Categories
Personal Finance Truly Rich Club

Last How To Be Truly Rich Seminar For The Year on Nov 7, 2009!

I was reading through the latest articles at BoSanchez.ph when I saw this announcement about the last Truly Rich Seminar for the year.

Last How To Be Truly Rich Seminar For The Year.

November 7, 2009, 8:30am to 12:00noon

Mandaluyong, Metro Manila

My wife and I were able to attend the last How To Be Truly Rich Seminar a couple of months back.  It was an enlightening experience for both me and my wife.  More than anything else, I think the seminar makes you aware what the “obstacles” are in terms of money habits, mindset and religion.

To learn more about the seminar you can visit http://bosanchez.ph/get-ready-for-abundance/

Do you like to attend Bo’s Truly Rich financial seminars but you are based outside the Philippines? Here’s your chance!

Join the Truly Rich Club!
Join the Truly Rich Club

Categories
Business Life Lessons Money Mindset Personal Finance

Building Rich Money Habits 101: My personal finance story

I have always thought there’s only one formula in making money.  That is work hard and at the end of each month, you get your paycheck.  Growing up in a family of farmers, I have seen what working hard really means.  I’ve experienced waking up early in the morning, go to the farm, plant or harvest rice until the sun sets in.  When you go home after a long day of working, the aching muscles says it all.  It is HARD work.  I’ve learned from my parents that if you want to have some money, you have to work  for it.  Often times, I’d go along with my mom to harvest tobacco leaves from a nearby town, and afterwards, she’d pay me for how much I was able to harvest.  That’s always been my training in terms of making money.  That was my first money habit – work to earn.

When I was in College, I wanted very much to help my parents pay for my education.  I was fortunate to have been granted a full scholarship, so that took care of the tuition.  Even then, making money from a far away province, and spending it in the most expensive city in the country is no easy task.  It is an uphill battle similar to walking up to a going down escalator.  So in my own little way, I also tried to make money by applying as student assistant to one of the university’s projects.  It doesn’t pay much since it is a government project but enough to pay some of my daily expenses and grow my confidence.

After graduating, I immediately started work as a mainframe programmer for a multinational IT company.  The offer I got then was around 16,000 pesos which was BIG money then for someone who’s fresh out of college and don’t have much working experience.  I worked very hard and was fortunate enough to be promoted almost every year.

As my paycheck increased, my appetite for consumption also increased.  I bought a refrigerator, a washing machine, gas stove, shoes, etc, ALL at the same time, EVEN when I didn’t have the money to pay for it.  I just used my new credit card!  That’s when my debt started to pile up.  The “easy” monthly payments never lived up to its promise.  No monthly payment was easy, especially when you only have your paycheck to rely on.  As my debt seemingly increased every month, I also had to worry about paying my monthly house rental, buying groceries, eating out with friends, and more.  There were times I was so out of money I even had to do “cash advance” on my credit card.  As some of you might know, you get to pay a hefty “fee” for doing a cash advance.  This is on top of the amount of money you actually “advanced”.  My already big debt, ballooned even more!  I was so ashamed of having to do cash advance, I promised right there and then, I had to pay for my debt no matter what.  It was like a having compound interest working against me.  I had to learn how money works.  I had to figure it out no matter what.  I had no choice.

While pondering my huge debt, I tried to look for ways to earn more money.  I tried doing some programming projects for friends.  I even entered the world of network marketing, tried selling wellness products and failed miserably.  I remember that my only “downlines” (a term indicating those you’ve recruited into the business) was my mother, my aunt, and a few of my friends.  It was a learning experience.  The thing that struck me most, was that my “need” for money, was being transferred to my “clients”, without me being conscious of it.  It was hard “selling” something you don’t 100% believe in and it’s even harder when your motivation is “making” more money without necessarily helping other people.  I think this mindset barrier is one of the reasons why I was not able to make it work.  Everyday, I had to battle with myself.  Am I here to really help other people?  Or is it just because of the money?

