Why bet on the Philippines? And why you can’t be careless?

Here’s a very timely video presentation that explains why, if you’re a Filipino, you should ride through the country’s growth story not only as observer on the sideline; but more importantly as an investor.

One doesn’t need to have so much in order to invest! Can you save 20 pesos like the #2daughters? That little amount can actually turn into millions. If that blows your mind, read this! Now, if you don’t know how to save, I can tell for certain you’re highly likely to remain an observer on the sideline wondering how on earth the Philippine economy rocketed itself to the moon, when that imminent economic prosperity arrives. In fact, non-Filipinos are recognizing this and positioning themselves not to be left out.

Let me warn you though. When used alone, this idea of not being left out is the same motivation that gets people scammed. Make sure to understand what you’re getting into. I would even challenge you to validate everything that’s posted in this blog. Don’t believe me right away! That’s the right attitude before parting with your money, even if that’s just PHP 20 (pesos). In one story, someone lost a lot of money for failing to fact check  [complete story here]. Don’t copy that same story into your life, please!

What follows are additional guidelines that should protect you from trouble.

Deal only with legitimate stockbrokers. In our community that provides stock market investing guidance, our preference is the leading online stock brokerage company in the country today.

It’s not enough that the company you are dealing with has SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) Registration certificate. Ask for the “secondary license” that allows them to sell investments. Aman Futures that scammed billions of pesos from thousands of Pinoys including government officials only had SEC registration! Actually even a licensed stockbroker(person) needs sponsorship of a licensed stockbrokerage firm (like Colfinancial, Bpitrade, etc.) in order for any transaction to be legal.

For your protection, only open an account with a licensed stockbrokerage firm. Like when you open a typical bank account, you deal only with the bank itself or its authorized representative.

Pay directly to the stockbrokerage firm. Of course, there should be an official receipt if you do this. For online accounts, you have an option to deposit your “consumable” initial amount/payment only after the approval of you stockbrokerage account. You will know your account has been approved upon your receipt via email of your username and password.

You would know you are being scammed if there is a guaranteed return! By law, any licensed stockbroker(person) or authorized representative of a stockbrokerage firm, is prohibited from guaranteeing stock investment returns. If you’re offered any investments (stocks or otherwise) and there’s guaranteed returns, run away as fast as you can!!

Be informed and stay updated with any of your investments. If you think the company you bought no longer serves your purpose based on your qualifications for buying them, discard them and move on. If you think you need guidance, you may join our community that advocates that “the true purpose of wealth is to serve others.”

I told you not to believe me, right? Learn more from Philippine Stocks Exchange:

Postscript 1/2: Sourced from PSE Facebook page, and Colfinancial FB page and YouTube channel.

Postscript 2/2: If you want to have financial wealth and spiritual abundance at the same time, journey with this community!

Manual

Any creation is always accompanied by a manual. 

A car has a manual so that when it malfunctions, the repair technician will know how to fix the trouble. The manual also teaches how to maintain the car to keep it in good running condition so it can get you to places especially your desired destination. 

Your cellphone has a manual, too! It gives the assurance you can know its proper use, its features and continue enjoying them using the internet,  as from time to time, your cellphone hangs and encounters all sorts of unexpected problems. 

Do you know that your life has a manual, too? Like a car or a cellphone, you are a creation – with a purpose, too! Sometimes it’s difficult to know it; and it may take a while to know what your purpose is for being here. But  I AM SURE that you are intended to be uselful. What are cars and/or cellphones, that are all over the place wherever you look, if they’re of no use? 

Know this. Just keep on looking until you find your usefulness! When problems come your way, you may feel broken and destroyed but you can be repaired. Thanks to your (repair) manual! Your life manual has also sufficient instructions how you can maintain a good & meaningful life. 

And yes, including how to create & maintain good finances – example of this is the 7.5 Million goal of each of you that’s coming your way in few years! Thanks to the guidance of an awesome community!

