Tag Archives: mutual funds

Starting to Work On Your Success

And here is how we want to help you get it!  Follow the coming articles that will help those who want a refresher course…

Goal Setting  Part 1 

It has been more than eleven years since I started teaching how to care for your personal financial matters.  From the many feedback I have received from readers, it is very clear that so many ordinary earning Filipinos do not know how to save and grow their money.  The questions I receive are varied and detailed but the most frequent can be summarized into three:

1)    How can I save?

2)    How can I get into a business?

3)    How do I invest in mutual funds?

Before even asking these questions, each person should first set their goals.   The New Year is only about 45 days away, it is an opportune time to devote time on GOAL SETTING.

I always remind people that you cannot go anywhere if you do not first establish where you are and where you want to go.  My favorite example is when you go to a Mall for the first time and you want to go to a particular store without wasting time because you are in a hurry.  You can ask people around you but sometimes, they do not know or worse, they give you the wrong information.  The best method is to look at the map in the mall and locate your store and how to go there.

This is the same routine you should follow when you want to save, get into business, or invest your money.  When people realize they should save and grow their money, they are suddenly in a hurry to do it without any planning.  They start asking around from people they know.  Unfortunately, most of the time, they ask people who also do not know how but are so eager to pretend they know.  They start getting wrong advice and end up losing money without even knowing how and why.

This need not happen if they followed the rule of GOAL SETTING.  The first step is to establish a plan, which is your “map”  or your financial goal.  Note that most legitimate investments are sound investment instruments. They are all good investments.  However, what is important is to be able to tell which one is suitable or best applicable to your needs.  It is impossible to be able to discern which is the best for your personal situation unless you have your own financial plan based on your own specific timetable.   We will talk more about goal setting in the next articles.

For added information, visit  www.colaycofinancialeducation.com  www.franciscocolayco.com and www.youtube.com/colaycofoundation at www.kskcoop.com.  Tumawag sa 637 3741 o 637 3731 o 0917 863 2131.  Our next seminar is on Nov. 28.  Join it.  Based on experience, we learn more when we have immediate feedback on our questions.

Listen to Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo every Monday on DZXL 558AM from 11am to 12 noon. You can also watch us on  Pisobilities Reality every Tuesday, 8:30 pm, on Light Network Channel 33 and every Saturday on GMA News TV 11, 6am.

G.Y.M. Seminar: Collective Investing

Taking advantage of the muscle instead of doing your own hustle is essense of collective investing. By pooling of resources, one gets and should get benefits that one will not get if one stands or invests alone. BAKAS is a common term and action among Filipinos similar to BAYANIHAN. In personal investing; BAKAS or BAYANIHAN or pooling; collective investing is almost but a must.

CollectiveInvesting09192015

 

 

Learn similarities and differences and what is right for you among

  • Mutual funds

  • UITFs

  • Insurance-linked investments via VULs and others.

  1. Investing Basics & Rules

  2. Collective Investing: What, Why & How

  3. Types of Collective Investing: Which One(s) For You?

    • Mutual Funds

    • Unit Investment Trust Funds

    • Insurance-Linked VULs

    • Others i.e. coops?

  4. Investment Strategies

  5. Where to Invest?

Mutual Funds

Unit Investment Trust Funds

Insurance-Linked VULs

Others i.e. coops

Join us this September 19, 2015, Saturday, 9am to 12nn or 2pm to 5pm!

LEARNING FEE: PhP 4,000.00

For more information please call:

 Ms. Gilda Bumatay

(+63) 917-863-2131

(02) 6373741 or 31

or Email us at: training@colaycofoundation.com

 

Pera Mo Palaguin Mo! Public-service Radio Program

Makinig, Magtanong at Matutong magpalago! sa DZXL558-Pera Mo Palaguin Mo

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Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo! Radio Public-service program is hosted by Francisco J. Colayco and co- hosted by Mr. Armand Bengco. The show is an hour long learning program that focuses on the 5 fianancial activities of an individual(earning, planning, saving, investing, spending).

Pera Mo Palaguin Mo! airs every Monday 11:00am – 12:00nn in Radio Mindanao Network’s DZXL558.

Watch Via Livestream

Like Us on Facebook

 

 

 

The Battle Wages On!

by: Art Ladaga

Photo courtesy of RTVM.gov.ph

Twenty-seven years ago, the Filipino people triumphed in overthrowing two decades of oppressive dictatorship. Democracy was restored not through guns, tanks, or any military arsenal, but through flowers, rosaries, and one unified desire. People Power I was proof that when people band together- known as the Power of One– they can create miracles and liberate a country from tyranny.

Twenty-seven years after People Power I, many of our countrymen remain within the shackles of financial tyrants. This is the new battle being waged: the battle for financial freedom! According to Francisco Colayco, financial freedom is when you can maintain your desired lifestyle without the need to work. Only in eradicating these three tyrants will financial freedom be realized.

 

POVERTY: Poverty is a lack of basic necessities, but it is also more than that. According to Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen, poverty is also capability deprivation (i.e. not being able to do anything and be productive). One reason why there’s capability deprivation is due to lack of education. Education enables us to recognize opportunities for active and passive income. Sadly, our present educational system grooms us to be hardworking employees. There will come a time that you can no longer work. You might be earning six or seven digit salaries now, but when you retire, you will not be able to maintain your lifestyle without passive income. Thus many people remain poor because they do not know how to utilize earning income actively AND passively!

FINANCIAL IGNORANCE: Having a lot of money does not guarantee financial freedom. Knowing how you use and grow it makes a significant difference in your financial life. In a recent study, Citibank reported that the country’s financial score was 53 out of 100. This means that more Filipinos are now becoming savvy in handling their finances. This is definitely good news, but we cannot be complacent.

The massive financial scam in Pagadian City (2012) was a major eye-opener to the dangers of financial ignorance. In the website of Philippine Daily Inquirer, I read about a man in Pagadian City who committed suicide three months ago. He invested all of his retirement money in an opportunity he did not fully understand. When the culprits had gotten away with his money, he experienced depression to the point he decided to end his life! If spending on seminars about money and investing is expensive, financial ignorance is 1000 times more!

GREED: If your only goal in life is having lots of money, you have a major problem! Seeking money for itself poses a real internal dilemma. The Buddha once remarked, “Greed is any imperfection that defiles the mind.” Indeed, how many lives and relationships were ruined because of financial greed? Greed entraps you in a vicious cycle of acquiring. You cannot stop gorging on money because it’s never enough. That is the delusion of it! Eventually you will reach a point that you will internally “blow up,” wrecking your life and the lives of others in the process. In the effort to obtain everything, you lose everything!

 

Photos courtesy of Pinoy Exchange.com

The battle for financial freedom is an ongoing-battle. Financial freedom for our countrymen will only be attained through eradicating the three tyrants. Defeating all three is not easy, but it’s not a hopeless cause. Learning from People Power I, only through the Power of One will these three tyrants fall. And it will be possible if all Filipinos will fight as one, under the banner of FINANCIAL LITERACY!

Financial literacy opens the doors to various earning opportunities, thus helping eradicate poverty. You also become more competent and knowledgeable in handling money, thus helping eradicate financial ignorance. And you become goal-oriented in earning money, thus helping eradicate greed. Only through learning proper financial management grounded on proper values can we expect the rise of a ONE WEALTHY NATION!

Photo courtesy of Manila Standard Today

Thus, THE BATTLE WAGES ON!

Sources:

Alipala, J., & Umel, R. (2012). Teacher kills self after losing all his money in scam. Inquirer Global Nation. Retrieved from http://globalnation.inquirer.net/56146/teacher-kills-self-after-losing-all-his-money- in-scam?ModPagespeed=noscript

Dumlao, D. C. (2013). Filipinos more savvy about finances, study shows.  Inquirer Business. Retrievedfrom http://business.inquirer.net/105779/filipinos-financial-quotient-at- record-high-online-poll-shows

*Continue the legacy of EDSA! Achieve financial freedom NOW. Colayco Foundation for Education Inc. is offering two financial seminars  this March 23: INVESTability: Stock Market and INVESTability: Mutual Funds. Just click the links for more details about the two seminars.

* Art Ladaga is the current Programs Officer of the Colayco Foundation for Education, Inc.

Engaged couples

by: Francisco J. Colayco

(Still a very relevant article considering February is fast approaching!)

December and January are the most popular months for weddings in the Philippines. This is probably because the weather is cooler. It is nice to sing “Santa, make me his bride (make her my bride) for Christmas.” It is wonderful to start the New Year with your most beloved in the entire world!

I received an email about why the wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger. We have five fingers.

– The Thumb symbolizes our parents.

– The Forefinger symbolizes our siblings.

– The Middle Finger symbolizes ourselves.

– The Ring Finger symbolizes our spouse.

– The Little Pinky symbolizes our children

Put your hands and fingers together as in prayer. Then, fold your middle fingers inward so that the outside of each knuckle touches each other. Keep the tips of the other fingers touching each other. While making sure that the middle fingers continue to be folded touching, try moving the other fingers:

– You can move your thumbs showing that your parents can leave you.

– You can move your forefingers showing that your siblings can leave you.

– You can move your pinkies showing that your children can leave you.

– But try moving your ring fingers and you can’t.

Marriage is permanent but while you are not yet married, this article might prove useful for you.

We all know that the engagement period is the time to really get to know each other before marriage. But couples who become engaged seem to think that they cannot break the engagement, if necessary. Should the couple see “substantial differences” in thinking, this period is the time to understand those differences before they become “irreconcilable differences”, which become the reason for many separations and annulments. Do not believe that you can change your partner once you are married. For most, the marriage makes the partner even more fixed in his/her ways.

So many engaged couples are embarrassed to discuss money matters before they get married. Based on my experience, if you cannot discuss financial matters with your loved one before you get married, it is almost inevitable that you will have problems related to financial matters during your married life. It is not the amount of money that you have that matters but what you intend to do with it and how you expect to manage it. You could be very lucky and have all the money you will ever need until you retire. However, nothing is sure in this world and all of that could easily be lost with wrong management of finances.

YOUR VIEWS ON MONEY

Many times, the family environment you grew in will dictate your reaction to money. One of you may be always saving or even downright stingy and the other might not care about money and may even be a spendthrift. During the courtship period, your real personalities may not be immediately obvious since you are trying to show your best side. I suggest that you tell each other frankly how you view money. Ask each other how you will view your success and the role of money in that success. If it turns out that your ideas about finances are not compatible, both of you will have a better understanding on how to accept each other for what you are or to agree on how you will both overcome the differences. There is also the option to postpone the marriage or cut the relationship if the issues are truly irreconcilable and you can see that love might not be enough, in the long run.

 
AGREE ON YOUR LIFESTYLE

Understand how much money and also how much debt each of you already have. If there is debt, you have to agree on how it will be paid. Be open about how much each of you earns and what you expect to be spending as a married couple. Do not leave the decision of what to spend on a day-to-day basis. This could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings on how much each should be spending on specific items. Having a budget will help you agree on the kind of lifestyle you should live to be able to reach certain goals. For example, you can aim to have a car within a year, a house within five years etc.

Having children is also another matter that has to be discussed in relation to finances. How you raise your children will depend on the time you will have. If both of you have to work for your chosen lifestyle, obviously, you will have to share the raising of your children with yayas or your parents.

HOW WELL DO YOU UNDERSTAND PERSONAL FINANCE

As I have seen time and again, parents and schools rarely teach personal finance. Even finance students and employees do not know how to manage their personal finances. They may be very good in their theoretical studies and in their actual jobs related to finance but that is not what personal finance is all about.
I have many friends who give my books as wedding presents. I am happy that the couple will have some guidance during their married life but it would have been better if they had been given the books before or when they became engaged. The books will help them understand how they can save and grow their savings. With these books, they can discuss and mutually agree on the type of investments they would choose both for the short-term and for the long-term. You can also join our Pera Palaguin Seminars that we hold regularly.

WHO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING THE MONEY

Even if financial wellbeing is a joint undertaking, one of you has to be responsible for:

– Staying within the agreed budgets. Informing the other when there is any possible deviation foreseen.

– Keeping track of all important documents and records such as your marriage license, passports, Income Tax Returns, insurance policies, investment certificates, etc. Decisions on Insurance, Investments and Income Tax Returns filing should always be done jointly in consultation with experts.

– Properly maintaining and balancing all bank accounts to prevent penalties and not allow cash idle without earning any interest. The matter of keeping joint or separate accounts or a combination of the two is a choice that the couple should agree to. They should be open with each other with their reasons.

Of course, these activities can move from one to the other, say one year each. This way, both of you learn and have a good understanding of your financial situation. This is especially important in case of emergencies where one is not available.

WHO WILL PAY FOR THE WEDDING

There used to be a rule where, in the Philippines, the groom’s family pays for everything and in the United States, the bride’s family pays for everything. Today, the best solution is for the couple to pay for everything. The families of both the groom and the bride can give whatever monetary gift they can afford. From the gift, the couple can decide on how much they want to spend for the wedding itself.

I always admonish couples not to spend too much on their wedding day. It is only one day and they have the rest of their life together to look forward to. The rest of their life together is definitely more important. They should not try to keep up with their friends who got married before them. Parents should respect the decision of their children.

COMMIT TO DISCUSS MONEY REGULARLY

Differences are inevitable. Work on a program of continuing discussion and communication with an open mind and sincere heart. Bring in an objective and experienced financial adviser if your differences seem to be major. This is key to your long-term financial compatibility.

LOVE OR WEALTH? WHY NOT HAVE BOTH! To know how, join Colayco Foundation’s Pisobilities and InvestABILITY: Mutual Funds seminars on February 16, 2013! Click the links below for more information about the two seminars:

Pisobilities

InvestABILITY: Mutual Funds

For reservations and inquiries, please call 637-3731/637-3741. Look for Ms. Lala!

* Article first appeared on the GMA News TV Blogsite

Basic Banking Lingos

Are you at a loss with banking terms? Here’s a simple but fun guide to some of the words used in banking.

 Source:

Cortez, B. (2013, January 21). Know your banking terminology. Business World [Manila], p. SI8.

*Art Ladaga is the current Programs Officer of Colayco Foundation for Education