out of whenever we want to buy something.

If you want to break this bad habit and still have enough saved for when you get older, you can start by following these four tips for more effective financial planning.

Go on diet mode

When it comes to how we spend our money, often our biggest enemy is willpower. Even the smartest folks can get tempted to spend their cash on something non-essential, like a new pair of heels or a trip to Boracay. Sometimes the temptation to spend big comes from something more innocent, like a weekly frappe at Starbucks or a large bucket of popcorn at the movies. Over time, these small expenses add up and shave hundreds of pesos from your salary.

How do you stop dipping into your savings for the smallest things? The key is to build discipline by going on a “financial diet” of sorts.

Basically, personal finance is to money what diets are to food—by being conscious of your spending habits and learning how NOT to use your savings, you're working towards a goal that will have really awesome benefits for you in the future. Yes, we know going on a diet is not fun, but it's still better than retiring with zero money in your name.

Treat your savings like your bills

You ever notice how our attitude towards money changes whenever bills are concerned? Imagine a 1000-peso bill fell from the heavens and into your hands. Next, consider where you are more likely to use that spare dough: an expensive meal at a fancy restaurant or an overdue Meralco bill? The trick is that no matter what your personal feelings are on the matter, that bill would always rank higher on your list of priorities.

Now try applying the same mindset to your personal savings. When we skip paying our monthly bills, we become aware of very real consequences such as having no water or electricity. By imagining your savings as a bill you pay to yourself, you are taking your long-term financial future more seriously by linking an abstract idea (“saving money for the future”) to a concrete action (“Whoop, time to pay my bills!”). This approach also makes it simpler to get into the habit of setting aside money every time your paycheck comes in.

Make your splurges count

The richest people in the world didn't get that way just by shopping on a budget all their lives. No, they also took calculated risks by putting their hard-earned money in the right places, like investments and innovative business opportunities. Like any other aspiring millionaire, you have to look to where the smart money lies. You do this not by avoiding risk, but by taking strategic approaches with it.

While spending large sums of money is inevitable for most working adults, you can plan ahead by having your big purchases go towards something practical and multi-purpose.

So for instance, instead of buying a flashy car, go for a sturdy and reliable one with a comprehensive car insurance policy that can protect you from the high costs of road accidents. Instead of fixating on status symbols like luxury handbags and brand-name clothing, focus on things you need everyday like healthy food and a livable home.

Planning to buy a gadget like a laptop or smartphone? Make sure it will last you a long time and find a place in your job or daily routine.

Think like a time traveler

A lot of times, people make costly mistakes because they get “caught up in the moment” too much. To counter this, both hindsight and foresight are your best friends. Look to both the past and the future to inform the financial decisions you make in the present.

Let's say, for example, that you're saving up for a new home for your family. Plan ahead by asking hard questions and learning from experience—yes, including past mistakes.

How did other people in your life achieve this same goal?

Would your kids have it easier in an apartment or a house and lot? How were you able to afford your current home? Would living in this neighborhood give you a rough time during rush hour or typhoon season? Juggling all of these concerns now can make you think twice the next time you make an impulse decision.

A big part of good financial management is taking a smarter approach in how your money gets used. Once you're able to take these principles to heart, you can exercise self-control and save for a rainy day with greater ease. The next time you get tempted to splurge or make an impulse buy, thinking long and hard about your finances can make it easier for you to leave that money in the bank where it belongs.

This is a guest post.

Author Bio:
Kyle Kam is an online marketing specialist for Moneymax, the Philippines’ leading financial comparison website. You may follow him on Twitter @undisputedkyle


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5 Things to Add to Your New Year's List

2015-01-01T23:09:00.000+08:00

In case you don't know yet, a New Year's resolution is a tradition in which a person makes a promise to improve or do something positive, such as to save money or to start exercising, beginning from Day One.

Historically, the Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January was named after.

And as the title suggests, here are five things that you might want to add in your already long list of to-do and try-not-to-do for the upcoming year:

1. Stop buying things and calling them investments

It may be true that anything you buy can actually be considered an investment. But again, it is only an investment if you'll use it to generate additional income or if it puts money inside your pocket.

