As I look back from 2002 to 2009, I was struck by the fact that it was indeed a Seven Years of Famine so far.
In Exodus, Joseph the Dreamer , son of Jacob, was asked by the Pharaoh what his dream meant. It was about a forthcoming 7 years of famine. And he advised the Pharaoh to issue an order in the whole of Egypt to make sure that 1/5 of the harvest are saved. And this is what Egypt did and they survived till the next good harvest finally resumed. They did not just survived, they even made a big growth in their economy as the countries and kingdoms around them purchased their goods from them.
Relating it to what is currently happening to our country and the world, it is a stark reality of the same thing that happened in Joseph's time. And it's a vicious cycle. It happens every so often though varying in depth and expanse. Only lately has this economic famine hit its greatest devastation of the world economy that even the economic giants folded on its knees.
What's the lesson behind this bible story in relation to Steps to Riches? Very much relevant and apparent. But let me spell it out to those who still don't get it. Those that had saved and invested their hard earned money in the last seven years will have the sure chance for survival no matter what happens in the next coming years.
Let me show you why? If you had been receiving a salary of 50K/month and you had save 20% of it or 10k/month and invested it wisely on an instrument that earns 12% (note some Mutual Funds even performed better than 12 % in the last 7 years) for seven consecutive years, by this time, you should have more than a Million Pesos and you can survive for more than 20 months even without working. And you can invest your 1M and it will earn more than 120K per month sufficient for your needs.
Now check your own savings if you have any. Is it within 5%, or 2%? You wont survive specially if you are suddenly retrenched from your work. You are a month away from bankruptcy.
So where and when do you start. Start now. Pay yourself first. Save and Invest. Reduce your Expense and Increase your income by using your spare time. You may not be able to achieve what you could have if you started earlier but at least you'll be away from being in a debt hole. Start to teach your kids as well.
Look for financial mentors who will show you the way on correct and safe investing and saving. Be careful in choosing your mentors. Ensure it is your benefit they are really after and not your meager income or your few remaining savings. Increase your financial intelligence. Go with people with the same discipline and advocacy. Go and find an IMG Associate nearest you. Or better yet...contact me.
I'll share to you my secret of surviving and thriving in this economic crisis, and you will also have the opportunity to earn additional income for your family too.
God bless.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
The Tired, the Retired, and the Re-Tired
The Tired, the Retired, and the Re-Tired
Randell Tiongson
Here is a nice blog written by my good friend Edmund Lao. Edmund is a Registered Financial Planner and and advocate of financial literacy for Pinoys. Excellent piece, a must read. — Randell
————————————-
GUEST BLOG
The Tired, the Retired, and the Re-Tired
By Edmund Lao
Have you ever heard employees say that they feel sick and tired of being sick and tired? The reason they feel this way is because they have been doing the same thing over and over for years and they are still the in the same situation the day they entered the corporate world. This situation is analogous to a person running on a treadmill. No matter how long the distance shown in the odometer, he is still on the same spot. Such is the predicament of the present day employees. Sadly but with truth, Robert Kiyosaki said that all employees are in a rat race. In a rat race, employees never get rich no matter how much they tire themselves. It is because all they know is to earn income that is directly proportional to the effort they exert. They did not learn and put into practice the methodology to increase their income passively after earning it actively. If they were able to build their wealth during their productive years, they would be able to enjoy the fruit of their labor during their golden years. In any thing that we do, we always feel relieved and indefatigable after we had achieved our target. With building our finances, for sure we would have felt the same. The only time we feel tired and frustrated is when we realize that all our effort were all spent in vain. That is how employees feel today, No matter how hard they strive, they could not make both ends meet and are always deep in debt. They always look for loan and then they work hard to be able to pay their balance due, then get a new loan again, and the cycle repeats. That is the life of the tired employees.
The Retired
For majority, retirement means the end of their corporate life. There are some who felt a sense of insecurity. On the other hand, there are some who felt they are finally granted independence from their voluntary prison cell of twenty to thirty years. They also see this as opportunity to build their own business.
A lot of people mistakenly correlate retirement with age when in fact, retirement has something to do with personal net worth and cash flow. The sooner a person reaches his financial goals, the sooner he can retire and enjoy life. Normally, employees are retired by age 55 or 60, and assuming they have served quite a number of years, say 25 years, some enjoy the benefit of a big amount of retirement pay.
I have heard of a company that paid almost five million pesos retirement benefit to an employee after 30 years of qualified service. So to those people who regularly transfer from one company to another, it is advisable for them to do the math first before making a decision. The problem that is often encountered come retirement day is that the retiree was not qualified to the retirement pay due to limited tenure of service. Then the only source of retirement income he will receive is from SSS. Jokingly, it can be termed as Living On SSS or LOSSS (rhymes with loss).
On the other hand, the retiree who received a huge amount may want to reward himself after working hard for so long that he carelessly spent or invested all his retirement funds. His has the risk of outliving his fund and when that happens, he will be in the same shoe with that of the one who retired broke. It is not a bad idea to reward one’s self, but he has to be very careful in controlling his emotion specially the excitement of a spending spree.
The Re-tired
What if the retiree became broke after retirement? The usual thing to do is to go to his favorite orphanage institution, his children. He will now experience reality. The time he has abundance, he was the asset and favorite “visitor” of his loved ones. With his present situation, he is now an overstaying liability especially to his sons/daughters- in law. If he has wealthy children, then luck is on his side. Otherwise, he can be compared to a basketball since he will be passed on from one son to another. The former good provider to his children is now a burden to them. The children become “sandwiched” since they have to support their own children and now, their aged parents.
With this kind of scenario, the once happily retired person, out of shame, has no other option but to return to the corporate world to get rehired again (if ever he succeeds considering the competition in job hunting nowadays) and do the things a tired employee does. He is what we can call the re-tired employee because he will just duplicate what he has done as a tired employee.
Solution
From being tired to being re-tired, we can see there is a common denominator, money. Out of desperation, some opt to doing part time work other than the regular job. There are those who voluntarily work overtime as needed. Worse, there are some who resort to theft of time and money from their company. This is a common problem in the workplace.
Employees complain of inadequate pay but they do not realize that it is their lifestyle that has a bearing on their personal finance. Their lifestyle reflects a “living beyond their means” and “keeping up with the Joneses” principle.
The key is to be frugal, budget by reducing unwanted expenses, and most importantly, pay forward so that later, the retired no longer needs to be re-tired.
In order to achieve that, a correct money attitude is a must. Money is just a tool and we are the ones who should manipulate it. Early on, acquire a good habit of disciplined savings regardless of the amount.
That way, there will be a possibility that your accumulated fund may outlive you. In that case, you have the opportunity to leave a legacy to your family.
Allow me to end this article by quoting the Proverbs:
Proverbs 13:11 “Dishonest money will dwindle, but money gathered little by little will surely grow.”
Proverbs 13:22. ”A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children”
Special thanks to my very good friend, Engr Rudy Calingo of Metrobank Head Office, General Service Groups, for coming up with the title of this article.
Randell Tiongson
Here is a nice blog written by my good friend Edmund Lao. Edmund is a Registered Financial Planner and and advocate of financial literacy for Pinoys. Excellent piece, a must read. — Randell
————————————-
GUEST BLOG
The Tired, the Retired, and the Re-Tired
By Edmund Lao
Have you ever heard employees say that they feel sick and tired of being sick and tired? The reason they feel this way is because they have been doing the same thing over and over for years and they are still the in the same situation the day they entered the corporate world. This situation is analogous to a person running on a treadmill. No matter how long the distance shown in the odometer, he is still on the same spot. Such is the predicament of the present day employees. Sadly but with truth, Robert Kiyosaki said that all employees are in a rat race. In a rat race, employees never get rich no matter how much they tire themselves. It is because all they know is to earn income that is directly proportional to the effort they exert. They did not learn and put into practice the methodology to increase their income passively after earning it actively. If they were able to build their wealth during their productive years, they would be able to enjoy the fruit of their labor during their golden years. In any thing that we do, we always feel relieved and indefatigable after we had achieved our target. With building our finances, for sure we would have felt the same. The only time we feel tired and frustrated is when we realize that all our effort were all spent in vain. That is how employees feel today, No matter how hard they strive, they could not make both ends meet and are always deep in debt. They always look for loan and then they work hard to be able to pay their balance due, then get a new loan again, and the cycle repeats. That is the life of the tired employees.
The Retired
For majority, retirement means the end of their corporate life. There are some who felt a sense of insecurity. On the other hand, there are some who felt they are finally granted independence from their voluntary prison cell of twenty to thirty years. They also see this as opportunity to build their own business.
A lot of people mistakenly correlate retirement with age when in fact, retirement has something to do with personal net worth and cash flow. The sooner a person reaches his financial goals, the sooner he can retire and enjoy life. Normally, employees are retired by age 55 or 60, and assuming they have served quite a number of years, say 25 years, some enjoy the benefit of a big amount of retirement pay.
I have heard of a company that paid almost five million pesos retirement benefit to an employee after 30 years of qualified service. So to those people who regularly transfer from one company to another, it is advisable for them to do the math first before making a decision. The problem that is often encountered come retirement day is that the retiree was not qualified to the retirement pay due to limited tenure of service. Then the only source of retirement income he will receive is from SSS. Jokingly, it can be termed as Living On SSS or LOSSS (rhymes with loss).
On the other hand, the retiree who received a huge amount may want to reward himself after working hard for so long that he carelessly spent or invested all his retirement funds. His has the risk of outliving his fund and when that happens, he will be in the same shoe with that of the one who retired broke. It is not a bad idea to reward one’s self, but he has to be very careful in controlling his emotion specially the excitement of a spending spree.
The Re-tired
What if the retiree became broke after retirement? The usual thing to do is to go to his favorite orphanage institution, his children. He will now experience reality. The time he has abundance, he was the asset and favorite “visitor” of his loved ones. With his present situation, he is now an overstaying liability especially to his sons/daughters- in law. If he has wealthy children, then luck is on his side. Otherwise, he can be compared to a basketball since he will be passed on from one son to another. The former good provider to his children is now a burden to them. The children become “sandwiched” since they have to support their own children and now, their aged parents.
With this kind of scenario, the once happily retired person, out of shame, has no other option but to return to the corporate world to get rehired again (if ever he succeeds considering the competition in job hunting nowadays) and do the things a tired employee does. He is what we can call the re-tired employee because he will just duplicate what he has done as a tired employee.
Solution
From being tired to being re-tired, we can see there is a common denominator, money. Out of desperation, some opt to doing part time work other than the regular job. There are those who voluntarily work overtime as needed. Worse, there are some who resort to theft of time and money from their company. This is a common problem in the workplace.
Employees complain of inadequate pay but they do not realize that it is their lifestyle that has a bearing on their personal finance. Their lifestyle reflects a “living beyond their means” and “keeping up with the Joneses” principle.
The key is to be frugal, budget by reducing unwanted expenses, and most importantly, pay forward so that later, the retired no longer needs to be re-tired.
In order to achieve that, a correct money attitude is a must. Money is just a tool and we are the ones who should manipulate it. Early on, acquire a good habit of disciplined savings regardless of the amount.
That way, there will be a possibility that your accumulated fund may outlive you. In that case, you have the opportunity to leave a legacy to your family.
Allow me to end this article by quoting the Proverbs:
Proverbs 13:11 “Dishonest money will dwindle, but money gathered little by little will surely grow.”
Proverbs 13:22. ”A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children”
Special thanks to my very good friend, Engr Rudy Calingo of Metrobank Head Office, General Service Groups, for coming up with the title of this article.
Financial Literacy is Equal to Building Assets
From Robert Kiyosaki:
It is possible to become wealthy without money…
People often ask Robert and Kim how they can get started investing with little or no money. Their answer: invest in your financial education. This is because, after years of experience, they’ve learned that you and your financial intelligence are your most important assets. There are always opportunities to do deals and make money, but only someone with financial education can see and capitalize on the best opportunities.
It is possible to become wealthy without money…
People often ask Robert and Kim how they can get started investing with little or no money. Their answer: invest in your financial education. This is because, after years of experience, they’ve learned that you and your financial intelligence are your most important assets. There are always opportunities to do deals and make money, but only someone with financial education can see and capitalize on the best opportunities.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Practical Gift!
Christmas is time for giving and loving. Giving something material and yet practical is our current challenge this season of giving. Especially if you are attuned to the financial situations of people around you.
Many Christmases passed and I'm sure you have received one of these gifts: Fruit Cake, Towels (all sizes) , Photo Album, Bottle of Wine... (I see you nodding your head in agreement), Diary, Book, and many more. These are beautiful gifts as they are given with love. And I too received or had given such gifts.
Many of us received so much of these gifts that we even have to pass it on as gift to our family and friends. Recycled gifts, that is what we can call them , right?
But in our assessment of today's situation, we find the best gift would simply be Cash Gifts or Gift Checks. This way, you eliminate the added cost of wrappings, eliminating also so much thrash, and we also eliminate cost of transportation from going to and from a mall to buy our gifts. Some of us even go to Divisoria to buy inexpensive gifts, not considering the cost of going there plus the hassle of squeezing your way to multitudes of people.
Give something practical, something the people you'll give it can use, something from the heart, and Cash or Gift Checks are my recommendation this Christmas!
God bless!
Many Christmases passed and I'm sure you have received one of these gifts: Fruit Cake, Towels (all sizes) , Photo Album, Bottle of Wine... (I see you nodding your head in agreement), Diary, Book, and many more. These are beautiful gifts as they are given with love. And I too received or had given such gifts.
Many of us received so much of these gifts that we even have to pass it on as gift to our family and friends. Recycled gifts, that is what we can call them , right?
But in our assessment of today's situation, we find the best gift would simply be Cash Gifts or Gift Checks. This way, you eliminate the added cost of wrappings, eliminating also so much thrash, and we also eliminate cost of transportation from going to and from a mall to buy our gifts. Some of us even go to Divisoria to buy inexpensive gifts, not considering the cost of going there plus the hassle of squeezing your way to multitudes of people.
Give something practical, something the people you'll give it can use, something from the heart, and Cash or Gift Checks are my recommendation this Christmas!
God bless!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
You Need A Coach & a Community
Being Happy, Healthy, Wealthy and Holy is easier said than done.
In the four aspects of life: Faith, Family, Fortune, and Health , there is a need for us to have continuing education and guidance. And, the best guidance we can have is by having a coach. A coach you have direct access and have continuing contact like that of Freddie Roach to a Manny Pacquiao.
You can learn almost anything, but it will take a great amount of energy and time to be good at anything unless you have mentor or coach to speed up your learning process. Somebody who can show you the way to do it and what improvements you have to do.
Furthermore, your skills and capabilities are honed further if you have a support community, that has the same directions and aspirations in life.