One time, while me and my friends were hanging out at a bookstore, I saw the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.  I heard my friend say it’s a great book, so I bought it, took it home and devoured the stories and financial lessons in the book.   The book opened my eyes to the world of money I never knew existed before.  That’s when I realized that the rich have different sets of money habits from the poor and the middle class.  For the first time, it finally made sense why I can’t seem to be making a dent on my credit card debt; why I can’t seem to sell anything at all.  Because I had the wrong money habits.  I had to learn rich money habits to achieve financial freedom.

After that, it got me excited to learn more about money. First, I signed-up for our company’s savings plan.  I started really small. At first, only about 2% of my paycheck is automatically deducted and kept under my savings account.  I don’t even get to hold the money.  After a month, I increased it to 5%, then to 10%. After a year of saving, I was able to set aside 20% of my paycheck without necessarily scrimping myself too much.  That was rich money habit #1 – pay yourself first.

With the savings, I had, I was able to pay my debt slowly buy surely.  More than that, it gave me confidence to know that I can do it, with the proper discipline and rich money habit.  When the opportunity came for me to be assigned to the US for a 6-month stint in my company, I was able to save even more and pay-off the rest of my credit card debt. That was rich money habit #2 – get out of bad debt as soon as possible!

I also started to take serious notice of the numerous calls I got from insurance agents offering life insurance.  Before, I would always make up numerous excuses just to avoid talking to them.  But now, I wanted to know more how I can use the different insurance products to protect myself and my family.  I also started reading more on business, money, investing and personal finance.  After a few years, I managed to save up for an emergency fund.  That’s rich money habit #3 – Get some protection!

I’m still a long way to go from financial freedom.  That is my goal.  I am in the process of learning how to build passive and semi-passive income, and I am loving every minute of it.  In this website, I will share whatever I learned so that you too can build your own rich money habits and ensure your financial success and freedom!

Categories
Online banking Personal Finance

How to enroll a BPI Express Online account in 3 easy steps

While opening my BPI payroll account a couple of months ago, I asked the customer service rep how I can enroll to a BPI Express Online account.  She replied, “you can do it online through the BPI website.”  I was pleasantly surprised because I thought I’d need to fill up another form and then perhaps come back again to the BPI branch a couple days after, which has been my experience dealing with Philippine banks before.  To me, this was good news.

Here are 3 simple steps I did to enroll my BPI Express Online account.

Step 1: Go to BPI Express Online website

Go to the BPI Express Online website at http://www.bpiexpressonline.com/.   Click the “Enroll Now!” button at the right side of the screen, in between the “personal login” and “business login” buttons.  A message will pop up saying “To enroll in Express Online, you must have a BPI, BPI Family Bank or a BPI Direct Deposit Account.”  Click the ‘Continue’ button and follow the next steps accordingly.

If you’re in the Philippines, you need to visit any BPI Express Teller ATM within 20 banking days to activate the enrollment. If you’re out of the country, you need to print, sign and mail the enrollment form.

Step 2: Fill up the form, and submit

Fill up the form by entering your Account Number, Joint Account Indicator (JAI) and Type of Account.  Your account number is  the number at the back of your ATM card.  The JAI is a 2-digit no. located at the lower right hand corner of your ATM card right across your name.  Lastly, the type of account is either savings or checking.

After submitting the form, it will ask you to create a login name and password.  Remember the login name and password you entered because you will use it to access your BPI express online account later on.  Once you’re done, you will receive an email confirmation and instructions to activate your enrollment.

Step 3: Go to any BPI ATM machine and activate the enrollment

Go to any BPI ATM machine.  Insert your ATM card. Go to Special Services -> Activate Enrollments –> Express Online.  The ATM will give you a receipt to confirm the activation of the online enrollment.

You can then log in to your BPI express online account 1-2 days after enrollment activation.

Once you’re able to login to your BPI Express Online account, you will now be able to access your account’s details, check your balance, pay your bills, transfer funds, reload a prepaid phone 24/7, any day of the year, whenever and wherever there is internet connection.

Now, that’s hassle-free banking in 3 simple steps!