Is attending a paid seminar an investment? Yes, but only if you apply what you've learned there. Is a bag with a price tag of P3,000 an investment? Maybe yes, if you'll use it to deliver packed lunch in your office.

The truth is, people blindly buy things and label their purchases as investments simply to cover-up or justify their unhealthy spending habits.

You bought a new smartphone and told yourself, “It's expensive, but this is a good investment.” only to use it for sending stupid SMS chains. Seriously, do you even know what the word “investment” really means?

New Years' Resolution: Stop fooling yourself!

2. Treasure the moment, not the photo

According to a research conducted by National Photo Enthusiasts Committee (NPEC) last November, about 38% of data is consumed by selfie-related images. That means if today's generation don't do something to stop this abusive habit, only 10% will be left available for storage by the year 2025!

The above statement is a made-up joke, of course. But if you find it hard not take a selfie regardless of the situation, or you have this feeling that you can't live without a selfie, then you might want to consider seeing a psychologist.

On a serious note, do you really have to capture (and post) all those pictures of yours? Sometimes, in our drive to capture every moment, we fail to cherish the moment we are capturing. Take for example when people attend concerts and they're busy recording everything on cam and lost half of their “live concert experience” in doing so.

New Years' Resolution: Get and live a real life. There's more to life outside the social media.

3. Commit to a process, not a goal

Some people love setting goals. Unfortunately, their goals don't always love them back. James Clear, an entrepreneur, wrote an excellent article about forgetting goals and focusing on systems instead.

“We all have things that we want to achieve in our lives -- building a successful business, getting into better shape, raising a wonderful family. For most of us, the path to achieving those things starts with setting a specific and actionable goal. When it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things and it all comes down to the difference between goals and systems.

What's the difference between goals and systems?

If you're an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a successful business. Your system is your processes for sales, marketing, fulfillment, operations, etc.

If you're a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day.

If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your systems, would you still get results?

For example, if you were a basketball coach and you ignored your goal to win a championship and focused only on what your team does at practice each day, would you still get results? I think you would.”

I did some research to back up James' claims, and this is what Wikipedia has to say:

a 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying “lose weight”), while women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

Goals reduce your current happiness.

When you're working toward a goal, you're essentially saying, “I'm not good enough yet... but I will be when I reach my goal.” The problem with this mindset is that you're teaching yourself to always put off happiness and success until the next milestone is achieved.

Choosing a goal puts a huge burden on your shoulders.

When you focus on the practice instead of the performance, you can enjoy the present moment and improve at the same time. You might think your goal will keep you motivated over the long term, but that's not always true. When all of your hard work is focused on a particular goal, what is left to push you forward after you achieve it? Goals are about the short-term result. Systems are about the long-term process. In the end, process always wins.

Goals suggest that you can control things that you have no control over.

You can't predict the future. But every time we set a goal, we try to do it. We try to plan out where we will be and when we will make it there. We try to predict how quickly we can make progress, even though we have no idea what circumstances or situations will arise along the way. Forget about predicting the future and build a system that can signal when you need to make adjustments.

None of this is to say that goals are useless. However, I've found that goals are good for planning your progress, while systems are good for actually making progress. Goals can provide direction and even push you forward in the short term, but eventually a well-designed system will always win. Having a system is what matters, because committing to the process is what makes the difference.

New Years' Resolution: Start today!

4. Live your life but be mindful of the future
I would have wanted to write my own thoughts here, but this part of an article from Fitz Villafuerte's Ready to Be Rich blog says it best! And since I couldn't agree more with him on this, it would be disservice to you if I won't share it:

It’s okay to enjoy your life today, as long as you don’t lose your vision of how you want your future to be. Financially speaking, while it’s true that delaying gratification is a big part of becoming rich, it doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice your present-day happiness.

But it does require you to realize that happiness ultimately comes from experiencing life, and not from simply being able to afford things and buying stuff.

