The Winds of Winter...NOT!

For those of you waiting for the release of Book 6, The Winds of Winter, of the Game of Thrones series, sad to say, but we still have to wait a little bit more. 

Piece of advise: Forget about Book 6 and just let the story unfold as the TV series airs again this April. Let's be surprised for a change. Nothing like a weekly cliffhanger to forward to the next showing.

My Bathroom Epiphany

The thing about celebrating Christmas and New Year is that you get to eat a lot.  Naturally, if you do so, the more frequent your trip to the little boy's room would be.  I'm a multi-tasker and taking a dump does not prevent me from doing other productive stuff. Most of the times I read.  However, due to the urgency of the situation, I forgot to bring my trusty cellphone where I store my ebooks.  So other than just staring blankly at the tiled wall---I got to thinking...

Bill Parcells is one of the most respected coaches in the National Football League.    

I was on the part when Parcells was coaching the Air Force football team.  It was his first ever head coaching job.  He had taken the job because that was what he wanted to do---to COACH.  However, it was done in haste.  The circumstances where not right and he ended up taking Airforce to a 4-7 win-loss season.  He went on his gypsy road before finally ending up coaching the New York Giants and winning Superbowl XXIII.

Such is life’s journey---filled with pitfalls and detours.  It’s never easy.  It can be a bed of roses but can be filled with thorns.  There are two ways to go about this journey.  (1) DO based on the folly of others; or, (2) make your own path and if you should FAIL, learn from what you did wrong and aim to do better the next time.

The direction you're going to take boils down to CHOICE.    

I can’t tell you how to make the right decision but let me tell you how I do mine. 

I pray for guidance. 

I weight my options and I pray some more.

One thing about making choices is that you need to stand up to whatever it is that you decide on.  Reneging after making a choice only goes to show that you haven’t taught about it enough.  Each choice is supposed to be the best---again, not a bed of roses, but something you can live with.  Happiness after all is appreciating what you have.

Thank You Lord

Often times we're too wrapped up in our own misery that we forget that there are others in more dire situation.

I would like to thank God for all the good fortune I had yesterday despite all the difficulties:

1. Two big umbrellas as Christmas presents (Siyempre na binyagan ko na ung isa kahapon.)

2. May nasakyan pauwi (Kahit na mahaba ang inintay. Extra blessing ang malamig na aircon kaya masarap tulog ko at isang maabilidad na driver kasi alam nya ang daan na walang trapik.)

3. Nakasilong sa hagupit ng malakas na ulan (Kahit na medyo basa pa rin.)

4. Higit sa lahat ay nakauwi ako sa bahay ng matiwasay (Kahit late na.)

Thank you Lord!

Kim Domingo Makes Christmas Sizzle with FHM Cover

The Christmas chill is here but Kim Domingo just made it scorching hot with her first FHM cover!

Mababaw Talaga Tayong mga Pinoy!

Totoo namang mababaw tayong mga Pinoy. Likas kasi tayong masayahin. Maganda ba itong national trait? Definitely. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit tayo resilient sa lahat ng pagsubok na dumarating sa ating bansa.

Ang AlDub parang Pacquiao ang effect. Pag patak ng 1:30pm hinto lahat ng ginagawa. Walang trapik. Walang krimen. Kasi lahat magkaisang humahalakhak sa mga pakwela nila Lola Nidora, Tinidora, Tidora at kinikilig sa mga dubsmash conversations nila Yaya Dub at Alden. Unfortunately, di pa ako nahahawa pero ako'y naaaliw sa epekto ng AlDub phenomenon sa aking maybahay at mga anak. 

Kamot ulo ako pero masaya.  smile emoticon

Make Your Money Work for You

After forming the habit of saving, the next step is to make the money you saved WORK FOR YOU and generate another source of income called PASSIVE INCOME.  How do you do this?  Through INVESTMENT.

In 2013, the Study of Lifestyle Attitudes and Relationships Philippines conducted a survey to test the financial literacy of Filipinos and found that 50% of the respondents defined financial security as having enough money in the bank.  While is it important to have readily dispensable money in the bank to live on and act as an emergency fund, anything in excess of this should be invested.  

Banks offer security for your money.  It is a better option to just keep it in the house.  When Filipinos were still leaving in nipa huts, savings were kept inside one of the bamboo foundations to be used for a rainy day.  Unfortunately, it provided no security.  If the house burned down, the money goes with it---savings gone.  Banks can provide such security and in the event of a bank run, it is insured up to Php 500,000.  The thing is, banks does not provide much in terms of interest.  Easily accessible savings account normally has an interest rate of 0.25% per annum.  So say you put in Php 120,000 in the bank and let is stay there for 10 years it will earn around Php 3,000. Good?  Well, not really.  You see, there is such a think called INFLATION that actually messes this up.

Inflation is defined as the sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.  Remember when the cost of pandesal was just Php 0.50?  Well, now it's Php 2.00.  That's the effect of inflation.  And it cuts across all products and services.  So, remember the money you saved for ten years and grew by Php 3,000?  Well, after 10 years and with an inflation rate of 4%, the buying power of your Php 123,000 will only amount to roughly around Php 89,000.  That's inflation.

Now what does inflation got to do with investing?  Well, it is going to be your benchmark in choosing the investment facility you want to get into.  This means that you should put your money where the potential gain will be more than the inflation rate.  The key word here is POTENTIAL.  Why?  Because most investments entails a certain level of RISKS.  The higher the gain, the higher the risk and vise versa.