Rich Money Habits Notes:

  • The last step is certainly better than having to go to the branch and “wait” for quite some time before being able to speak to a customer service rep and activate your enrollment.
  • This is also good because it allows the bank to authenticate the enrollment by having the customer insert his ATM card and PIN, and manually confirm the enrollments’ activation through the ATM machine.  This may be inconvenient, but I’d rather wait 1 to 2 days to enjoy the benefits of online banking, than worry whether my account is hacked by someone else.
  • Perhaps someday BPI can think of a more convenient authentication, like what Maybank did in introducing a new level of additional security by sending a real-time TAC (Transaction Authorization Code?) SMS message to your mobile phone.  When that happens, we’d be one step closer to a “pure” online banking system in the Philippines. 🙂
  • You may call BPI hotline 89-100 for if you need assistance on how to enroll you account to BPI express online.
Categories
Business Investing Personal Finance Stocks Truly Rich Club

Bo Sanchez's Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program (Day 2)

Since my wife and I were late during the first day of the Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program, we wanted to make the most of the seminar by being early on the second day. Before 8AM, we were already on our way to Valle Verde Country Club. Since it was a Saturday, there was not much traffic jam and we arrived a little around 8:15AM. Thinking that we were early, my wife and I sat on one of the benches outside the room. I saw the room where we had the seminar yesterday and noticed that some people were already preparing the place. I thought to myself, maybe in no time they’d be done preparing the place and we will be sitting comfortably inside the room. After a few minutes, brother Bo arrived with his usual winning smile. He saw us and invited us to go inside. Thinking that he was going to where the waiters were preparing, we hesitated a bit. Only when he entered the OTHER room beside it did we realize that we were looking at the wrong room. When we followed Bo and entered the room, there were already many people inside, some of them having a great time drinking their morning coffee. I couldn’t keep from laughing at myself for thinking and being proud that we were the early birds for the day. 🙂

Basic Foundation of Financial Planning

DSC_0617 The first speaker was Noel Arandilla, from International Marketing Group (IMG).  He talked about the basic foundation of financial planning.  He shared some tips to having better finances like increasing your cash flow, building long term asset allocation, how to compute the right amount of insurance that you need, and more.

I learned that there are only two things you can use to generate cash flow: time and money.  We all have 24 hours in a day.  But how you use your time determines whether you become rich or poor.  For most people, the only time available to become rich is after work or during weekends, that is – spare time.  It is very important to utilize the spare time that you have in money-making generating activities and not waste it on watching TV, sleeping, gossiping, and more.

Noel also shared that a person normally starts out in life with very little or no money but with lots of responsibilities.  For example, he has to help his parents with household chores, he may need to send his younger bother or sister to school, or earn a living to help with the family’s finances .  After a few years of getting his paycheck, the typical person would earn a little bit more each year while his responsibility gradually  decreases.  Once he reaches retirement age, all of his kids have probably graduated by then, hence he would have minimal responsibility.  At this stage, he’s supposed to have money working for him to fully enjoy the remaining years of his life.  That is the purpose of financial planning.

Be the Bank!

May I tell you a little secret?  Do you know how the bank earns money?  Let me illustrate the answer by using an example.  After spending 2 years as an OFW, you have a little extra cash that you don’t really expect to use for the next 30 years.  Let’s say you have  100,000 pesos in total.  Now, being a saver, you deposited the whole 100,000 pesos into a time-deposit account at 5% annual interest for 30 years.  Right after you left the bank, a business man came in, asked the banker for a loan of 100,000 pesos payable in 30 years at 15% annual interest.  The banker than says “OK”, took the 100,000 pesos from your time-deposit and gave it to the business man.  After 30 years, the bank’s 100,000 pesos loaned to the businessman has already earned around 6.4 million pesos including interest, while your 100,000 pesos invested in time-deposit earned only about 400,000 pesos.  When you claim your time-deposit earnings, the bank give’s you the 400,000 pesos, then keeps the remaining 6 million as profit.  I’d love to be bank! 🙂

How you’re losing money from your savings account

In the Philippines, most people still invest by saving their money into banks over a long period of time.  The bad news is this. Banks are offering very minimal interest rate on savings and time deposits.   With less than 1% annual interest rate on your savings account, what future does your money hold?  Counting average inflation of 7% per year, you are actually losing money at the rate of -6%. This is because of inflation.  Inflation is the effect of steadily appreciating prices of goods.  For example, your 100 pesos can buy 5 loaves of bread 20 years ago.  But today, the same 100 pesos could NOT even buy 1 loaf of bread.  The same thing is happening, when people say “if only I bought that piece of land 20 years ago, today, I would already be a millionaire!”