The fancy meal on your plate is not your source of happiness, it is the dining experience you shared with your spouse that made it worth the money.

The expensive smartphone is not your source of happiness, it is the connections you forge and the memories you create that give it value.

The designer bag is not your source of happiness, it is being able to express your sense of fashion that actually lifts your mood and self-esteem.

If your future depends on the choices you make today, then it follows that your present is a consequence of what you’ve done in the past.

New Years' Resolution: Plan, You Only Live Once!

5. Grow-up

Stop spending money you haven't earned to buy things you don't need to impress people you don't like, so you won't work on a job you hate. So don't let other people decide the kind of life you want to have.

New Years' Resolution: Grow Up!


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Three Friends and Three Years

2014-12-10T15:10:00.000+08:00

Three friends received their 13th month pay on that faithful day of December 8, 2010. It was Thursday, and they were excited to meet each other over the weekend to plan how they would spend their money, or when they could visit a nearby mall to do some “gadget-hunting”.

These friends share a lot of things in common, including their unhealthy spending habits.

The first guy worked as an Engineer from a software-provider company. The second was a Computer Instructor from an IT School. The third guy was an IT Consultant from an international company.

Along came a “hero”

The following day, however, they met someone who turned out to be their personal finance hero. This “hero” first met Mr. Engineer. He discussed some investments with him where he can put some of his money. He taught him how he could invest directly on the stock market or open a Mutual Funds account. Mr. Engineer was amazed on what he learned that day! Immediately, he texted both Mr. Instructor and Mr. Consultant about his encounter with “hero”. And so “hero” went on to discuss the same thing with Mr. Instructor and Mr. Consultant on the very same day.

To save or to invest?

It was Friday (December 10), and these three friends were now a day away from meeting each other to plan their “get-away”. But Mr. Engineer was so moved by the possibility of growing his money and decided to inform his two friends that he'll show up on their meeting but won't be joining on their gadget-hunting activity. He suggested that they could watch a movie together instead.

Mr. Instructor, upon reading Mr. Engineer's text message, flashed a quick smile on his face. “So I wasn't alone who thinks of doing this after all,” he told himself. So he quickly replied and told Mr. Engineer about his plans of investing too.

After learning what his two friends' plans were, Mr. Consultant was quite unhappy. “How could they replace our gadget-hunting with this investment thing?” he quipped. “Besides, investing is risky! I'd rather put my money on the bank.”

So Mr. Consultant, knowing that their gadget-hunt activity was cancelled, decided to open a savings account instead.

Mr. Engineer, who opened an account with an on-line broker the day before, decided to buy shares from his favorite fast-food restaurant - Jollibee! He invested 10,000 pesos of his bonus (which was originally intended to be used for either their gadget-hunting). He was able to buy 110 shares of Jollibee at 90.10 per share.

Meanwhile, Mr. Instructor opted to invest his P10,000 on PhilEquity Inc. He was advised by “hero” that investing in the stock market himself would require some monitoring. And since he works on a busy schedule, he considered opening a Mutual Funds account instead of investing directly in the stock market like what Mr. Engineer did. He was able to buy 484 shares at 19.9279 each.

The three friends met as scheduled on the weekend and spent most of the time discussing their decisions. Mr. Consultant went on to challenge his two friends' decision by telling them not to touch their investments for the next 3 years!

After their agreement, everyone went home: with two faces wearing smiles and one shaking his head -- feeling sorry for what he claimed to be “poor decisions” made by his two friends.

And just like any other movie that travels time -- days became weeks...weeks became months...and months became years -- three years had passed since then.

After 3 years..

It was December 11, 2013, three years since the day the three friends agreed to see how their investments did...

Mr. Engineer grew his money by 84%. One share of Jollibee by December 11, 2013 already cost 166 pesos! He was able to buy it at just 90.10 per share three years ago! His 110 shares of Jollibee is now worth 18,319 pesos.