There are a couple of ways that you can do this.  First, build your own business.  Capital needed:  You can start a food cart business for Php 18,000 (Source:  http://www.mcbizsep2015promo.com/).  Effort needed:  Business management required.  Worst case scenario, the owner will be the one to man the cart to save up on hiring manpower. Profitability:  Profitability dependent on product quality, location, traffic generators.  Risk(s): It is seldom that a business venture succeeds the first time.  The business acumen to build a successful business is experience.

Second, go into the stock market.  Capital needed:  The cheapest blue chip stock is Megaworld at Php 4.50/share and minimum investment capital is at Php 5,000.  Effort needed:  Continued market monitoring.  Profitability:  Depends on the stock market fluctuations and the amount of capitalization. The concept in playing the stock market is you buy low and sell high; hence, if the stock you  bought does not go up---then you're stock with no profit.  You need to have a considerable amount of stocks to play around with.  At Php 120,000 investment, you can buy 26,666 worth of Megaworld stocks.  Assuming that this particular stock grows an average fluctuating rate of 8% , your potential gain would be Php 9,500 thereabouts minus tax.  The question is the frequency of clime and decline.  Risk(s):  Not viable in a passive market.  An active market fluctuation is needed to gain profit.  Otherwise, go long term with a stock that provides for an annual stock dividend.

Third, put your money in a mutual fund.  Mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money fromt. many investors to purchase securities.  Funds are allocated depending on a client's risk tolerance:  (1) Bond Fund for the low risk-low gain client; (2) Equity Fund for the high risk-high gain client; and (3) Balanced Fund for those in between.Capital needed:  Minimum of Php 5,000.Effort needed:  Finding the right mutual fund institution to invest in.  Profitability:  Depends on stock market performance.  Risk(s):  An incompetent fund manager handling your account.

Wealth accumulation is important to start early.  We cannot just depend on our active income to build our savings; for no matter the extra effort you give to your work, you will only be paid by the income due you.  It is therefore important to have another source of income by which we can confidently face the future and meet the different life milestones PREPARED. 

Always Think---SAVE FIRST!

Do not play with your future. You are neither a seer or a prophet to know what the future holds. Many have come to realize that life's ironies can have disastrous effect to our best laid plans; often times it is already too late when they arrive at this realization.  As I keep on saying, "Walang nagsisisi sa una."

If you have a job, you can easily earn money through hard work. You an also easily spend it all on non-essential stuff that make you "happy". Well, it is not bad to enjoy the fruits of your labor but within reason. Many folks enjoy spending too much and end up broke before the next cut-off is even there. And what do they usually get our of it?  Short term enjoyment which usually ends up with a throbbing headache and a hang over; or, a gadget which is almost always already outdated after a few months.

Filipinos fall under three financial behaviors.  Let me tell you about them.

1.  The Accidental Saver.  These people are always raring to splurge whenever payday or a bonus day comes.  They are always planning where to eat,      drink, have a good time and what new gadgets to buy.  After all the merry making and shopping---lo and behold---there is still something left in            their ATM cards.  For the more hedonistic types this is another reason to spend some more.

2.  The Plastic Mindset.  People who fall under this category are those who spend their salary/bonus even before it even gets deposited in their ATMs.        They do this through their credit cards.

In itself, using your credit card is not bad.  It actually gives you more buying power especially in terms of critical needs.  However, it must be          kept in mind that what the credit card company declares as your credit limit is a HONEY TRAP.  As a rule, you should not spend more than a third of your credit limit.  So If your credit limit is Php 15,000 your REAL credit limit should only be Php 5,000.  Going beyond this is a bad spending habit that would eventually get you into a bad debt situation.

Sadly, a lot of Filipinos are under this behaviour.

3.  The Skillfull Planner.  This is the behavior that we want to be in.  The thing is, this cannot simply be dictated.  The decision to be in this kind of behavior remains with each and every individual.

In this kind of behavior a person's top of mind is how much to set aside for savings.  No matter if the amount is big or small the more important thing is to develop the HABIT of always setting aside a portion of your salary reasonable enough for you to start your way towards a life of financial freedom.   

Ideally, one should save a maximum of 20% of his salary and 80% to live up on.   Now, if you're a good Christian, you will alot 10% to the church, 20% on savings, and 70% as daily expense.   However, this may vary depending on a person's income and lifestyle.

Many of those that I have spoken to would say they can't save even 5% but upon further probing they are just but a lifestyle change away to jump start their savings initiative.  For instance, a person with a Php 15,000 salary, 5% is equal to Php 750 a month or Php 375 per payday.  if you're a smoker who smokes 10 sticks per day, that would be spending Php 50.  Multiplied by 15 days, that would be Php 750 worth of cigarettes.  In a month, you're actually spending Php 1,500 on this vice.  If you cut your cigarette consumption by 50% you can actually save Php 750.  Now if you're a Starbucks aficionado earning Php 25,000, 5% is equivalent to Php 1,250.  If you go to Starbucks twice a week for coffee and pastry, you would be spending Php 170 for a venti Caramel Macchiato (because going grande is just a Php 10 difference to venti as the barista would always remind you) and Php 120 for a slice of Blueberry Cheesecake .  That would accumulate to Php 580 a week or Php 2,320 a month.  If you abstain from visiting Starbucks one time a month, you can save Php 1,160.  In other words, KAYA NAMAN KUNG GUGUSTUHIN, DI BA?

If you've worked for more than five years and have yet to build an emergency fund (equivalent to 6 months of your monthly salary) you should be concerned. Murphy's Law affects everyone.  Again, walang nagsisisi sa una.

Do away with the hedonistic lifestyle and start saving NOW!

(Next Note will be about Money at Work.)