Start early.  Invest your money for the long term.

tarlacroad I love the way Noel spoke about ordinary experiences and making them as great examples of interesting financial decisions.  For example, you get your 13th and 14th month bonus today worth around 40,000 pesos. The question is, would you save and invest it on a mutual fund at 10% average interest rate?  Or would you buy another NEW mobile phone? For some, the answer is simple – buy a mobile phone for “pogi” (handsome) points. For others, they would hesitate quite a bit but eventually give in, saying “I’ll just invest my next year’s 13th and 14th month bonus. For now, I’ll buy myself a gift.  I deserve it.  My brand new cellphone, here I come!” For those a little bit financially savvy, they might invest it through mutual funds, or stocks, potentially earning even better average annual returns around 15 – 20%.  For most people, it is hard to invest because earning an interest over a long period of time is NOT tangible RIGHT NOW and you need time to make it work. The delusion of instant gratification is the enemy of long-term investing.

Money is flowing

The second speaker is also from IMG.  He shared his personal observation about how rich people in the Philippines spend their money.  He noticed that Henry Sy, Lucio Tan and other billionaire tycoons move their money around.  In a way, they are actually just buying from themselves.  For example, Henry Sy who owns the very popular SM department stores, is renting mall space for his department stores from SM properties, which is a different company but still owned by the same family.  When SM properties build new malls or residential buildings and need money, who do they ask money from?  Instead of borrowing from other banks, they borrow from their own bank – BDO, which, is owned by the same man, Henry Sy.  The same is true with Lucio Tan.  When his Philippine Airlines and several tobacco companies need money to finance its projects and investments, from which bank does it borrow money?  Of course, through Allied Bank or Philippine National Bank, which Lucio Tan owns a stake.  So you see, money is just flowing around, being controlled by the same rich people who owns most businesses, selling high quality goods and providing world-class services for our countrymen.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to do the same thing?  Wouldn’t it be nice to buy from yourself and save on costs?  You might even want to give yourself a hefty discount as part of your loyalty program. Who wouldn’t want to be a loyal customer to one’s self? 🙂

Mutual funds

The idea of mutual funds, I learned, is making investing available to ordinary citizens.  Each person invests a small amount, as little as 5000 pesos.  The money from all the investors are then pooled together and invested into money generating assets like bonds, stocks or both.  The money is managed by professional fund managers.  The goal of the fund manager is to make money for the small investors.  Whether you invested big money or not, you earn the same profit percentage as that of the group.

This is particularly beneficial for ordinary citizens who don’t have much time and money to participate actively in managing the investment and content to just leave their money to professional fund managers.

One way to minimize risk, is to use an investing method called peso cost averaging.  It is an investing technique based on the assumption that since you’re unable to time the market, you just try to average out the risk by investing same amount of money every month or every quarter  to take advantage of the times when the price of the stock/net asset value per share (for mutual funds) becomes very low.  Even though the price is fluctuating, or is going roller coaster, the risk is minimized as the same amount of money can buy more shares when the stock price is low.  When the price is up you can either take away your profit/earnings or leave it there to earn compound interest.  It is advisable to maintain a long term outlook on your investments like a 10 or 20 year time frame in this scenario.  If you need the money within 1 year or 3 years, it is best to leave it at the bank where it is safe and liquid.

There are also different types of mutual funds: 1) bonds & securities, 2) stocks & equities, and 3) combined.  Mutual funds which invest in company or government bonds & securities are stable but offer limited earning potential.  These funds are especially designed for those that are risk-averse and those that are already retiring and don’t want to spend their time analyzing funds for themselves.  The mutual funds which invest in stocks have high growth potential but also entails higher risk especially during times of booms and recessions.  This is advantageous for those still young and can tolerate the swings in the market that even if they lose money, they can still go back up.   The upside is that if they make money, they earnings is also big.

