Wealth Creative

Pay your self first to the 10th power!

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:53:00 -0700

It's Common Sense!

I love reading books. The fact of the matter is I am currently reading 4books which I intend to finish before the week ends. But one book caught my attention, and that book is entitled "The Wealthy Barber" by David Chilton. The book is all about financial planning and how to make millions by using common sense and a little discipline. One of the highlights of the book is the "Pay your self first" philosophy. In fact, the book is all centered to that idea, and that idea is the secret to wealth.

The Philosophy

Have you ever wondered where all your money go a few days after your paycheck? I bet you're wondering. I was also wondering all that money went a few years ago.Many, if not all are use to spend almost half or more than that to things we do not even remember. What's worse about it is that we haven't noticed that even before we get our paychecks we already gave a quarter of our income to the government through taxes and government benefits.

The "Paying Yourself First" philosophy is all about changing that kind of habit. The idea of the philosophy is to take 10% of your total income (whatever source maybe) and save it. It's that simple! Although I would have to warn you that as easy as it sound, in reality this is where we all fail. These "Savings" are not suppose to be stuck in a bank. It should be placed in an investment vehicle that will beat up inflation and of course make you more money.

The main picture is to stick to that 10% throughout your life time until you retire (or when you need it most). As time goes by, your income increases making your 10% savings increasing as well.

The Trivia

How many do you think is the percentage of the population actually do this? Make a guess. Have you ever heard of the 90/10 rule of money? Do you know that in todays global economy, only 10% of the entire population owns 90% of the wealth of the world and 90% of the population only holding the remaining 10%? Pretty harsh huh!?

Yes, to be included in the 10% we have to hold the "Pay yourself first" Philosophy making 10 percent the main number of focus.

To often people would want to complicate matter when it comes to gaining financial wealth. The book "The Wealthy Barber" has been a good guide for me to realize that we all have the potential to be rich. All we need to do is to use our common sense!

Recommended Readings:

New Rules of Investing Now! by James O'shaughnessy

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

Freedom For All!

Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur

Mobile: +63.922.860.1659

Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com

AIM ID: jbaclangen

Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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Lessons from a point of independence

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:57:00 -0700

The Questions

Do you remember the time when you had no one to depend on during those times that you were at your worse? Do you remember a time in your life that you could not sleep because you had to think of all the people depending on you and how you can maintain your good relationship with them? Do you remember a time when all things fell apart like a house of cards because you made one mistake you never knew would take down everything? These are the questions that I am facing right now and I am very thankful that I had experienced all of this.

2010: The change of heart

In the beginning of the year 2010 I had a change of heart and mind when I discovered an opportunity that only a few can take advantage of. I had changed my mind set to become a better father to my daughter, a better man for my wife and a better provider to my family and to the world around me. It was not that difficult to change myself because I was determined to make a positive effect on the people around me. So I had all my plans ready and made the first step to do that change. I studied, talked to like minded and successful people and I prayed for that plans that was laid ahead. I was ready to execute the plan. Then came July 2010 and everything was set. I quit my high paying job in search of learning and personal growth. And then the problems I thought I could handle came. One by one, bad luck came in like a ghost in the night and tried to rob my strength and courage to move on and pursue my goals. It was the challenge of the life time. We had problems with our new home, some financial and the business at its low. It was the hardest of time for my family and my business. The test came and I almost failed it. Good thing was that my wife was very supportive and caring during those shaky times. I found that even though some parts of our life was being torn apart, our relationship as husband and wife because stronger and tougher. And slowly the tides are now changing to my advantage.

The tide has changed

Just this week a few positive things have happened to us. We transferred to our brand new house with no problems, although some minor problems occurred after the transfer, we had it all fixed this week. We also had our finances straighten up and the business is slowly crawling upwards. I also got a new job that I consider a very nice job where I can learn and improve self, my business and some investments. All the blessings are all falling down from the sky and I trust God that he’ll always provide solutions to all our problems and will always provide our needs. I found a lot of thing to learn from and I had a chance to experience firsthand the hardcore tests that only a few can experience. It was a fun ride and I still enjoy the crazy ride right now.

The lessons I learned from it

First thing is first, learn to lean and depend on the almighty provider. I’m not a very religious man but I am sure that my faith did not wither when we needed help. He always had provided all our needs in the past and even gave us some wants. We learned that when we hold on to His promises, He will always fulfil it with ways that our explicit minds can expect. Second is to be ready with a very diligently prepared plan. Although my plan was good it was not good enough for errors. We could have made a better plan and experienced only minor problems. I also wanted to add this: Always expect the worst and also expect the best. I know that it contradicts each other but one should always know when to expect for the worse and when to expect for the best. Third lesson is to invest while it’s still early. It always pays to be ready when unexpected things happen. Financial readiness will always trump unexpected problems. Fourth and lastly is to always be open with family. Open communication will always make difficult and complex issues simple. I know so. Open communication made my wife understand why I needed to quit my high paying job and all the other critical decisions I made. She supported me all the way. I hope that all my readers will find inspiration through this writing. Thanks and God Bless!

Jeffrey Baclangen

Freelance Entrepreneur/ Musician/ Business Analyst

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Investing 101 for starters!

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:13:00 -0700

What is investing?

Many people hear and say the words "investing" and "investment" but do not really understand these simple words mean. Many people do not even know what those words are. In my journey to financial literacy I have discovered that the word "investing" means differently to a lot of people. Some people see investing as exerting their effort in exchange for money, for others they see that investing is buying things at a low cost even if they do not need it, some may find investing by spending their money in electronic gadgets and appliances; others see investing as saving money in the bank, many call it investing when buying expensive home through home mortgage and etc. Many people today are misled by this kind of perception about investing. Investing is something more than just buying and saving.

For some time in my experience in business and investments, I have found the true meaning of investing. The meaning of investing is simple; buying something of value that throws "Passive Income". When we say "Passive Income" we are talking about investing into assets that gives your money on a "Regular Basis" without working. You might ask "Is earning money without effort even possible?" To be honest with you, the answer is yes! There are lots of ways to earn money without working or exerting effort at all. There are many kinds of assets that will truly give you passive income. The only problem is that most of these instruments are expensive and when I say "expensive" I am not just talking about monetary buying but it also includes spending time, effort and education to buy these assets. Fortunately there are only 3 categories of assets that one can buy. These categories are subdivided into many categories and instruments that give the investing world a bit of spice but also cause of confusion to many individuals. The three categories are Businesses, Real Estate and Paper Assets and these three can be subdivided into different kinds of assets such as stocks, bonds, rental real estates, retail businesses, network marketing and so on and so forth.

The Question About Money!

Will money make you rich?

Majority if not all would agree that money can make a person rich. In fact, 9 out of 10 people will say that more money will solve their money problems. In truth, money does not necessarily make a person rich and wealthy. What makes a person wealthy is the number of assets that makes more money for that individual. But I do agree that money is essential to start generating assets that will throw more money for an individual without working at all. The only question right now is where to get that money to buy those expensive assets? Let me give you some examples to show my point clearly and I would also include the pros and cons of each example.

Earning money from working for someone, in other words "Employment". This is the most common way to earn money to buy assets. Almost 90% of the population of the world is in this type of monetary earning.

Pros: This is the easiest way to earn money to buy assets. Doing this kind of method only requires education (some don't even require it) and basic human skills to do it.

Cons: A person can only do so much. The earning in this kind of method is only limited to the amount of time, effort and specialization that a person has. Most of the time people get use to earning money from employment that they do not even consider buying assets at all.

Borrowing money to buy assets. This can be done by borrowing money from friends, family or any financial institutions.

Pros: This can be a very effective way to buy assets as you can use other people's money to buy your own assets and as soon as the asset gives you income, you can eventually pay off the debt. This can also be a way of leveraging in a huge percentage as the only requirement you'll need is financial literacy and a little effort to make the asset work for you.

Cons: This kind of fund raising is difficult or hard to find. When I say hard, it means that only a few people know of families or friends that are willing to lend money for you to buy assets. And when it comes to financial institutions such as banks, cooperatives, investment companies and etc, most are required to having an equivalent experience on how to manage investment (track record) or at least a good expendible income to cover the loan.

Getting a job overseas and save money, then come back and buy assets. This method is very effective to many Filipinos because of their competitiveness to compete in jobs overseas.

Pros: Many successful stories of employee turned businessmen and investors came from this kind of fund raising method. They go abroad to work for a few years, save what ever they earn there and go back to their mother land to invest in business and other assets.

Cons: Although a lot of success stories came from this method of fund raising, most majority of people that work and earn abroad have unsuccessful stories than of those that are successful. Most of the time, people with no financial literacy or education will end up loosing all the money they saved abroad after a few months vacation back to their home land. I would also want to add that there is also a risk of wasting time working for the money to save rather than spending more time to study and grow your investments.

Create the asset to buy more assets. This is one of the most difficult yet very rewarding method of fund raising for asset buying.

Pros: This is the most leveraging method of fund raising to buy more assets. Creating assets is mostly (but not limited to) creating a business from scratch. Creating a business to buy more assets is the best way to go. If you'll notice, most of the most successful people in the world created their wealth by creating their businesses. One example is Bill Gates that created the most used computer operating systems in the world, Microsoft. In the local scene we can use Mr. Henry Sy as an example by creating his Retailing Company, Shoe Mart (SM). After creating the asset, they then bought more assets such as buying out more companies and business, real estate and paper assets.

Cons: This method is the hardest to do as one should study more about his specific business. A person that creates assets is also required a high financial I.Q. to make sure that his created asset will become successful. Many people try to do this but as statistics say, only 1 out of 10 start up businesses only last 5 years and only 1 out of 10 survivor businesses succeed more than 10 years.

Why invest in financial literacy?

Many of you may think that investing is simple and very easy to do, and I do agree with that. But have you ever noticed that out of a thousand Filipinos, only 10 are successful financially? Many people have heard of a lot of methods of investing such as investing in the stock market, saving money in the bank, investing in real estate, doing business but never done it in reality. In my opinion, I think people do not invest because they just simply have no time to invest in their financial education to gain financial literacy. Many people think that having a good education and a more specific specialization will make them ahead of the money game but to tell you the truth, the more you are educated and specialized, the more limited your possibilities are. Why? Because the more education and specialization you have the lesser roads you can walk. Most people say that to be doctor or a lawyer or an engineer would make them successful in life. While some do make it and become successful, majority of them are not even close to getting a decent job to start off. You may also say that having better position in a great company will be the easiest way to be successful. Again, while others make it, most employees (even on the upper management positions) are not even close to having a solid asset to depend on when they retire. Most of these highly paid employees even have more debt or mortgage payments than assets paying them profits.

So how do we get ahead of the money game? It's simple; learn more about income statements and balance sheets. In the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki, financial statements are very important to financially literate individuals as it is the basis of where you are standing financially and where you intend to go. In a nut shell a financial statement is a gauge that tells you where you are financially and dictates you the options of where you want to go financially.

One can start his financial education by reading books and getting a trusted and experienced financial adviser to help them see where they are financially.

Conclusion

Many people think that they are ahead of the money game because they have fat pay checks and high positions in a corporation but what they don't realize is that being ahead of the money game is not about large paychecks or huge commissions but the number of assets making them more money without exerting so much effort.

Freedom For All!
Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur
Mobile: +63.927.966.9979
Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com
AIM ID: jbaclangen
Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and
http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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Fear of losing, is a fear of winning!

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:40:00 -0700

“Fear benefits man nothing!” – Quotation from the movie 13^th Warrior

The Fear of Taking Risk

In many ways, fear has been part of human nature when it comes to taking risk in every aspect of life. Almost every human have different types of fear filling their hearts and minds, and that fear limits them to soar and win in the game of life. In the world of finance, these fears are what surround the majority of the population not only in this country but also in other nations. These fear takes away all the opportunity available in the world of business and investing.

I have many friends and colleagues that has been in the employment quadrant that are very fearful when taking risk in business and investments. They cling too much in the idea that job security, being competitive and promotions are the only way to be successful financially and to be comfortable in life. In the book “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing” by Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad mentioned that “Too many individuals that believe in having security in their lives through getting a job with great benefits and large paycheck will resolve their money problems. What these individuals fail to realize is that having a job is riskier. It’s not the investment that is risky but the individual is risky. Many people think that investing is risky but if you see it clearly, people are risky not the investment.” Having a job is not bad, in fact, it’s a great way to learn and earn to start investing. The wrong picture about employment is the thinking process that the only secure way to become comfortable and successful is to have a fat paycheck every month. With this kind of thinking, people are restricted to the point that they fear other ways of earning such as Business and Investments. Many fear it because they thought that employment will always be the safest and fastest way to earn money. But in reality, most of the most successful people in the world are not employees but business men and investors.

Experiencing Risk

Not 3 days ago, a friend of mine who’s an employee and has no experience in investments had a chat with me regarding investments. He was passing by my station in the office and saw my book “Stock Market Primer” by Claude N. Rosenberg, Jr. As we passed by and saw the book and he immediately took it from my desk and checked it out. As he was browsing through the book he mentioned some tips about the upcoming elections and the opportunity of buying stocks during that upcoming event. As I was listening, I just sat their silent and did not give any comment. A tension was created and after a few moments he asked me if I were already investing. I replied in a very courteous way that I have been investing in the stock market for quite some time now. He just stood there and a very awkward moment happened in a few seconds as he went and exited his way after that. This is a story that I wanted to share because I wanted to emphasize that risk and experience come hand in hand. This story is an example of an inexperience man giving investment tips to an experiences investor. I am a very excited learner and I do desire more knowledge on things that I have interest in, but in this kind of scenario I am very much showing my cautiousness in whom to listen to. Most of the time we need to experience taking the risk first hand when investing because the lessons learned from the experience will be more valuable than any monetary profits one can have. I also want to emphasize that we as investors should always be cautious whom we get advice from.

so called experts out there are giving too many investment and financial advice that does not reflect on their lives (people that do not live what they preach). Always make sure that you always ask advices from people who have “Education (Financial Literacy)”, “Experience”, and “Excessive Cash”. We should always listen to people with reliable experience, great financial education and successful investing producing excessive cash.

Fighting to win is different from fighting not to lose

Two weeks ago we all have seen another momentous fight from our own Mr. Manny Pacquiao vs. Ghana’s Joshua Clottey. Many of us have seen that even though Clottey had a good defensive approach to Pacquiao’s attacks, he still did not win the fight. Pacquiao won the fight not because he was stronger or more aggressive but he did won because he took the risk of opening his defense and aggressively attacking Clottey even though he knew that Clottey had a powerful punch to throw. In the world of investing, fear causes a lot of people to invest not to loose. They do what Clottey did on the ring. They are trying to invest not to loose and eventually end up loosing it all. We should all be like Pacquiao taking the risk to aggressively make our move and strategically make our attacks. We need to make sure that as we take the risk of aggressively attacking (Investing) we also have our defenses ready when the attacks also come in. In Business this is called the S.W.O.T. Analysis. We always see things as risky but we also prepare for the worse to come.

Many people try to be experts when it comes to finances. Some invest in bank savings, some in a few mutual funds and some don’t even have anything. A Japanese Business man and a friend of my wife once gave a comment about Filipino’s with regard to money. He said “The problem with Filipino’s is their up bringing. Filipino’s are very hard and efficient workers but when it comes to money, they easily let it fly away. They spend too much and enjoy too much. Japanese people know when to work, save and enjoy. Filipino’s should learn to manage money more to make the economy better.” With that statement, I think everything he said was true. Some of my bosses in the office that earns more that 6 digits are even deep in debt than I am. I also know someone that owes more than a hundred thousand in his credit card because of shopping. I also see some colleagues of mine that drinks expensive coffee a few days after payday and after a week or two borrowing money from their co-workers. We should make sure we learn how to manage our money well and to do that means financial literacy and conquering our fear of loosing money. Investing time and effort to read and learn more about investments and business is a good way to start getting ahead of the money game and it will also help us to conquer our fears because we replace our fear with competency and confidence when venturing in business and investments.

Conclusion

Fear has always been part of our everyday lives but those who conquer them take the risk always win. Most if not all the successful people in the world are no different from average people. All that separates them from average people is that they took the risk and ventured all the way conquering their personal fears and winning their game. We all have the choice between choosing fear and conquering it. Will you take the chance or will you stick to what you know is secure? It’s your choice.

Recommended Readings

“Winning” by Jack Welch and Suzy Welch

“Stock Market Primer” by Claud N. Rosenberg, Jr.

Freedom For All!
Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur
Mobile: +63.927.966.9979
Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com
AIM ID: jbaclangen
Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and
http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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Failure

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:27:00 -0700

The Art of Mistake

In our journey to financial literacy, we may have come close or for many of us may have encountered mistakes in our businesses and investments or in other parts of our lives. I for one have experiences a lot of investment mistakes and that includes choosing wrong people and choosing wrong investments. Many of us perceive mistakes as bad and in many cases not recommended to commit because we all went through the same educational system where mistakes are wrong. The more mistakes we make the less intelligent we are. Fortunately in the world off business and investing, the more mistakes we make the more lessons, knowledge and experience we gain. The art of mistakes was sighted in the best selling book written by Mr. Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad's Guide to Investing". He said that in the world of business and investing is that we all will certainly commit mistakes. The only difference is that if we learn from those mistakes and use that knowledge to our advantage.

Mistakes, a cover up for opportunities

Some months ago, my wife and I invested in a Multilevel Marketing Company. We were very excited and enthusiastic about our investment but as the months went by we saw that our investments were not as successful as what we see in our colleagues that were doing so well in the business. For months we tried to sell our products and tried to recruit people to join our venture. Unfortunately we only sold a few and recruited fewer. It was earning but the investment was not as successful as we planned. We tried to study how the MLM business works and researched on how to sell and be productive. Unfortunately all our efforts were not enough to make the investment work. But as we went through the process of the failed investment, we found many opportunities and learned from the MLM business. We now learned how to sell and how to market products. We discovered many ways on how to mark up and do inventory listing. We also learned how to make a profitable cash flow. The point is that we learned how to sell and build a structure to make a business sell products.

Last week my family and I went on a vacation in Baguio City. As we strolled down the streets of Baguio we stumbled upon an opportunity in retailing textiles. We saw a great opportunity to sell products that no one has ever done in Baguio. If we never joined the MLM business, we could not have seen the opportunity ahead of us. Today, we are now planning to test the waters in Baguio and sell products that we know is marketable in the City. As we see it, the business can grow from 100% - 700% in profits if we capture the market in Baguio. All because of the lessons we learned from a failed investment.

Finding the strength to move on after the fall

For many people, failure is something that makes us weak physically, socially and psychologically. Many of us may have experiences this in our school days, many in our careers and most of us might be experiencing it right now. But I will assure you that there are more coming their way. Finding the strength to move on will require more than physical or psychological. In my journey, I have found out that one big factor in gaining strength in times of failure is our spirituality. For some people, they may not believe that investing, business and money can never be connected with God but in my experience, God has always been part of our lives, may it be in business, money, investing, socially, physically etc. We should always seek God for his mercy and wisdom that He might give us the will to learn and to perceive things with his wisdom and truth. Many people read books, surf the internet for knowledge, ask a lot of mentors etc. but if you lack the courage and will to take risk and make mistakes, you will always get stuck to where you are right now. So how will you have the courage and strength to overcome failure? Have you ever tried praying and giving tithe to your church? Ask God for courage and will to learn how to be abundant and wealthy. He never wanted us to be poor; in fact, God has always wanted us to be abundant, both here on earth and in heaven. So will you be risk and mistake averse or are you willing to take more risk and make mistakes and learn from them through the strength that God has given us?

Recommended Readings:

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Warren Buffet Way by Robert Hagstrom

Freedom For All!
Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur
Mobile: +63.927.966.9979
Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com
AIM ID: jbaclangen
Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and
http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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Ideas turned Reality

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:33:00 -0800

What’s the matter?

Do you have a great idea of a business but have no money to start it? Are you that guy the day dreams most of the time in the office about how you are running your business and then all of the sudden your boss approaches you and you get back to reality that you are broke and unable to start the dream business that you have?

Many people have great business ideas but unfortunately do not have any idea on how to start their idea. In 2008 a survey was conducted in the Philippines about the hindrance of starting their own business. Almost 90% of the people that was surveyed had one common problem and the problem is how to raise the Capital for the business. Many ideas remain ideas just because of this small problem. Many business minded people remain business minded only because their ideas never become reality because of lack of capital.

In my journey to financial freedom, I have found out 3 major things that we have to strengthen to form a financially secured life. Those 3 items are Real Estate Investment, Paper Assets Investment and Businesses. In the book Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing by Mr. Robert Kiyosaki, he mentioned that in order to build and stabilize wealth a person or entrepreneur should maintain a balance tetrahedron (the picture below) with you (as the entrepreneur) will be on top of the pyramid and the 3 bottom sides are your real estate investment, paper assets (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc) and businesses. He also mentioned that an entrepreneur should start by first creating a strong business, and after maintaining and growing a strong business, let the business buy all the real estate and paper assets to stabilize wealth. But again how can a person have a stable wealth if he cannot even start a business because of lack of capital? I have good news for those aspiring entrepreneurs reading this blog that are dying to know where to find their capital. But before I continue let me ask you one question, are you willing to work hard and sacrifice something to start your business? If you do then read on and start building your business, if not then I suggest that you find your self first and take time to know what you really want in life.

The Capitalist

There are 4 types of financing a business. The first is of course using your own savings to start your business, the second is equity financing (which I will explain later), third is debt financing (will be tackled later) and forth and lastly (and my favorite) is the Angels. Many businesses minded people are not making their business ideas reality because they only look hard enough for their source of capital. They always see the source of their capital from the salary they can save from working abroad, or from the inheritance they get from their parents or their long lost uncle or lolo (grand father). An aspiring entrepreneur should always have the desire to make things happen, whatever it may cost. This means more research (to improve the business idea), a good business plan and implementation (a decent business presentation), and a strong gut to withstand fear and rejection that may come ahead.

Equity Financing

To start of, Equity Financing is simply getting capital from an investor. This can be a very good source of capital especially to those people that wants to divide the risk being taken. An entrepreneur can choose a partnership with some investors, relatives, friends and other financial institution (Capital Venture Companies) to gain access to the capital they need to start the business. Having this kind of structure of financing will have fair ownership of the company, meaning all the partners and share holders will have equal rights (according to their ownership part) on profit, vote and decision making. One of the biggest advantage of equity financing is that you are not obliged to pay back the money they invested just incase your business folds or die (but I do not recommend you to scam your investors so do your best to make the business profitable and let them share the fruits of it). It can also make the business develop because most of the time your partners will be giving you good insight on how to improve and evolutionize your business to make it more profitable (two heads are better than one). But of course like all choices there are also cons in this kind of financing structure; one of those downsides of equity financing is that you will have to sacrifice part of your ownership of your business. Equity Financing means you are selling part of the business to the investor making them part owner of your business. In some cases partners will also have part in the decision makings (some will make decisions in major business decisions and direction, some in daily operations, and some in both) which will give you limited control over your business (unless you buy out your partners).

With this kind of financing scheme, one must take note that every investment that an investor puts in your business should be in writing and legal. An entrepreneur should also make sure that the investors know and understand what they signed up for. Many business people fail to let the investors know what they are signing for and on some cases, even the legalities are in question making the business illegitimate and risky. By the time the business folds, a lot of law suites are filed against these business people. The best solution for this problem is to make sure that a business man that is asking capital from an investor should always make sure that the investors understand what they signed for and assure them through legal writing.

Debt Financing

This kind of financing scheme is also called loan financing or mortgage financing. A business man can always take a loan to finance his venture or business idea. Business Financing Loans can be taken from banks, financial institutions, friends, or relatives. It’s a structure that makes the borrower pay the loan at a certain interest rate and sometimes with a payment schedule. Unfortunately banks prefer to lend to people with business experience and good financial and business track record. This will make newbie business people have difficulties in taking out a loan as they don’t have the track record and experience in running a business. But for the sake of those who want to take a loan, many other financial institutions will give you a chance to make your dream business reality at a price ofcourse. The price for it is a competitive business plan, bigger interest rates and for some may have to include collateral. One commercial bank that I know is willing to take the risk of lending to inexperienced business people given that the business man has a very good business plan and a good collateral such as real estate, investment properties such as stocks and bonds, industrial equipment that has value and etc. One of the greatest advantages of getting a loan is that the borrower will have full control over his or her business. One can make decision from the major direction of the company down to the specific operational decision with no required report from the lender because he or she has full ownership of the company. Another good reason of taking a loan is the payment schedules. Some lenders consider competitive and long term payment schedule to help the borrower pay on time. Even some of the lenders are considerate enough to help the borrowers pay in a new loan structure even if they already defaulted on their payment. The disadvantages of taking a loan is that one will have to commit in paying the debt with interest. Most of the time, payment schedules are being followed and if the payments are not made on time, the lender can panelize the borrower for a certain percent rate. Another disadvantage is that if you fail to pay the debt on time and the business folds, the bank will unforgivingly foreclose what ever property you have as collateral payment.

