2nd Financial Literacy Seminar in Saudi (Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Hassa and Al Khobar)

09 Sunday Aug 2015

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Through the initiantive of Angat Pilipinas we will be conducting the 2nd run of the Financial Literacy in Riyadh, and this time it will be simultaneous in Jeddah, Al Hasa, Riyadh and Al Khobar. The event is called Angat Pilipinas Desert Convention 2015. Volunteers of Angat Pilipinas will be teaching Financial Literacy. I will be one of them in Riyadh Area. This will be on First Registered First Served basis, if we have occupied the number of participants allowed in the embassy then we have to stop the registration. So you better register here if you want to attend in this event.

We believe that OFW’s needs to learn how to handle their finances. Being an OFW is not easy, OFW needs to learn handle their finances in order not to waste the time spent overseas just for wants.

Register Here >>>> http://bit.ly/APDC2015-KSAreg <<<<

Topics will be as follows:

  • Learn How to Eliminate/reduce Debts
  • Be protected Financially
  • Be a responsible Spender
  • Avoid and Fight Scams
  • Save and invest in Paper Assets
  • Start a Business
  • Achieve Financial Freedom

Register Here : >>>> http://bit.ly/APDC2015-KSAreg <<<<

Note : A minimal fee might be collected for food.

Needs Vs Wants, Do You Know the Difference?

30 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Personal Financing

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As I teach Financial literacy in different institutions here in Saudi Arabia, I came to know that majority of OFW does not know the difference of wants and needs. They probably know it theoretically, but they don’t know the importance of knowing the difference that it will make in their future. Delaying gratification is not in the vocabulary of most OFW’s. Here are some ideas which will definitely let you know the difference of Wants and Needs.

Wants:

  • Not dying when not be able to purchase a thing
  • It is only due to envy that is why your buying
  • You believe that those items that you will buy is part of your status symbol
  • Self-gratification
  • Buying because of “Sale items” thinking that you can save from your purchase even you will not need those items in the next few days.

Needs:

  • You will die if you will not purchase it (i.e food, clothings, etc)
  • It is needed in your work or business
  • You know what you are buying, and you know where you will use it after purchase.
  • You know that if you will not purchase now, it will definitely affect your future
  • You will purchase because you know that it could give your family peace in the event of unforeseen events.

I am not saying not buying those wants, but what I am saying is that we need to be prepared on buying those want. In other words you need to plan and save for paying those wants. Don’t buy want from credit. There is always a general rule that if you don’t have cash to buy for your wants, it is not for you.

Buying on want with credit will lead you to a big financial mess. Hope this short post will remind you the importance of knowing needs and wants. As always you can use extra money for investment.

Steps on How to Start Investing in Stock Market as an OFW

27 Saturday Jun 2015

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Are you an OFW and you want to start being involve in Stock Market? It was 3 years ago when I started investing via Stock Market and at that time I am really enthusiast to be involved in investing, but I don’t know what to do. So if you were in the same position as I am 3 years ago, this post might help you.

So if you were in the same position as I am 3 years ago, this post might help you.

Be informed that It is mandatory that the documents we need to submit into the broker (a company that will deal with different big companies on your behalf) are original documents, This document shall  have our original signatures and original forms filled with your responses. Before submitting those documents, it would be better to send the scan copy of all the documents to your brokers. Before starting your application please make sure that you know the following details:

  • TIN Number
  • Bank Account Details (This is where they will deposit your money upon withdrawal)
  • At least 2 ID’s with your signature (Passport could be one of them)

So here are the steps that you need to do:

  1. Download the forms from your brokers
  2. Scan your ID’s
  3. Fill up all the forms and Scan the documents (Make sure your signature in the form is the same as your signature shown in your ID)
  4. Send the scan documents with all your id to your broker
  5. Wait for their reply and approval of all your documents
  6. If there are any comment, rectify the comments and then send again through email for checking.
  7. If everything is fine, send the documents via courier.
  8. They will give you an account
  9. Upon receipt of your account details, you may now load up your account with money via bank transfer or remittances. The money that you have deposited can now be used to buy stocks from different company.

So that’s it, when your deposited amount is loaded in your brokers account, you may start buying stocks of different company. Hope this simple instruction can lead you to your investing journey.

Financial Literacy Goes to Riyadh Philippine Embassy With Angat Pilipinas Coalition [Updated]

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

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[Updated]

It was indeed a successful event that was attended by more than 50 OFW from Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Thanks to the Philippine Embassy for accommodating such event in coordination with AngNARS Party List. I could say that it is a good start seeing the enthusiasm that we have seen with the attendee. One of the attendee even told me why it is only now and that it should have been made long time ago. We are planning to have the second Financial Literacy Seminar soon. You may enter your details below so that we can send you updates when will be the 2nd Financial Literacy Seminar in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Here are some photos that was taken during the event.

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (1)

The Speakers (Kristine Rodriguez, Dexter Panganiban (Me), Oddesa Liwanag (From Left to Right)

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (2)

The Paticipants With the Speakers

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (3)

The Paticipants With the Speakers

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (4)

The Paticipants With the Speakers

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (5)

The Speakers (Kristine Rodriguez, Dexter Panganiban (Me), Oddesa Liwanag (From Left to Right)

Photo Credit : Ma Bel Olaso

[Older Post]

I am excited to share that I will be teaching Financial Literacy at Philippine Embassy in Riyadh Saudi Arabia this coming Friday, June 26, 2015. I am a volunteer of Angat Filipinas Coalition for Financial Literacy with the Mission OFW Usapang Piso (Mission for OFW’s Dependent and Former OFW). I together with 2 other volunteers, Miss Des Liwanag and Miss Kristine Rodriguez will be teaching Steps to Financial Security for OFW. This particular seminar is in coordination with ANG NARS Party list who help to secure time and place at the Philippine Embassy.

ang Nars Philippine Embassy

It is our objective to teach fellow OFW on how Eliminate and reduce debts, Be protected financially, Be a responsible spender, avoiding and fighting scams, investing in Paper investments and achieving financial freedom.

I am excited since this will be 2nd time teaching financial literacy in Public here in Saud Arabia, at First it was with Engineers during the Annual convention and this time with most of the attendees are Nurses.  I have been teaching small groups in private houses here in the Kindom of Saudi Arabia and good to report that there are some spenders that is now turning to savers after learning the objective of Financial Literacy and I hope there will be more OFWm who learn about how to handle their finances.

We will be reporting our experience about this event. BTW this event is also through the effort of Burn Guttierez, the Founder of Angat Pilipinas.

ColFinancial Model Portfolio January 2015

22 Thursday Jan 2015

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Using Colfinancial as my broker is really great, they normally give indication or suggestion on where to put my hard earned money. Today they have sent out their Colfinancial COLing the Shots for January 2015 where they give suggestion of some stocks which they believed will perform well this year 2015. But be informed that study is still needed before going into any of the their suggested stocks. They also give explanation on why they choose particular stocks.

According to COL their top picks for 2015 include DNL, CIC, GTCAP (consumer plays/play on weak yen), AP, EDC,  FGEN (bottom up picks/power plays), MBT (value play), SMPH (consumer play proxy), CEB (oil play) and AC (bottom up pick/ power and infra play). Risks for 2015 include the uneven share price appreciation, market volatility, and share placements.

Here are the tables for your information.

Consumer :

DNL – FV 17.8 – Buy Below Price – 15.48

CIC – FV 53.2 – Buy Below Price – 46.26

GTCAP – FV 1,340 – Buy Below Price – 1,165.22

Power :

AP – FV 46.1 – Buy Below Price – 40.09

EDC – FV 9.9 – Buy Below Price – 8.61

FGEN – FV 38.4 – Buy Below Price – 33.39

Airlines

CEB – FV 156 – Buy Below Price – 135.65

Banks

MBT – FV 112 – Buy Below Price – 97.39

Properties

SMPH – FV 22.2 – Buy Below Price – 19.3

Conglomerates

AC – FV 855 – Buy Below Price – 743.48

Having this list will help you as a beginner investor in your research. I am posting this information for my information and guide also.

Happy Investing.

 

 

 

Is it Safe to Invest in Mutual Fund?

02 Tuesday Sep 2014

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Mutual funds

Picture Credit : murraycoulterandassociates.com

The title of this post is a common question I encountered when I am conducting seminars and group study about Financial Literacy.

So is it really safe to invest in mutual fund? My answer depends on your definition of safe.

First of all there is No Risk Free Investment. Different type of Investment has its own associated risk. It only depends on how much risk you can take to define it as safe.

Mutual fund is managed by a fund manager, who are trained to manage pooled money. So with decision making with regards to fund allocation I can say that mutual fund is safe. Mutual Fund is also govern by SEC and have pass with different government strict rules before it could operate and received new funding from investor.

In addition, the money is being held by its associated banks and the money and not by the Fund Manager. Fund Managers only manage the transactions.

Money value of the funds depends on the daily NAVPS of a certain fund. There are days that the NAVPS is low and there are days that NAVPS is high. If the current NAVPS is lower than your purchased cost per unit then you are losing, but if the current NAVPS is higher than your purchased cost per unit then you are gaining. Of course purchased cost per unit includes fees ad other charges of the mutual fund company.

There are different types of Mutual Fund to choose from, they Equity Funds, Balance Fund, Fixed Income Funds (Bonds) and Money Market Funds. There are other type of funds but those mentioned are the common types of Mutual Funds.

Equity Funds has the highest risk while the Money Market Funds has the lowest risk. But you should also understand that the higher the risk of an investment the higher also the potential gain of it.

Before investing in Mutual fund you should asses your goals/objective. If the length of time is short then it is not recommended for you to proceed with risky investment. But if the length of time is long then an investor could go to a riskier investment. (ie. Saving for your 1 year old son college expenses)

I hope this simple post gives you an idea to answer the question mentioned in the title, “Is it Safe to Invest in Mutual Fund?”

Learn first before investing. Happy Investing.

I also believe in the saying, “If your fail to Plan then You Plan to Fail”.

Top 10 Ideas on How to Increase Cash Flow for OFW

23 Saturday Aug 2014

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ofw 2

Investing is something that most of us really want to do, but what if we have problem on your cash flow. Your available cash might just be enough for your daily needs. Here are some suggestion where you can increase your cash flow while oversees.

  1. Buy and Sell. During you vacation you can buy stuffs in Philippines and sell in the country where you are. The key here is to know the items that cannot be found in the country where you are working or it is hard to find. In addition you need to know if those items are not restricted into that particular country.
  2. You may be a blogger and become publishers. If you can write articles, you may earn from your ideas through blogging. Blog earnings may come from advertisers.
  3. If you are a good speaker, you can host seminars or paid webinars.
  4. You can start joining MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) or products with networking scheme. The good thing in networking is the possibility of having a passive income if done right. It only requires a very small capital. Recently, I joined AIM Global to explore the possibility of Passive income through networking.
  5. Make E-books and sell them online.
  6. You can do freelance internet works such as making websites, programming and more.
  7. You can be a virtual assistant in your free time.
  8. Be an investment broker and earn commission from it.
  9. You may start you own E-Store and let your family in the Philippines handle the logistics.
  10. Become a tutor.

There are lots of things that you can do if you really want to increase your cash flow. But all things mentioned above is not easy as it looks. It needs proper training and time management. But you can leverage your time. You can assign some task and earn from those through leveraging your time. You need to remember that you can also earn through the ability of other people.

Upon increasing your cash flow don’t increase your expenses. Self-discipline is also needed if you want to start investing.

Investing Even in Debt?

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

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Image Credit : investprogram.org

Seminars about investing and YouTube videos about investing are now easily accessible. Facebook post and updates talks about investing and savings. In reality it makes our drive to invest as soon as possible more.

So what if you want to start investing and yet you are filled with credit card debts, Will you start investing in Mutual Funds or stock market even if you are in a big financial mess? For me it’s a big NO.

What I meant is that paying of your credit card debt or any debt is the start of your investing. While paying your credit card, you will start the habit of saving a portion of your salary or income to pay off your debt. Normally I recommend 70, 20, 10. 70 % of your income is for expenses, 20% of your income is for your investment and 10% of your income for your Tithes or Love offerings. Use the 20% to start paying off your debt.

When time comes that you have paid off your debt, you will then be in a habit of saving a portion of your salary. The same amount that you used to pay your credit can now be used to build you emergency funds. After the emergency funds then you can go into Mutual Funds or even stock market if you can take the risk.

The idea is that you should not be investing in Mutual Funds or Stock Market if you don’t have Emergency Fund and still in debt because if time comes that you need money due to emergency, chances are you will get your investment even if it is still losing.

So be wise in your investing decision. In addition you need to set your goal prior to Mutual Funds or stocks investing. Knowing your goal will determine the amount of risk that you can take. Knowing your risk, may allow you to determine the type of investment portfolio will you go.

So be wise and Happy Investing. Study first before investing.

SEA`s tallest towers – Fun Facts!

07 Thursday Aug 2014

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Burj Khalifa (previously called Burj Dubai)

Dubai, UAE

(Southwestern Asia)

height: 828 m

floors: 162

Located in the heart of the desert, Burj Khalifa has one of the most advanced cooling systems in the world.  The water collected from air conditions of Burj Khalifa is said to be equal to 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools per year. The water is then recycled and used for landscaping. 2

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

(Southeast Asia)

height: 601 m

floors: 120

The Makkah Clock Royal Tower will be the biggest clock tower in the world and the second tallest building in the world. The clock tower itself will be used for the call to prayer within the city of Makkah or Mecca.

Taipei 101

Taipei, Taiwan

(East Asia)

height: 509 m

101

Even though there are 61 elevators inside the tower, French climber Alain Robert  (aka French Spider Man) decided to climb Taipei 101 legally on Christmas Day in 2004.

Shanghai World Financial Center

Shanghai, China

(East Asia)

height: 492 m

floors: 101

When architects decided to change the design of the Shanghai World Financial Center it resulted in an extra bill of $200 million due to the advanced designs which included a structural system re-design, a foundation re-design and increased safety features.

International Commerce Centre

Hong Kong, China

(East Asia)

height: 484 m

118

The height of the International Commerce Centre was scaled back from earlier plans because authorities didn’t allow buildings to be taller than mountains surround Hong Kong.

Petronas Tower 1

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(Southeast Asia)

height: 452 m

floors: 88

Petronas Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004 but they are still  the tallest twin buildings in the world. It cost US $1.2 billion to build Petronas Towers.

Wisma 46

Indonesia, Jakarta

(Southeast Asia)

height: 261.9 m

floors: 46

Wisma 46, also known as The Fountain Pen building because of its unique shape. One of the most interesting facts about the building is that it has been featured in the “Need for Speed: Underground 2” movie.

 

source: saudi.lamudi.com

Inflation climbs to 4.9% in July (source: NSO)

05 Tuesday Aug 2014

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I just saw this news in My ColFinancial Dashboard:

Inflation climbs to 4.9% in July
The NSO reported that inflation rose to 4.9% in July, the fastest rate of inflation since November  2011. This brought year-to-date inflation to 4.3%, still within the BSP’s projected range of 3-5% for  2014. The acceleration in inflation was largely due to food and non-alcoholic beverages with prices  rising by 8.2% during the month. (source: NSO)

It only means that the value of your money decreases by almost 4.9% this month. So if you are invested in banks giving 1.5% interest, you are automatically loosing due to the inflation. The Investor’s aim is to get interest higher that inflation. So better start learning.

Invest and Do not gamble, Learn first. happy Investing

Will PSEI disprove the Ghost Month?

04 Monday Aug 2014

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Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi)-706795

Credit : travelerparadise.blogspot.com

Today, PSEI closes at 6998.37 a little short from 7,000 level. Everybody is saying that the market have entered the what so called Ghost Month. Based on the previous years, Investment is not showing a good sign during this month but the market showed different thing today.

One thing is for sure nobody can really predict the outcome of the market. We need to stick with our investing plan and continue investing.

If you want to go with the flow of the PSEI, you may invest in “FMETF“, the first ever ETF in the Philippines. First Metro’s ETF was listed last December 2, 2013 at Philippine Stock Exchange. ETF means Exchange Traded Fund, a fund being traded in the exchange. To be more specific it is an equity fund being traded in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

What will happen tomorrow in PSEI?  Will this year end higher than 7400? Let’s see.

 

Financial Freedom, Invest After Being Debt Free

24 Monday Mar 2014

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Not everybody can experience financial freedom, actually it is rare to see people who is experiencing financial freedom. But how could you really experience financial freedom? I believe it is only, if you are debt free.

Before, when I have surplus money I normally opt not to pay future payment such as monthly amortization and school fees. Because what I believe is that I can still use the money to make it grow. But sad to say it always lead me to debt.

There are times that you spend money which could cover advance payment for school to your wants. If you have money in your pocket or ATM the tendency is you can easily decide buying your wants instead of paying your monthly payment in advance.

As an example SSS payment can be made for the whole year. If you will not pay for the whole year, even you are capable to do so, tendency is that monthly SSS payment can be one of the reason why you will be in debt. Sometimes small amounts when accumulated will give head ache and lead you to be buried in debt.

large_debt_1.jpg

It is also the reason why most people who have declared being debt free in credit card tends to borrow again due to unavoidable circumstances. Those are people who after paying off their debt, did not work out for their emergency funds.

For OFW who owns Credit Card in Philippines, it is not wise to use the credit card overseas. As per computation the moment an OFW uses his Philippine Credit Card overseas, he have to pay additional 3% of his purchase due to exchange rate adjustment. By the way it my personal experience.

Investment shall only be made if you are debt free. I must admit that I did investment even if I am not debt free, but the sad things is that there are times I need to pull some of my investment just to cover my emergency needs. I need to learn investment in the hard way.

It is really important to be educated before investing. Know the risk and opportunities before investing. Don’t just go to investment because your friend told you to do so, or because your idol to you to do so. Be prepare in investing and learn to know your risk tolerance.

Happy Investing