The 10-20-70 Rule

Prior to setting my foot in going abroad and with the knowledge of how much I will earn, I prepared a detailed excel spreadsheet of how much of my monthly salary will be allocated to paying my house mortgage, monthly allowance/allocation for my parents, food, rent and other possible expenses that I may incur.  I never had put aside something for savings/investments on my spreadsheet, because I have lack of knowledge about the investment instruments that I can possibly get into. The topmost priority during that time was instead of paying my house for 21 years, I will strive to achieve to pay it within my 3-year contract abroad.

 

Armed with this, I had myself ready for my financial and career journey.

 

But eeeeek!

 

Leap of Faith!

Just bought another real estate for investing! It is in prime location in the capital city, with 2 bedrooms and 2 balconies! Such a blessing. This entails me to work smarter in managing finances. May this also be a form of blessing to others. Looking forward to helping more Filipinos to also be financially educated and take charge of investing!:)

Living My Life's Calling

We are all called with a purpose by our Divine Creator. Often, we are lost and wonder what really is this "will" for our lives.  If we have to look within and take a moment to reflect at and determine the things where we are good at, where we do our best, where we can impact lives and bless others, and make this a way to share His good news - then we are on that path to our "life's calling". :)

I remember Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror as I write this blog entry. As human beings, we tend to look at others and follow their ways. Why not be the opposite? We live our lives to the best we can offer, and be the living example to influence and bless others by our way of living. Dbah? :)

Earlier today, we had another "Board Meeting"  (and watched Skyfall afterwards. It was a long queue!). Board meeting is what we call for our Friday dinner we had with group of working Filipinos here abroad. One of the topics was about investment (my favorite!). And only then I've realised that there are many fellow OFWs who want to invest in our own Philippine stock market, but don't know how. And since my Facebook wall has been a "mirror" of Philippine economy and investment growth (other than party photos. Haha), I have gotten at least another 7 (James Bond 007 lng) eager stock market "students" tonight. They want me to held another stock investing lesson. :D whooppiee! Way to go Pinas. I'll be an instrument to give you more Filipino investors!! :)

I will discuss the same topic I did last May during my first stock market investing discussion. Link to follow since I am only using my phone now. :D

I am imperfect and have shortcomings, too. But I strive to do better, and do my own share to fulfill what I have been called to do.

Keep learning and keep on moving forward!

Cheers,
Lyn-Lyn \(",)/

Using Financial Times for Stock Investing

Recently, I have discovered the user-friendly way (for me) on making data analysis and sound decisions with regard to stock investing in the Philippines using the Financial Times.

The FT.com (aka: Financial Times) is a leading finance newspaper website here in London.  The information on the website are free, though there are specific information/articles that can only be accessed if you annually subscribe to it.

Investing in UITFs - from ANC On The Money

I have been an avid follower of ANC on the Money since the early week of September.  It launched around August 2012.  Please like them on Facebook! I found out about them through sis Krissy's blog (Thanks, sissy!).  The show talks about personal finance and kinds of investments that enhance the financial literacy of millions of Filipinos in Philippines and abroad.  I am one of them who is continually been inspired and pushed on to take charge of my finances. Thank you, ANC!

Top 7 Mutual Fund Companies in the Philippines

I am glad that financial literacy has been widely provided to Filipinos nowadays - as compared decades ago, when financial information are only restricted to companies.

Today, let me talk about mutual funds (MF), which is another form of paper asset investing.  The most common MF products are the equity funds and balanced funds.

On Retirement Pensions through Mutual Fund Investment

My colleagues and I, who are all Filipino auditors working here abroad, had discussion about social security contribution earlier during our lunch break.  We discussed how much should be contributed monthly to our social security in the Philippines, if we are really required to the contribution and about its frequency.

Personally, I paid my social security monthly premium during my first year of working abroad.  However, at the start of January 2012, I stopped paying for my SSS premium when I have read about news that some retirement pension plans are not being paid to the people, and that the monthly pensions received by “pensioners” (sorry for the redundancy) only ranges from Php1,200 to Php2,400 monthly.  Does anyone here know how much the monthly pensions received from SSS?