Mr. Instructor, on the other hand, grew his money by 39%. NAVPS or Net Asset Value Per Share for PhilEquity on December 11, 2013 is already 28.8115. He bought his shares with NAVPS of only 19.9279 three years ago!

Mr. Consultant barely grew his money by putting it on a regular savings account on a bank. It gave him 2% growth in a span of three long years!

Can I share a secret?

I was one of the three friends in the story. And if you're thinking that I'm probably either Mr. Engineer or Mr. Instructor, sorry - wrong answer.

Sadly, I was Mr. Consultant.

Three years ago, I worked as an IT Consultant on an international company that paid me more than what I actually put on the bank in the story. But here's another secret: I was not able to keep that 10,000 pesos on the bank for three years! I would withdraw some amount from that savings account whenever I feel I needed to, until the account was closed. So the figure regarding my money growing by at least 2% is somewhat imaginary. I wished I listened to “hero” and to my two friends three years ago. I would have been about 84% or 39% wealthier today had I listened to them.

Time is Gold

Time is indeed your ally when building your wealth or growing your money. But it can also be your enemy if you don't maximize its use. Like in my case, all I could do back then was to regret on my poor decision of not investing that money. But just as the saying goes, “It's better late than never.” True enough, when I finally listened to our “hero” and started investing both on my financial knowledge and money vehicles, I was able to catch up with my two friends.

I think there is never too late when investing, after all. I hope you learned some valuable lessons on my own story.

When do you plan to invest?

If three years from now and you read this article again, you'd be surprised how much the numbers here might have changed. Jollibee's price per share as of today (December 2014), for example, is already trading around 200 Pesos per share! And PhilEquity's NAVPS is already at 36 Pesos! Can you imagine the next three years?

Then you'll say either of the two:

“Thank God I decided to invest three years ago!”

or

“Oh God. How I wish I decided to invest three years ago.”

I hope its number 1.

PS: Can this article be your “hero”?


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Investments You Can Make With P5,000

2014-10-29T18:39:00.000+08:00

Today, we'll try to answer one of the most common question people ask when it comes to investing:

“Where can I inbest (invest in the best) my <insert value here> Pesos?”

Have you asked this too? Or did someone ask you this question as well?

It's quite normal for us to ask for advice from people most dear to us, even if they're not the right ones to ask for sometimes. But elementary reasoning would tell that it should not be the case. You have concerns over your health? Go see a doctor, not your neighbor who sells powdered guava leaves.

If you think it's not a good idea to ask a question to the wrong people, then what more if you will ask the wrong question to the wrong people?

Most people were not satisfied with either the answer or the result (when they followed the answer) because their question is ~~wrong~~ incomplete in the first place!

The correct question should be:

“Where can I inbest (invest in the best) my <insert value here> Pesos so I can <insert goal here>?”

Yes, an investment should have a definite goal or an objective in order to determine what investment option will best answer the need.

An investment objective may either be short-term (new gadget, out-of-town travel), medium-term (new car, out-of-country travel) or long-term (house, Asian cruise, educational plan, retirement).

Thus, if you want to invest your 5,000 Pesos so you can buy a VIP ticket for the ~~One Direction~~ Eraserheads reunion concert in 2024 (I'm a fan, bear with me), you need to find an investment where your P5,000 will earn at least 12% per year in order to buy that P15,000 ticket (Gulp).

With this in mind, you can then proceed in finding which option is best for you.

Once it's clear what your investment objective is (and how will you be able to achieve it), the next question will be:

“Which type of investment can help me give the returns that I need?”

This is where I'll give you the answers as to where you can invest your P5,000!

Click on each of the titles below to know more about them:

I will name 5 financial institutions I know of that allow every “Juan” to be an investor with as little as five thousand Pesos (5,000 Php.)

Before you continue, it is crucial that you understand how Mutual Funds work. If you have no idea what a Mutual Fund is, click here.

If you already know Mutual Funds, you should consider your risk appetite next. To determine your risk tolerance level (which will determine which type of fund is best for you), take the Free Risk Profiling from BPI.