Let's focus on the aspect of True Riches. You can surely achieve true riches , if you are mentored by someone like Bro Bo Sanchez, or those who have applied what he preaches. You will have a sure way of building your solid financial future if you are mentored by people who knows the way. You have to get into an environment and be with people with the same goals so you get refreshed, supported and do not get stray. Much like that of going to church every Sunday.
I can show you the way. I can be your mentor. I can lead you to a community of people who really really want to be Truly Rich ( God's New Breed of Millionaires)... Call me, text me or see me in my office...
GOd bless!
In the four aspects of life: Faith, Family, Fortune, and Health , there is a need for us to have continuing education and guidance. And, the best guidance we can have is by having a coach. A coach you have direct access and have continuing contact like that of Freddie Roach to a Manny Pacquiao.
You can learn almost anything, but it will take a great amount of energy and time to be good at anything unless you have mentor or coach to speed up your learning process. Somebody who can show you the way to do it and what improvements you have to do.
Furthermore, your skills and capabilities are honed further if you have a support community, that has the same directions and aspirations in life.
Let's focus on the aspect of True Riches. You can surely achieve true riches , if you are mentored by someone like Bro Bo Sanchez, or those who have applied what he preaches. You will have a sure way of building your solid financial future if you are mentored by people who knows the way. You have to get into an environment and be with people with the same goals so you get refreshed, supported and do not get stray. Much like that of going to church every Sunday.
I can show you the way. I can be your mentor. I can lead you to a community of people who really really want to be Truly Rich ( God's New Breed of Millionaires)... Call me, text me or see me in my office...
GOd bless!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Dreams have Deadlines
Taken from article of: J. Randell Tiongson,RFP®
Sometime ago, I had lunch with a mentor of mine, Rex Mendoza (of the giant real-estate conglomerate Ayala Land). Rex was one of my mentors in financial planning; there are many things I learned from him that pretty much influenced my career as a personal-finance coach and educator.
Financial planners are not known for extravagance and flamboyance—in fact, people have always looked at us as misers. Financial planners are very prudent people; they are not the kind that will spend money on a whim and will really take a lot of time trying to ascertain needs from wants. My friend Rex was very much a financial planner in all sense, highly knowledgeable in the aspect of personal finance and one who really practices what he preaches. However, the Rex I was having lunch with seemed to be a different person, a changed man singing a different tune. What happened to my old mentor? Has he gone to the dark side? I was trying to figure out who I was having lunch with. Years ago, this was the guy who was telling me that every peso counts, that Starbucks coffee was evil (because of the cost) and that investing was the only activity we should engage in...get the drift? The “new” guy I was having lunch with was talking about expensive LED lighting, koi pond and exquisite veneers for his house renovation, playing golf every weekend, traveling all over...and I almost choked on what I was eating when he mentioned driving a Porsche. That’s it, I am certain that my old mentor and friend has been possessed, cloned or just plain, well, lost his marbles. I was just about to gag this guy to ask him what he did with my friend when he uttered something that pretty much left me speechless for a few moments: “Randell, after all these years, I finally realized that ‘dreams have deadlines.’” Er, what—say that again?
My lunch encounter with a former mentor got me into thinking, and the words “dreams have deadlines” seemed to me like experiencing LSS (last-song syndrome). Financial planners have been preaching about living a life of extremes while the real world has a totally different view with regard to the use of money. Filipinos and financial stability are two words you don’t normally see in one sentence. Just look around you—how many of your acquaintances do you know need a spanking with the way they handle their finances? Our country remains to have the lowest savings rate even in Asia, yet we see a steady increase in consumer debt among our population—a definite recipe for disaster. The solution: financial literacy. If our brothers and sisters become financially literate and have a better mindset with regard to the way they use their money, we would definitely see a lot more happier people. The solution is simple—or is it?
As financial planners, are we getting our message across? Are Pinoys any closer to financial freedom? I am elated to see more and more financial planners, more books and articles and a gazillion blogs on personal finance. I’ve seen, heard, read a lot about personal finance of late—some are great messages; while others are really rubbish, but at least the message to do something about one’s personal finance is being mentioned. Let me repeat my earlier question, are we getting our message across? From my perspective, it seems that whatever we are doing is a mere drop in the bucket, and my colleagues in this field need to realize that we are not as effective as we believe we are (apologies to bruising the egos of my colleagues). There’s definitely nothing wrong with what we are advocating, and our message is extremely relevant. I believe that there is something wrong with the manner we convey our message. To the real world out there, we sound like condescending self-righteous bigots telling everyone they are wrong and we are right. Have you heard personal-finance speakers? They will tell you not to drink Starbucks coffee and stick to 3-in-1 or not to buy a flat TV or a new car. They will tell you that gratification is evil and will burn you. Let me use an analogy here: It’s like hearing a preacher tell you that ogling a beautiful woman will cost you eternal damnation. Yes, they are probably right, but they may not look at things from the right perspective. It’s not just about the message, it’s also about the delivery of the message.
I think it’s about time people like us realize that folks have dreams and they must enjoy these while they can. Dreams do have a deadline, as my mentor aptly phrased it. Are you going to have that dream family house when all your children are grown up and have moved out of the house? Will you buy that nice flat TV when your eyesight has become so weak? Our life has a timeline and we must act according to the set time we have. I like how the Bible puts it—“Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 14:5, NIV). Knowing what we want in life is critical and the way we live should be reflective of our goals. It’s not all about accumulation of wealth that we should be concerned about but also the purpose for accumulating wealth.
It’s about time we really know what our dreams are and that our “dreams have deadlines”; it’s about time we know the purpose of our dreams. Oh, it’s also about time for financial planners to change the way they sing their song. “The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:8)..
Sometime ago, I had lunch with a mentor of mine, Rex Mendoza (of the giant real-estate conglomerate Ayala Land). Rex was one of my mentors in financial planning; there are many things I learned from him that pretty much influenced my career as a personal-finance coach and educator.
Financial planners are not known for extravagance and flamboyance—in fact, people have always looked at us as misers. Financial planners are very prudent people; they are not the kind that will spend money on a whim and will really take a lot of time trying to ascertain needs from wants. My friend Rex was very much a financial planner in all sense, highly knowledgeable in the aspect of personal finance and one who really practices what he preaches. However, the Rex I was having lunch with seemed to be a different person, a changed man singing a different tune. What happened to my old mentor? Has he gone to the dark side? I was trying to figure out who I was having lunch with. Years ago, this was the guy who was telling me that every peso counts, that Starbucks coffee was evil (because of the cost) and that investing was the only activity we should engage in...get the drift? The “new” guy I was having lunch with was talking about expensive LED lighting, koi pond and exquisite veneers for his house renovation, playing golf every weekend, traveling all over...and I almost choked on what I was eating when he mentioned driving a Porsche. That’s it, I am certain that my old mentor and friend has been possessed, cloned or just plain, well, lost his marbles. I was just about to gag this guy to ask him what he did with my friend when he uttered something that pretty much left me speechless for a few moments: “Randell, after all these years, I finally realized that ‘dreams have deadlines.’” Er, what—say that again?
My lunch encounter with a former mentor got me into thinking, and the words “dreams have deadlines” seemed to me like experiencing LSS (last-song syndrome). Financial planners have been preaching about living a life of extremes while the real world has a totally different view with regard to the use of money. Filipinos and financial stability are two words you don’t normally see in one sentence. Just look around you—how many of your acquaintances do you know need a spanking with the way they handle their finances? Our country remains to have the lowest savings rate even in Asia, yet we see a steady increase in consumer debt among our population—a definite recipe for disaster. The solution: financial literacy. If our brothers and sisters become financially literate and have a better mindset with regard to the way they use their money, we would definitely see a lot more happier people. The solution is simple—or is it?
As financial planners, are we getting our message across? Are Pinoys any closer to financial freedom? I am elated to see more and more financial planners, more books and articles and a gazillion blogs on personal finance. I’ve seen, heard, read a lot about personal finance of late—some are great messages; while others are really rubbish, but at least the message to do something about one’s personal finance is being mentioned. Let me repeat my earlier question, are we getting our message across? From my perspective, it seems that whatever we are doing is a mere drop in the bucket, and my colleagues in this field need to realize that we are not as effective as we believe we are (apologies to bruising the egos of my colleagues). There’s definitely nothing wrong with what we are advocating, and our message is extremely relevant. I believe that there is something wrong with the manner we convey our message. To the real world out there, we sound like condescending self-righteous bigots telling everyone they are wrong and we are right. Have you heard personal-finance speakers? They will tell you not to drink Starbucks coffee and stick to 3-in-1 or not to buy a flat TV or a new car. They will tell you that gratification is evil and will burn you. Let me use an analogy here: It’s like hearing a preacher tell you that ogling a beautiful woman will cost you eternal damnation. Yes, they are probably right, but they may not look at things from the right perspective. It’s not just about the message, it’s also about the delivery of the message.
I think it’s about time people like us realize that folks have dreams and they must enjoy these while they can. Dreams do have a deadline, as my mentor aptly phrased it. Are you going to have that dream family house when all your children are grown up and have moved out of the house? Will you buy that nice flat TV when your eyesight has become so weak? Our life has a timeline and we must act according to the set time we have. I like how the Bible puts it—“Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 14:5, NIV). Knowing what we want in life is critical and the way we live should be reflective of our goals. It’s not all about accumulation of wealth that we should be concerned about but also the purpose for accumulating wealth.
It’s about time we really know what our dreams are and that our “dreams have deadlines”; it’s about time we know the purpose of our dreams. Oh, it’s also about time for financial planners to change the way they sing their song. “The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor” (1 Corinthians 3:8)..
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Focus and Determination
I just can't get over what Glenda told me on her secret in achieving what she has achieved... Focus and Determination...
She kept repeating these two words in the course of our conversation as she shared her wonderful transformation from being a house help in Hong Kong , to being an investor, and owner of her own IMG business and her freedom from her employer.
When she heard about the X-curve and Rule of 72, she kept this in her mind and heart and used her Sunday day-off to learn the application of the said concepts. Then, she acted on it and made it her focus to embark on a mission to educate her fellow domestic helpers to better their lives as she had done.
She was fired up with strong determination and a laser focused aim at her goals and she did it. She has indeed transformed herself from an OFW to OFI- Overseas Filipino Investor!
God bless!
She kept repeating these two words in the course of our conversation as she shared her wonderful transformation from being a house help in Hong Kong , to being an investor, and owner of her own IMG business and her freedom from her employer.
When she heard about the X-curve and Rule of 72, she kept this in her mind and heart and used her Sunday day-off to learn the application of the said concepts. Then, she acted on it and made it her focus to embark on a mission to educate her fellow domestic helpers to better their lives as she had done.
She was fired up with strong determination and a laser focused aim at her goals and she did it. She has indeed transformed herself from an OFW to OFI- Overseas Filipino Investor!
God bless!
Can IMG Really Change Lives?
I'm so fortunate to meet one of the many people whose life had been changed by IMG.
Right now, as I write this blog, I'm in IMG office in Singapore and with the living example of a person who has been able to rise up from her humble beginning through her IMG activites.
I'm talking about Glenda Flores who hails from the Province of Negros, one of the major islands of the Visayan group of islands. She had worked as Domestic Helper in Hong Kong for more than 10 years. 4 Years ago, she joined IMG and from then on focused her energy in achieving her dreams to one day terminate her employer, which she did.
And that's amazing! You know why? Because she understood the IMG concept of saving and investing for her future. Then, she embarked on a mission to educate and wake up her fellow OFW- Overseas Filipino Workers in Hong Kong. She had successfully done her mission and by now she is a Senior Marketing Director with 6 Direct Marketing Director under her. A feat she was able to accomplish in mere 4 years. And what makes it amazing? She was just able to do her IMG mission only once a week as she only has her Sunday day off to do it.
She sacrificed her rest day just to do the mission and she did not only change her status as OFW to OFI- Overseas Filipino Investor , but more worthy of emulation is the fact that she was able to change so many peoples lives as well. Turning many OFW to spenders and struggling workers to investors and savers like her who are sure of having a secured financial future.
You want to follow her footsteps? Absorb the concept and act on it like what Glenda did and change your life for the better!
God bless.
Right now, as I write this blog, I'm in IMG office in Singapore and with the living example of a person who has been able to rise up from her humble beginning through her IMG activites.
I'm talking about Glenda Flores who hails from the Province of Negros, one of the major islands of the Visayan group of islands. She had worked as Domestic Helper in Hong Kong for more than 10 years. 4 Years ago, she joined IMG and from then on focused her energy in achieving her dreams to one day terminate her employer, which she did.
And that's amazing! You know why? Because she understood the IMG concept of saving and investing for her future. Then, she embarked on a mission to educate and wake up her fellow OFW- Overseas Filipino Workers in Hong Kong. She had successfully done her mission and by now she is a Senior Marketing Director with 6 Direct Marketing Director under her. A feat she was able to accomplish in mere 4 years. And what makes it amazing? She was just able to do her IMG mission only once a week as she only has her Sunday day off to do it.
She sacrificed her rest day just to do the mission and she did not only change her status as OFW to OFI- Overseas Filipino Investor , but more worthy of emulation is the fact that she was able to change so many peoples lives as well. Turning many OFW to spenders and struggling workers to investors and savers like her who are sure of having a secured financial future.
You want to follow her footsteps? Absorb the concept and act on it like what Glenda did and change your life for the better!
God bless.
Friday, November 13, 2009
How Do you Know if You are a Business Owner?
Most people who owns businesses actually do not own the business, but the other way around. The business owns them.
Be it a "puwesto" (stall) in a market place, or a franchised outlet, or a training or educational institution, if it runs without or with minimum intervention from you, then you own that business.
I have friends who owns a school and they are spending tons of hours in their school. They have to to be there by 8AM and leaves the place after 8PM in most cases, and at times even beyond. Another friend owns a market stall and she has to tend to her customers up to 7PM.
They do not have the luxury of taking time out from their business.
I pity them, but that's the kind of business they want to have, and they get a lot of satisfaction doing so. But, certainly, in the point of view of having hte business or the business having you, I believe it pretty clear that my friends are owned by their business.
My IMG business is far different. We truly own it and we can achieve the satisfaction of helping people achieve financial freedom.
If you want to know more, send me an email so I can respond to you.
God bless.
Be it a "puwesto" (stall) in a market place, or a franchised outlet, or a training or educational institution, if it runs without or with minimum intervention from you, then you own that business.
I have friends who owns a school and they are spending tons of hours in their school. They have to to be there by 8AM and leaves the place after 8PM in most cases, and at times even beyond. Another friend owns a market stall and she has to tend to her customers up to 7PM.
They do not have the luxury of taking time out from their business.
I pity them, but that's the kind of business they want to have, and they get a lot of satisfaction doing so. But, certainly, in the point of view of having hte business or the business having you, I believe it pretty clear that my friends are owned by their business.