The Importance of Good Financial Planning

I clicked the start button of Bridgette (my laptop), opened the MS office application for Excel, and drafted a spreadsheet of how I would allocate my funds to arrive at my net worth.  It was a short-term planning, approximately one year financial plan, incorporating all the external factors that would influence my budget and fund allocations in the coming months.  In going through the journey of personal finance, having a financial plan plays an important factor at the starting stage.

I clicked the start button of my work laptop, opened the MS office application for Excel, and drafted a spreadsheet of a financial budget that I would allocate to my team before we start on our fieldwork with our next job client.  As much as we ensure that quality is being undertaken in the job, at the endpoint, the efficiency performance of the budgeted versus the actual results of our fee recovery still has greater bearing, internally speaking.  Hence, financial planning of the job budget is an important factor to always consider at the planning stage.

Online Business and E-Commerce

Setting up websites, talking to suppliers, dealing with shipments and taxes (waah!), communicating with my partners (friend and family) - - these are all stuffs that I got “addicted” to during the past weeks. And it keeps my blood rushing and burning with so much enthusiasm! ^_^ I got loads of words that I want to write down – simple observations about the things and events that are happening around me – and I hope I would be able to find the right words and write them down soon. =)

 

For now: Aja! Aja! \(“,)/

 

Keep learning and keep on moving forward!

Cheers,
Lyn-Lyn \(“,)/

I Realised: I Am Not a Saver

Last night, I was looking at Rich Dad Poor Dad cashflow quadrant and I wonder where I am at this current stage in my life (char!).  I think I am all over the quadrants (hahaha!), except for the S quadrant (I've never been self-employed), with the chunk of my cashflow coming from being in the E quadrant.

Stock Investing for Newbies 101 - Updated Entry

Entry updated on 16 May 2012 6:52am
- - - -
In my previous entry, Filipinos Do Yearn to Invest,  I mentioned about my homegroup mates wanting to learn about stock market investing in the Philippines.  I never thought they were that serious until one of them has asked again when we will have the "tea session" to discuss such topic.  They wanted to discuss it on Monday (May 7), but since I was away for a holiday vacation, we decided to move it on a Saturday (May 12).


At first, I was hesitant to give this discussion, because honestly, I don't know how to start letting them know about it.  Should I make a presentation? How would I begin the discussion? What topic should I focus on?  I was also *quite* inferior because I am the youngest in the group (who would believe me that I am already engaged in this stuff?).  And my fellows (they are soo great, by the way), are ALL engaged in a financial industry (ie: fund accountants and financial manager), and I keep on thinking: what do they don't know that I know? Professional and theoretically speaking, they are more exposed in financial languages as compared to mine.

Filipinos Do Yearn to Invest.

I just arrived at my flat after our usual Wednesday homegroup (ie: Bible study, praise and worship, catch-up, caring group updates, etc.)  And this Wednesday was one of those that we call “socials”, wherein we update each other about the latest events in our lives, and prayers we want to uplift by the group.  It was heartwarming, especially that I have been away for a month and 2 weeks due to my outside fieldwork from our place.  It’s nice to finally be back, receive and give support from/to my caring group friends. :)

Investing is a Plan

“Begin with an end in mind.”
This is what I learned from our Business Management professor during my university days, and as taken from the book of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  I am a huge fan of personal finance, budgeting and investing – and this has grown even more as I started to be among the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) here abroad.  I thought that investing is merely just putting your money in investment vehicles, such as stock market, mutual funds, businesses, or real estates; and that’s it, it means that you’re already investing.
But nah…. Investing is way more than that. 

“Investing is a “PLAN”, not a procedure or a product. – from Robert Kiyosaki”

A few days ago, I travelled to Paris and oh boy..! The outcome of all the wonderful pictures were not possible if it had not been for the planning we made by my travelling buddies.  From booking our tickets, getting the approval of our managers to approve our vacation leaves, applying for visa, checking for hotels, itineraries and places to see, etc… It involves proper and appropriate planning to get us from Point A to Point B. 

Think about it.
Why do you invest?  Where do you want your investments to take you to years from now?  What is your purpose for investing?  What are your investing plans?  Have you considered all possible investment options and opportunities offered to you – risks, returns, payback period?  Begin answering these questions first, and when you have all the crystal-clear answers, then start putting those eggs in your chosen investment baskets. *winks*

Keep learning and keep moving forward!
Cheers,
Lyn-Lyn _(“,)/

Filipina Trader Encourages Women to Invest in Stocks

My brother shared to me the website of Ms. Charmel when his comment was expounded by her in her website: check her blog entry.