Sun Life Financial in the Philippines offers a wide spectrum of products that include Mutual Funds which is represented in the country by its mutual fund manager, Sun Life Asset Management Company Inc. (SLAMC)

SLAMC is the fund manager and principal distributor of the biggest family of mutual funds in the country – the Sun Life Prosperity Funds. The company is the first in the industry to have an accounting system that adequately complied with the standards set by the International Accounting Standards (IAS).

Simplicity, Accessibility, Affordability and Returns. These are only a few of the benefits that a Sun Life Prosperity Fund investor receives.

To know which Fund Type from Sun Life is best for you, you can view their simplified assessment form here.

To know more about Sun Life, visit their website.

PhilEquity is an investment management company committed to helping investors achieve long-term financial goals and aims to be the preferred investment management company of their target customers seeking the best-managed funds and excellent customer service.

PhilEquity provides a very good investor education on their website that contains various articles and tools designed to help you become better informed as an investor. To know more about this, click here.

To know more about PhilEquity, visit their website here.

The ALFM Mutual Funds (Ayala Life Fixed income Mutual fund) are open-end investment companies registered with, and regulated by, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As of December 2013, the aggregate Net Asset Value of the funds amounted to about P98 Billion. To date, the ALFM Mutual Funds have the largest market share in the mutual funds industry in the Philippines.

ALFM Mutual Funds consist of six (6) funds, each having an own investment objective to suit and meet the needs of investors.

With the help of BPI Express Online, you can access your ALFM investment account anytime, anywhere.

To know more about ALFM Mutual Funds, click here.

First Metro Asset Management , Inc. (FAMI) was established by First Metro Investment Corporation (FMIC) in partnership with the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) and Marist Brothers Foundation to engage in the mutual fund business, promote savings mobilization and advocate investment literacy among Filipinos.

FAMI is an investment company adviser licensed by the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to manage and distribute mutual funds. As of December 2013, FAMI is the investment manager, administrator, and principal distributor of the following mutual funds:

To know more about Save & Learn Mutual Funds, click here.

Philam Asset Management, Inc. (PAMI) is an asset management company that administers, distributes and provides investment advisory to several mutual funds. PAMI is a wholly owned company of Philam Life – which is a member company of the AIA Group.

Established in 1992, PAMI is one of the largest asset and wealth managers in the mutual fund industry with more than Php. 40 Billion Assets under management (AUM) as of June 30, 2014.

A major contributor to the development of the Philippine mutual fund industry, PAMI is a leader in asset management in the Philippines, managing nine funds from different asset classes for different client risk appetites.

If you want to test your Financial IQ, try their online test here!

To know more about PAMI's mutual funds products, click here.

Do you want to start investing in Mutual Funds but you're still lost and don't know exactly where and how to start? Let me help you, send your inquiries or contact me here.

UITFs are offered by several banks but since our goal is to find investments worth P5,000 and below, I'll just be listing those that offer them as of posting.

To know the difference and similarities between Mutual Funds and UITF, click here.

To know the top 5 best performing funds, click here.

For UITF Yield Calculator, click here.

Saving is, and always will be, the foundation of any fortune. It is secure, risk-free and readily accessible. But saving alone is not enough to make your money grow. You should also invest. This means taking some risks, but the rewards are higher. When you save and invest, your money has the power to grow faster.

The BDO Easy Investment Plan (EIP), an investment scheme that enables you to attain your financial goals and financial wellness through the twin habits of regularly saving and investing.

The EIP is for individuals who wish to have a medium to long-term saving and investment plan so that they can achieve their financial goals and financial wellness at some future time.

To know more about BDO's Easy Investment Plan, click here.

The PNB Global Filipino Funds are money market funds specifically designed to meet the investment needs of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW's) and their beneficiaries. It provides them with an outlet to accumulate their savings for the purchase of a new home or educational plans for their children or other future needs of their families.

These funds are suited for conservative clients who want an investment strategy where the primary objectives is to prevent the loss of principal at all times and where the fund is invested purely in deposit instruments

To know more about PNB's Global Filipino Funds, click here.