My IMG business is far different. We truly own it and we can achieve the satisfaction of helping people achieve financial freedom.
If you want to know more, send me an email so I can respond to you.
God bless.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Increase Your Value!
In my earlier blogs, I've written about the differentiations of the two in my revise version of Mr. Robert Kiyosaki's definition. I say anything that we obtain which improves our value is an asset and anything in reverse of this is a liability.
If buying a car increases your value, then it is an asset. If buying a house increase your value, then by all means buy a house. So the major challenge really is how do we make things we accumulate assets. That is the 5 million dollar question. You want to know the answer?
It's all about net value, or net cash flow. So for example, you buy a house, pay it 2M Php and resell it to more than 2M then it is an asset. Or you rent it out and earn you more than 10% per year on top of the depreciation cost of the house, then it is an asset. Buy a car and you pay it with the rental income of the car plus minimum of 10% rate of return, then it is an asset.
Your next question is why 10%? I use 10% as my baseline for how much minimum you can earn if you put your money on Mutual Funds or Stocks Equity.
Let's go beyond material things. Let's talk about education, training, seminars and travels. Are spending on these turns to asset or liabilities? Why do we get ourselves through all these hassles of reading books, answering assignments, doing research and all the headaches? Check it out by looking at your value as a person. Are you paid higher? Are you able to do more higher paying tasks, or do you achieve higher rate of returns on your investments because of what you learned? If you're answer is yes, then , your spending is turned into assets.
Want to know more? Send me your comments and inquiries .
God bless!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Active Vs Passive Income
Let's have a review . Active Income is a source of Income which needs you to do an action to get your pay or income, while a Passive Income keeps coming even if you are not doing anything.
Robert Kiyosaki in his 4 quadrant explanations show Employees, and Self Employed belong to this category of Active Income earners. By employees, this means you have a workplace and an employer and you render your talent or service to earn your wage. You can be the President of the company , yet since you are employed in that company , you are still an active income earner.
Just exactly how many employment can you have, or business you can run by yourself? In the Philippines, most usual is single employment, then a sideline business or part time employment as in teaching in a school or university, or tending a sari sari store. Some go for franchising which is still an active way of income generation.
You cannot have too many of this active income streams as it will be physically and mentally tiring. You definitely wont enjoy the fruits of your labor.
On the other hand, Passive Income are generated from Interest Earnings from your Investments, Rental Income , and Royalty Income.
Our financial challenge is to move our income from our active source to passive income source.
In IMG we teach people how to do this and earn limitless income.
You want to know more... contact me... richbenj.santiago@gmail.com.
God bless.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Resist the Temptation
It's just 45 days and it will be Christmas!
This period is the critical period for SALE Temptations... New LCD or Plasma TV (30+ inches dapat), DSLR Camera with Vibration Stabilizers Lenses at least 2-4x Mag, perhaps new car, and certainly new clothes.... Why? ... kasi ito din yung period na naka announce na sched for the 13th month pay.
But, let me be your KJ for the day. STOP, resist the temptation and run away from it. Do not spend beyond your means or even within your means. SAVE and INVEST for your future needs.
If it is within the 70% of your income, go ahead and enjoy it, but if you will pay with money you haven't earned yet... it's suicidal.
So many people are suffering, and do not even have anything to eat, yet we can afford to splurge. Give to charities at least 10% , and invest the 20% of whatever cash flow you will have.
Moreover, you may even have piled up debts you need to pay up. This is your priority and not another expense.
Be Truly Rich...
God bless..
Sunday, November 8, 2009
True Riches
Hi There... it's been quite a while since my last blog entry coz I've been away for a 14 day European Marian Pilgrimage. It's really something everyone must experience, but of course it's not that cheap...
In the said pilgrimage, we passed through the places where two most influential Saints of my life once walked and lived. St Francis (I like his Italian name: Francesco) and St Ignatius of Loyola (Loiola as they spell it).
What's their relation to my topic? Both of them came from influential and rich families. Both are gallant men who wants to be famous Knights (those who leads crusades against the moors of their times). But both of them gave their all to God!
True Riches is not measured on what we amass or have, but what we can offer back to God. Note, what we can offer. We cannot offer what we do not have, correct? Thus, Truly Rich are those who can offer all back to God of what they have. And these two saints gave their 100% and left nothing for them.
So how many percent do we give back? Are we Truly Rich? Are we doing something to that direction? Do we have the right mind set, attitude and working plans to be one?
If you need guidance... just give me a note at richbenj.santiago@gmail.com or benj5_santiago@yahoo.com.
God bless!
In the said pilgrimage, we passed through the places where two most influential Saints of my life once walked and lived. St Francis (I like his Italian name: Francesco) and St Ignatius of Loyola (Loiola as they spell it).
What's their relation to my topic? Both of them came from influential and rich families. Both are gallant men who wants to be famous Knights (those who leads crusades against the moors of their times). But both of them gave their all to God!
True Riches is not measured on what we amass or have, but what we can offer back to God. Note, what we can offer. We cannot offer what we do not have, correct? Thus, Truly Rich are those who can offer all back to God of what they have. And these two saints gave their 100% and left nothing for them.
So how many percent do we give back? Are we Truly Rich? Are we doing something to that direction? Do we have the right mind set, attitude and working plans to be one?
If you need guidance... just give me a note at richbenj.santiago@gmail.com or benj5_santiago@yahoo.com.
God bless!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Investing in Mutual Funds
Dear Valued IMG Partners:
Good day!
Many people think that in order to retire comfortably, one needs to earn a lot while
young, save huge money in the bank and work as long as physically able. The problem is,
only a few are aware that fat pay checks, savings in traditional financial institutions
and pure hard work do not guarantee financial independence. It should still be the
discipline to invest regularly (consistency) and knowing the right resources that would
help.
Correct investing do not necessarily require big capital and extensive technical
expertise. Take into example mutual funds. These are investment companies registered
in the SEC having the concept of pooling investors’ money while a professional fund
manager takes care of allocating these funds into a diversified portfolio of securities.
Sounds complicated? On the contrary, all that needs to be done is put in money (minimum
of Php5,000.00) and let the mutual fund monitor and manage your investments. Your money
along with other people’s money will be invested in instruments like government
securities (treasury bills, notes and bonds), commercial papers, and in the stock market.
In return, because of the mutual funds’ muscle, participation in various high-yielding
instruments and economies of scale, investors may receive higher earnings over the long
run.
Do you know that if you invest Php2,000.00 monthly in a mutual fund for the next 5 years
you would get Php507,775 on the 20th year? Continue this for another 5 years and it will
even grow to Php830,748.00.*
Or if you invest Php5,000.00 monthly for the next 5 years you would get Php1,273,430.00
on the 20th year and continue for another 5 years and will even grow to Php2,0980,750.00.*
All told, it certainly is easy and achievable to have a descent retirement fund. You
just have to remember the basic essentials:
1. Have that discipline to invest regularly (cost-averaging).
2. Study your investment options.
3. Have a long-term horizon.
For any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.
Telephone numbers: 894-1811 or 812-1995. You may also visit our websites:
www.rampver.advisors.com or www.rampver.com
Or you can email me richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
*Based on conservative projections. Invested in a bond fund and an equity fund with a
60-40 allocation at 6% and 12% average annual returns respectively.
Truly yours,
CHRISTY F. ALEGROSO
Bus. Development Officer (RSA)
Good day!
Many people think that in order to retire comfortably, one needs to earn a lot while
young, save huge money in the bank and work as long as physically able. The problem is,
only a few are aware that fat pay checks, savings in traditional financial institutions
and pure hard work do not guarantee financial independence. It should still be the
discipline to invest regularly (consistency) and knowing the right resources that would
help.
Correct investing do not necessarily require big capital and extensive technical
expertise. Take into example mutual funds. These are investment companies registered
in the SEC having the concept of pooling investors’ money while a professional fund
manager takes care of allocating these funds into a diversified portfolio of securities.
Sounds complicated? On the contrary, all that needs to be done is put in money (minimum
of Php5,000.00) and let the mutual fund monitor and manage your investments. Your money
along with other people’s money will be invested in instruments like government
securities (treasury bills, notes and bonds), commercial papers, and in the stock market.
In return, because of the mutual funds’ muscle, participation in various high-yielding
instruments and economies of scale, investors may receive higher earnings over the long
run.
Do you know that if you invest Php2,000.00 monthly in a mutual fund for the next 5 years
you would get Php507,775 on the 20th year? Continue this for another 5 years and it will
even grow to Php830,748.00.*
Or if you invest Php5,000.00 monthly for the next 5 years you would get Php1,273,430.00
on the 20th year and continue for another 5 years and will even grow to Php2,0980,750.00.*
All told, it certainly is easy and achievable to have a descent retirement fund. You
just have to remember the basic essentials:
1. Have that discipline to invest regularly (cost-averaging).
2. Study your investment options.
3. Have a long-term horizon.
For any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.
Telephone numbers: 894-1811 or 812-1995. You may also visit our websites:
www.rampver.advisors.com or www.rampver.com
Or you can email me richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
*Based on conservative projections. Invested in a bond fund and an equity fund with a
60-40 allocation at 6% and 12% average annual returns respectively.
Truly yours,
CHRISTY F. ALEGROSO
Bus. Development Officer (RSA)
Saturday, October 10, 2009
How Do You Invest ?...on Stocks?
Many of us venture on different investment schemes which unfortunately we do not have the basic knowledge.
Some people venture on restaurant business thinking it's simple only to find out later after some 5 , 6 and even 7 digit losses that it's not that easy.
Some opt to franchise a food cart business or an outlet for dry goods or meat products, because a friend is into the said business but after some months of hard starts, miserably fails to achieve the desired rate of return to their investments.
Another group puts particular interest on Stocks Investing. Motivation comes from mere image build up to serious investing plans.
In all of the above, the key factor one must have is proper education and coaching.
You cannot dive into the pool of investment regardless of what business line it is unless you particularly know how to swim in the said pool. Note, even those who are well versed even drown! So get yourself the needed financial education.
Our company: IMG - International Marketing Group, provides seminars that helps people learn proper saving and investing.
Having said that, I hope you could go back to my previous logs on proper wealth building practices, and financial planning.
As to Stocks investing, get a coach. Diversify. Put some on Mutual Funds which is investing in stocks made easy (as this is like getting an expert do the investing for you). Try Citiseconline and practice investing. Do not invest big time until you get the knack of it.
Two ways you can never fail in Stocks Investing: Money Cost Averaging for beginners, and Trading for those who has the facility and time to monitor market movements. But I would like to warn you, Trading on Stocks is not for the faint of heart!
Would appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Send me a note to my email : richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
God bless!
Some people venture on restaurant business thinking it's simple only to find out later after some 5 , 6 and even 7 digit losses that it's not that easy.
Some opt to franchise a food cart business or an outlet for dry goods or meat products, because a friend is into the said business but after some months of hard starts, miserably fails to achieve the desired rate of return to their investments.
Another group puts particular interest on Stocks Investing. Motivation comes from mere image build up to serious investing plans.
In all of the above, the key factor one must have is proper education and coaching.
You cannot dive into the pool of investment regardless of what business line it is unless you particularly know how to swim in the said pool. Note, even those who are well versed even drown! So get yourself the needed financial education.
Our company: IMG - International Marketing Group, provides seminars that helps people learn proper saving and investing.
Having said that, I hope you could go back to my previous logs on proper wealth building practices, and financial planning.
As to Stocks investing, get a coach. Diversify. Put some on Mutual Funds which is investing in stocks made easy (as this is like getting an expert do the investing for you). Try Citiseconline and practice investing. Do not invest big time until you get the knack of it.
Two ways you can never fail in Stocks Investing: Money Cost Averaging for beginners, and Trading for those who has the facility and time to monitor market movements. But I would like to warn you, Trading on Stocks is not for the faint of heart!
Would appreciate your comments and suggestions.
Send me a note to my email : richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
God bless!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Investing on a Property- Consider Flooding History
We have practically covered all the steps in achieving Financial Freedom from our previous blogs.
But let me expound a bit more on the topic of accumulating Long Term Assets.
Firstly, just a matter of review, I subscribe to the definition of Robert Kiyosaki on what is an Asset vs Liability. Robert defined Asset as something that you buy that puts money into your pocket. I added, anything that increases your value.
This is very important in making sure that indeed what we accumulate across time are assets which we will be able to use to generate our passive income.
One very relevant question to ask ourselves today is: Is buying a house and lot a good investment ? Is it really accumulating wealth when we buy a house and lot?
Other than the aforementioned consideration or definition of what is an asset, we must ensure that the house and lot we buy are free from flooding.
It will be a big mistake to invest on a house and lot that has a history of flooding as you wont expect said property to increase in value over time. Thus, it will not guarantee you returns from your investment.
I'm sure nobody will be interested to buy a property that has history of flooding.
It will also be difficult to find tenants if you rent out your house if people know it has history of flooding.
Of course, there are more to consider as well.... for now, I just want to emphasize on flooding as this is the most relevant today in view of the destruction brought by Typhoon Ondoy.
God bless!
But let me expound a bit more on the topic of accumulating Long Term Assets.
Firstly, just a matter of review, I subscribe to the definition of Robert Kiyosaki on what is an Asset vs Liability. Robert defined Asset as something that you buy that puts money into your pocket. I added, anything that increases your value.
This is very important in making sure that indeed what we accumulate across time are assets which we will be able to use to generate our passive income.
One very relevant question to ask ourselves today is: Is buying a house and lot a good investment ? Is it really accumulating wealth when we buy a house and lot?
Other than the aforementioned consideration or definition of what is an asset, we must ensure that the house and lot we buy are free from flooding.
It will be a big mistake to invest on a house and lot that has a history of flooding as you wont expect said property to increase in value over time. Thus, it will not guarantee you returns from your investment.
I'm sure nobody will be interested to buy a property that has history of flooding.
It will also be difficult to find tenants if you rent out your house if people know it has history of flooding.
Of course, there are more to consider as well.... for now, I just want to emphasize on flooding as this is the most relevant today in view of the destruction brought by Typhoon Ondoy.
God bless!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Is Your Insurance Coverage Really COMPREHENSIVE?
By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:03:00 09/28/2009
Filed Under: Consumer Issues, Disasters (general)
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:03:00 09/28/2009
Filed Under: Consumer Issues, Disasters (general)
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Business Most Read RSSMANILA, Philippines -- Amid the damage caused by floodwaters to hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of vehicles by typhoon “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana), auto insurance firms are bracing for a deluge of claims from policyholders over the next few days.
Yet, vehicle owners who think that a “comprehensive” automobile insurance policy would insulate them from further financial losses may be in for a nasty surprise.
According to officials of insurance firms, only the claims of policyholders who availed of additional coverage against “acts of God” or “acts of “nature” can expect to be reimbursed for the repair or replacement of their cars.