I, then followed all the links in her website and was encourage all the more to invest in our stock market. :))

Keep learning and keep on moving forward!

Cheers,
Lyn-Lyn _(“,)/

Hey Pilipinas, mag-invest ka!

With the stock market reaching the 5,000 level, this is just an indicator that the Philippine economy is booming!

My message is for those who wants to get into “investing” but don’t know why.

If you doubt your technical knowledge about stock market and like to take caution, but still want to put your hard-earned money/savings into stock market, try to invest in mutual funds.  Your money will be handled by fund managers, so the only thing you got to do is deposit your money there.

Weighing the Opportunity Cost

Debt management or getting out of debt is one of the firsts to do’s in making one’s personal finance better.  For the last couple of months, I have heard of friends who are down with debt and are troubled on how they can make both ends meet.  As they say, never pay a debt with another debt, otherwise you will just end up yourself circling around in just the same roller-coaster ride.

Increase your cash flows
Increasing our cash flows is a first step to pay off debts.  How? There are a number of simple ways, like getting into sideline business (ie: prepaid e-load cards), part-time jobs, the likes.

Your additional cash flows can be used either to:

1. Put money in your savings account or emergency fund;
2. Put into long-term savings, equity investments, mutual funds or retirement fund;
3. Put up business or real estate investments;
4. Pay-off debts

Building trust by paying your debts
Let me focus on the bullet #4, which is to pay-off debts.  Most of the time, people tend to “forget” the debts that they owe to other person when they have enough cash on hand –which will really create a bad impression because this means that you are not trustworthy enough to give the money back to the one who lends you during those time you need it most.

Trust, in every relationship, (yes even in debtor-lender relationship) plays an important role.  You may have money now, but there comes a point that when you’re in the brink of needing extra cash again, nobody will lend you because you were not faithful enough to pay it then.  Do you think you will be able to borrow money again? I doubt it.

Top 10 Tips to Successful Investing!

Here’s 10 quick tips to get you started on investing and creating your winning porfolio!

1. Start Early

The only way you can make the most out of the limited time you have is to start early. The sooner you invest, the more time your money will have for growth. If you delay, you will almost certainly have to invest much more to achieve a similar result. Let the power of compounding work for you.

2. Keep Some Cash Aside

It is always a good idea to have some money set aside in case of emergencies. Maintaining six to nine months worth of living expenses will insulate you from a sure fire formula for investment loss – distress selling.

3. Know Your Risk Profile

What is the point of investing in the stock market if you are going to lose sleep, or a heart attack (whichever comes first) every time prices go through a rough patch. You need to be realistic about your risk appetite. An investment advisor can help you determine your tolerance for risk.

4. Never Forget About Inflation

Don’t fall into the false sense of security that very conservative investments might give you. The returns may look respectable at the start but not after you deduct the effects of inflation. Keep in mind that risk is not just about losing money. It is also about not having enough in the end.

5. Think Carefully About How Long You Can Stay Invested

If you plan to stay invested for a long period of time, say five years or more, then it is okay to get into the stock market and let your money work harder for you. But if you will need your funds very soon, you are going to be better off with low risk investments.

The Basic Rules of Investing by Robert Kiyosaki

For a month now, I am browsing through each chapter, reading and re-reading and getting the best thoughts and great words I am learning from one of my first financial mentors: Robert Kiyosaki.

Piso, Magkano Ka?

I have realized that one of the activities that a “Bagong Bayani ng Pilipinas” tend to look forward to, aside from coming home to be with loved ones, is the foreign exchange rate for remittances to Philippines.  Five years ago, every one US dollar is equal to Php55. Now the US forex rate is just equal to Php44.  Good news or bad news?  Hmmm…

 

This is something we can view as positive because this means that our Philippine peso is getting stronger as a result of a better economy, trust on our political leaders and stronger stock market (Yey!).  However, for every overseas filipino worker abroad who sends remittance to supply the needs of his/her family in the Philippines, this is bad news.  Oh, if every OFW just know how to take advantage of the power of “hedging”! (ie: to gain from the forex loss, invest the remittance to income-generating assets).