That’s why, financial or otherwise,  you always hear me tell you that you can live and enjoy a fantastic life to the full! Check your manual, that promise is there!

Just keep reading it everyday of your life not only during the mass or religion classes – even if you don’t feel like reading it at times. 

Oh, well. Thankfully, you can also watch its movie adaptation I recently discovered (see below).

Tell you something. Daddy is convinced that your (life/repair) manual is the best source of financial wisdom! It is popularly called as …

 
The Bible 1:

 
The Bible 2:

 
The Bible 3:

 
The Bible 4:

 
Attribution: Image from haynes.com; Gospel of Jesus facebook page for the videos.

Postscript: You may join.our community if you think your financial life is a mess right now. And change your life for the better! Know more about it, here!

Give all your money to the poor. Will you follow?

Others may feel differently. But for someone studying personal finance & investing like me who also would like to transfer the right knowledge and values to #2daughters, I find the story of the the rich man who consulted the Savior, very disturbing! It’s as if I’m in a dead-end, staring at a brick wall seeing some writing on the wall (like the image above). It seemed like all stuff I am discovering up to now will eventually end up useless!

What?! Sell my possessions and give the money to the poor?! Perhaps everyone, whether rich or poor at this very moment, will do the exact same thing the rich man did. He went away, was sad and grieved for he had great possessions. Honestly? I think even the poor would do that. 

I do. I don’t have great possessions yet. And with very little resources, I would question, why should I give to others when what I have is not even enough for me? I can not give what I don’t have! Hello?! In case I sell whatever I have, I’d rather use the proceeds which will definitely be insufficient still. Ako muna bago sila! (Me first before them!). Isn’t that how people, by nature, misbehave? 

Thankfully, I found this sensible note I can agree with. It reads:

“What does your money mean to you? Although Jesus wanted this man to sell everything and give his money to the poor, this does not mean that all believers should sell all their possessions. Most of his followers did not sell everything, although they used their possessions to serve others. Instead, this story shows us that we must not let anything we have or desire keep us from following Jesus. We must remove all barriers to serving him fully. If Jesus asked, could you give up your house? Your car? Your level of income? Your position on the ladder of promotion? Your reaction may show your attitude toward money-whether it is your servant or your master.”

(Above commentary is from the Life Application Study Bible, page 1436; published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)

Therefore, having possessions and having the money or the lack of them is not the issue. Being rich or poor is not the issue. My attitude is the issue. Your attitude is the issue. No matter which strata you are in, in this society and generation, right now, while you’re reading up to this paragraph. 

This, I think, is the reason why there’s a saying “money is the acid-test of character” (credit to whoever said that). I once heard Francis Kong in a TV interview said that “money problem is an attitude problem.” Often because people misplace money in their lives. Money should always be a servant, and never a master, of our lives. May God help me to always keep that top-of-the-mind awareness.

Postscript 1/2: You can read the whole story of this rich man who was so attached to his great possessions in the link below:

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mark 10:21 NLT (http://bible.com/116/mrk.10.21.NLT )

PostScript 2/2: Incidentally, I am part of a community that teaches that the ultimate purpose of wealth/money is to love and serve others. See for yourself if you fit, click this now!

The most difficult…

Somewhere in the video below, one line especially caught my attention. The billionaire (majority) owner of the Philippine’s largest online stockbroker, Edward Lee, who was being interviewed by FQMom Rose Fres Fausto, said this:  the most difficult is making your first million! (I’m not sure I quoted him right, go just watch the video below to validate). Therefore, the next millions are easier!

Powerful insight, right? But here’s what I have just realized. When you don’t have that much money yet (at least a million), the most difficult even is to finally start investing!

That’s my experience. It took years for me to finally open my own investing account. And a few more years for me, with the consent of my kids, to open two separate accounts for each of my #2daughters.

In my hope to find a magic pill to overcome this inertia and encourage more parents and kids to jump start investing ASAP, I sent some questions (luckily featured in 6:30 minute of the video below) when  the FQMom shared she got an opportunity to interview Mr. Lee who has over four decades of investing experience. 