Angel Financing

My favorite financing scheme is the Angel Financing Structure. This kind of financing is the easiest terms, easiest to pay (sometimes without interest) and the hardest to find financing. I say hardest to find because having an angel financer can sometimes be only based on sheer luck or tough perseverance. An angel is an investor that invests in a business idea just because they like it and /or they admire the business person presenting the business plan. The terms and conditions of the financing can vary for every investor but sometimes most of these investors do not charge interest, does not require collateral and does not require payment schedules. But I warn you not to exploit these kinds of investors, make sure that you always give fair and just terms to the investors so that you can keep them for life. Offer them something in return for the risk they take and always think of a WIN-WIN situation. Having this kind of opportunity can only happen once in a blue moon and it’s only up to the borrower to make the most out of the opportunity. To give you an example, a friend of mine back in Baguio wanted to put up a laundry shop business in 2001. He was the first guy that thought of putting up that kind of business during those times. My God Father was a business guy that admired my friend and has been part of our church during that time and he offered to finance the business. My friend agreed to it and since the offer did not required him to a specific date of payment and an interest rate; he offered a premium of 30% or the total net profits of the company after a year of operations. The business prospered and growing even more today. He paid his debt and gave the additional 30% of the total net profits after a year of operations. To tell you the truth, the premium of 30% paid was more than the original amount borrowed. It was a win-win situation for both and at the same time, their bond as friends were stronger than ever. There is only one disadvantage for this kind of financing. It is very hard to find. I can assure you that when you have this kind of opportunity, grab it and take care of it. It can make your life better.

Conclusion

There are many kinds of financing available today. There are banks, financing companies, venture capital companies, friends and relatives and even strangers that can be part of your business idea turned reality. The only question is; Are you willing to sacrifice time, effort, and persistence to get your idea financed and sees it turning into reality? Friends there are millions of ideas about business that spark everyday and only few or those ideas are converted to the real thing. Again as I always say in my previous blogs, financial literacy and taking action is the key to financial freedom. As the Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So now that you know what to do, where to go and how to proceed, what are going to do about it? I hope that this blog can serve more people specially Filipinos. I hope that I can inspire more people to see things out of the box. Live life as if you are to die tomorrow.

Recommended Readings:

Entrepreneur: How to Finance your Business Bookazine

Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing by Robert Kiyosaki

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An Experience from the Truly Rich Coaching Program

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:03:00 -0800

Doubts?

I have doubts in mind about what was about to happen in the seminar. I was afraid that what I paid for was not worth the program I was getting into. Even before I rode a cab to the Valle Verde Country Club I had to equip my self with the trust that I will learn more on the coaching program I was to attend. I arrived just in time a few minutes before the seminar started. As I approached the welcome kiosk, a man about 5’8” in height went beside me and to my surprise I suddenly recognized his face in comparison to the face I saw in the book I was holding. It was the author of the book “The 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich” and I immediately held my hand up and shaken his hand. After that, I entered the conference room where another 150 people are sitting and chit chatting about what they are expecting from the seminar. I sat on the back seat as the front and middle seats were all occupied. Then my heart started to increase in motion as Mr. Bo Sanchez approached the pulpit and start the seminar. He started the program with a prayer to God and after the prayer (which I sincerely did) I experienced peace deep inside me. It was a peaceful and a humble heart that made me listen and learn.

The Speakers

There were bunch of speaker on the first day. There was Dr. Larry Gamboa of Think Rich Pinoy, Mr. Juan Barredo VP for Marketing of Citiseconline.com (the largest stock brokerage company in the Philippines and Hong Kong), and a successful business partner of Bo Sanchez that is in the digital electric meter business. The speaker talked about different Investment Vehicles available in the country such as stocks, business (setting up a business and growing it), and Real Estate. When I started to read books in September 2009, I thought that I already knew all about investment. In a span of 6 months I already read 62 books about personal finance, business, economics, stocks, real estate etc. But when I attended the first day of the coaching seminar what I thought I knew was not even an inch of what I learned from the people that were experts in the field of business, stocks, and real estate. It was a life changing seminar.

A Picture of Me and Bo Sanchez of The Truly Rich Club

A Picture of Me and Dr. Larry Gamboa of Think Rich Pinoy

On the second day of the seminar the speakers were Mr. Edward K. Lee President and CEO of Citiseconline and CWC Group of Companies, Noel Arandilla CEO of IMG Philippines and two other speakers that were experts in Business and Financial Planning. We learned a lot from how to manage our personal finances and to maximize our investments and minimize our gratifications. It also gave as a good idea where we were standing financially as we were asked to compute and manage our net worth. Surprisingly mine was not that bad, but others in the room were not too happy with what they discovered. I am talking about yuppies and middle aged group of people disappointed with their financial standing. And from that experience I learned that the earlier you start investing, planting seeds, learning how to sell and do business, the better you will be for your future success. It was life changing.

The Most Precious Lesson Learned

After the two day seminar, the most precious lesson I learned in the seminar is not the methods done or the information about how to create passive income, but the most precious lesson I learned in the seminar was that for a person to change his financial status, that person should first change his attitude towards things. During the two day seminar I spent more time interpreting other seminar attendees and how they perceived and interpret investing and how they react to it. I found that 60% of the attendees attended the seminar just because they wanted to know the method on how to invest. The other 20% was there because they wanted to know more about other options to invest in. These 20% were medium sized enterprise business men, medium term investors that are looking for other opportunities they can learn. And the other 20% just went there because their parents or their friend asked them to attend the seminar. For the 60% of the attendees I learned that almost all of them not only learned the methods of investing but also realized that in order for their investments to work out and profit, they needed to change their outlook in life and money. Some of them thought of investing in the stock market or business is much like a gamble and for them to be convinced enough to enter the stocks they would have to change their beliefs and acknowledge that the stock market and creating a business is an investment that in not based on luck but is based on your skills on how to make your stocks and businesses grow and flourish. The problem is that most of the 60% of the attendees wanted to get rich with the same attitude they have and they are not willing to change it. As an observer I watched it, wrote it down and learned from it and I told my self that I needed to check my self and change my old idea about money and change it to better ones. I also learned from the 20% of attendees that were businessmen and investors. I learned that no one is an expert of all investments and that we should all consider life as a learning arena. We all should have the desire to learn more everyday and not to be contented with what we know. I was sitting beside a man that owned 3 restaurants and yet was willing to learn more about other investments. I saw that in order to reach financial freedom, all of us should be learners. I also learned from the other 20% that did not have any idea why they went to the seminar. I learned that a man can never desire financial education and financial literacy if does not see the need for it. I found my reason to desire financial literacy from my family, my daughter’s future and my personal perception of success. I hope that you also find that niche in your life to desire financial literacy and to welcome the unlimited abundance of God into your life.

Freedom For All!
Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur
Mobile: +63.927.966.9979
Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com
AIM ID: jbaclangen
Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and
http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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The Influx of Financial Literacy

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:39:00 -0800

Why?

Majority of Filipinos do not realize the need for financial literacy because of two major reasons. One is that they do not see the need for it and two they are just plain lazy to study and pursue it. Many of the friends I know that discovered the beauty of financial literacy had found the reason simply because they need it. They had some experiences in the past that made them regret or some may just find it a bad experience to be poor. Too much comfort about our lifestyle, paychecks, credit card etc. is what blinds us to strive for financial literacy. I know it because I experienced it first hand.

My Story

It all started almost a year ago. We were broke as a beggar and foolish as a fool during that time. A year ago was the worst experience in my financial life. Let me tell you my story. In January last year, my wife and I managed to save money in the bank in preparation to our D-Day (Birth of my kid). We managed to save up to sixty thousand pesos in our BDO savings account from our thirteenth month pay, our salaries, my wife’s SSS maternal benefits and some donations. I thought that we were rich and as stupid as we were we spent almost half of the money in things that is not of worth. We were not financially literate back then. After two and a half months later our savings went down from 60 thousand down to 38 thousand. Fortunately, my wife OB gave us a break down of the expected expenses for the birth. She told us to prepare 36 – 40 thousand for a normal delivery. Our doctor assured us that is it will be positively be a normal delivery since they did not see any complications during the pregnancy so comfortable as we are, we only prepared for normal delivery. We were still ok with the money in the bank and we managed to save up to 40 thousand 2 days before D-Day. Then the D-day came and we rushed to the hospital at 10:20 pm of March 14, 2009. We waited for a few hours and my mother-in-law told me that we needed some supplies in the hospitals and I needed to run home to get some. I was half excited and half scared as I arrived home and as I packed the things my heart pounded like a hammer of a blacksmith. 4 hours later, I came back to the hospital and I saw my mother-in-law with a face slight disappointed and immediately told me that it was a caesarian section. I sat down, only with a scared, excited and worried heart because of all the mixed emotion and information boggling my mind. My wife was in the operating room with my kid being delivered and I was waiting in the waiting area outside the operating room literally imagining my wife and my kid and at the same time literally computing the expenses that the hospital will bill me. (I know it was bad but it was desperate times) And after 3 hours in the operating room, my precious daughter was out in the world. Tears went out my eyes and my worries were gone for a few minutes. After 2 days in the hospital, my wife and I asked the hospital for a pre-computation of the bill. At second day our bill ballooned to 28 thousand on hospital bills, 8 thousand on nursery bills, another 8 thousand on the medicine and consumed medical supplies and no professional fees computed yet. Just imagine my face looking at the statement of account at the counter. A good thing that happened was that the health care made some discounts on the bill that amounted to 17 thousand. A day after that (finally) the final statement of account came in. The total bill was 58 thousand. So a talked to my wife and we concluded to borrow from a friend a total of 18 thousand. So we paid the bills and finally got out of the hospital.

The day we got out of the hospital, we only had 600 pesos in our pocket. That money had to go to the needs of our newly born child. The good thing was that we had a lot of food stacked before the birth so we didn’t have any problems with our food. We waited another 4 days before my salary and we had no money, as in not a peso in our pockets. It was a very tragic experience; the good thing was that every time my wife and I looked at our precious baby, all our problems were forgotten (temporarily). It was the experience of being poor that made me looked for other sources of income.

Fast forward to 6 months later, I was still financially illiterate. I had plans of getting out of the country to work for better paying jobs or to take another job locally with better pay. Unfortunately it was not the solution for the problem. Then a friend of mine found the book that changed my financial life. Then the rest is history. My life and my family’s life changed and I know it will be for better.

Conclusion

Friends in my journey I found the reason why I wanted to learn and to master financial literacy. I hope that you also get that niche in your life that will enhance the desire to learn financial literacy. Many of us are too comfortable with our lifestyle, with our paychecks, with our income but in reality, those that are financially literate are those who win the money game and retire comfortably, acquire great assets, buy newest gadgets and many more.

Recommended Readings:

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Think Rich Pinoy by Dr. Larry Gamboa

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Wisdom from Warren Buffet

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:31:00 -0800

The Book

Last year, in my enthusiasm to start investing, I bought many books, such as books written by Robert Kiyosaki, T. Harv Eker, John Maxwell, Donald Trump, Thomas Stanley, Robert Allen, Larry Gamboa, Fransisco Colayco, Bo Sanchez, Trace Trajano, Thomas Friedman, etch. But one of the books that struck me the most was the simplicity of the books written by Marry Buffet and David Clark. They have written almost 10 books about investing, particularly the methods of their teacher and mentor, Warren Buffet, the most successful entrepreneur and now the most philanthropic in the world. The first book I read about Warren Buffet was the “Tao of Warren Buffet” and I think it is the greatest book I have ever read with regard to investing. Inside the book contains never seen before wisdom about how to invest, specifically in the stock market and discover the simplicity of the investing strategy of the worlds greatest Investor.

The Wisdom Revealed

I’d love to share all the wisdom I got from the book but it would take 20 Blogs to cover the entire book. Well to be fair, I’ll be sharing my favorite lessons and wisdom that I learned from the book. When I was reading the book, I imagined the great Warren Buffet in front of me giving me this advice on how to invest and how to balance things. I imagine it like it was real and personal. But let’s now get to the main course and I’ll give some of my favorites in his wisdom.

“There are only 2 Rules in the Money Game. Rule No. 1 Never Loose Money and Rule No. 2 Never Forget Number Rule No.1.”

My Reflection: I have been wasting a lot money and precious time investing in things that never had worth for the past years of my life. Finally I just realized the reality of the need of money when I raised my own family. When I started investing I was also loosing money, thinking that it was worth the pay but in truth, it was just pure imagination. After reading the book, I now knew the big difference between investing not to loose and investing to win.

“You can never make a good deal with a bad person!”

My Reflection: I have a lot of friends and relatives that has been with me for the last 24 years of my life. One lesson that I have learned is that you can never have a good deal with a bad person. When I was in High School I had a deal with a friend of mine to lend him 100 pesos with an interest of 2.5% per week. He needed the money to buy a gift for his girl friend. I knew that he was a bad payer because he borrowed from a lot of my classmate as well and didn’t pay but in good heart because he was my friend (and neighbor) I gave him a chance. He promised to pay me after a month, summing up to 110 pesos. After a month, he told me that he was out of cash and he’d only give the interest for the mean time which is 10 pesos (Ten pesos was a big amount to me in the 2^nd year). So again I waited to another 2 weeks and he started to disappear. I went to his house, talked to his class mates but they said that he was cutting class all the time and sometimes absent. I never talked to him for a few years. After 8 years, about 3 years ago we met again, (yes I forgot about his debt) and we talked about what we were doing, and he told me he was an entrepreneur, he was looking for investors or people that has capital for his business. Fortunately, I had no money during those times, about a year after that I heard that he was wanted by the police for a criminal case of Stafa case.

“It is impossible to unsign a contract, so do all your thinking before you sign.”

My Reflection: When I was in college, I had an accident while riding a borrowed motorcycle. The accident was fatal that it almost took my life. Fortunately I had a helmet and some safety features installed in my body when it happened. The second worst thing that happened was that the bike got totally wrecked. Since the bike was borrowed from a friend, I unconsciously signed a deed of sale contract for me to payoff the motorcycle. Then after a few weeks, a NBI agent went to our house to give me a subpoena because my friend files a carnapping case against me with the contract I signed. I know that was stupid but we had an agreement and I paid the motorcycle double its fair market value. Again if I was diligent enough to read and review the contract I could have saved a friendship and money from that experience. Lesson learned and I got to move on.

“You invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will!”

My Reflection: When I started to be interested in investments and business, I researched on how the stock market and the business world in a complicated manner. I think that was stupid of me. Filipino’s are brought up with the idea that a great business should be complicated and if it’s not it would be a scam or a fraud. Filipino’s like to complicate things and I learned that I was complicating things too. But when I started investing I saw that in the investment world, the easiest way to go is to make things simple and understandable. Business should be simple and concise to make profits. People that complicate things are usually the people that wants to get rich quick but most of the time they end up loosing rather than winning. Be simple and invest like a 3^rd grader.

“You want to learn from experience, but you want to learn from other people’s experience when you can.”

My Reflections: In the old Filipino saying “Experience is the best teacher”, I totally agree with it, but in the world of business and investing, learning from your own experience can be very expensive and sometimes traumatic. That is where mentors come in. Learning a lot from mentors such as successful investors and businessmen can save you a lot of money and effort than learning it first hand. The better the mentor the better the mentee so now I am learning more about investments and business from experienced business people in subject such as, cash flow management, business operation models, company information in the stock market, choosing opportunities, defining a deal (good or bad) and etc. Attend Seminars; create a network of Wealthy and Successful people you can ask when in question. It will save you time, money, effort and head aches in the future.

“A friend of mine spent twenty years looking for the perfect woman; unfortunately, when he found her, he discovered that she was looking for the perfect man.”

My Reflections: When I started to have interest in investing in the stock market, it took me a while to decide where to invest my hard earned money. It made me look for the best company there is and unfortunately I found none. There is no perfect company, perfect wife, perfect son, perfect mobile phone, perfect computer, perfect person and etc. Only God is perfect. Sometimes we look for that perfect timing or perfect opportunity or perfect lady to come our way. I have bad news for you. That won’t come, I assure you. Some times we have to have faith and do our work. We have to get our ass up and working and then be diligent when investing not just money but love, friendship etc. I believe in the saying that we should “Get Ready, Shoot, then Aim… then shoot again then aim”. We need not to test the waters but to engage in it and correct whatever mistakes we make. We are not perfect and no one is perfect.

There are many more wisdom in the book not only related to investing and business but even in the subject of life it self. I do recommend this book to all the readers of my blog and gain the courage to face your fears and start moving forward to the unknown. Friends, Warren Buffet did not reach his success by getting himself on the safe side of life. He had to take risk, big risk to attain his status. He also never considered getting rich quick, but he focused on the long term and his foundation. He matched his maturity to his wealth and that made him the greatest Philanthropist today donating 80 percent of his wealth to the poor and the needy. If we want to be rich and wealthy for the rest of our natural life, we have to balance the level of our maturity to the level of wealth we can handle.

Recommended Books:

The Tao of Warren Buffet by Mary Buffet and David Clark

Buffettology by Mary Buffet and David Clark

Freedom For All!

Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur
Mobile: +63.927.966.9979
Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com
AIM ID: jbaclangen
Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and
http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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Why Invest in Stocks?

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:31:00 -0800

Investing?

Investing in the stock market can be very complicated for average people that don't have any knowledge and experience in the "Equities Market". Many people perceive the stock market as a risky and dangerous place to invest your hard earned money. Well that is bull manure for me. It's either this people do not know what the stock market really is or they just heard some bad experiences from the media (TV, News etc.) or a friend of a friend that invested in it and lost. Investing in the stock market only takes simple math and updated information to understand it. As Warren Buffet said "There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult." That is very true for a lot of people. They think that if an investment is simple it's not legitimate and it's risky. People like to complicate things and that is why a lot of people loose in the investment arena. The stock market is actually simple and does not need to be that difficult to understand.

In stock investing there are two types of investors. One is the Fundamental Investor and two, the Technical Investor. So what is fundamental and technical investing and what is the difference? Basically, Fundamental Investing (also called Traditional Investing) is a method of investing in the strength of a company's Financials and Profitability. This means in lay mans term is buying a part of the company which will give profit to you for the long term and holding on as long as it generates good profits. Usually, Fundamental Investing looks at the Income Statements and Balance Sheet of the company as well as its future plans and the people running it. Long Term Investing is the secret when investing as a Fundamental Investor. On the other hand, Technical Investing has a different method of investing. Usually, Technical investing involves a lot of mathematical analysis and updated or even future information when investing. This kind of investor care little about a company's fundamentals and just focuses on the prices of stocks. They love investing short term and likes monitoring the movement of the stock prices. They use methods like "Short Selling" (borrowing stock then selling it, then when the prices of stocks fall, they immediately buy it to give it back to the owner), "Put Options" (where as much like the same with shorting but you have the right "but not the obligation" to sell the shares and profit from it, but put option has a specific target and a specific time), another is Long position which is the reverse of shot selling, buying shares in the hope that the prices go up (analyzed and studied carefully). There are other strategies like arbitrage and ETF trading but that's too complicated to discuss here. Technical Investing is a method where they do not really care about the financials of a company; they just see profits from the movement of the market, playing in the volatilities of the prices and making huge money in short term investment.

The Basic on Investing

Knowledge on how to profit from stocks is actually easy to understand, but like all major or advance subjects in school, there are few pre-requisites before you can engage in stock investing (actually almost all investment vehicles). First, you have appropriate "Financial Literacy and Education." When I say "Financial Literacy and Education" It does not mean that you earned a degree in Accountancy or Masters in Business etc; but what I mean is that you have learned the basics of self discipline, being goal oriented, courageous to take calculated risk, knowing why you want to invest, basic financial management, smart investing and a little accounting knowledge. This are not taught in school so this means that you have to make time, make extra effort and a little sacrifice on priorities to gain Financial Literacy. It's actually a question of are you willing to know financial literacy or not. So when you meet the pre-requisites then you can now invest in the stock market. To be honest with you, investing in the stock market requires courage and patience. It's not for the weak hearted because an investor may lose everything in a single deal. So before reading on let me warn you as the list of suggestions I am giving will be an inconvenience to you in the future. Here are the list of my checklist before investing.

Start with a goal in mind - Never ever invest in any investment without a goal in mind. The goal that you have will be the reason why you want to win and also determine if you'll loose. The stronger and eager your are in reaching your goal, the easier and the bigger the chances of winning. Start with a goal!
Start one step at a time - Invest one step at a time, try investing in small amounts when starting will give you a feel of how the stock market moves. In between your steps you'll see your self learning more about the stock market and you'll see your investment loosing or winning. You will also learn other strategies along the way to improve your investing to reach your goals; you will also see that your small investment getting bigger and bigger as time goes along. Take one step at a time!
Research! Research! Research! - Many people think that they are geniuses when they start investing. To me that's actually stupid. Make sure you research more and gain knowledge about the stock market. Improve your skills in accounting with such as analyzing income statements and balance sheets. You also need to have updated information about the company's plans etc. Read books of successful stock investors such as George Soros, Warren Buffet, Jeremy Siegel, Paul Volker etc. Read the business page everyday on your local news paper. Read business magazines such as Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, etc. Make your own research.
Ask experienced and successful stock investor on the "HOWS" of stocks. - Sometimes you have to admit that you are stupid and you need some advice from experts. Asking them advance trading and advance analysis. Also ask them if you are doing the right thing and analyze if they are giving you good advices. There are people such as Bo Sanchez and his associates that give excellent ideas about the stock market. Take advantage of mentors as they can give you precious gems along your journey. Gain a Mentor!
Build you dream team. - Acting alone will not suffice your success. No one can live alone and in order for you to succeed you need a team to accomplish things. Look for a credible broker you can trust and eventually can be your friend. They can be your best friend in the stock market. Get a good accountant to help you with your analysis on your investments, they show you the underlying economics of a company. Get a good lawyer to make sure that all your deals are legal and under the protection of law. Create your dream team. Remember that two or more heads are better than one.
Track your stocks as if you are raising a livestock - Create a portfolio that you track before investing, practice makes perfect. When having a portfolio, you have to check it regularly, feed it, bathe it, and etc. Make sure you know the ins and outs of your portfolio, check the financials of the company, check the prices on a regular basis, future plans of the company, people behind the company, events that may affect the company (sometimes even act of God can affect corporate companies such as typhoons, earthquakes, hurricanes, storms etch) and anything you can do to check it on a regular basis. In connection to livestock, a livestock owner will always check his/her critter. He removes the ones that have defects and care more of those that are perfect. He raises them up and when the time comes that they reach their highest price. The owner sells it for a profit. A stock investor knows when to buy and when to sell. A lot of people knows how to get in but has no idea when to get out. Be like a livestock owner and know when to sell. Be smart!

By doing these things I can assure you that you can learn, enjoy and profit from your investment in the stock market. The stock market is a very good place to win and also a very bad place to loose so make sure that before investing you meet the pre-requisites of investing. This investment vehicle is just one of the many investment vehicles in the country. We will be talking about other investment vehicles so I recommend you to subscribe your email to receive updates regularly. Be smart and get ahead of the money game.

Companies where you can start your investment

Disclaimer: The suggested companies mentioned in these blogs are solely for educational purposes only. Any investment with the companies mentioned will be the responsibility of the investor. Wealth Creative will not be responsible for any losses or failure in any ventures and investment made to the company. Wealth Creative is not paid by these companies for any endorsement fees.

I know that a lot of you are wondering where to start investing and what brokerage company to contact when starting the stock investment. Well this is your lucky day. Below is a list of online brokerage companies you can start with in your investment. I hope that some how it can help you in your broker hunting.

CITISECONLINE.COM INC

Business Address: CitisecOnline.com Inc. Business Center 2403-B East Tower, Philippine Stock Exchange Centre Exchange Road, Ortigas Center Pasig City, Philippines 1605 Our Phone # : Tel. No.: (632) 6-333-777

Fax # : (632) 636-3512

Customer Service #: (632) 6-333-77

Email: helpdesk@citiseconline.com

Website: https://citiseconline.com

PHILIPPINE STOCK EXCHANGE INC.

Business Address: Philippine Stock Exchange Centre, Exchange Road, Ortigas Centre,Pasig City 1605Philippines
Tel. No.: (632) 688-7600
Fax No.: (632) 634-5113

Business Address: Philippine Stock Exchange Plaza, Ayala Triangle, Ayala Avenue,Makati City 1226, Philippines
Tel. No.: (632) 819-4100
Fax No.: (632) 891-9004

E-mail Address: pirs@pse.com.ph
Web Site: http://www.pse.com.ph
FTP Site: ftp://ftp.pse.org.ph

BPI TRADE

Business Address: Any BPI or BPI Family Bank Branch

Tel. No.: 89-100 for Metro Manila

Tel. No.: 1-800-188-89100 for domestic toll-free calls (where available)

Tel. No.: International Access Code + 63 + 2 + 89 - 10000 for international calls or through our International Toll Free Numbers*

E-mail: bpitrade@bpi.com.ph

Website: https://www.bpitrade.com/

FIRST METRO SECURITIES INC.

Business Address: 18/F PSBank Center, 777 Paseo de Roxas cor. Sedeño St.Makati City 1226
Phone: (+632) 8590600
Fax: (+632) 8590699
Email address: customerservice@firstmetrosec.com.ph

Website: https://www.firstmetrosec.com.ph/

DIVERSIFIED SECURITIES, INC.

Business Address: 5/F PDCP Bank Centre Herrera corner Alfaro Streets Salcedo Village, Makati City

Telephone No/s: 892-2890; 892-4330; 753-5250 to 53

Exchange No/s: 636-0814; 634-6630 to 31

Fax No/s: 892-4330

Email: wena_ruiz@hotmail.com

URL: http://www.dtrade.net

ACCORD CAPITAL EQUITIES CORPORATION

Business Address: G/F, Unit EC-05B, PSE Centre, East Tower, Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Telephone No/s: 687-5071; 687-3733; 687-3224

Exchange No/s: 687-0911; 687-0936

Fax No/s: 687-3738

Email: info@accordcapital.ph

URL: http://www.philstocks.ph

F. YAP SECURITIES INC.

Business Address: 17/F Lepanto Bldg., 8747 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City 1226 Philippines

Telephone No/s: 632) 840-8331 / (632) 923-3955 to 56

Customer Service: (632) 856-7680 / (632) 840-8330

E-mail: (General Information) info@2tradeasia.com

(Customer Queries) customercare@2tradeasia.com

(Stock Recommendations) research@2tradeasia.com

(Accounting Needs) accounting@2tradeasia.com

Website: http://www.2tradeasia.com/

I hope that I helped you with my writings regarding investments. I hope you all good luck in your investments and freedom for all!

Recommended Reading:

Rich Dad's Guide To Investing by Robert Kiyosaki

The Tao of Warren Buffet by Marry Buffet

PS. Please do not forget to leave a comment or suggestion before leaving the blog. If your have some questions and concerns please do contact me with the contact details below.

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What Should I Expect from Investing in Mutual Funds?

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:51:00 -0800

Why Invest?

Mutual Funds have been one of the safest and most profitable investments that any person can invest in. When this investment vehicle started to operate in the Philippines in 2005, its growth have been compounding greater than the highest interest bearing Time Deposit in the country.

So why do I need to invest? As Bo Sanchez sited in his book “The 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich” he mentioned that people aiming to be financially free should have many investment vehicles. One of the vehicles he mentioned was a bicycle. Why bicycle? He said that there are many other vehicles out there, some are fast, some are moderate and some are slow and some are slower than slow. Now given that idea, one should be smart enough and use leverage. Let me give you an example, let’s say that manila is where you are right now financially, you have a job, you always make ends meet, you're only financially dependent on your job, and have a little savings on a bank. Well there is nothing wrong with having that kind of lifestyle if you are contented with it. But for those who are not, read on. Then let’s say that General Santos City is your goal of Wealth, Financial Independence, and Financial Freedom. So given that scenario, if you’re determined to get your goal and to gain financial freedom you have to go riding something to get there. Unfortunately, some Filipinos love walking towards their wealth and not even bothering to know what other vehicles to use to get to where you want to go. So what are those vehicles by the way? There’s the bicycle, jeepney, a bus, boat, or a plane an so on. Let's say that you decided that you wanted to go to General Santos City (your goal of financial freedom) from manila (your current financial situation). You then decided to take a plane to get there. Good decision, but the problem is that you are afraid of heights and you also don’t have spare money to buy a plane ticket, so you decided to take the boat. Unfortunately, the boat situation is not as safe as you are expecting it to be. For the last two years there were 3 boats that sank in the ocean and you don’t like that. So you decided to take the bus or a jeepney, but unfortunately there are no available rides from Manila – Gensan. So your only choice is to ride your motor cycle or bicycle. You use it because you have the choice of stopping for rest and eating and at the same time you control your driving. It is your safest way because you have control over things. You ride it up to General Santos and it took you a month an a half riding your bike to get there. Well it’s better than walking that would take you a year to reach your destination and not mentioning the effort you’ve sacrificed when walking. So why did Bo Sanchez recommend that we invest in a number bicycles? Bicycles are the easiest transportation vehicle to manage, not to mention the simpleness of the vehicle that even a third grader can fix it when it has problems. It might be slow but the security and safety can be determined by you. You control the handle and you direct the path you can go.

In real life, we have to ride a couple of bicycles such as Mutual Funds, Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF), Real estate Investment Trusts Funds, and Small Businesses etc. It might be slow but you have control over it and the safer you can go.

What’s in it for me?

Investing in Mutual Fund is a long term investment vehicle you can use for any long term goals you have such as your retirement or that expensive Patek Phillip watch you have been dreaming since you were in your 20’s. If you are looking for faster returns, a mutual fund might not meet your expectation. Again, having a mutual fund is a long term investment that would take a minimum timeframe of 7 years and more. One good thing about long term investments like a mutual fund is that it beats the inflation rate of an increase of 7 percent a year. Mutual Funds usually makes at least 12 – 21 percent per annum/year compounded in the years of your investment will make you a millionaire when you reach the maturity date. Do you know that an investment of 10,000 per year in 30 years with an interest rate of 20% per annum would total in 14.1 Million? Now that’s a lot of moolah to me! With only 300,000 investment divided by 30 years. That's a nice investment if you ask me! What if you increase it to 60 thousand a year? That would be a wopping 85 Million! Now that’s a lot of money. But then again, the secret is the power of time and compounding interest.

Another good thing about Mutual Funds is that the law surrounding it. Do you know that Mutual Funds in the Philippines is totally tax free? You’ll only pay 1% sales load and watch it grow. Then after cashing it out you wont be charged for any taxes. That sounds nice to me.

Conclusion

Investments are everywhere; they are vehicles to reach your goals. You can ride a bicycle, a jeepney, a bus, a boat, or a plane to go to where you want to go. But then again, you have to know why you want to get there in the first place. Mutual Funds are very nice bicycles, you can also ride a jeepney and a plane at the same time but then you have to invest in your self first. Try attending a seminar or a workshop. I know a community that gives those for free. You can buy books or pay for a private seminar from topnotch speakers and mentors like Bo Sanchez and Larry Gamboa etc. Again paying for your financial education is just a sign that you really want to have financial literacy. It’s an investment that won’t go to waste. Buy books, read and engage to whatever you learned. Always get ready, fire then aim!Ask or sometimes you have to beg some mentors to teach you how to invest or create money. Try it and you’ll be amazed that some mentors will actually help you in every step of the way. Invest in your self first then take action. Mutual Fund Investing is a failed investment if you do not know what you are doing, as Warren Buffet said “It makes very little sense to know what you are doing.” More on Investment Vehicle soon so please watch out!

Recommended Readings

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley

Multiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime of Unlimited Wealth by Robert G. Allen

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To Change Your Results, Change Your Pattern

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:13:46 -0800

Realization

As I was re-reading Mr. Bo Sanchez’s book “The 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich” last night, I realized that I was on a pattern of “again” getting comfortable. Seven months ago, when I first read his book, I started to change my pattern in work, my routine, I started to research, track stocks, read tons of books about business and investments, and a lot more. I started to invest little money on stocks and mutual funds, I also started a small business and we recently bought our first real estate investment. Well so far the fruits of my work have been prosperous and I am thankful to God about it.

Last Night, I just realized that I was back to where I was before, “BEING COMFORTABLE.” It struck me so much that I wanted to change my patterns again to make my plans work again. I read the chapter of enlarging your psychological wallets and I realized that I again went back to being comfortable with the income we were making (I wrote my declaration of income 7 months ago and it’s not even halfway to my goals). But we were “again” comfortable with our income. My wife and I had to talk about it and to reassess and renew our patterns in our core values, behavior and our actions to reach our goals. We needed to make sure we are focused on what we are aiming. Again it reminded me of the chapter “What You Focus on Grows” and we needed to focus again on what lies ahead of us; Our Goals and Dreams. We needed to declare again our written dreams and to refocus on it whenever we wake up in the morning. We had to get out of our comfort zone again.

Actions Speak Louder than Words!

I also realized for the last two weeks that I was weighing more than my weight last year. My wife regularly reminds me of my weight but it never bothered me. Today as I am writing this, I am searching for Gyms and Fitness Centers near our areas through the Internet because I’m really bothered about my weight. I just realized this last few weeks that what if I did reach my goal of earning more than 1 million dollars per month net if I was sick and bed ridden just because I did not prioritize my health? Well I don’t like having my money spent on doctors and hospitals. I’d rather give the money to Orphanage and Non- Profit Organizations that help the poorest of the poor than to pay it to greedy doctors to fix me up. So today I decided to look for a gym, after writing this, I’ll be walking around town to check the gyms around so that I can start working out. Again, my emphasis is to change my pattern. I have been planning to go to a gym since 2008 and I just acted on it today (I know I’m a bit of a slow person). But the point is I took action. I also checked out banks early this afternoon and asked about their investments instruments (just for reference and comparison). It’s fun to see people in banks explaining to you about investments and “BEG” you to invest in their products. It somewhat boosts my self confidence. Tomorrow, I’m planning to visit a seminar with our MLM Company to learn more about marketing and selling the products. Although we’re selling products already, we still want to learn more about how successful Network Marketers sell and market their products.

I know that it’s boring and exciting at the same time. But what I am pointing at is if you want to change your results, you have to change what you are doing. Experiment, learn new things and apply them while still fresh. Take the leap and take courage. If your body does not agree to what you want to do, the more you have to push your self to change your patterns. Again, change your patterns to change your results. And to change your pattern means you have to change how you think. Take one step at a time, one day at a time, and one project at a time and you’ll see your self improving more and more, step by step. I admire Mr. Bo Sanchez a lot, because he do so much and still has a lot of time for his wife and kids. He’s earning so much and he still gives more to his ministries. He’s already successful yet he still goes down to average people to help them and empower them to dream big and to think “Truly Rich.” Are you still stuck to that same pattern for years? Are you that person planning to change for years now but cannot change because you just simply can’t? Friends, conquer you fears and take courage. Read the Bible, read self help books, personal finance books, etc. then apply what you learned right away. Not tomorrow, not next month or next year but TODAY! Make that change right this moment. Be the change and everything around you will change.

Love in the key of “R”

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:38:00 -0800

I have stubble upon a friend’s blog with this special event on February 20, 2010. A “Post Valentine Date for lovers, married or single to enjoy the momentous event of love. Please check out http://www.youwanttoberich.com/2010/02/03/win-tickets-with-the-business-of-show-business/.

"I listen to the hum of the airconditioning as I sweep my eyes across the huge room. I turn my eyes to the center, to the lights caressing the empty stage. It is 3:00 p.m. and it is the calm before the storm. I can hear a distant noise outside, slow and steady, punctuated by laughter and loud chatter. They are coming. The lights go out as the stage manager calls out: sound check is over.

The lights are on again, this time, on full blast, as if egged on by the screams of the crowd. A clamor. Music starts to float, and again, a roar, strong and sure. One by one, the artists come out, each swaying to their inner tune, some great, some not so, all, somehow, adored. A deafening clap at the end, as if the crowd could not get enough.

I thought I had forgotten this part of my life when I left show business for law school.

But I guess, an experience like that could never be forgotten, and somehow the mind, or the heart, looks for a similar uplifting.

And so we are producing a show with some of our like-minded friends.

Like all our other business endeavors (we believe in calculated risks and getting ourselves out there – theory is good but it is experience that packs a punch), there were many lessons learned in this one. But I will write about that later.

For now, I would like to invite you to it, to “Love in the Key of R”.

It is a post-Valentine show featuring Big-Band Crooner Richard Poon, Bossa Nova Queen Sitti and Pinoy Dreamer Bugoy Drilon. It will be on February 20, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. at the Zirkoh Bar in Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

Tickets are available at TicketNet and are priced at P750 and P500. You can also call 02-2157651 or email me for ticket inquiries. "

Be there and share the love with someone on this momentous event.

Freedom for All!

Jeffrey

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10 Most Reasons Not to Invest

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:41:02 -0800

“Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.” – Dorothy Thompson

I love my job and its security and comfort. These are people that holds on to their job because it is the most secure and stable sources of income in the whole world. They work 10 hours a day 5-6 days a week and 20-24 days a month and question their selves why they don’t have a life. Payday is the most important day/s of the month because it’s time for celebration and fun. They hate the last 2 days before payday because they most likely spent all their salary on things they need and want. These people either like their job and hate the pay, or hate the pay and love their jobs or love both the job and the pay but hate their boss.

It’s too uncomfortable. People do not want to get out of their daily routine. They’d rather sit in front of the television blankly than to read books that will benefit their minds. They don’t like joining finance workshops and seminars because it’s just a waste of their time, instead they spend it with non-sense video games and surfing the internet. They’d rather flirt in text messages rather than write down their future goals. They’d rather spend the money right away than to save it for the future. Comfort is the most important reason they have.

It’s too complicated. Yes, my favorite line. These are people that don’t like complicated things because it makes them think. These are people that don’t like to think. They’d rather sit and do what they have always done. Wait for a promotion and get a raise. Investing seems to complicate their life and they don’t like to think of it. They hate books about personal finance, self help books, business and economics.

I’ll be successful soon. They think that time will always give them a surprise deal of success. They think that when they get to a certain point of maturity they’ll be successful. They think that time is always on their side and they can always think about success later in their lives. They like delaying things up until they found out they’re too old to figure out why they are still not successful.

I have no time, I’m too busy. This is the line of most people pretending to be busy. They think that what they do is important when they’re not. They just do it because they have nothing to spend their time on. They just don’t like the idea of spending 1 hour of reading books or spending time on workshops and seminars or talking to mentors and teachers about investing. Yes they are busy, but with worthless things.

I have no money to invest. Oh, Yes! The line of the century. Yes they don’t have the money to invest but they have money to buy Play Station 3 or some High End Laptop, or fancy phone. And they also do a lot of spending in restaurants (expensive ones) and going out with friends. They also like taking cabs everyday to go to where they want to go and before I forget, they love shopping, spending money on fancy clothes, shoes, perfumes etch. Yes they do not have money for investments because it was all spent on worthless things.

I’m just not meant for investing. Who is? Familiar with this line? Well this people don’t like investing because they don’t think it will work with them. They think that they would loose everything when they take risk so they just leave it to the experts. They also use this reason to justify their thought about not learning and acting in investments.

Rich people are Bad people. They think that if someone acquires wealth, that person is a bad, cheating, and impure person. They think that investments are only for bad people and they don’t like to be a bad person.

“I’ve been there before” or “My friend lost everything in investments”. Oh Really? This people are people that made bad decisions when they invested and now spreading the end of the world syndrome because of some lousy bad investment. They like criticizing and procrastinating investments and will tell you stories (bad stories) about how they invested.

Over Analyzing. They over analyze an investment and when they could not predict what the end result is, they just stop and just do nothing. This people are so close to make an investment deal when “poof” they just did not make it because they over analyzed. It’s also called “Analysis Paralysis”.

There are a lot more reason I can talk about reasons not to invest. Are you one of those people that have those reasons about investing? Are you still clinging to that job that you hate but you can’t quite because you need the monthly paycheck? Are you too comfortable to do your homework about investing in you and your family’s future? Are you one of those people that criticize and procrastinate opportunities just because you failed to see your mistake and give the blame to other people or the investment it self? Then if you are, then good luck to your lousy, poor, and miserable life in the future. You might not retire because you need to pay your bills. You may also get fired from work soon so get your resumes ready at all times. I bet you’ll have a hard time making ends meet and “God Forbid” just in case something bad might happen, you are really in a big mess. So will you still cling to those ideas I just sighted above? It’s your choice, your life and your reasons that will define you and your family’s future. Be smart and live abundantly.

Recommended Readings:

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by Dr. John Maxwell

8 Secrets of the Truly Rich by Bo Sanchez

Jeffrey Baclangen|Entrepreneur

Mobile: +63.927.966.9979

Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com

AIM ID: jbaclangen

Blogs: http://wealthcreative.posterous.com and http://aimglobal.posterous.com

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Finding the Courage to Take Risk

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:05:00 -0800

The Decision

Fear has always found a way to counter courage when taking chances. I my self found fear depleting the courage in me in so many ways. When I first invested in the paper asset market, I found my self confused and scared even though I have read and known people that were investing in the same investment vehicle. But one thing I have realized is that when you start calculating risk and stepped into the unknown, you’ll just see your self learning more things along the way and you’ll see the fear dying out of your senses.

For many people, taking risk is a very hard thing to do. Sometimes it’s caused by fear that has no basis (phobia), in other times the fear of regret or shame, sometimes the cause is over analyzing and sometimes it’s caused by plain laziness of getting out of their comfort zone. Yes, risk will always get you out of your comfort zone. Many people do not take chances of telling the person they love what they feel because they are afraid of rejection or being heart broken. Some people are not taking risk because they are afraid of being shamed. Other people are afraid of taking risk because they just don’t feel like it (uncomfortable just by thinking about it).

When I first mentioned about my plans of getting out of the “Employment Quadrant” and jumping into the “Business and Investor Quadrant”, I encountered a lot of scrutinizing and procrastination because they think that what I was going to do was plain stupid. I don’t really blame them for not understanding because they think that it’s not safe and secure venture out in business and investment. I think otherwise. I think that my job is limiting me to find the best for my self and it was too risky to depend of a small but secured paycheck. If I was to continue my job for a few more years I thought that I would be like a caterpillar stuck in its temporary embodiment. That I cannot allow.

I know that for some people that have special circumstances, it is hard to take risk especially when other people depend on you (family). I know that because I also have a wife and a daughter that is dependent on me but I can tell you one thing; the risk and sacrifice that you’ll be giving today will pay forward to your future. That I can assure. If you are still waiting for that break, please stop hoping of being stumbled upon that opportunity. You have to create that opportunity to have it. Again taking risk can be less risky when you know what you are doing. If you’re thinking of investing later when you have money, then stop thinking about the latter and focus on investing today, right now, right this minute! Take the risk and I promise that you will not only acquire great wealth but also acquire great knowledge along the way.

Where to Invest?

Just a few hours ago, a friend of mine asked me about where to invest her money. She asked me where to invest it and if possible for me to manage her investment. I courteously replied that I have to decline her request and told her that I cannot manage her money. Then I added that she has to learn how to manage and invest her money. She needs to invest in her self first before investing to any investment vehicles.

The first investment that we all should make is our investment to our selves. Putting your money into a business or investment vehicle without financial literacy will be your first step to disaster. So I urge anyone reading this to invest in books, seminars, sometimes mentors and “trust worthy” financial planners (note that I quoted trust worthy). Talk to like-minded people, reach out to successful mentors and ask them to teach you, start investing slowly and surely and you’ll see your self slowly growing your mind, experience and of course your money. There are tons of investment vehicle out there to choose from but the question is “Are you ready to get in and get out?” Many people fail in their investments because they simply fail to acknowledge financial literacy before investing. Invest one step at a time and you follow a plan to get your goals. So before you invest, make sure you are financially educated to maximize your potential.

Recommended Readings:

The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

PS If you have any questions or inquiries regarding my articles please do leave a comment below or contact me at the details below

Jeffrey Baclangen

Entrepreneur

Mobile: +63.927.966.9979

Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com or jbaclangen@aol.com

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Why Learn To Sell?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:59:00 -0800

Why Selling?

Selling is one of the essential skills involved in the Multilevel Marketing Business and presumably the most required skill that this business need. So what exactly is the reason why you need to learn how to sell? For most people, they see multilevel companies as a scam just because they are offered to sell products. That is a misconception and probably a very stupid reason to perceive a company to be a scam.

Learning how to sell is the most important skill a Multilevel Marketing Distributor should have because practically and logically a multilevel marketing company will only succeed if their products are selling and when I say selling, it’s a process of repeat buying. Companies such as multilevel companies are also the same as traditional companies such as Uniliver, Procter & Gamble, SM Department Stores, Handy Man, Ebay and a lot more. These companies also sell products and they solely depend on the sales of the company for profit. This is the same with multilevel companies. They too are selling products through direct distributors. They use a different business model and a different system that traditional business use. They use the “Word of Mouth” Advertising, Direct Retail Pricing and use a Competitive Compensation Plan to reward the sellers of the product.

Can Everyone Learn To Sell?

The answer to the question is “YES”. The skill of selling can be learned over time. One great thing about Multilevel companies such as AIM Global Inc. is that they provide “FREE” Trainings on the products, business model, compensation plans, how to strategically sell the products and creating, sustaining and growing your own network of distributors. Let me reiterate that this seminars and work shops are free of charge! Isn’t that great? Another good thing about multilevel companies is the support group that you have, your up lines will be your mentors on how to sell, how to recruit and how to manage your network efficiently, effectively and aggressively.

So Are You In For The Ride?

Many people will scrutinize and procrastinate the MLM Business but in my opinion, this people are those people are ignorant and do not know what they are talking about. Being open to learning and improving is the most important attitude a prospect distributor should have. Are you one of those people that want to learn how to sell and improve their skills on how to deal with the MLM business? Or are you one of those people that procrastinate, scrutinize and get negative about the Networking Business? If you are one of those people that is interested on how to learn, improve and to get a head start to wealth and unlimited profits, AIM Global Inc. is always open to guide you and teach you how to succeed in the Multilevel Marketing Business. Just contact is with the details below to start your journey to financial freedom.

“Some people fold after making one timid request. They quit too soon. Keep asking until you find the answers. In sales there are usually four or five "no's" before you get a "yes."” - Jack Canfield

Contact us @:

Contact: Joy Baclangen - AIM Global Inc. Distributor (Manila/Cavite Area)

Mobile: +63.917.519.3235 or +63.927.966.9979

E-mail: joybaclangen@aol.com or joybaclangen@gmail.com

Office: Units 301, 319 and 320 AIC Burgundy Empire Tower, cor. Garnet & Sapphire Sts., Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines

Contact: Shane Marie Alaba/Michelle Villamor – AIM Global Inc. Distributor (General Santos/ Davao Area)

Mobile: +63.908.527.1070 (Shane) or +63.908.527.1070 (Michelle)

Email: mvillamor@ymail.com

Office: 2nd floor Villamor bldg. 061 Laurel North, General Santos City, Philippines

Recommended Reading:

Build, Grow, and Sustain Your Network Marketing Distributor Business by Joshua Go
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

PS For more info on MLM and Network Marketing please click here.

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My Own Financial Goals for 2010

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:09:21 -0800

Planning Ahead

I know this is a bit late for me to post this but for me this is a great start of a great year ahead. I decided to post my goals just now because I just “finally” finished my draft for my financial goals this year. I also want to add that today is my 24^th birthday (Happy Birthday to me!) and it’s very great year to start action. Some of the goals I have for this year have been accomplished already just a few weeks ago so I hope that all the reader can be encouraged to take action in your 2010 goals because it does happen if you pay for the price and if you really have the desire to get it. So let me give you my list.

1. Increase our emergency fund – So far we are still in the middle of getting our target of 6 months worth of expenses in our emergency fund/account and if my calculations are correct, we'll hit it by the month of May this year.

2. Fix my portfolio of stocks and bonds– I have been planning of a competitive way to manage my stocks since last year and so far, all the directions I planned worked out. By March of this year, I’ll be focusing more about it through more research and education about competitive strategies and my short and long positions.

3. Open my first restaurant business – My friends and I have been planning about this for a while now and we’re getting closer and closer to launch our business. We still don’t have a target date but we are going to that direction already. I’m really excited to do this as this is the first time that I’ll be getting into this kind of business.

4. To build, grow and sustain our Multilevel Marketing account – For years I hated MLM and Networking Business for no particular reason. Last year, my wife and I were convinced by a friend to join one and so far the business okay. But this year I’m aiming to grow the business and to make wealth from it. I know it requires a lot of work like research, upgrading my selling skills, more knowledge about marketing, doing studies about the business models, etc. For some of you that do not like MLM, I recommend that you take a second look. It might be a niche for you.

5. Invest in real estate – To be honest with you, this was one of my obsessions last year, but it became real just last week. We bought a property last week and we got it for a very nice deal. This is the first accomplishment we got this year and it was very momentous to us. I’m also looking forward to get another property (with positive cash flow) before the end of this year.

6. Open a computer/Internet shop – I’m also aiming to open this business before October or November this year. I have been planning this since last year and so far the research and studies we’ve made are giving positive impressions for us to start the business. I just hope that we make it to our dead line.

7. Resign from employment – I have been planning about this for about 1 year and 5 months already. One year unconsciously (because I hated doing force work) and five months consciously (I realized that it can be done!). It’s a hard transition because I need to change my behavior towards money. I have to let go of the idea of salary and to change it to profit sharing instead. I also needed to make sure that after resigning my income is sufficient to feed my family. It’s a very hard choice but I made it. My wife agreed to it (at first she did not but she had no choice hehe) and I will be resigning before the end of the year. It was a choice between comfort and security or wealth and freedom. I chose wealth and freedom.

8. Maintain a good amount in all our Money Jars – We are using the recommended money jars mentioned in the book “The Secrets of a Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Eker and so far we are doing okay with it. Our goal this year is to sustain the amount of money deposited in each account and make sure that the accounts will at least have a minimum of 50,000 each. A very challenging idea don’t you think?

9. Increase my child’s trust fund – This is exclusively for my daughters future. My wife and I agreed to invest in the future of our daughter through trust funds like Mutual Funds, Educational Plans, and other trust funds with great yield. This is the not just an investment but a requirement for us to show how we love our daughter. And the best gift we can give to our daughter is education and knowledge.

10. To remove all our bad debt and replace it with good ones – We want to erase all bad debts this year and replace it with good ones. Erasing bad debt is getting rid of credit card debt and unproductive loans. We will have to replace it with business loans that are used for business cash flow and good yielding investments.

11. To visit all our relatives this year – Sometimes we need to visit our families too once or twice a year to remind them that we care for them. Unfortunately our families are scattered in Luzon going down to Mindanao. We are aiming to visit them all this year, starting in Ilocos, Baguio, Cebu and General Santos (Vacation Deluxe). This is a time for relaxation and unwinding for me and my wife Joy.

12. To be more active in church activities and improve our spiritual lives – For years my wife and I have been very busy with work that we neglected our responsibility to the one above. This year, we want to give our efforts back to Him. We also want to give back the blessings to the church and thank Him for the great blessings He shared to us.