Passion, Hardwork & “Angel” Investors in Business

The third speaker was a successful businessman.  His name is Ronnie Siyasoyco.  He has built several successful businesses to which he attributes most of his success today. He shared personal stories on his many ups and downs and a little bit of luck dealing with business failures, learning from them and enjoying his successes.

Ronnie got started selling “uling” (charcoal) one summer day.  He and his brothers experienced being laughed at by their friends because of their dirty clothes which was battered from their having to lift several sacks of charcoal each day.  The painful thing, according to Ronnie, was seeing their friends make fun of them, and them not being able to enjoy the seemingly “easy” lives that their friends had.   Many times,  he went home crying, asking himself, why they are very poor.  But with a powerful & positive attitude, he worked hard, ignored the joke from their friends, even hired some of them to do the charcoal delivery themselves and earn extra money. That summer, he and his brothers were able to sell 3 truck loads of charcoal.  Not an easy feat for 3 young high school boys.

In those early days, he learned the value of hard and honest work.  Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, breakfast and dinner time was shared and business ideas were freely discussed among the family members.  His mother would always ask him if there’s anything he needs to do for the day.  When he starts answering “nothing”, he would be scolded and the words “there is ALWAYS something to do” would then be ingrained in his head.  If you have nothing to do, you find something to do.

Very early in his life, he had asked his parents why they were so poor.  His mom would say that they are NOT poor.  They eat 3 times a day.  They go to school.  They have the necessities of life.  His dad would add that the only legacy that their parents can pass on to their children is good education.  So it was in their hands to make the most out of it.  If they squander the opportunity, their lose will be their own doing, not the fault of their parents.

Ronnie also shared his personal story on how he lost 80 million pesos through a cancelled deal and several outside forces devaluating the peso and skyrocketing the value of his loans.  For one month, he was not able to sleep very well.  That went on and on, until he prayed and surrendered his problems all to God and a miracle happened.  Since he was not doing anything one day, his friend invited him to drive him to meet up someone.  He was  just listening there watching his friend speak to this very rich businessman, when the businessman suddenly asked him, “you, gentleman, what are you doing here?” To which he replied that he was accompanying his friend.  He asked again, “what do you do? what business are you in?” and so he answered again and provided a background on his business.  And so on until the businessman asked how his business was doing and how he can be of help.  At the end of the conversation the businessman offered to help by giving him a cheque, enough to help him pay back his loans and get his business moving again.  He referred to this businessman as an “angel investor”.  The moral of the story he says, is saying “yes” to your friends when they ask you to drive them. You never know, an angel might be waiting on the other side for you. 🙂

What I appreciated about Ronnie is how he passionately shared about his ups and downs.  His story is truly inspiring.

Internet Marketing

The last speaker of the day was Bo Sanchez’s internet marketing mentor, Jomar Hilario.  Jomar talks fast and is very entertaining.  He shared his experiences selling concert tickets through online internet marketing.  He also mentioned his initial attempts to enter the world of marketing through selling “forever living” products, carrying a big box with him, seemingly always in “high” state, shouting positive affirmations to himself.

After reading from Robert Kiyosaki’s book that one needs to visit at least 100 properties to buy just 1 house, he visited houses one after another and took a lot of pictures of those houses using his old film camera.  At the end of the day, he was exhausted.

At some point, he also mentioned the story on how he spent 80,000 pesos to attend a wealth seminar in Singapore, bought the training materials, only to find out that the ideas on the training materials are the same ideas he had already done before when he promoted concert tickets in 30 days to fill a whole coliseum, all by himself.

Lastly, Jomar extended an invitation to his upcoming Internet Marketing Seminar and his Online Marketing Workshop Club.  You may learn more about his seminars by visiting  www.jomarhilario.com.

Action starts now!

It was long day.  With lots of financial information to digest, I had to prevent myself from suffering “information overload”.  Overall, the Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program was a very good seminar, showcasing the different financial vehicles and opportunities on how to invest and make money.  From here, the only thing to do is take action!