Did I finally find the magic pill? Watch this insightful episode to answer my question.

Watch: FQ Live! Episode 10: Myopic loss Aversion (sourced from YouTube, FQMom’s page, and Philippine Star article)

[How crazy can we get? We put more weight on pain over gain and we prefer sure wins; yet we cross the street directly facing the huge “Nakamamatay” warning sign, we bet on lotto tickets despite the 5M probability of winning. More explanation in the article and video from the FQMom]
 
 

Postscript 1/3: To the FQMom and FQSon Enrique(an investor himself since birth together with his 2 brothers) and their team: Thank you for repairing the lost portions of the answers to my questions!

Postscript 2/3: Including also here the playlist of FQ Live! (Link not yet available; to follow)

Postscript 3/3: For everyone interested: You can experience an easier way to invest!  Why not get the guidance of Trulyrichclub that receives mentorship from Mr Lee himself? 

Crush

[Crush is natural human experience like investing. But both can be disastrous in the short-term 🙂 Enjoy both journey keeping sight of longer time horizon.Labyu!]

I’m borrowing a drawing from the bunso’s Facebook post. The comic strip has been altered for the purpose of this post.  I’m yet to see if this is her notebook or her classmate’s when I see the #kidinvestors in few days.

I’m not surprised if she knows the word crush now. Before she even learned of that word, I already discovered she had a crush on someone at a very young age.

It’s your behavior, stupid!

I don’t mean to be mean in this essay. But if this hurts you, please just forgive me.

Then thank me after especially if this knocks off some sense to you that you’re suddenly fired up with actually doing your saving and investing plan in whatever favorite asset/s you may find. [At sana lang, gagawin mo talaga 🙂 ]

Execution or “actually doing something as you intended” is the behavior part of anything you want accomplished.

Just doing it!

The daughters are not very much aware yet that with the tiny amounts they buy for specific stocks / fund right now, they are actually paying more for the cost of buying their favorite stocks; but I don’t stop them. 

Money is NOT the most important

This blog is primarily about money.

But I’ve got a shocker.

Money is not the most important thing!

But literacy about it is my advocacy because, whether we like it or not, money has huge impact in all areas of anyone’s life.

One of ate’s school assignment the other week was the life story of Leo Tolstoy. If you read his story, he came from a wealthy family but later on as his spirituality mature, he abandoned his wealth. That was perhaps the calling he discovered. Saint Francis of Assissi did that same thing. There’s nothing wrong with that. People are supposed to discover their calling to serve God best either through the “vow of poverty” or “vow of generosity.” You have the power to choose, remember your gift of free will? 

Scammers in town. Again?

” You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I’m telling you why …”

Well, as previously pointed out, habang may patuloy na nagpapa-scam, may scammer. Sad truth ‘yan. So keep educating yourself kasi nagi-evolve ang scam.

Different faces, different situations, different schemes – pero ang surname “Scam.”  Kaya paulit-ulit din sila masasabihan ni Ron Weasly ng Harry Potter na “Wicked!”

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• Related posts:
  Paano iiwas sa scam?
  Wag Katamaran
  Magtiwala. But double-check din pag may time!

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Galing itong TIPS / Warning (see below) sa nagsabi sa akin na I can “Build Wealth on any Income.” And hey, you can, too!

Nakamamatay! Discipline of practice saves.

[Updated August 4, 2016] Ngayong araw, may nag-set ng world record sa pag-skydive ng walang parachute! Warning: Do not do this at home, nakamamatay!

Nangyari ito sa loob ng dalawang minuto lamang. Instant di ba? Gusto natin lahat yan. Instant fame. Madaliang achievement. Pero ang makikita lang sa video sa ibaba ay yung mismong two minutes bago marating ang accomplishment na world record.

The breathtaking drop:

Own a business for only 1k

Maraming negosyo ang nasimulan sa halagang isang libo.

Ito ang isang halimbawa: