Act Now

courtesy: google images

 

While curling up with a good book in this wet afternoon, I was jolted by the words of the author as it spoke to me. I realize that sometimes my “overthinking” and “overanalyzing” of things get in the way towards the fulfillment of my plans.

 

The words goes like, “Here’s the bottom line: You already know all that you need to
succeed. You don’t need to learn anything more. If all we needed
was more information, everyone with an Internet connection would
live in a mansion, have abs of steel, and be blissfully happy. New
or more information is not what you need—a new plan of action is.
It’s time to create new behaviors and habits that are oriented away
from sabotage and toward success. It’s that simple.”

 

As human beings, we are exposed to the herd mentality. Wherever the majority goes, we flock to follow. We do not lack information. Though we reason that we have limited and timely access to it but I am much convinced it is available at our own exploration. It is our procrastination and lack of action that hampers our development and sabotages our growth.

 

We always get busy, juggling one chore to the next but accomplish nothing. We consciously delay what we can do today. We slacken after winning small victory. And we easily get distracted by short term comfort of slumber rather than focusing our energy to what matters most. Nobody gets out of the rat race by doing nothing. A plan and your decision to execute your plan is what will help pay your bills, give you good grades, bring you promotion and build your dreams. As for me, I’d quit the overthinking and over analyzing and summon my creative juices to act in my favor.

 

We already learned much my friends, now let’s put that learning to action.

Why Invest?

courtesy: google images

Investment is generally purchased goods or items that will generate another product; or an asset (paper or physical) that can be sold at higher value in the future. This way your initial investment has grown by the time you need it.

The word investment sounds very appealing to almost everybody. In fact, a lot of people are lured by fly-by-night operators to avail of their investment schemes that happen to end up to be a pyramid or Ponzi scheme which will eventually eat investor’s money away. While many choose to have fund managers or get a mutual fund account in order to have someone manage their portfolio for them, there are also those who choose to do it on their own like trading and investing in stocks. However you plan to do it, it is imperative to know why you decide to invest.

So why invest?

Become Financially Independent

Becoming financially independent is everyone’s dream. This means to be self-reliant in your expenditures and financial decision. If you are a student, you are likely to depend from your parents in almost all of your expenses. Even working professionals do not necessarily have financial independence. Lack of financial planning leads them to depend on salary loans or petty debts whenever emergency comes. Building a passive income through investing is one way to become financially independent.

Achieve your dreams

Whether your dream is to own a car or to travel to Bangkok this summer you need money to make it happen. It is a big mistake to borrow money just to take a vacation. Knowing what you really really want will keep your enthusiasm to invest. Investing prepares you to finance your dreams in the future.

Make your money work for you

Basically your invested funds will grow in proportion depending on two variables: 1. Length of time you held your money in a particular investment instrument, 2. Interest rate by which your money grow. Choosing for an investment instrument has to conform to your investment profile. If you do not know your investment profile, talk to financial planner today.

Build wealth

As you put your money into an investment instrument and continue to put it there, the power of compounding interest kicks in. Compound interest is interest added to the principal of a deposit or loan so that the added interest also earns interest from then on. As your investment reaps the benefit of compounding interest, your wealth grows.

Prepare for retirement

There is nothing more important than preparing for your future. Many working parents today think of their children as their retirement plans. They are not. Your retirement in the future is your sole responsibility. Failing to prepare today while you still can will derail your planned grand retirement vacation. Investing early will help make your money grow, will keep your money work for you and will allow you to enjoy your later years without having to worry about your expenses.

Investing is a great way towards a better financial future. The sooner you begin, the better it can work for you. If you want to learn how to invest the right way, talk to your trusted financial planner today.

P.S.  If you need a financial plan for your investment and/ or coaching, please send me an email at fjaymoli@gmail.com. I will be more than willing to be your mentor and partner in your journey towards financial freedom.

P.S. 2.  Please join our facebook group Pagadian City Stocks Network

5 Ways to Spot Investment Scams

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Before you continue reading the whole post, I have a confession to make. I have become a victim of an investment scam (Aman Futures, 2012). It was year 2012 when a big fraction of my savings bid farewell in my pocket and down the drain to perish forever. Like most of the so called “investing people” that time, we all felt depressed and confused. But that nasty scar brought a gargantuan learning experience. I vowed to myself to not let it happen again. I subjected myself to self-imposed research, sought attendance in financial seminars and read and read to learn stuffs I never thought existed. I realized if people only knew what I know today, we all could have made wise investment decision. I hope this post will help provide guidance to you and the people you love.