All of us have dreams, goals and aspirations for the year 2010. The only question we have to answer is “What will we do about it?” and “What are we willing to sacrifice to reach and attain it?” I also needed to answer those questions and so far I’m doing well answering them. How bout you? Are you still finding the answer to those questions?

Leave a comment or reaction below and let everyone reading this know what on your thought. A good day and God bless to all.

Recommended Reading:

Making Your Money Work: Pera Mo Palaguin Mo! 1 and 2 by Francisco Colayco

For Richer For Poorer by Chinkee Tan

Jeffrey Baclangen

Entrepreneur

Contact: +63.927.966.9979

Email: jbaclangen@gmail.com

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The Real Deal

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:11:17 -0800

Why Real Estate

Real Estate has been one of the most profitable investment vehicles in the Philippines. When you check out the Philippines Stock Exchange, the number of Realty Corporations is far larger than those of Industrial and Financial Corporations. But how can an average person be involved in such large capital investment vehicle such as Real Estate? My answer to that question is the same as rich dad, “Don’t Be Average!”

When my peers at work heard that I will be engaging in the real estate investment, most of them told me that real estate investing is risky. Well I didn’t listen to them because as far as I know, they are just responding that way because they either heard of a bad experience about real estate or they don’t know a thing about real estate investing. When I read the book of Dr. Larry Gamboa’s “Think Rich Pinoy” I found my passion in real estate. It was like a glorious light shinning upon me blessing me with all the wonders of the real estate business. I found out good ways on how to invest in real estate. To give you an idea about what I read, let me give you a list to prove that real estate investing is one of the best investment vehicles available.

It is one of the basic needs of human. – In the hierarchy of needs, the ultimate needs of humans are Food, Shelter and Clothing. With the rising number of population, I think that every human being will need a place they can call home. This is the reason why real estate is a very good business to engage in.

A Solid and Tangible Asset – Comparing it to bank deposits, paper assets such as stocks and bonds which are virtual, real estate is a very tangible investment. A person owning a real estate property will never have the tendency to loose it unless the person dies or it gets foreclosed.

Leverage Based Assets – A person can borrow money to acquire a real estate property. Unlike paper assets, a person cannot have a loan to fund a paper asset investment. If managed really well, a person can also use other people’s money to pay off the property by renting or leasing it out.

So given this reasons, do you have the desire to learn new things in a new perspective? In my journey to financial literacy, I have known people that are successful in their own field. I fell lucky to have found a virtual mentor in real estate (I found him through the internet). He shared a lot about real estate investing and the how’s of real estate. To share a few, I’ll post a copy of his article on ways on how to earn from real estate investing focusing in “Foreclosures”.

9 Ways To Invest In Foreclosures And Earn Money

Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I’ve met a lot of people who ask me how I can make money from investing in foreclosures. I then give a lengthy explanation on the various ways I can earn money to every person who asks. For the benefit of everyone who wants to know, especially in these times with all the news about the global recession, I’ll list down all possible ways one can make money through foreclosures, based on what I have learned in the past 2 years. Please feel free to add more by leaving your comments.

1. Buy and Hold
This is the strategy of a person who buys a foreclosed property and holds on to it until its market value appreciates. In a nutshell. one can make money from the buy and hold strategy through the following:

1. Selling the property for a profit. This assumes of course that the market value has indeed increased. Most of the time, however, it would take several years for a property to appreciate in value, and the cost of maintaining it, taxes, etc. are often not considered, hence, the owner has no idea if he will make any money when he sells his property.

2. Refinancing the loan to convert the owner’s equity into cash*. Equity is the difference between the current appraised value and the loan principal balance. When the appraised value increases, the equity increases as well. To cash out the equity, one can get a new appraisal from another bank that reflects the increased market value of a property and then a new and bigger loan is secured based on this new appraisal. The original loan will then be paid for using the proceeds of the new loan and then the owner pockets the excess cash.

*On a side note, I almost did something similar when a townhouse I acquired through an auction was given a very high appraisal by onebank compared to my winning bid, and I could have pocketed the difference which was about Php400K. Unfortunately, I had to back out of that deal because of some issues with the mother title. The possible headaches were not worth the Php400k.

Actually, there are two common ways the buy and hold strategy is done here in the Philippines.

1. Buy and hold( and pray), which basically means aside from praying that the property will go up in value, the buyer does nothing with the property and it becomes idle

2. Buy and hold and have the property rented out

Here in the Philippines, it’s common to see people using the buy and hold (and pray) strategy for land. In my opinion, this is not a very smart move because there’s usually no positive cashflow from land while there will surely be expenses like real property taxes, property mainenance, etc, and of course let’s not forget the risk of having squatters taking over the land and the owners would later have to spend money just to eject them. Furthermore, I often hear a lot of stories where people are unable to sell a piece of land they have been holding for a long time when they have an immediate need for cash, so they are forced to sell at a loss. There are some instances too when people sell the land they have been holding for a long time for a huge profit, and because of this, no one is interested in buying the land.

Others apply the buy and hold strategy by buying a property, and then have it rented out, while hoping that the property’s value will appreciate, without considering the cashflow it generates. More often than not, these properties are negatively-geared or have negative cashflow. Again, this is not a smart investment strategy in my opinion as they tend to be like a money pit. I won’t be surprised if some of these properties end up being foreclosed again.

One should only apply the buy and hold strategy if a property can generate positive cashflow as a rental property as described below.

2. Rentals (with positive cashflow!)

Buy a property, apply minor cosmetic changes like a fresh coat of paint and have it ready for occupancy, then re

nt it out. At the very least, when buying a foreclosed property, the numbers should work in such a way that if you turn it into a rental property, it can generate positive cashflow. You basicallymake money through the rent your tenants pay you on a monthly basis and this should more than cover all expenses like amortization, taxes, insurance, etc. This should produce a nice steady positive cashflow every month. I personally don’t take a second look at a property if it won’t be profitable if I rent it out as this is my last exit strategy.

3. Rent-to-own
With rent-to-own (which is more appropriately called a lease with an option to purchase), you give tenants the right to purchase the property for a certain amount, which is often called a downpayment. Tenants who become buyers still pay on a monthly basis but instead of paying rent, they are actually paying for the property through monthly installments. Instead of the usual 2 months advance and 1 month deposit, tenant-buyers pay a down payment which is usually higher than 3 months rent. The seller has the option to charge monthly installments that are higher than the usual monthly rent in this scheme. Because of this strategy, the monthly positive cashflow and ROI can be substantially higher than if it was just a simple rental property. This method is showcased in Dr. Larry Gamboa’s book, Think Rich Pinoy!. If you haven’t read this book yet, I highly suggest you do.

4. Flipping

Flipping is done when one buys a property and sells it quickly for a profit. The best flipping method is when you buy a foreclosed property today, but already sold it yesterday. How, you ask? Sometimes one may already have an agreement with a buyer that he will buy a property before you have actually bought it.

5. Rehabbing
When you buy a foreclosed property that may need some repairs, fix it up, and then sell it at full market value, you call that Rehabbing, or buy-renovate-sell. If done correctly, this can result in huge profits. This is quite risky though, as cost over-runs during repairs or renovations are quite common. If you’ve watched the show “Property Ladder“(which I believe mistakenly refers to rehabbing as flipping), you’d know what I mean. Anyway, since foreclosed properties are often priced below market value by 40% or more, there’s a lot of room for hefty profit margins.

6. Wholesaling

Wholesaling is buying a property way below market value and then selling it for a price slightly higher, often to other real estate investors engaged in rehabbing. Profits are not as big as profits from rehabbing because obviously the buyers would need to buy at a price with room for them to make money as well. This strategy however is a great way to make quick cash and is far less risky. Beginning investors should seriously consider using this strategy when getting started. You just have to be good at spotting diamonds in the rough, so to speak. One of my mentors, Trace Trajano, showcased this in the book Think Rich Quick!, which he co-authored with Larry Gamboa.

7. Tax Foreclosures
For tax foreclosures, one makes money when his winning bid for an auctioned property earns interest. The City Treasurer or his deputy shall return to the winning bidder the entire purchase price paid by him plus the interest of 2% per month computed from the date of sale to the date of redemption. The earned interest can be substantial (Hey, 2% per month is 24% per annum and that’s pretty hard to beat) and is truly passive income. However, one will have to wait until the delinquent owner redeems his property, and this could take up to a year. If the year lapses, you end up owning the property and then you canearn money by using any of the techniques I discussed above. By the way, the most recent tax foreclosure auction I attended was in Marikina City and you may want to check it out. Other cities in the Metro like San Juan still have no scheduled auctions as of this writing.

8. Commissions
If a foreclosed property is sold through a negotiated sale and the buyer formally notifies the bank that you are the one that referred the property to him, you can earn a commission, which is normally 5% for accredited licensed brokers. For public auctions, I believe the commission rate is only 1%. I have been a licensed broker for more than a year now but have yet to earn from this because I only learned about this recently, during the Unionbank auction I attended. I noticed that the registration form for the auction had a space for “Referred by” and I asked about this afterwards. Also, I haven’t been accredited by any bank at the moment, mainly because my Broker’s ID from DTI is yet to be released due to a technical glitch in their ID system. So far I have managed to get accredited with CBRE as they don’t require the Broker’s ID from DTI. Once I do get my Broker’s ID and get accreditation from other b

anks, I will definitely pursue this. This might also give me leverage and get bank foreclosed property listings before they are released to the public, which I’ll post in this blog for sure. We’ll see!

9. Pre-foreclosures

This is when a property owner is facing foreclosure and an investor would help stop the foreclosure by buying the property, which is often the last recourse to avoid the foreclosure as the proceeds of the sale shall be used to have the mortgage fully paid. The seller often sells the property at a very low selling price, usually for what he owes plus a little cash, just to get the property sold as fast as possible. In these situations, an investor should never take advantage of the seller’s misfortune and should offer a win-win solution for everyone.

Conclusion

These are just some of the ways of earning money through foreclosures and do take note that these strategies can be combined with one another. Actually, all of these techniques or strategies apply to real estate investing in general, not just to foreclosures. However, these can be applied more easily to foreclosures because they are often sold way below market value, require very little down payment (usually only 10%), and banks offer long payment terms.

Reference: http://www.foreclosurephilippines.com/2009/02/how-to-make-money-by-investing-in.html with permission from Jay Castillo owner of foreclosurephilippines.com

Thanks to Mr. Jay Castillo’s insights, right now I am a proud owner of 3 properties and hopefully will be getting my fourth before December of this year.

The Pre-requisite of Real Estate Investing

If you’ve read all my previous articles, you might have brushed through parts of my blogs where I always recommend investing in your self first. And as yet again another recommendation, Invest in your best asset first, you mind. My family and a couple of friends started to invest not in stocks, or real estate or forex but we started investing in our heads. We read books, started to contact rich people for mentorship and we engaged to it bit by bit until we get into the game. Being an investor requires diligence, knowledge, being smart and a vision that will work for everyone. Make sure that when you start investing; be sure to have a clear goal, a learning heart and mind and a passion to pay it forward. I hope that in little ways such as this blog, I can pay forward the blessings God gave me and my family to you and to your family.

Recommended Reading:

Think Rich Pinoy by Dr. Larry Gamboa

The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump

PS. For the latest updates about my blog, subscribe your email to receive email alerts in your email. Be the first to know!

PPS. If you have any comments, suggestion or reactions please do write some comments below and make sure you share your ideas.

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The 10 Investor Controls Pt. 3

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 06:47:00 -0800

This will be the last chapter of the Investor Controls mentioned by Mr. Robert Kiyosaki in his book “Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing” where in we will talk about the last 4 Investor Controls needed by entrepreneurs to be successful in business and investments. First we have to go back to the list of Investor controls that Robert Kiyosaki motioned.

1. The control over yourself.

2. The control over income/expense asset/liabilities ratios.

3. The control over the management of the investment.

4. The control over taxes.

5. The control over when you buy and when you sell.

6. The control over brokerage transactions.

7. The control ETC (entity, timing, and characteristics).

8. The control over the terms and conditions of agreements.

9. The control over access to information.

10. The control over giving it back, philanthropy, redistribution of wealth.

In the part 1 and 2 of the 10 Investor Controls we discussed the first 6 Investor controls that every investor should know (please see The Ten Investor Controls Pt. 1 and The Ten Investor Controls Pt. 2) when engaging into any investments. Now we will continue to uncover the last 4 investor controls to be a successful investor in the future. But before we move further, I must say that being an investor is not as simple as you are thinking. Being an investor requires education (life long education that never stops), experience (starting small and getting bigger every step of the way) and excessive cash (cash coming from both education and experience). This is the requirements for us to be successful as entrepreneurs. Acquiring education means sacrificing time, effort and money to get it. Experience will need more than just education because you will have to make decisions that will affect your investments and from time to time you will experience failure. Excessive cash will always be a problem when you are starting, Investing in the investment of the rich requires more than ten million pesos (USD$200,000) to be an accredited investor so getting started in baby steps is recommeneded. But I assure you that if you do your home work everyday and work harder in your investments, the excessive cash will be an easy target to catch. So before we start, I would recommend the readers to invest in their self first to be more aware of financial literacy.