The Fund is a peso-denominated money market fund suited for clients who have an investment horizon of at least one month, a moderate risk profile, are focused on preserving their principal at all times, and looking for a non-volatile investment fund.

It aims to achieve for its participants income and liquidity by investing in a portfolio of short-term peso-denominated deposits, BSP-SDA, repurchase agreements secured by government securities, and money market instruments with a maximum weighted average duration of one year.

To know more about the Metro Wealth Builder Fund, click here.

The Gintong Sikap Secure Fund is a Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) that provides the investor with higher earnings from a diversified portfolio of high-grade government securities, money market securities and other highly marketable fixed income instruments and equities.

The GSSF intends to achieve for its participants growth on their investment through pooled fund investments to provide a better yield than invested individually. The Fund was launched on August 8, 2006.

To know more about how to invest for as low as P500 (that's not a typo) on DBP's Gintong Sikap Secure Fund, click here.

If you're confident enough to invest directly where Mutual Funds' and UITF's fund managers place their pooled funds, then you can buy shares of some of the companies via the stock market.

If you have no idea how the stock market works, click here.

Please keep in mind that the companies listed below were just randomly picked by me. I do NOT recommend nor promote buying any shares from these companies and I shall NOT be held liable for any loss of buying stocks if the price per share you bought changes and resulted to a loss in paper value.

As of posting, here are some of the company shares you can buy with your 5,000 Pesos.

* As of October 29, 2014
** Broker Fees Excluded

If you did not find any of the investment options above great for your 5,000 Pesos, you can always start a small business instead. You can do buy and sell of goods such as bags and apparels (maximize social media to promote your business) or you can even setup your own on-line store!

You may also want to consider selling foods where you're good at such as pastries and made-to-order cakes or delicacies. What I'm trying to say is that there's practically an unlimited opportunity out there on the streets and your very own neighborhood waiting for you!

Lastly, you can consider putting up a medium-sized business. How? Maximize the power of pooled funds. Yes! It's the idea behind cooperatives and mutual funds! The only difference is that since you have the direct access to the fund, you can decide which business to pursue! Start finding your co-investors. They could be your relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues or even your activity partners! Don't misjudge them - because they might just be waiting for that sound business proposal from you! To quote Nora Roberts, “If you don't ask, the answer is always No!”

While this may require more analysis and time (since you're holding not just your own P5,000), this kind of venture is more likely to succeed if given proper planning. It would be completely better if your co-investors would be willing to share their expertise, experience and ideas with you to come-up with a great business idea. But if you already have a business plan in mind and only requires capital to start, then all you need to do is raise that needed amount for your business!

I've saved the best for last. If you find the above options to be great for you, then you must be excited to know the best investment, huh? Well, there is -- yourself. Remember that the best investment that you can make is to invest in yourself. Be informed and stay informed.

Start educating yourself by reading books and attending financial literacy seminars. I suggest you don't go for e-books since there's a great chance you'll end up not reading the book because (1.) you got if for free and (2.) there's a lot of distractions stored in your gadget. Attend seminars - both free and paid. Knowledge is the key to discovering the great opportunities around you!

If you buy a book for the sake of being able to say to your friends that “I have this book” or displaying it to a shelf, then that money simply becomes an expense. See to it that you buy a book and you read it so it becomes an investment to yourself.

In a generation saturated with #hashtags and selfies, books remain the undefeated source of learning, wisdom and inspiration. Opening a book means opening a door to so many possibilities!

Do you know that the best investment is probably the cheapest too?

- o0o -

If you find any of the investment options good for your 5,000 Pesos, then I suggest you start as soon as possible. Remember that interest rate is your ally in building your wealth. And interest rate works hand in hand with, of course, time. So the earlier you start investing, the better.

Saving is fundamental. But saving alone will not suffice. Not when inflation is just around the corner. Don't just save. Save, then invest.

Will you invest your money or will you keep it in your drawer?

Think.

The clock is ticking.


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