Many people confuse investment with business or deliberately use them interchangeably. The truth is they are alike but are not the same. In Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad book series, it is a continuous theme and pronouncement that an investment is money you put into something that has the potential of getting a return. If you purchased something but has no potential gain/profit then it is not an investment. For example, you buy a new house and call it an investment. If you do not plan to have it rented or sell it in the future for a higher value; it must not be defined an investment.

Investment could mean a lot in many people. Some attach emotions to it which will make it wide of the mark. I know someone who buys a new car and say that it is an investment for himself. This isn’t an investment! You call it an ego bolster instead.

1. Recruiters are in Haste – Scammers know that they do not offer you anything with value. And because you do not know it or doubt about it, they do not want to give you time to think about it. So to avoid that you’ll do in-depth research, they will be pushy. And to rid-off annoyance, you will sign up only to regret it in the end.

2. Buy More to Earn More – This usually happen in “networking company” scams. They will sell you products that are hard to sell. When you realize that it is difficult to dispose your inventory, you have no resort but to recruit people to earn from their recruitment commissions. The problem with this thing is that, essentially no company will survive without a product being sold and bought. Earning money due to recruitment is a tell-tale sign of a company waiting to collapse. Here’s more, according to RA 5601 or otherwise known as Anti-Pyramiding Law, the SEC requires all MLM (Multi-Level Marketing Company) to not engage in Pyramiding Scheme. This means that total worth of products given back to members of the MLM must not go lower than 73% of the total capital shelled out by the member. Example, if your registration for a food supplement MLM company is P 10,000 the stocks you must receive should be worth not under P 7,300.00

3. Recruiting Members to Earn – Now I really, really want you to get this so please read very carefully. If you were asked to recruit so you will be compensated, then you have all the right to doubt. Here’s why. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when a company registered to them as a corporation collects “membership fee” to compensate uplines and representatives and relies on the circulating membership (not on products sold), in effect that company are collecting securities or investment amount. Any company in the Philippines that sells securities or collects investment is defined as an “Investment Company” and because they will fall within that category, they are bound by law to secure a Secondary License (as per SRC RULE 68, AS AMENDED) from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). If they fail to do so, then you are dealing with an unregistered company thereby making their offer null and illegal.

4. Use the Rule of 72 – According to investopedia, “It is a rule stating that in order for you to find the number of years required to double your money at a given interest rate, you divide the compound return into 72. The result is the approximate number of years that it will take for your investment to grow”. How do you use this rule in your investment? If someone approaches you and says “ I will double your money in two years….” That simply means 72/2=36. Hence, using this formula, you know that your money will grow 36% per year. Although this is possible, this is also very ambitious. Remember risk-reward trade off, the higher the return the higher the risk. So if your heart is not prepared to take on high risk investments, this is not for you. The problem happens when representatives in these so called companies promised you that guaranteed return with NO RISK AT ALL. Quite frankly, a company without proven track record to provide that high return is a scam. Too good to be true as they say.

5. Do your Homework and Research – We are in the information age so looking for information is easy. If you have any doubts about an investment opportunity or any networking company, you may check Securities and Exchanges Commission’s advisories. In their website you may be surprised to know that it houses a long list of companies who may have engaged into unfair investment practices. Always exercise due diligence so as not to be duped by shark-like scammers hungry to get hold of your hard-earned money.

P.S. I hope you learn something new. If you think this is helpful, please share.

P.S. 2. Please join our group in Facebook called Pagadian City Stocks Network

How to earn in Stocks?

Photo Courtesy: ANC on the Money, ABS-CBN News Channel

Let’s say you now have the cash to finally start to buy shares of your chosen company listed in the Philippine Stock Market, the next big question that you need to ask is; how do you earn money in the stock market?

Before I get into that, I have to caution everyone that picking stocks in the stock market requires careful study in the company you are investing on. Here, you have to look into company’s earning and its stability and to at least figure out the direction where this company is headed to. This careful study includes either “fundamental analysis” or “technical analysis” (which I am going to discuss further in upcoming post) OR a combination of both. You must believe in the integrity of the company you are investing. For instance, if you believe that BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) under the conglomerate of the Ayala’s will still be there and continually grow in the next 10 years or more, then this may be a good pick for your long term investment plans. Again, choosing must not be based on gut feeling but with diligence and careful research.

Earning money in the Philippine Stock Market comes in two ways: a. Price of share appreciation/Capital Appreciation or b. through dividends.

Price appreciation or Capital Appreciation simply means an increase of the value of the stock price from the amount you bought it. As the price of stock appreciates, your profit also increases. However, you will only enjoy this gain if you sell your stock and someone is willing to buy it. If you do not sell it, the profit you make is called “unrealized gain” but when you decide to sell it, you turn your gain into cash or also called “realized gain”.

For example, if you bought 1,000 shares of Emperador (the popular liquor brand) at P9.40 and after a few hours it appreciates to P10.00 and you decide to sell it, you then earn P0.60/share x 1,000 shares = P600. I don’t know with you but for me earning P600 for a single transaction isn’t bad at all.

Notice that in the example given above, you only earned a few centavos per share or 60 cents to be exact. If you are a kind of person who has a long-term investment horizon then we are looking into a probability of an exponential increase of your investment. ANC on the Money has wonderful example for this. According to them, if you invested P100,000 in DMCI (real estate company based in Manila) and kept your money there for 10 years, your total investment could have then become P28,000,000 by 2013. This even after we experience 2007 Asian financial crises, Oakwood mutiny, stories of graft and corruption in the Arroyo Administration and many more economic debilitating news.

Nevertheless, this is not always the case. If you invested in Agrinurture INC whose share is valued at P30.00 in 2004, you will be dismayed to find out that as of June 05, 2015 it is only worth P1.378 after the company has been linked to Binay’s alleged corruption cases. Hence, Stock Market is not for gamblers. It is for people who are diligent with their research.

Another way of earning in the Philippine Stock Market is through Dividends. If a company earns profit, you get a cut from their earnings too as an investor. Normally, this cash is a profit that will not be used by the company for expansion. Dividends may be given either in a form of CASH or in the form of STOCK. Either way, this is still a passive income for you. PLDT (TEL) is a consistent-paying-dividend company. In 2014, it gave away a total of P156.00 dividend per share.

The number of shares you hold per company defines the impact of your profit to your investment. Of course, even if the stock price appreciates to 100% and yet you only hold 10 shares, your profit will still be less.

These are the ways your earn money in the Philippine Stock Market. Like the basic rule in economics, always remember to BUY LOW and SELL HIGH.

Please join our facebook group Pagadian City Stocks Network

Birthday Gratitude

 

There are two wonderful things in life; first, is the day you were born and the second is the day you find out why.

 

Today, the Lord has proven His faithfulness to me again by giving me another year to live. This birthday is truly meaningful for God led me to a totally new direction. For so many years I have evaded from this path but now I am embracing it wholeheartedly.

 

For the past two years I endured the darkest storm in my life. My footstool has been shaken and been overwhelmed with enormous challenges from all directions. Losing a fortune, a flourishing career and good plans are devastatingly painful but nothing beats the pain of being abandoned by friends who unfairly lambast you with hurtful words on social media. I was reeling for a deep gangrene of a fallen relationship with them, a relationship I closely likened to my siblings.

 

I decided to not dwell on it for in anything and everything I believe God have good reasons for allowing it to transpire. I learned to understand that we never learn when we are on the mountaintop, instead we learn best in the valley. No matter how dark this valley may get, as long as you remain steadfast in your faith in God, no storm can wipe you out from His amazing grace. Understand that God’s love for you is bigger than your greatest disappointments.

 

God in His infinite wisdom showed me that He has to remove nocuous friends so they will be replaced with anodyne ones. He has to take out opulent opportunities so meaningful careers can come in. He will make you do things so you can show others how to do it. He will allow you to reach the point of giving up so you will know that giving up is not the end but fighting is. It is in fighting for your visions and dreams that you will discover new strengths to grow and build again.

 

As I journey for another year in life, I am fully convinced that I am not alone. I know Someone walks beside me. Challenges will still come but my Lord’s yoke and burden are light.

 

To papa & mama, thank you forever.
To my beautiful sisters Jairus & Jaycel, I love you both.
To my true friends, you are my siblings from other parents.
To everyone who touched my life both friends and foe, gratitude for teaching me lessons.
To my great Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I am forever in awe of your love to me. Thank you for directing me to my divine purpose. I LOVE YOU LORD.