Emmanuel Que, executive vice president of the Philippine Charter Insurance Corp., said many clients did not avail of insurance coverage for "acts of God" or nature.
“Normally, if you have coverage for acts of God, [repair for] flood damage would be covered,” Que said. “Unfortunately, this is not something clients normally avail of.”
He explained that, in most cases, people who availed of automobile insurance paid only for policies that covered normal vehicular accidents, “own damage” or theft.
“Those are the more popular ones,” he said, adding that few vehicle owners even considered so-called policy “riders” for acts of God because of the sheer rarity of these incidents.
“With ‘acts of God’ policies, a car owner will be protected against damage caused by typhoons (which includes flooding), earthquakes or anything induced by nature like a falling billboard or a falling coconut,” Que said.
But the insurance cover does not come cheap, averaging about 0.7 percent of the vehicle’s insured value per year.
For a P1-million car, this would translate to an additional P7,000 in insurance costs, on top of the P28,000 comprehensive annual premium for brand new units.
As early as Monday morning, auto insurers have already been getting calls from clients indicating the impending filing of insurance claims.
“Right now, we’re getting a lot of notices of loss,” said UCPB General Insurance Co. Inc. claims head Francis Nob in a telephone interview. “What [clients] are saying right now is that they intend to file a claim.”
“What will happen next is that our assessors will check our records if they have policies that cover flood damage,” he added.
He pointed out that policyholders who bought additional coverage for “acts of God” can expect immediate action, but those without this may be in for more heartache.
“If they have none, we will politely tell them,” Nob said, acknowledging the difficulty of breaking bad financial news to clients who may have lost all their belongings in the flood.
Even as he noted that few clients have actually availed of acts of God policies, he said his firm has already notified auto dealerships and accredited repair shops to expect a flood of clients to have their vehicles repaired.
Even those who had enough foresight to avail of “acts of God” coverage, however, will have to make do with a repaired vehicle instead of expecting insurers to replace their cars with new ones.
“The liability of the insurer is to restore unit to its condition prior to damage,” Nob said. “The insurance firm has the right to restore it.”
Echoing this position, Philippine Charter Insurance’s Que said repairs on flood-damaged vehicles would normally revolve around replacing damaged interiors and restoring electrical systems -- repairs that could cost insurers about P50,000 per vehicle.
“If the car’s computer box has been damaged, that would cost maybe an additional P50,000,” he said. “The important thing is that one should not try to start the [flood-damaged] vehicle. As long as you don’t try to start it, it can be repaired.”
UCPB’s Nob does not expect a sharp increase in claims payouts for auto insurance policies.
He noted, however, that insurance firms may have to adjust their rates henceforth, now that the “unlikely” event of massive flood damage around Metro Manila has become a reality.
“We may see higher premiums in the future,” he said. “This event means a lot to the industry as a learningSunday, September 27, 2009
Metro Manila Hit by Flooding- Emergency Funds and Protection
Broadcast Media and Broadsheets has splashed the devastation Ondoy brought to Metro Manila, Rizal Provinces and NCR. Many got caught flat footed and not prepared or ill prepared at the least .
One of our members, Kaye Soriano got stranded in QC for a day . Her car was engulfed by the floods. She was with another IMG Member Flash with his wife Diane Obejero. They attended a birthday celebration.
This phenomenon blamed by some to climate change is a perfect twist in life that we got to be prepared for.
Surely the cars, properties, and life lost and damaged by the flooding will be mitigated if all were properly insured.
For those who sustained manageable damage, this is where Emergency Funds can kick in.
Thus, we indeed need to be always fully prepared by having ample insurance protection, and enough emergency funds.
This is what we preach and do in IMG for we'll never know what will happen next.
Praise God those of us who were spared. Praise God those of us who are prepared!
One of our members, Kaye Soriano got stranded in QC for a day . Her car was engulfed by the floods. She was with another IMG Member Flash with his wife Diane Obejero. They attended a birthday celebration.
This phenomenon blamed by some to climate change is a perfect twist in life that we got to be prepared for.
Surely the cars, properties, and life lost and damaged by the flooding will be mitigated if all were properly insured.
For those who sustained manageable damage, this is where Emergency Funds can kick in.
Thus, we indeed need to be always fully prepared by having ample insurance protection, and enough emergency funds.
This is what we preach and do in IMG for we'll never know what will happen next.
Praise God those of us who were spared. Praise God those of us who are prepared!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Can you really get more than 12% ROR
Yes ! We can make more than 12% and it's safe.
But, of course you have to have the proper guidance and coaching.
Our record to date is 22% for our Mutual Fund investments and 76% or our Stocks investments inclusive of 20% Stocks Dividends.
Believe it or Not?
Of course, there is no guarantee as I have expounded on earlier blogs regarding these kinds of investments.
If you want to learn more, read on with my blogs...
Happy Investing
But, of course you have to have the proper guidance and coaching.
Our record to date is 22% for our Mutual Fund investments and 76% or our Stocks investments inclusive of 20% Stocks Dividends.
Believe it or Not?
Of course, there is no guarantee as I have expounded on earlier blogs regarding these kinds of investments.
If you want to learn more, read on with my blogs...
Happy Investing
Sunday, September 20, 2009
When, Where, and How to Invest
The finals step is the execution... Just where? When? How do we let go of our hard earned money to the chosen fields of investments?
Earlier, we tackled the first two steps (Education and Investment Plan) which is a prerequisite to this final step with major consideration on the basic foundation of your financial plan: Protection and Long Term Health Care, Emergency Fund Build Up , and Debt Management.
Again, do not venture into investing unless you are clear with the first two steps. It's suicidal and certainly not much different to betting your money on a game of chance.
With that said and laid out, you are on your way to the final steps.
So WHERE do we invest? Key to investing is DIVERSITY. Make sure your chosen fields really do match up with your timing and risk capability. The younger you are , the higher risk you can take and investing on Stocks is a good avenue for your major investments. If you are in the age range of 40-50 you might need to have partly stocks equity and partly more secured funds or more liquid funds. If you are in the above 60 range, you need to be more conservative in your investments like mutual funds, government issued security bonds.
Note, putting money as savings deposit in the bank is not a wise investment. It's a sure loss.
Other investment opportunities are Real Estate, Food Cart, Franchising, etc.
In all of these, you have to make sure you are in the know and has a coach till you gain confidence in your capabilities.
After knowing where to invest, you need to make sure there is constant build up of your investments. You need to let go of your cash into your investments. Start small and then regularly build up your investments. Match the timing with your cash flow. You will note that the earlier you start with this, the lesser amount of money you will need to constantly flow in to your investments. Thus, do not procrastinate... just do it.
In stocks investing, there are two school of thoughts: Money Cost Averaging and Trading. The former is for beginners and the latter is for those who has gained knowledge and experience. So timing for the former is a regular constant flow. While the latter timing is wait and see, analyze and move. This is very stressful and thus I will even consider dangerous to your health specially if you have a heart condition.
There you are, the basic overview of investing. If you would like to know more details and want to be coached, please feel free to contact us.
God bless.
Earlier, we tackled the first two steps (Education and Investment Plan) which is a prerequisite to this final step with major consideration on the basic foundation of your financial plan: Protection and Long Term Health Care, Emergency Fund Build Up , and Debt Management.
Again, do not venture into investing unless you are clear with the first two steps. It's suicidal and certainly not much different to betting your money on a game of chance.
With that said and laid out, you are on your way to the final steps.
So WHERE do we invest? Key to investing is DIVERSITY. Make sure your chosen fields really do match up with your timing and risk capability. The younger you are , the higher risk you can take and investing on Stocks is a good avenue for your major investments. If you are in the age range of 40-50 you might need to have partly stocks equity and partly more secured funds or more liquid funds. If you are in the above 60 range, you need to be more conservative in your investments like mutual funds, government issued security bonds.
Note, putting money as savings deposit in the bank is not a wise investment. It's a sure loss.
Other investment opportunities are Real Estate, Food Cart, Franchising, etc.
In all of these, you have to make sure you are in the know and has a coach till you gain confidence in your capabilities.
After knowing where to invest, you need to make sure there is constant build up of your investments. You need to let go of your cash into your investments. Start small and then regularly build up your investments. Match the timing with your cash flow. You will note that the earlier you start with this, the lesser amount of money you will need to constantly flow in to your investments. Thus, do not procrastinate... just do it.
In stocks investing, there are two school of thoughts: Money Cost Averaging and Trading. The former is for beginners and the latter is for those who has gained knowledge and experience. So timing for the former is a regular constant flow. While the latter timing is wait and see, analyze and move. This is very stressful and thus I will even consider dangerous to your health specially if you have a heart condition.
There you are, the basic overview of investing. If you would like to know more details and want to be coached, please feel free to contact us.
God bless.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Plan to INVEST- Second Step
Education is a pre-requisite to informed and intelligent investing.
Get this from competent individuals and or investment companies. We can recommend Citisec On Line (COL), Rampver Strategic Advisers, IMG for this. We can personally help you out.
Let's now proceed with our second step: Define your Investment Goals.
Investment Goals are expressed also in amount and time and purpose. For example, you want to invest money to go on a Marian Pilgrimage by 2010 October and your investment period start this month. So you exactly know you have 13 months to go, and the cost of the tour is about 200K per person.
If you are thinking 13 months, this is still on the short term.
Another example is investing for your retirement. If you are 35 years of age and you want to retire when you are 50 and your target is 5 Million, you have 15 years to do it. This can be considered as long term investing.
Define all your purposes or reasons to invest and plug in how much you will need by what date. Go back to your goals.
Next step is to define where you will invest your money on the next blog...
Get this from competent individuals and or investment companies. We can recommend Citisec On Line (COL), Rampver Strategic Advisers, IMG for this. We can personally help you out.
Let's now proceed with our second step: Define your Investment Goals.
Investment Goals are expressed also in amount and time and purpose. For example, you want to invest money to go on a Marian Pilgrimage by 2010 October and your investment period start this month. So you exactly know you have 13 months to go, and the cost of the tour is about 200K per person.
If you are thinking 13 months, this is still on the short term.
Another example is investing for your retirement. If you are 35 years of age and you want to retire when you are 50 and your target is 5 Million, you have 15 years to do it. This can be considered as long term investing.
Define all your purposes or reasons to invest and plug in how much you will need by what date. Go back to your goals.
Next step is to define where you will invest your money on the next blog...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Plan to INVEST- First Step:EDUCATION
Investing is the most exciting but most demanding part of financial planning. It requires much careful study and needs thorough understanding of different risks and returns considerations. We have to go through much needed education.
Thus, the first step to investing is getting education on the rudiments of investing. Before we even dabble in investing, we need to make sure you really know what we are getting into.
We can liken this to diving into a pool. Would you dare jump into it , if you do not know yet how to swim? Certainly you'll drown unless you know how to swim. Same with investing.
We also need to make sure that the basic foundation of your financial plans had been laid out. These were discussed in earlier blogs: Increase Cash Flow, Plan for Protection, Create Emergency Funds, and Eliminate Debts. Only after these had been laid out should we even talk about investing.
We also need to make sure we know our competencies and passion that we will match up with our investment avenues. Are we business oriented, do we have the knack for money markets and stocks/equity investing? Do we have the needed tools and facility to do it? Does our mental and physical capabilities match up with what investment we want to pursue?
We must also do thorough study of the companies we will invest our money into. We need to do research and the most convenient way is through the internet. So many people are duped by high rate of returns that eventually turns out to be scams.
We also must make sure we are diversified. We must not put all our eggs in one basket as the proverbial saying goes.
Another thing we need to know and learn are the different avenues where we can invest. These are several available opportunities: 1. Franchising either a consumer goods, food cart, or fast food store, 2. Buy and sell of real property or vehicles, 3. Sari sari Store, 4. Cooperatives, 5. Mutual Funds, 6. Stocks/Equity Funds, 7. Condo or Apartment Rental Business, 8. IMG Business.
We can group all these investment opportunities to three major groups : 1. Real Estate, 2. Paper Assets, 3. Business. These will generate Rental Income, Interest on Investments Income, and Rate of Return on Business Investments.
I can say we know much of the rudiments of most of the mentioned investments for we do involve ourselves on it. We have rental income from our condo and apartment, we have investments in mutual funds and stocks equities, we have investments on cooperatives, and we do have our IMG Business.
I can't cover the complete details of investing in this blog. However, our company provides the needed education for investment opportunities on well refuted companies. We can show you how your money can work for you, and make you your own financial adviser. We can give you all your needed information so you can make a wise decision on where you can invest considering your financial goals, your risk capability.
We must not embark on our INVESTMENT PLANS till we complete this first step: EDUCATION....
Will proceed with our Planning for INVESTMENT next blog....
Thus, the first step to investing is getting education on the rudiments of investing. Before we even dabble in investing, we need to make sure you really know what we are getting into.
We can liken this to diving into a pool. Would you dare jump into it , if you do not know yet how to swim? Certainly you'll drown unless you know how to swim. Same with investing.
We also need to make sure that the basic foundation of your financial plans had been laid out. These were discussed in earlier blogs: Increase Cash Flow, Plan for Protection, Create Emergency Funds, and Eliminate Debts. Only after these had been laid out should we even talk about investing.
We also need to make sure we know our competencies and passion that we will match up with our investment avenues. Are we business oriented, do we have the knack for money markets and stocks/equity investing? Do we have the needed tools and facility to do it? Does our mental and physical capabilities match up with what investment we want to pursue?
We must also do thorough study of the companies we will invest our money into. We need to do research and the most convenient way is through the internet. So many people are duped by high rate of returns that eventually turns out to be scams.
We also must make sure we are diversified. We must not put all our eggs in one basket as the proverbial saying goes.
Another thing we need to know and learn are the different avenues where we can invest. These are several available opportunities: 1. Franchising either a consumer goods, food cart, or fast food store, 2. Buy and sell of real property or vehicles, 3. Sari sari Store, 4. Cooperatives, 5. Mutual Funds, 6. Stocks/Equity Funds, 7. Condo or Apartment Rental Business, 8. IMG Business.
We can group all these investment opportunities to three major groups : 1. Real Estate, 2. Paper Assets, 3. Business. These will generate Rental Income, Interest on Investments Income, and Rate of Return on Business Investments.
I can say we know much of the rudiments of most of the mentioned investments for we do involve ourselves on it. We have rental income from our condo and apartment, we have investments in mutual funds and stocks equities, we have investments on cooperatives, and we do have our IMG Business.
I can't cover the complete details of investing in this blog. However, our company provides the needed education for investment opportunities on well refuted companies. We can show you how your money can work for you, and make you your own financial adviser. We can give you all your needed information so you can make a wise decision on where you can invest considering your financial goals, your risk capability.
We must not embark on our INVESTMENT PLANS till we complete this first step: EDUCATION....
Will proceed with our Planning for INVESTMENT next blog....
Getting Out of DEBT
If there is any school that would grant us PhD in Debt Management, I think we would qualify and even get a Suma Cum Laude for it. Thus, I assure you, we know what we are talking about when we say getting out of the Debt Trap can be done.
You see, both me and my wife Fely are earning good with salary of 6 figures . However, we were really not keen in managing our finances prior to our IMG enlightenment. Thus, our debts and loans from our many credit cards and different loaning facility runs to more than 7 figures.
Now, do I get your attention?
This problem of living on borrowed money or debts affects so many millions of lives or perhaps billions world wide. In the latest blog I read about Philippines Credit Card debts, it runs more than 120Billions of Pesos. I am sure you who is reading this blog right now has some contributions to this enormous debt plaguing our society.
Mind you, this is not isolated to the poor sector of society. This engulfs even those in the higher income bracket of our country. My relatives abroad are not spared from this. I am sure you do hear the same stories from your relatives abroad.
Loans and Debts makes people do things that lead them to more problems. Some even resort to taking their own lives to escape the grip of debt... passing their problems to those they leave behind.
However, solution to this perennial issue just require a plan.
The first step is to STOP BORROWING. You need to define a firm start date of when you will put an end to borrowing. The best start date is NOW!
Second step is to list all the existing loans you have and line it up with the amounts and interest the loans has. For example:
1. Citibank 100K 3.5%/month
2. Housing Loan 600K 1%/month
3. Coop Loan 150K 0.75%/month
Then, define when you will pay off these loans prioritizing payments to the one which has the greatest interest.
You may even resort to transferring all your loans to the one that gives you the least interest payments.
Do not fall into the trap of loans re-structuring to lengthen payments as this means you are prolonging your loans and enabling the loaning institution to continue to charge you with more interest.
Plan to pay more than what the required minimum payment is.
Pay off whatever extra money you have from your emergency funds. Bonus and 13th month pay must be allocated for your debt payments.
When your cash in-flow increase, make sure you use it to plug into the high interest paying debts.
As you do this plan, make sure you keep yourself in the company of people with the same desire and discipline.
Following these simple steps, we were freed from the bondage of debts and are now debt free! I'm sure you can do the same.
For more detailed Debt Management Plans, you may consult with us in our office in Dasma or can send us emails.
Would appreciate your response to this blog.
God bless.
Will tackle the exciting world of INVESTING next blog....
You see, both me and my wife Fely are earning good with salary of 6 figures . However, we were really not keen in managing our finances prior to our IMG enlightenment. Thus, our debts and loans from our many credit cards and different loaning facility runs to more than 7 figures.
Now, do I get your attention?
This problem of living on borrowed money or debts affects so many millions of lives or perhaps billions world wide. In the latest blog I read about Philippines Credit Card debts, it runs more than 120Billions of Pesos. I am sure you who is reading this blog right now has some contributions to this enormous debt plaguing our society.
Mind you, this is not isolated to the poor sector of society. This engulfs even those in the higher income bracket of our country. My relatives abroad are not spared from this. I am sure you do hear the same stories from your relatives abroad.
Loans and Debts makes people do things that lead them to more problems. Some even resort to taking their own lives to escape the grip of debt... passing their problems to those they leave behind.
However, solution to this perennial issue just require a plan.
The first step is to STOP BORROWING. You need to define a firm start date of when you will put an end to borrowing. The best start date is NOW!
Second step is to list all the existing loans you have and line it up with the amounts and interest the loans has. For example:
1. Citibank 100K 3.5%/month
2. Housing Loan 600K 1%/month
3. Coop Loan 150K 0.75%/month
Then, define when you will pay off these loans prioritizing payments to the one which has the greatest interest.
You may even resort to transferring all your loans to the one that gives you the least interest payments.
Do not fall into the trap of loans re-structuring to lengthen payments as this means you are prolonging your loans and enabling the loaning institution to continue to charge you with more interest.
Plan to pay more than what the required minimum payment is.
Pay off whatever extra money you have from your emergency funds. Bonus and 13th month pay must be allocated for your debt payments.
When your cash in-flow increase, make sure you use it to plug into the high interest paying debts.
As you do this plan, make sure you keep yourself in the company of people with the same desire and discipline.
Following these simple steps, we were freed from the bondage of debts and are now debt free! I'm sure you can do the same.
For more detailed Debt Management Plans, you may consult with us in our office in Dasma or can send us emails.
Would appreciate your response to this blog.
God bless.
Will tackle the exciting world of INVESTING next blog....
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Planning for EMERGENCY FUNDS
Most people simply do not allocate funds for emergencies like having to repair a leak in the roof, or getting the car fixed and many other emergencies, like temporary loss of job or pay cuts which are very common these days.
There are so many emergencies that happen and the sad thing is that people fail to prepare and save for these emergencies.
In your financial planning, this EMERGENCY FUND build up must be a priority over debt repayments and investments.
Target date for this fund must be made earlier than the former. From the Cash Flow you generate each month, build up at least 3-6 months equivalent amount of expense for this fund. For example, your monthly expenses is about 15,000 Php, then you need to have at least 45-90K of emergency funds.
You have to make sure you put this fund as liquid and as easily accessible as possible. You may use your ATM Bank account for this purpose.
Do not invest this money on jewelries or anything you can pawn as most Filipino overseas workers do. This is a BIG mistake. I repeat, BIG mistake. If you do, you lose two times. First on the value of your money, and second on the interest the pawnshop will charge you.
If you are just newly weds and is planning to have a child, include in your EMERGENCY FUND build up the expenses you will incur in having your first baby. Normally , this is divulged by your OB.
If you fail to build this fund, you will always resort to borrowing and therefore wont be able to get out of DEBT.
That is our next blog.
God bless.
There are so many emergencies that happen and the sad thing is that people fail to prepare and save for these emergencies.
In your financial planning, this EMERGENCY FUND build up must be a priority over debt repayments and investments.
Target date for this fund must be made earlier than the former. From the Cash Flow you generate each month, build up at least 3-6 months equivalent amount of expense for this fund. For example, your monthly expenses is about 15,000 Php, then you need to have at least 45-90K of emergency funds.
You have to make sure you put this fund as liquid and as easily accessible as possible. You may use your ATM Bank account for this purpose.
Do not invest this money on jewelries or anything you can pawn as most Filipino overseas workers do. This is a BIG mistake. I repeat, BIG mistake. If you do, you lose two times. First on the value of your money, and second on the interest the pawnshop will charge you.
If you are just newly weds and is planning to have a child, include in your EMERGENCY FUND build up the expenses you will incur in having your first baby. Normally , this is divulged by your OB.
If you fail to build this fund, you will always resort to borrowing and therefore wont be able to get out of DEBT.
That is our next blog.
God bless.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Planning for PROTECTION
The foundation of any Financial Plan is PROTECTION for your family.
I am sure you have heard the phrase: "everyone dies and is not exempted from dying, we just don't know when". This is very true and yet, we do not take this seriously in our plans. We normally avoid this topic specially for us who are afraid of death.
But this is a reality we have to face. It's quite perplexing for us to say we love our family more than anything in this world, yet, we do not provide ample protection for them. We usually would make sure all our properties are properly insured but we often neglect to insure ourselves who are bread winners of the family
The insurance protection we get is akin to a spare tire of a car. We have it ,but it would be nice not to use it. But in case we need , it is there conveniently available to us.
Protection is a very minimal investment that can provide the same peace of mind , just like that of a spare tire.
So how exactly do we plan for it?
The methods used are:
D- ebt payment (amount of loans that you have)
I- ncome replacement ( 10X Annual Income)
M- ortgages (amount of mortgaged loans)
E- ducation (projected cost of education for children)
For those who have acquired much assets and are in their 50's, we recommend:
H- ealthcare (how much care you plan to have in your retirement)
I- ncome replacement
D- ebt pament
E- ducation
E- state Plan
Just plug in the amounts and get the total sum. Obtain the appropriate insurance coverage that will meet your needs.
If you have already some investments, you need to subtract this from the total sum and then find out the appropriate insurance plans.
The earlier you get this, the easier this will be on the budget as most insurance plans are dependent on age of the insured.
Our mistake is that we relied on the insurance package our previous employers provided. As you know, the company insurance protection is co-terminus with employment. If you are no longer employed by your company, you are no longer covered and yet it is at that stage where you have worked for some long years that you would really need such protection.
Another mistake you need to avoid is on Long Term Health Care. Like life insurance, health cards are provided by companies but they only last while you are employed. When you are young and able to render service, normally , your body is still strong and do not need much care. However, when you retire, that's where you would mostly need health care. Thus, prepare for it while you are young.
For expert advice we can provide this to you. Just contact me at: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
God bless.
Our next step is to plan for Emergency Funds.
I am sure you have heard the phrase: "everyone dies and is not exempted from dying, we just don't know when". This is very true and yet, we do not take this seriously in our plans. We normally avoid this topic specially for us who are afraid of death.
But this is a reality we have to face. It's quite perplexing for us to say we love our family more than anything in this world, yet, we do not provide ample protection for them. We usually would make sure all our properties are properly insured but we often neglect to insure ourselves who are bread winners of the family
The insurance protection we get is akin to a spare tire of a car. We have it ,but it would be nice not to use it. But in case we need , it is there conveniently available to us.
Protection is a very minimal investment that can provide the same peace of mind , just like that of a spare tire.
So how exactly do we plan for it?
The methods used are:
D- ebt payment (amount of loans that you have)
I- ncome replacement ( 10X Annual Income)
M- ortgages (amount of mortgaged loans)
E- ducation (projected cost of education for children)
For those who have acquired much assets and are in their 50's, we recommend:
H- ealthcare (how much care you plan to have in your retirement)
I- ncome replacement
D- ebt pament
E- ducation
E- state Plan
Just plug in the amounts and get the total sum. Obtain the appropriate insurance coverage that will meet your needs.
If you have already some investments, you need to subtract this from the total sum and then find out the appropriate insurance plans.
The earlier you get this, the easier this will be on the budget as most insurance plans are dependent on age of the insured.
Our mistake is that we relied on the insurance package our previous employers provided. As you know, the company insurance protection is co-terminus with employment. If you are no longer employed by your company, you are no longer covered and yet it is at that stage where you have worked for some long years that you would really need such protection.
Another mistake you need to avoid is on Long Term Health Care. Like life insurance, health cards are provided by companies but they only last while you are employed. When you are young and able to render service, normally , your body is still strong and do not need much care. However, when you retire, that's where you would mostly need health care. Thus, prepare for it while you are young.
For expert advice we can provide this to you. Just contact me at: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
God bless.
Our next step is to plan for Emergency Funds.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Let's do the PLAN- Increase Cash Flow
Goals are set earlier and if we do not do any planning how to get it, we wont! Or, we get there with extreme difficulty and hassles.
It's just like planning a trip to Baguio, and you just went without any plan.
How do you start?
With the Goals set, you will define the specific actions you have to take to achieve them. Let me tackle how to come up with plans for each specific goals you have set.
First goal to plan for is How to Increase Cash Flow. Cash Flow put is simply the difference between Income and Expense. So your Monthly Cash Flow is the amount of money you end up with each month after you have deducted all your expenses from your income.
Thus, there are two ways of increasing Cash Flow. We either reduce our expenses or we increase our income.
Let's focus on the Expenses first. This is easy to do as long as you would be willing to adopt a disciplined approach to your spending. This is also where you need to involve the entire family. From the list of expenses you incur daily, weekly and monthly, check what is your biggest expense and determine why you are spending that much and how much you can save
In our own Cash Flow checking, we see that our biggest cost item is our groceries, followed by utilities which includes (water, electricity, and Fuel for car).
For the electricity, we made sure that we turn off lights and appliances that are not in use. So, there you are, the plan is to trun off the lights and electrical appliaances not in use. Action to be taken - IMMEDIATELY. We also bought an electric power saver. So, plan number two was buy an electric saver . This reduced our electric bills by about 5-10%. Monthly bills that amounted to about 5000 pesos now range to about 4500 or 500 pesos monthly savings.
Our water consumption was way out versus standard consumption. We pay about 2500 Php per month. I analyzed the problem and found that there was a huge leak in our waterline. I had to re-pipe our lines and cost me about 10000 Php to do it but saved me 1800 Php which will return my 10000 in less than a year and would eventually increase my monthly in-flow of cash rather than continue to leak out my money to the drain literally.
Groceries was a little bit difficult to approach specially if you have children who are used to simply put anything and everything in your grocery cart each time you go shopping. When we started to reduce grocery expense, it put some stress within me as I want to be a good provider for my family, but at the same time, I want to get our finances fixed. This is where the discipline comes to the forefront.
For your own expense reduction plan, use the Cash FLow Worksheet and see what your biggest expense itmes and from there define your own action. Each one of us have unique needs and therefore will have varying itmes for reduction. But, the same principle applies, you jus need o find out the appro[priate actions which would have to involve your family as well.
The next plan you need to define is how to increase your income. For some of us, our income streams are primarily from our jobs. We work and get paid every end of each week or every 15th day or every 30th day of each month.
Working to get paid is the easiest way of assured income but not necessarily the surest way to riches. To increase income, you need to have two make full use of two improtant resources: Time and Money.
Time is also spent. If you spend it wisely, it give you return. If you waste it, you even end up wasting money in the process. Thus, for us to increase our income, we have to use wisely to the max our time. How do we use our time wisely?
1. Use your time to increase your knowledge. Knowledge is power.
2. Use your time to create your own business and earn passive income .
To increase our knowledge, we need to read books, search the internet, or attend seminars that will give us financial literacy. Obtain the much needed information you need to be able to save and invest properly. You'll be surprised, there are internet sites and seminars that are free.
For our case, we attended seminars and read books of Bro Bo Sanchez. We also read through internet blogs , and many readings. We also attend continuing education from our company IMG.
As we learn, we also earn. In our company, we are able to provide free seminars to people who want to change their financial life. In the process of learning, we also give opportunity to build their own business.
So that is our first part of planning.
Next will be how to plan for Protection.
God bless!
It's just like planning a trip to Baguio, and you just went without any plan.
How do you start?
With the Goals set, you will define the specific actions you have to take to achieve them. Let me tackle how to come up with plans for each specific goals you have set.
First goal to plan for is How to Increase Cash Flow. Cash Flow put is simply the difference between Income and Expense. So your Monthly Cash Flow is the amount of money you end up with each month after you have deducted all your expenses from your income.
Thus, there are two ways of increasing Cash Flow. We either reduce our expenses or we increase our income.
Let's focus on the Expenses first. This is easy to do as long as you would be willing to adopt a disciplined approach to your spending. This is also where you need to involve the entire family. From the list of expenses you incur daily, weekly and monthly, check what is your biggest expense and determine why you are spending that much and how much you can save
In our own Cash Flow checking, we see that our biggest cost item is our groceries, followed by utilities which includes (water, electricity, and Fuel for car).
For the electricity, we made sure that we turn off lights and appliances that are not in use. So, there you are, the plan is to trun off the lights and electrical appliaances not in use. Action to be taken - IMMEDIATELY. We also bought an electric power saver. So, plan number two was buy an electric saver . This reduced our electric bills by about 5-10%. Monthly bills that amounted to about 5000 pesos now range to about 4500 or 500 pesos monthly savings.
Our water consumption was way out versus standard consumption. We pay about 2500 Php per month. I analyzed the problem and found that there was a huge leak in our waterline. I had to re-pipe our lines and cost me about 10000 Php to do it but saved me 1800 Php which will return my 10000 in less than a year and would eventually increase my monthly in-flow of cash rather than continue to leak out my money to the drain literally.
Groceries was a little bit difficult to approach specially if you have children who are used to simply put anything and everything in your grocery cart each time you go shopping. When we started to reduce grocery expense, it put some stress within me as I want to be a good provider for my family, but at the same time, I want to get our finances fixed. This is where the discipline comes to the forefront.
For your own expense reduction plan, use the Cash FLow Worksheet and see what your biggest expense itmes and from there define your own action. Each one of us have unique needs and therefore will have varying itmes for reduction. But, the same principle applies, you jus need o find out the appro[priate actions which would have to involve your family as well.
The next plan you need to define is how to increase your income. For some of us, our income streams are primarily from our jobs. We work and get paid every end of each week or every 15th day or every 30th day of each month.
Working to get paid is the easiest way of assured income but not necessarily the surest way to riches. To increase income, you need to have two make full use of two improtant resources: Time and Money.
Time is also spent. If you spend it wisely, it give you return. If you waste it, you even end up wasting money in the process. Thus, for us to increase our income, we have to use wisely to the max our time. How do we use our time wisely?
1. Use your time to increase your knowledge. Knowledge is power.
2. Use your time to create your own business and earn passive income .
To increase our knowledge, we need to read books, search the internet, or attend seminars that will give us financial literacy. Obtain the much needed information you need to be able to save and invest properly. You'll be surprised, there are internet sites and seminars that are free.
For our case, we attended seminars and read books of Bro Bo Sanchez. We also read through internet blogs , and many readings. We also attend continuing education from our company IMG.
As we learn, we also earn. In our company, we are able to provide free seminars to people who want to change their financial life. In the process of learning, we also give opportunity to build their own business.
So that is our first part of planning.
Next will be how to plan for Protection.
God bless!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Planning and Goal Setting
Goals as applied to financial planning must be Specific as to How Much money you want to accumulate, by When, and for What Purpose.
Thus, this will vary in terms of timing and purpose.
It will also have to be anchored on your current Cash Flow situation.
If you have a hefty cash flow, then you can proceed with the goal setting.
However, if your cash flow is negative and wont be able to support your goals, this must be the first thing you need to address or solve. You first need to define your goal for having positive cash flow.
Your timing for your goals must include the Short Term ( about 1- 2 years) , Medium Term (about 3-5 years), and Long Term which is about 6-10 years).
Set your goal on how much you need to save for Emergency Funds. These are funds used for emergencies such as minor repair of your car, your house, or for medical emergencies.
We set aside at least 50K for this purpose.
You may use the 3-6 months of your monthly expense as guide. So, if your currently zero on this, you need o have a plan when can you fill this up. This must be part of your short term goal.
If you are heavily indebted as most people are, you need to set a goal when you will be debt free. List all your debts, and include the detail of much interest you pay for each.
Prioritize the debt with the highest interest.
For us, this was our biggest money issue. We have so much credit card debts, and so many loans to pay up. We lined up all these payables, and set target for each item prioritizing the ones which has the highest interest.
If you are employed, normally, the company provides short term health care and Life Insurance Protection. However, most if not all companies, do not provide long term health care and that the coverage of your health care and insurance protection is co-terminus with employment. This means that when you resign or they yank you out of the company, you lose the benefit. Thus, it is of extreme importance that, you set a goal for this very basic need: Health Care (Short and Long) and Insurance Protection.
We recommend you seek professional help in determining your needed Insurance Protection coverage.
Normally, we calculate Insurance Protection by what we call DIME Method. By DIME we mean
D- ebt Payments ( swum total of what you have as credits)
I- ncome Replacement (10 X Annual Income)
M- ortgages ( sum total of all mortgage loans)
E- ducation (Projected Cost of Education of your children)
If you are in your senior years, you need to also seriously consider your Estate Planning.
This by itself is a long and extensive topic to cover. This certainly will need professional help.
Once you have calculated your insurance protection needs, you subtract this by the amount of investments you already have. For example
You also need to set a goal of how much funds you want to accumulate for your retirement. The recommended amount is about 10X your Annual Income. So if you are earning 1M each year, your target is 10M Php. Consider when you will retire and calculate how many more years you have. Then project how much you will be able to accumulate on your target date or year in your goal set.
In summary, Goals must be be set for the following:
1. Health Care
2. Insurance Protection
3. Emergency Fund Build Up
4. Debt Elimination
5. Investing for the Future (Retirement)
The above order needs to be seriously considered. Most common mistake is to prioritize investments over the first four resulting to disastrous consequences .
Suppose you have 1M investments, but you have Credits amounting to about the same, and you do not have insurance protection. What do you suppose will happen to your family?
Do not commit the mistake of ignoring your health care and insurance protection simply because you are covered by your company. The earlier you get your own personal account on these two, the better for you.
In our company; IMG, we have a 3 in one solution to your health care, insurance protection and investment needs. If you are interested to know more about this, just send me an email.
After setting up your goals, you are now ready to set up your plans to achieve these goals.
See you later on the next blog about planning to achieve your goals...
God bless.
Thus, this will vary in terms of timing and purpose.
It will also have to be anchored on your current Cash Flow situation.
If you have a hefty cash flow, then you can proceed with the goal setting.
However, if your cash flow is negative and wont be able to support your goals, this must be the first thing you need to address or solve. You first need to define your goal for having positive cash flow.
Your timing for your goals must include the Short Term ( about 1- 2 years) , Medium Term (about 3-5 years), and Long Term which is about 6-10 years).
Set your goal on how much you need to save for Emergency Funds. These are funds used for emergencies such as minor repair of your car, your house, or for medical emergencies.
We set aside at least 50K for this purpose.
You may use the 3-6 months of your monthly expense as guide. So, if your currently zero on this, you need o have a plan when can you fill this up. This must be part of your short term goal.
If you are heavily indebted as most people are, you need to set a goal when you will be debt free. List all your debts, and include the detail of much interest you pay for each.
Prioritize the debt with the highest interest.
For us, this was our biggest money issue. We have so much credit card debts, and so many loans to pay up. We lined up all these payables, and set target for each item prioritizing the ones which has the highest interest.
If you are employed, normally, the company provides short term health care and Life Insurance Protection. However, most if not all companies, do not provide long term health care and that the coverage of your health care and insurance protection is co-terminus with employment. This means that when you resign or they yank you out of the company, you lose the benefit. Thus, it is of extreme importance that, you set a goal for this very basic need: Health Care (Short and Long) and Insurance Protection.
We recommend you seek professional help in determining your needed Insurance Protection coverage.
Normally, we calculate Insurance Protection by what we call DIME Method. By DIME we mean
D- ebt Payments ( swum total of what you have as credits)
I- ncome Replacement (10 X Annual Income)
M- ortgages ( sum total of all mortgage loans)
E- ducation (Projected Cost of Education of your children)
If you are in your senior years, you need to also seriously consider your Estate Planning.
This by itself is a long and extensive topic to cover. This certainly will need professional help.
Once you have calculated your insurance protection needs, you subtract this by the amount of investments you already have. For example
You also need to set a goal of how much funds you want to accumulate for your retirement. The recommended amount is about 10X your Annual Income. So if you are earning 1M each year, your target is 10M Php. Consider when you will retire and calculate how many more years you have. Then project how much you will be able to accumulate on your target date or year in your goal set.
In summary, Goals must be be set for the following:
1. Health Care
2. Insurance Protection
3. Emergency Fund Build Up
4. Debt Elimination
5. Investing for the Future (Retirement)
The above order needs to be seriously considered. Most common mistake is to prioritize investments over the first four resulting to disastrous consequences .
Suppose you have 1M investments, but you have Credits amounting to about the same, and you do not have insurance protection. What do you suppose will happen to your family?
Do not commit the mistake of ignoring your health care and insurance protection simply because you are covered by your company. The earlier you get your own personal account on these two, the better for you.
In our company; IMG, we have a 3 in one solution to your health care, insurance protection and investment needs. If you are interested to know more about this, just send me an email.
After setting up your goals, you are now ready to set up your plans to achieve these goals.
See you later on the next blog about planning to achieve your goals...
God bless.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Another important considerations before we create Goals and Plan
Dear family and Friends, I hope the 10 common money mistakes open our financial eyes a little bit to make us really see clearly our goals.
I would like to add a few more considerations before we embark on our goal setting and planning.
Let me share with you some of what I personally consider as the five (5) most important considerations in setting your goals:
1. Put God first and everything shall follow:
My motivation to be be wealthy is to be able to give back more for God. "Magis Deo". This is also the name of the Marriage Encounter Community my wife Fely and I belong.
All the things we can amass will mean nothing if our motivation is for selfish gain.
So your goals must include donating or helping out your favorite charity.
For us, we have listed up Magis Deo Community, Anawin of Bro Bo, Brotherhood Of Christian Businessmen and Professionals.
We give portions of our tithes for each of these communities regularly.
This is our way of loving God with all our heart, mind and soul.
This is our way of giving t God our Talents, Time, and Treasure.
God knows what we need, what we have and we will have even before we were born. If we put Him first in our plans and goals, He will surely bless it.
2. Love your Neighbor as yourself:
Your goals must include as well your neighbors. Who are your neighbors? The closest one you have is your own family, Your relatives, and your friends.
As for me and my house, we include in our goals setting aside funds for the college education of relatives and even unknown needy students.
God in His generosity cannot be outdone. The more we give, the more we will receive. Thus, if we set goals, we must not set only goals for our own selves and our family.
You may ask, "what? I have not enough money to spend for myself and my family, I still have to consider others?"
That's precisely why you have to set this goal so you can achieve it.
3. Erase all Negative Money Mind Sets:
To be wealthy is good, and God in all His goodness, do want all His children to be prosperous.
So much had been said about the wrong interpretation of Bible verses regarding the camel and the rich man as we all as that of being blessed if you are poor.
How can we give offering back to God (item 1) and be of help to our neighbors (item 2) if we ourselves are needing help?
Bro Bo calls this as "romanticizing poverty". It's a lame excuse for not using our God given gifts to the fullest.
Therefore, before we even create our goals and plans, we must ensure all the negative money mind set are already out of our system.
4. Get a Coach:
You maybe able to create your plans and goals by yourself, but it certainly will be much easier and , be more realistic and faster if somebody who cares for you can coach you to success.
Charise, the young talented singer managed by Oprah is coached by her mom. Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao , is coached by Freddie Roach.
So if you want to set up achievable goals, get help from experts.
This will enable you to consider all aspects of planning from emergency preparation to long term planning.
You can get our services for free if you want to. Just contact us for appointments.
5. Involve the whole family:
Husband and wife together with their kids must jointly plan for their financial future. If your kids are to young to be involved, then they are exempted. But, never should a wife or a husband do the plan individually. It must be a conjugal planning set-up and agreed by both parties.
You can involve kids at least 7 years of age , but of course, you need to adjust your terminologies to what they can understand.
My youngest kid when we embark on our planning was 10 years of age. A little late than my recommendation as we only got into this planning when she was that age.
So there you are, the considerations we must have before we embark on our goal settings.
Now that you gone through it, you are ready to start your goal setting and planning.
Will proceed with the detail of goal setting on our next blog..
God bless.
I would like to add a few more considerations before we embark on our goal setting and planning.
Let me share with you some of what I personally consider as the five (5) most important considerations in setting your goals:
1. Put God first and everything shall follow:
My motivation to be be wealthy is to be able to give back more for God. "Magis Deo". This is also the name of the Marriage Encounter Community my wife Fely and I belong.
All the things we can amass will mean nothing if our motivation is for selfish gain.
So your goals must include donating or helping out your favorite charity.
For us, we have listed up Magis Deo Community, Anawin of Bro Bo, Brotherhood Of Christian Businessmen and Professionals.
We give portions of our tithes for each of these communities regularly.
This is our way of loving God with all our heart, mind and soul.
This is our way of giving t God our Talents, Time, and Treasure.
God knows what we need, what we have and we will have even before we were born. If we put Him first in our plans and goals, He will surely bless it.
2. Love your Neighbor as yourself:
Your goals must include as well your neighbors. Who are your neighbors? The closest one you have is your own family, Your relatives, and your friends.
As for me and my house, we include in our goals setting aside funds for the college education of relatives and even unknown needy students.
God in His generosity cannot be outdone. The more we give, the more we will receive. Thus, if we set goals, we must not set only goals for our own selves and our family.
You may ask, "what? I have not enough money to spend for myself and my family, I still have to consider others?"
That's precisely why you have to set this goal so you can achieve it.
3. Erase all Negative Money Mind Sets:
To be wealthy is good, and God in all His goodness, do want all His children to be prosperous.
So much had been said about the wrong interpretation of Bible verses regarding the camel and the rich man as we all as that of being blessed if you are poor.
How can we give offering back to God (item 1) and be of help to our neighbors (item 2) if we ourselves are needing help?
Bro Bo calls this as "romanticizing poverty". It's a lame excuse for not using our God given gifts to the fullest.
Therefore, before we even create our goals and plans, we must ensure all the negative money mind set are already out of our system.
4. Get a Coach:
You maybe able to create your plans and goals by yourself, but it certainly will be much easier and , be more realistic and faster if somebody who cares for you can coach you to success.
Charise, the young talented singer managed by Oprah is coached by her mom. Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao , is coached by Freddie Roach.
So if you want to set up achievable goals, get help from experts.
This will enable you to consider all aspects of planning from emergency preparation to long term planning.
You can get our services for free if you want to. Just contact us for appointments.
5. Involve the whole family:
Husband and wife together with their kids must jointly plan for their financial future. If your kids are to young to be involved, then they are exempted. But, never should a wife or a husband do the plan individually. It must be a conjugal planning set-up and agreed by both parties.
You can involve kids at least 7 years of age , but of course, you need to adjust your terminologies to what they can understand.
My youngest kid when we embark on our planning was 10 years of age. A little late than my recommendation as we only got into this planning when she was that age.
So there you are, the considerations we must have before we embark on our goal settings.
Now that you gone through it, you are ready to start your goal setting and planning.
Will proceed with the detail of goal setting on our next blog..
God bless.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Create a Plan
Determining your Cash Flow and Net Worth should be accurately done.
It must also be done as a family. Everyone must be involved. This will make the goal setting and planning much easier as you can have also have the entire family participate.
Goals as far as finances are concerned are simply a list of how much by when and for what purpose. For example, you want to save 400,000Php for a Holy Land Tour for you and your wife 5 years from now. Or , you want to build investment of 6,000,000 Php for your early retirement in 10 years.
Financial Planning is very much the same as planning a trip. You need to know where you are starting, and you have to define where your destination is, and what means of transport are you going to use.
Before going into the goal setting, let me share with you first an article from INQUIRER.net:
God bless.
It must also be done as a family. Everyone must be involved. This will make the goal setting and planning much easier as you can have also have the entire family participate.
Goals as far as finances are concerned are simply a list of how much by when and for what purpose. For example, you want to save 400,000Php for a Holy Land Tour for you and your wife 5 years from now. Or , you want to build investment of 6,000,000 Php for your early retirement in 10 years.
Financial Planning is very much the same as planning a trip. You need to know where you are starting, and you have to define where your destination is, and what means of transport are you going to use.
Before going into the goal setting, let me share with you first an article from INQUIRER.net:
"10 most common money mistakes
By Ma. Salve Duplito
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 01:10:00 12/01/2008
Filed Under: Personal Finance
WHAT money mistakes can turn P20,000 to waste in a year?
While mistakes are normal (even so-called experts make them), it won't hurt to know which ones you are committing and how to learn from them.
Putting your act together financially may prove especially useful when times are tough and rocky because even little mistakes that happen again and again can set you back thousands of pesos in a year.
Here are 10 money mistakes most of us make:
Mistake #1: Living beyond your means
Filipinos are consumed with "wanting to live a better life."
Are you trying to live "that kind of life" with income that cannot sustain that lifestyle and ending up spending more than your monthly paycheck? Yes, you can fund that lifestyle with debt. Don't. Spending more than you earn is the surest way to keep that "better life" further away from reach.
Ralph Liew, chairman of the International Association of Regional Financial Consultants (IARFC) for the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and India, points out that the millionaires next door are the ones who save so much more than they spend.
"They are the ones who are saving a lot of money," he says.
The fix: Put off expenses if the income for the month will put you in debt or cause you not to save money for that period. Thinking twice about small things like the cost of lunch, a frapuccino or dinner at a restaurant will instill discipline and the habit of living within your means, which is most valuable in fixing money mistakes.
Mistake #2: Not saving enough
You've heard of the expression "It's not what you make that matters, it's what you keep." Saving monthly is the fundamental habit that makes any person-- whether a Jollibee crew or a professional working in a posh office in Makati--wealthy. Starting your first job and earning minimum wage may not make it easy for you to save regularly, but P50 savings per week in a simple jar near your bed is not a bad start.
As you mature, it will be easier to set aside a bigger chunk of money because you've been used to the habit.
"I save half of my salary automatically and try not to think about it," says Anna, a professional working in Ortigas.
The fix: Find a way to automate your savings to make it easier for you to save. There are some banks that provide this service. Make it a goal to save monthly, even if it's just a small part of your income--say 10 percent. Then increase this regularly when finances allow you to squirrel away more of your income.
Mistake #3: Being materialistic
It is common to see families in the provinces living simply with chickens running around in the yard, pigs being raised in the backyard, malunggay and other vegetables growing near the home. IARFC's Liew says when he saw Filipinos living this way, he realized that living simply and not measuring your worth by looking at what you have and what you can buy makes a person's life more meaningful.
"Don't try to keep up with the Joneses and don't just keep looking at the material part of life. Be frugal; don't overspend. Some of the people I see in the provinces live simply and they are okay," says Liew.
The fix: Keep your attention focused on the things that matter most: health, family, friends, and community. While money may make your children happy because of the things that it buys, there are other things that will make them equally happy, like loving attention, quality time and playing together, among others. Sometimes, the returns from non-monetary gifts are even higher.
Mistake #4: Giving in to greed
Billions of pesos every year are sucked into get-rich-quick schemes and scams that easily separates a Filipino from his hard-earned money. Liew says the reason for this is greed. Running after very high returns is a sure way of getting scammed.
The fix: Don't be wowed by quick wealth. Lightning may strike for some people, but the more stable and sure way to wealth is a slow accumulation of savings and investments. How about that hot stock tip or "new investment strategy" earning four percent in a day that made someone a millionaire? Just walk away from it. They will never tell you just how quickly they lost their money.
Mistake #5: Not knowing what you want
"People don't know what they want and then they end up wanting everything they see," says Liew. One of the building blocks of wealth is to know yourself and your limitations as well as your strengths. Husbands, wives and children should take time to talk about financial goals (i.e. our own home in three years, our own car in two years, studies in the United States for Junior in 10 years, etc.).
The fix: New Year or this coming Christmas holiday is a good time to create a financial road map for yourself or your family. Talk about what you want and how you intend to get there. Think about how long you want to attain your goals. Make a pact to revisit your goals every year to see how you are doing.
Mistake #6: Failing to pay off debts
The Philippines owes P122 billion in credit card debt, P14.2 billion of which have already fallen overdue as of June. Unfortunately, that's only a small part of consumer debt, as loan sharks still abound. Debt is like a Damocles sword that hangs over your head and makes you afraid to wake up in the morning.
Interest from debt never sleeps; it doesn't take days off or holidays. They are worms that eat voraciously at your financial dreams.
The fix: If you are thinking of borrowing money with no plan on how to repay it, don't.
If you have debt or several debts that need to be paid, create a plan now.
Start paying the ones with the highest interest while paying off the others with as much money as you can spare.
Then work on through that list until you have paid everything.
Mistake #7: Getting killed by advertisements
Glossy magazine inserts come in through the mail at a frenzied pace when the holiday season draws near. There are flat-screen LCD televisions to buy and new mobile phone models. Resist them if you don't need them or can't afford them yet.
The fix: If you are vulnerable to advertisements, make the remote your best friend and speed up your channel surfing. Don't even start flipping that glossy magazine insert. Avoiding advertisements or keeping yourself disciplined enough to enjoy them from a distance should help you keep your finances secure this holiday season.
Mistake #8: Not having a plan
"One of our most common mistakes is not having a financial plan, not following up on the plan and not implementing the plan," says Liew. He notes that many people have New Year's resolutions- -for example, to quit smoking--but find themselves still doing so when the next New Year's eve arrives.
The fix: Give yourself the gift of your very own financial plan this Christmas season. You can talk to a financial planner to help you out or do it yourself.
There are many resources on the Internet to help you create a plan that will save you from money mistakes and point you to the right direction when it comes to understanding your money personality, how to save and invest, how to prepare to retire wealthy and prepare to be pampered in your golden years.
One of these is MoneySmarts, the personal finance blog of the INQUIRER.net.
Mistake #9: Not having financial education
People think financial education is only for those working in banks, mutual funds or in the financial services industry.
Granted, mathematics or statistics are not easy subjects for all, but knowing financial principles is useful to everyone.
Liew says that even children should have subjects on financial management.
The fix: Don't be shy. Ask among your friends if they know something about taking care of finances. Invest in books and take classes. Personal finance is a growing topic in local media.
Mistake #10: Procrastinating
Time doesn't stand still, not even for the Pope.
The best time to start making money moves that will save you from a life of want and need is now, not tomorrow or next week.
The best time to start a budget is now. The best time to save for retirement is now.
The fix: Stop reading and start doing."
It's very practical and good guide to reflect on before we drill down into our goals.
God bless.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Back to Step 1 for Details
Hi there. Now, let's go back to the very first step to define details of how we will go through it.
I will make it so simple that you can do it with ease.
However, to really expedite and speed up your journey towards being truly rich, I encourage you to attend the seminar of Bro Bo Sanchez on " Truly Rich Financial Coaching". You may want to also attend our on going-free seminars at Dasmarinas Cavite and in Makati. Email me at : richbenj.santiago@gmail.com for further details.
Now, back to the first step.
To take the first step, there must be a motivation , dreams and aspirations, or a driving force why we want to be rich, that is "truly rich".
For our family, our primary motivation why we want to be rich is for us to be able to help more people. We want to have more in life so we can give more to God.
That's for me and my family. Now, you have to define that first before we make our first step.
So, what's your motivation to be rich? Do not be like the fool who amassed wealth just for his selfish gains.
We should also be open to the abundant blessings that the Lord will pour down on us. There is so much wealth in the universe.
Now, you are ready to take the very first step. Step 1: assess your current situation.
We need to look first at your Cash Flow. By Cash Flow , we mean what are your sources of income , or "In-flow" of Cash, and your expenses , "Out-flow" of cash.
List down all the details of how much you spend on Food, Shelter, Clothing, Education, Health-care, and Lifestyles.
You have to drill down to the daily details to weekly to monthly and yearly. Use an Excel Worksheet for ease, or use notebook and pen to exactly know the details.
Next, do the same detailed listing of your income. You may have income from business, or your job, or investments, etc.
Based on the list of of the Cash In-flow and the Cash Out-flow, determine if you have anything left for your savings, investments and protection.
For sure, there are just three possibilities. One is that your Income is less than your Expense that you have no savings but instead credits or "utang". It will be a little less of a problem if your net balance is zero, but the best is that you are living below your means. That means that your Expenses is less than your Income.
Ideally, 10% must be offered back to the Lord , and 20% to your savings and investments and the remaining 70% will be the amount allocated for all our expenses. For our family, this is our basic guide and we hope to increase the amount of tithes we can offer back to God.
Now, I encourage you to proceed in creating your "Cash Flow" worksheet.
If you need the form from me, just give me an email at this address: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
Next thing we need to assess closely is your "Net Worth". This is very important to know to establish how far are you from your wealth building target.
I know you are excited about this, but let me allow you first to focus on your frist work sheet.
Talk to you again later...
God bless....
I will make it so simple that you can do it with ease.
However, to really expedite and speed up your journey towards being truly rich, I encourage you to attend the seminar of Bro Bo Sanchez on " Truly Rich Financial Coaching". You may want to also attend our on going-free seminars at Dasmarinas Cavite and in Makati. Email me at : richbenj.santiago@gmail.com for further details.
Now, back to the first step.
To take the first step, there must be a motivation , dreams and aspirations, or a driving force why we want to be rich, that is "truly rich".
For our family, our primary motivation why we want to be rich is for us to be able to help more people. We want to have more in life so we can give more to God.
That's for me and my family. Now, you have to define that first before we make our first step.
So, what's your motivation to be rich? Do not be like the fool who amassed wealth just for his selfish gains.
We should also be open to the abundant blessings that the Lord will pour down on us. There is so much wealth in the universe.
Now, you are ready to take the very first step. Step 1: assess your current situation.
We need to look first at your Cash Flow. By Cash Flow , we mean what are your sources of income , or "In-flow" of Cash, and your expenses , "Out-flow" of cash.
List down all the details of how much you spend on Food, Shelter, Clothing, Education, Health-care, and Lifestyles.
You have to drill down to the daily details to weekly to monthly and yearly. Use an Excel Worksheet for ease, or use notebook and pen to exactly know the details.
Next, do the same detailed listing of your income. You may have income from business, or your job, or investments, etc.
Based on the list of of the Cash In-flow and the Cash Out-flow, determine if you have anything left for your savings, investments and protection.
For sure, there are just three possibilities. One is that your Income is less than your Expense that you have no savings but instead credits or "utang". It will be a little less of a problem if your net balance is zero, but the best is that you are living below your means. That means that your Expenses is less than your Income.
Ideally, 10% must be offered back to the Lord , and 20% to your savings and investments and the remaining 70% will be the amount allocated for all our expenses. For our family, this is our basic guide and we hope to increase the amount of tithes we can offer back to God.
Now, I encourage you to proceed in creating your "Cash Flow" worksheet.
If you need the form from me, just give me an email at this address: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
Next thing we need to assess closely is your "Net Worth". This is very important to know to establish how far are you from your wealth building target.
I know you are excited about this, but let me allow you first to focus on your frist work sheet.
Talk to you again later...
God bless....
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Act on it ...continued
Hi there, I hope you enjoy and learn at the same time is acting on it to be Truly Rich....
To ensure success in your journey of actually executing your plans, you need to ensure you have a "coach".
A coach will speed up your journey as he or she can show the right path and enable you to avoid mistakes in your actions. Much like a Roach to Pacquiao... got it?
Another thing is that as you execute your plan, remember that end point is not mere execution of the plan but the end results you aim for.
We can be your coach for free. Just get us connected and will be more than happy to help you out. That's our mission. By we, I mean me and my beautiful wife who completed her "RFP" Training. Email us at : richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
Your action plans must focus on reducing your expenses and increasing your income.
Reducing expense entails a lot of discipline and family involvement. Moreover, both the husband and the wife must have the same money mind sets and directions.
Increasing income on the other hand entails maximizing potentials of both your time and your cash.
I will give you more details on this later.
Today, let me tackle another step. step 5: reviewing and updating your end results and action plans.
End results pertains o your Goals that you have set along side with your "Cash Flow" and "Net Worth" which we discussed earlier.
If your actions does not bring you to the end results you have aimed for at the pace you desired, there is something you need to revise. My advice is not to change your goals as this is the easier part, but to put more aggressiveness in your actions.
As you would note, you have to review the end results first before you review your actions. Why? Because the end results will tell you if you are doing it fast enough and you are in the right direction. You will be surprised, some of your actions may actually be taking you farhter away from your goals.
One key factor you have to consider is in building up your wealth through your action plans, are you really accumulating assets or your building up your liabilities.
Robert Kiosaki in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" defines this "asset and liability" clearly. Asset for Robert is something you acquire that puts money into your pocket. While liabilities is the reverse.
I just want to add a little on this definition. Assets are not necessarily things or objects. This can be intangible assets like Financial Education, Advanced Studies, Skills Training, etc. which adds up to your value as a person.
This completes your steps... but not really the end of it. You will reckon with each steps like what seems to be a spiral staircase. You need to repeat the cycle over and over till you are satisfied with your results.
Now, that you have gone through these 5 steps. Our next discussion will be more details of each steps so that indeed you can achieve your own set goals....
See you again tomorrow.
God bless.
To ensure success in your journey of actually executing your plans, you need to ensure you have a "coach".
A coach will speed up your journey as he or she can show the right path and enable you to avoid mistakes in your actions. Much like a Roach to Pacquiao... got it?
Another thing is that as you execute your plan, remember that end point is not mere execution of the plan but the end results you aim for.
We can be your coach for free. Just get us connected and will be more than happy to help you out. That's our mission. By we, I mean me and my beautiful wife who completed her "RFP" Training. Email us at : richbenj.santiago@gmail.com
Your action plans must focus on reducing your expenses and increasing your income.
Reducing expense entails a lot of discipline and family involvement. Moreover, both the husband and the wife must have the same money mind sets and directions.
Increasing income on the other hand entails maximizing potentials of both your time and your cash.
I will give you more details on this later.
Today, let me tackle another step. step 5: reviewing and updating your end results and action plans.
End results pertains o your Goals that you have set along side with your "Cash Flow" and "Net Worth" which we discussed earlier.
If your actions does not bring you to the end results you have aimed for at the pace you desired, there is something you need to revise. My advice is not to change your goals as this is the easier part, but to put more aggressiveness in your actions.
As you would note, you have to review the end results first before you review your actions. Why? Because the end results will tell you if you are doing it fast enough and you are in the right direction. You will be surprised, some of your actions may actually be taking you farhter away from your goals.
One key factor you have to consider is in building up your wealth through your action plans, are you really accumulating assets or your building up your liabilities.
Robert Kiosaki in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" defines this "asset and liability" clearly. Asset for Robert is something you acquire that puts money into your pocket. While liabilities is the reverse.
I just want to add a little on this definition. Assets are not necessarily things or objects. This can be intangible assets like Financial Education, Advanced Studies, Skills Training, etc. which adds up to your value as a person.
This completes your steps... but not really the end of it. You will reckon with each steps like what seems to be a spiral staircase. You need to repeat the cycle over and over till you are satisfied with your results.
Now, that you have gone through these 5 steps. Our next discussion will be more details of each steps so that indeed you can achieve your own set goals....
See you again tomorrow.
God bless.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Simple Steps to Riches (8/9/2009)
Day 1
Dear Friends,
I'm sure you have read many articles, books, and other reading materials on this topic.
But, what I'd like to offer to you are simple steps which you can easily follow.
These are synthesized from the readings I had including that of the Holy Bible.
For details, we have a Seminar offered for FREE every Monday and Thursday 5PM at our Dasmarinas , Cavite Office.
As early as now, I also encourage you to log in to Preacher in Blue Jeans, and the Truly Rich Club of Bro Bo Sanchez.
Now, back to the simple steps...
The very first step is to assess your current situation.
Each of us are of different stage in our financial life, thus , the next steps will depend on where we are at this point in time.
For example, you are just a student and is looking forward to an employment or embarking on your own business in about a year or two, you will have to take steps much much different from those who are already employed or running their business. More so, a person who is at their 4th Quarter so to speak will have to take a much entirely different step or steps than the previous.
Okay, I will be going to more specifics as we go on to this blog...
Keep on reading each day for a daily dose of this SIMPLE STEPS...
God bless....
Day 2
Hi there again, dear friends. Let's continue with our SIMPLE STEPS...
The basic tool to use in assessing your financial situation are available upon request from us.
This is actually an excel worksheet that will detail your Cash Flow with your Income Streams and Expense Details. It will also contain your Net Worth Calculations detailing your Total Assets and Total Liabilities.
This is one of the most powerful concepts we teach for free in our seminar
We cannot fix something we do not know, right? So that is why, it is with great accuracy and care that we must do the very first step we have defined.
This very first step is the most painful step for some. It is also the most fearsome. That's why, most people stop from here. But, I encourage you to be bold and courageous, and also diligent in this first step.
Also, the very first step must be repeated over and over to make sure you are able to plug in , other factors , major expenses, or surprise income streams, that you may not have considered in your first assessment.
I will detail this some more in the succeeding blogs.
Now after doing the assessment , the next step is to set your goals.
Goal setting like anything we do for our company or for any school activity deals with WHAT we want to ACHIEVE and WHEN. In the field of finances, it simply is HOW MUCH and WHEN and for WHAT PURPOSE. Example of this will be to have 3 Million pesos when I reach 45 to buy my own house and lot.
HOW MUCH- 3M, WHEN- at age 45, WHY- to buy a House.
Another example will be to have 20 Million by age 65 as my Retirement Money. So again, the HOW MUCH- 20M, WHEN- at age 65, WHY- for Retirement Money.
As you notice, the two Goals are dependent on the stage where the person is and what point is he looking at.
Moreover, we need to really be SMART in our Goals. S-pecific, M-easurable, A-ttainable, R-isk Stretched, and T-ime Bounded.
You can research and read more on what it means to be SMART. Or, if you want to know more , just drop me a mail so I can expound on it.
Goals must be linked to your current situation as it will ensure you can really be sure you can make it.
For example, you are already in your senior years, say 55, and you think about having your retirement at 65 with 20 million pesos. This means you have 10 years to achieve your goal. So that gives you the WHEN in number of years. The next Question of HOW MUCH will come from your Net Worth calculations from your first step.
We also have to go through the X-curve analysis. This is simply a risk analysis of your current financial condition. This will tell us How Much and When to protect our family and to guarantee a financially free retirement.
Another tool to use is what we call the Solid Financial Foundation Checker. To be financially secured , we must be able to define How Much of the following critical components of our financial building blocks should we have: Basic Health-care (Long and Short Term) , Protection , Debt Management, Emergency Fund Build Up , and Investments.
That's all for now.
See you again tomorrow , and let's go through the steps to riches... together....
God bless!
Day 3
As a review, we talked about the first two steps earlier: assess your current situation, and set goals.
I promise to detail this further in the succeeding days to come.
for now let me tell you about the next step: create your plan...
Based on the first two steps, you will have a more intelligent way of defining a plan how to achieve your goal or goals.
There are many ways and means of achieving financial plans.
You either work actively on it, or create multiple streams of active incomes.
Another way of achieving your goals is to create multiple passive income streams.
A fourth way is to reduce your expense .
But, in my experience, the best way is to combine all the four ways for faster achievement of your dreams and goals.
In creating your plans, you have to define the specific actions you will take and it must be laden with data of how much and when to match up with your goals.
The first two steps are very very critical and must be done with diligence as the action plans will be anchored on it.
However, among all the steps to take, this step of creating your plans is the most critical, as this will define your success in achieving your goals.
Limp plans ... expect not so good results.... aggressive and passion filled plans will definitely get you to your dreams....
Again, I promise you, I will have more details on this in the coming days.
I just want to give you first the basic idea before I go to the details.
That's all for now.
See you later.
If you want to ask me a question or give your comment, just click an email to this address: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com.
God bless.
Day 4
Previously we covered the first 3 steps. step 1: assess your current situation, step 2: set goals, and step 3: create your plan...
In our free seminars, we will give you worksheets that will aid you in doing the above steps with ease. You can also get our wholehearted support in doing these steps which are the critical steps in achieving your goals... financial freedom.
After completing your plans, do not stop at that point... There are a lot of people in this world who gets tons and tons of ideas in their minds, fired up to think of doing something about their current situation, but sad to say just think about it.
Failure to act on it is the basic source of failure. It's not the absence of ideas, techniques but simply the ability to transform ideas to action.
I must say this is rooted on discipline. I define discipline as doing things you can avoid to do. Note the emphasis is doing. Acting on it or doing it even if others do not. Or acting on something which may inconvenience you at that moment.
In the news this time of writing are the 4 gallant Honor Guards who stood by the coffin of Tita Cory.
They motionlessly stood for more than 9 hours on top of the flat-bed truck non-stop without water and food and not relieving themselves of their physical needs.
Add to this the fact that the weather changes from sunny to rainy , and not only water rain them down but some coins and flowers into their face.
It's involuntary but they did it because they follow orders ... and of course because of big D... Discipline
So, with that said and done, it's much the same way with our Steps to Riches.
We need the Discipline to take Action. That is our fourth Step: act on it!
When we gone through the same process. Our major issue in our financial life is our debt and mortgages. I will detail this in a much later blog. This really required us to absorb a lot of vitamin D ( Discipline) in addressing this particular issue.
We also have to have an open mind and flexibility. Remember, the end point of all we are doing is not the completion of forms and written up plans. The end point is securing a solid financial foundation.
As we act on our plans, we must be able to continue to track and review our Cash Flow, our Net Worth, and our X-Curve Checker.
You maybe overloaded with terms I have mentioned that looks and sound Greek to you at this time. But do not worry, I will detail this much much more in the next blogs.
As usual, if you have anything to say or comment about this blog, pls feel free to do so and click me an email: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com.
I will be more than happy to respond to you!
God bless !
See you tomorrow....
Dear Friends,
I'm sure you have read many articles, books, and other reading materials on this topic.
But, what I'd like to offer to you are simple steps which you can easily follow.
These are synthesized from the readings I had including that of the Holy Bible.
For details, we have a Seminar offered for FREE every Monday and Thursday 5PM at our Dasmarinas , Cavite Office.
As early as now, I also encourage you to log in to Preacher in Blue Jeans, and the Truly Rich Club of Bro Bo Sanchez.
Now, back to the simple steps...
The very first step is to assess your current situation.
Each of us are of different stage in our financial life, thus , the next steps will depend on where we are at this point in time.
For example, you are just a student and is looking forward to an employment or embarking on your own business in about a year or two, you will have to take steps much much different from those who are already employed or running their business. More so, a person who is at their 4th Quarter so to speak will have to take a much entirely different step or steps than the previous.
Okay, I will be going to more specifics as we go on to this blog...
Keep on reading each day for a daily dose of this SIMPLE STEPS...
God bless....
Day 2
Hi there again, dear friends. Let's continue with our SIMPLE STEPS...
The basic tool to use in assessing your financial situation are available upon request from us.
This is actually an excel worksheet that will detail your Cash Flow with your Income Streams and Expense Details. It will also contain your Net Worth Calculations detailing your Total Assets and Total Liabilities.
This is one of the most powerful concepts we teach for free in our seminar
We cannot fix something we do not know, right? So that is why, it is with great accuracy and care that we must do the very first step we have defined.
This very first step is the most painful step for some. It is also the most fearsome. That's why, most people stop from here. But, I encourage you to be bold and courageous, and also diligent in this first step.
Also, the very first step must be repeated over and over to make sure you are able to plug in , other factors , major expenses, or surprise income streams, that you may not have considered in your first assessment.
I will detail this some more in the succeeding blogs.
Now after doing the assessment , the next step is to set your goals.
Goal setting like anything we do for our company or for any school activity deals with WHAT we want to ACHIEVE and WHEN. In the field of finances, it simply is HOW MUCH and WHEN and for WHAT PURPOSE. Example of this will be to have 3 Million pesos when I reach 45 to buy my own house and lot.
HOW MUCH- 3M, WHEN- at age 45, WHY- to buy a House.
Another example will be to have 20 Million by age 65 as my Retirement Money. So again, the HOW MUCH- 20M, WHEN- at age 65, WHY- for Retirement Money.
As you notice, the two Goals are dependent on the stage where the person is and what point is he looking at.
Moreover, we need to really be SMART in our Goals. S-pecific, M-easurable, A-ttainable, R-isk Stretched, and T-ime Bounded.
You can research and read more on what it means to be SMART. Or, if you want to know more , just drop me a mail so I can expound on it.
Goals must be linked to your current situation as it will ensure you can really be sure you can make it.
For example, you are already in your senior years, say 55, and you think about having your retirement at 65 with 20 million pesos. This means you have 10 years to achieve your goal. So that gives you the WHEN in number of years. The next Question of HOW MUCH will come from your Net Worth calculations from your first step.
We also have to go through the X-curve analysis. This is simply a risk analysis of your current financial condition. This will tell us How Much and When to protect our family and to guarantee a financially free retirement.
Another tool to use is what we call the Solid Financial Foundation Checker. To be financially secured , we must be able to define How Much of the following critical components of our financial building blocks should we have: Basic Health-care (Long and Short Term) , Protection , Debt Management, Emergency Fund Build Up , and Investments.
That's all for now.
See you again tomorrow , and let's go through the steps to riches... together....
God bless!
Day 3
As a review, we talked about the first two steps earlier: assess your current situation, and set goals.
I promise to detail this further in the succeeding days to come.
for now let me tell you about the next step: create your plan...
Based on the first two steps, you will have a more intelligent way of defining a plan how to achieve your goal or goals.
There are many ways and means of achieving financial plans.
You either work actively on it, or create multiple streams of active incomes.
Another way of achieving your goals is to create multiple passive income streams.
A fourth way is to reduce your expense .
But, in my experience, the best way is to combine all the four ways for faster achievement of your dreams and goals.
In creating your plans, you have to define the specific actions you will take and it must be laden with data of how much and when to match up with your goals.
The first two steps are very very critical and must be done with diligence as the action plans will be anchored on it.
However, among all the steps to take, this step of creating your plans is the most critical, as this will define your success in achieving your goals.
Limp plans ... expect not so good results.... aggressive and passion filled plans will definitely get you to your dreams....
Again, I promise you, I will have more details on this in the coming days.
I just want to give you first the basic idea before I go to the details.
That's all for now.
See you later.
If you want to ask me a question or give your comment, just click an email to this address: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com.
God bless.
Day 4
Previously we covered the first 3 steps. step 1: assess your current situation, step 2: set goals, and step 3: create your plan...
In our free seminars, we will give you worksheets that will aid you in doing the above steps with ease. You can also get our wholehearted support in doing these steps which are the critical steps in achieving your goals... financial freedom.
After completing your plans, do not stop at that point... There are a lot of people in this world who gets tons and tons of ideas in their minds, fired up to think of doing something about their current situation, but sad to say just think about it.
Failure to act on it is the basic source of failure. It's not the absence of ideas, techniques but simply the ability to transform ideas to action.
I must say this is rooted on discipline. I define discipline as doing things you can avoid to do. Note the emphasis is doing. Acting on it or doing it even if others do not. Or acting on something which may inconvenience you at that moment.
In the news this time of writing are the 4 gallant Honor Guards who stood by the coffin of Tita Cory.
They motionlessly stood for more than 9 hours on top of the flat-bed truck non-stop without water and food and not relieving themselves of their physical needs.
Add to this the fact that the weather changes from sunny to rainy , and not only water rain them down but some coins and flowers into their face.
It's involuntary but they did it because they follow orders ... and of course because of big D... Discipline
So, with that said and done, it's much the same way with our Steps to Riches.
We need the Discipline to take Action. That is our fourth Step: act on it!
When we gone through the same process. Our major issue in our financial life is our debt and mortgages. I will detail this in a much later blog. This really required us to absorb a lot of vitamin D ( Discipline) in addressing this particular issue.
We also have to have an open mind and flexibility. Remember, the end point of all we are doing is not the completion of forms and written up plans. The end point is securing a solid financial foundation.
As we act on our plans, we must be able to continue to track and review our Cash Flow, our Net Worth, and our X-Curve Checker.
You maybe overloaded with terms I have mentioned that looks and sound Greek to you at this time. But do not worry, I will detail this much much more in the next blogs.
As usual, if you have anything to say or comment about this blog, pls feel free to do so and click me an email: richbenj.santiago@gmail.com.
I will be more than happy to respond to you!
God bless !
See you tomorrow....
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