Disclaimer: anything written in this blog does not recommend any investment or entity but an explanation of the said topic. Please consult a legal and/or a financial adviser before engaging into any business entities or legality change. This blog will not be liable for any losses and legal disputes an individual will have.

Investor Control no. 7: The control over ETC (entity, timing, and characteristics).

The question for each man is not what he would do if he had the means, time, influence and educational advantages, but what he will do with the things he has. - Frank Hamilton

This kind of control is one of the smartest controls an investor can acquire. The reason an investor needs this kind of control is very simple, you get all the legal advantages than a normal person (employee or a self-employed) can't get. In my research and study in the areas of business, I have discovered a lot of advantages that business entity exploit just because of the legal loop holes in the legal system. Have you ever noticed why the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poorer? I know why, it is because of the legal system that we have. The legal system allows the rich to get richer and richer and the poor to get poorer and poorer, and that is because the legal system is not perfect. For instance, taxes are imposed to everyone; may it be a corporation, an average employee, a president or a senator, a government employee, a consumer (through VAT) etc. One advantage of the rich in terms of taxes is that the rich can acquire copies of them selves through entities they own. Laws imposed on normal people are different when imposed on business entities. Taxes are lower when you are a business entity than a normal person. This is one of the best advantages that the rich are exploiting. Another advantage that corporations and partnerships have is that they can spend pre-taxed money to buy assets before the government imposes taxes on them. A normal employee cannot get this kind of advantage because you have to pay the government first before you can buy what ever they need. These are just some of the advantages you can exploit when using the correct entity when engaging in business and investments.

A lot of new businesses today fold because they simply did not take advantage of the usage of entity. They thought that having a business entitled to them (sole proprietorship) will be the most beneficial but in reality it is the worst business entity there is. Being a sole proprietor of a business is like an employee. The only difference is that you own the company but the taxes imposed on you are still the same as employees and worst is that you have to provide for your own benefits. I certainly agree that having to own a business is good but not owning it is better. By saying “not owning it” I am stating that you make sure that you are not liable to your own company. Having a business entity is more like have a clone. You get all the profits but when times get rough, the only thing affected is your clone (your company). To give you an example, Lets say I wanted to create my own laundry business, and I’m planning to have 2 more partners for it. I would be choosing an entity of “Limited Partnership” and have a lawyer forge together a contract between every partners with limited liabilities. Lets say that in the first 2 operating years the business was ok and after a while a lawsuit from a customer came because an order was misplaced and damaged. We responded to the lawsuit and eventually after a few court trials we lost the case. In this scenario, only the company will be liable for the lawsuit although we are owners of the company, we will only risk our money, time and effort in the case. In this case we only have limited partnership and we are not liable (personally) to the lawsuit. Only the company will be affected thus having a bad credibility and our personal credibility wont be affected. Our names are completely clear and our credibility as owner would not be affected. We can open another business again and again as long as we are using the limited partnership entity.

Given the scenario above, we can say that a business entity is just a way of multiplying our selves to make sure that we protect our credibility as a person (legally) and to make sure that we take advantage of the available legal loop holes in the country.

Timing is also important in investments. Profits will always depend on the correct timing of your business and investments. Having the correct timing in law, economic turns and cash flow will make things easier for investors. The only question we have is how do we know when is the right timing? From what I understood, timing can only be perfect when you are ready. Being ready to know the correct timing means that you are financially educated and you know how to predict market turns (legally and socially). Creating a feasibility study and a cash flow plan can make you better understand what I mean. You can plan a good business but if your timing is not correct I would bet that your business will fold just as fast as you built the business. I would suggest that you study and spend time on researching first before engaging into a business and make sure you make use of the proper timing both legally and socially to make sure your business will flourish.

The characteristic of your business will also depend on what you are engaging into, you need to make sure that you take advantage of the characteristic of your business to take advantage of the legal loop holes. Business characteristics differ from one business to another so you have to make sure that you know the character of your business. An example is real estate. Real estate business is a very profitable business as it is one of the main needs of humans: HOME. The characteristics of the real estate business will also vary with the law that is imposed on them. Taxes can be different in real estate in comparison to a consultancy business. There are legal aspects that are different too given the characteristic of your business is concerned. Be smart before investing and make sure you control your business entity, timing and characteristic.

Investor Control no. 8: The control over the terms and conditions of agreements.

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking. - George Eliot

This control is actually very simple; as long as you know what you are signing you can breathe well with no worries. The problem today in the Philippines is that most people do not understand what they are signing. And when the time they get in trouble, they get into it with no fight at all just because they did not understand what they signed. I personally like legalities because it challenges me. I do not like it because it’s complex but I like it because you begin to understand humans.

Having control over term and conditions of agreements should always be the first on your list when dealing with customers, partners, shareholders, debtors, borrowers, etc. This will make sure that both parties are safe and will make sure that the deal is protected. Having this control will give investors an edge because they know what their boundaries are and that they can calculate risk through this control. I am certainly sure that almost everyone reading this knows what an agreement is and what is inside it. I hope that when you engage into any agreements, you already made sure that you took the time to review and if possible take the agreement to your advantage before signing it.

Investor Control no. 9: The control over access to information.

Knowledge is of two kinds; we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. - Samuel Johnson

Access to information is very important to every business and investment. In the stock market, access to any inside information is prohibited because it is said that inside information can trigger manipulation of the market hence making the information holder gain more profits. This is very important in a sense that information should be controlled inside and out side your business. An inside control is need to make sure that you give only the information needed by your employees. Outside information should be controlled as well to make sure that you advertise well, you protect your business and you maintain the credibility of your business.

To give you an example, every company; large or small; always have sensitive information in it. I say sensitive because it can make or break your company in terms of business process, financials, agreements, etc. This should be controlled to make sure that you also control the people under you such as management and employees. This will assure that you protect the interest of your company and your clients. Having a control over access to information should have a hierarchy to make sure that only appropriate information is given to the people that need them. This will ensure that they focus on what ever they are required to do and to mind their own business. This will also maintain professionalism in the company because they maintain a sense of leadership with the information they carry with them. At the same time you protect the companies’ information property.

An investor can protect it’s information by having a good Intellectual Property Rights Lawyer to make sure that all information about your business is protected from piracy, process outburst and for other people to copy your business model.

This will also make sure that you only supply your people the correct information and to have them sign a disclosure of information to protect what ever information they have from the outside of the company.

Another thing about this control is you can also control the information going out of the company through advertisements and hearsay. Again you can control this by using an Intellectual Property Rights Lawyer by using disclosures and agreements between advertisers and you and to those people that gain information about your business. Having this control will protect you and your business from possible piracy, copying your business model, lawsuits and many more threats to your business.

Investor Control no. 10: The control over giving it back, philanthropy, redistribution of wealth.

There is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. - Henry Drummond

This is the most important control that an investor should always have when they reach success. I believe that giving the wealth back will be paid back to you 100 times more than you expected. The universe will always reward anyone that gives. I am certain about this because my family have experienced it. Giving is not a gift; it is a requirement for everyone that has something to offer. For a lot of people this is the hardest to make especially when greed comes in between.

Giving comes in different packages. A person can offer not just money but one can also offer his time, efforts and ideas to anything that needs it. But I have to caution you that you should have something to offer before you give. This is why it is better to give when you are successful because you have a lot to offer when you are financially free. How can you give back if you don’t have anything to offer right? So the question is, can you give when you are poor? In my experience, you can’t give enough when you your self can’t even make things end. Have you ever experienced when a friend of your suddenly ask you for a favor and you can’t help him because you don’t have money, time or effort to do so? Isn’t it frustrating when you get into that situation. I believe that being financially literate is a great way to be free (time freedom and financial freedom). And to offer time and money is something that we all need to share to our family, friends and people that need it. I am grateful that I have read Mr. Kiyosaki’s books on financial literacy because I can now give more than I ever gave when I was broke. I hope that we all become givers as soon as we all become successful.

Conclusion:

To be an entrepreneur is not as simple as we think of. Being an entrepreneur requires great knowledge and experience to gain success. Having all the 10 investor controls will help every entrepreneur that aims to be successful. I certainly hope that in reading and applying all the investor control I can help you in your journey to financial freedom. The controls are meant to be a guide for us to gain financial freedom. My dream is for all the people reading this to be financially free to do what ever they want to do and for them to help out other people to reach their success as well. As Mr. Bo Sanchez said “The ultimate reason of success is to help” and I devote my self to helping people reach their goals through my writing. I hope that you gained more knowledge by reading this. Please don’t forget to share any of your experiences or comments below before you leave. Thanks and God Bless.

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Multilevel Marketing Business

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:25:00 -0800

The Underlying Secret

For decades, multilevel marketing has been one of the fastest growing industries not only here in the Philippines but in foreign countries as well. It has grown that even investment banks, industrial conglomerates and retail giant acquired the business model created by networking companies to increase their profits, reduce expenses and fasten the distribution. Multilevel Marketing is the thing of the future. In the not so far future, direct selling will dominate almost 30 – 40 percent of the retail industry and will be adopted by many more companies in the future.

I also never understood how MLM companies operate until my wife joined one. One day, my wife invited me to attend a workshop with her in Ortigas. We went there and listened to the wonderful speeches and explanation of how MLM works. I was impressed but I still had doubts in my head about the business but at the same time I also wondered how those speakers got so rich and abundant. It was really mind boggling.

To Understand the Business

I finally understood the business when we got into the business it self. My wife’s friend (the one that invited my wife to join it) who’s unemployed is earning roughly triple of what I am earning in a month with overtime pay (that sucks). When she introduced the products and the marketing plan, I was not too impressed because first, I was not a fan of food supplements and medicines, secondly I had saw my parents got blown away by pyramiding scams before, and third and lastly I have no talents in selling. But I did tell my wife to try it out because I was interested in the profits and benefits the company. After a few months of dormancy, I stumbled upon a book that recommended multilevel marketing investing. I was intrigued and was amazed by the recommendations of authors such as Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump to think that these people are millionaires and billionaires. When I read the book, I went to my wife to ask her about the book that came with the package of her networking kit. I was astonished on how the business was being done. I then studied the proportions of profit, the profitability of the business model and the feasibility of the product. I then understood the underlying principles of Multilevel Marketing Business Model.

Stepping Ahead

One of the most enticing features of being a Network Marketing Distributor is that you only need to invest a small capital and you’ve got your self a very large business. This gives people an edge because they can earn from minimum to an exponential growth of infinity. Aside from the direct profits from recruiting and selling the product, you can get perks such as sales commissions from your down lines; insurance benefits, medical benefits and even some companies give university scholarship certificates. Isn’t it very attractive? I also like the concept of help me help you system. In the Network Marketing Industry, this concept is the foundation of everything. Helping others to get down lines will make you earn more than anything you imagined. You also help out your down lines because you get to put recruits under him/her. You also help them in terms of usage of the product. To give you a good example: Let’s say that you are a part of a food supplement MLM and you have a prospect down line that has a medical condition. You can help him out through the food supplements that you are selling. You, not only helped him to get a source of income but you also helped him with his health. Fortunately, a number of people that have medical conditions that tried the products from MLM companies said that 99% the products do work. I also believe it my self because I use those products that my wife got from her kit. I am a believer of the product and the system of Network Marketing Business.

To Spread the Good News

For a lot of people, Multilevel Marketing or Network Marketing is perceived as pyramiding scams or illegitimate businesses. In my opinion, one should study and take a look at the business model before making false perception about the business model. I personally had questions and doubts before about MLM but through research and study I discovered that MLM companies are far from being scams or illegal business. I would suggest that if you are interested in the Direct Selling Business, read books about the business, research it on the internet, evaluate the structure and make sure that the business is legal through check out the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) or Department of Trade and Industries (DTI). For those people that are already investing in the MLM business, please leave comment below and share the experience with other readers.

Multilevel Marketing is a very interesting business to take advantage. I suggest this kind of business because I have proven the profitability of the business model. This is also a good start for people that aim to get out of the employment quadrant jumping to the business quadrant (see The Four Quadrants). This a great opportunity for all Filipinos to grab but I also suggest to invest in your self first. Financial Literacy should always be the first thing we should do before investing to anything. Always remember what Warren Buffet said “It makes very little sense to know what you are doing!” Be a smart investor and aim financial freedom!

P.S. If anyone reading is interested to join my wife’s MLM company please email her at jbaclangen@aol.com or jbaclangen@aol.com.

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