Watch out for the next articles in the coming weeks and months, as I try to share my progress and experience taking action on some of these financial lessons.

Do you like to attend Bo’s Truly Rich financial seminars but you are based outside the Philippines? Here’s your chance!

Join the Truly Rich Club!
Join the Truly Rich Club

Categories
Bonds Business Investing Money Mindset Personal Finance Stocks Truly Rich Club

Bo Sanchez's Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program (Day 1)

Last Friday and Saturday, my wife and I attended Bo Sanchez’s Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program.  The event is a two-day seminar showcasing financial lessons and tips from Bo Sanchez and his mentors on business, real-estate, stocks, mutual funds and internet marketing. In this 2-part series, I will try to share what I’ve personally learned from the seminar. This is part 1 which includes the insights I’ve learned during the first day of the coaching program.

The ARRIVAL

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Confucius

We arrived at Valle Verde Country Club around 2pm Friday.  We were actually late because we came all the way from Makati and we still had to drop by our house in Mandaluyong, have lunch and take a taxi going to the venue.

When we arrived, the seminar already started.  We were just in time for the first talk of the day.  Thanks to the small note outside the room and a little luck, we managed to find which room the seminar was being held.   The funny thing was, we actually arrived at around the same time as the first speaker.  When the speaker entered the door, we took a quick peek inside and saw that the organizers and the other participants were already inside the room.  We registered right away, took our seats, settled down and prepared ourselves for a very exciting and interesting financial coaching seminar.

Online Stocks Investing

The first speaker was Juan ‘Juanis’ Barredo, the VP of CitisecOnline, which is an online stock brokerage firm in the Philippines.  He has 18 years of experience in the stock market.  What struck me about Juanis is the way he spoke very fluent English.  I thought – “this guy can speak!”.  The way he captures the right words to explain the most intricate subject of stock investing is excellent.

One of the first things I learned from his talk is that less than 1% of the Philippine population invests in the stock market.  Which is really very small compared to other countries like US, Hong Kong, and even for our neighboring countries such as Indonesia.  In the US, even cab drivers invest in the stock market.

The main idea of stock investing is – you buy “shares” of a company to become a part-owner.  That means you are actually investing on a business.  Just like in business, one of the strategies used to gain a profit is to buy “low”, then sell “high”.  The tricky thing about stocks is how to know if the company’s shares are being sold “low” or “high”.  Is it based on the “market price”?  Or is it based on the “actual value” computed from analysis of the company’s earnings and performance?  Or is it both?

I realized that investing in the stock market is a lot like buying a pair of jeans on sale.  How do you know if it’s on sale?  First, you need to know, how much is it truly worth?  That is, how much is it really selling for when it’s not on sale?  For jeans, usually it’s around 1,000 to 2,000 pesos.  Of course, you can buy cheaper jeans from Divisoria, or more high-end jeans from branded stores.  So if they say it’s 70% off, they’re selling the 1000 peso worth jeans for only 300 pesos.  Would you buy?  If it fits and you like it, why not?!  The same is true with stocks.  When a share of the company is worth 1000 pesos and they are selling it for 300 pesos only, would you buy?  If you like the company, and based on your analysis it is really worth 1000 pesos, why not?  Among other things, it should also fit you.  Is the company something you want to be involved in?  Do you and those people running the company share the same core values?  If you have all the money in the world, would you build the same business?

During the seminar, I asked Juanis which companies he personally invests in. Many people in the room laughed. I’m guessing because it’s a familiar territory almost similar to asking your classmate what the correct answer to a question on your exam is.  The main reason I asked is because I wanted to know if he is practicing what he is saying.  To me, more than the information that he shares, it’s the integrity he exudes that really matters.  When he shared what he personally invests in without hesitation, I knew he was someone who really walks his talk.

Business is about relationships

The second speaker was actually the owner of CitisecOnline. His name is Edward Lee.  Actually, I already saw him in one of Bo Sanchez’s videos for Truly Rich Club.  When I spoke to Bo during one of the coffer breaks, I said it was kind of surreal to be able to actually see some of the guys in person, where before we only saw them from the DVDs that we received as a member of Truly Rich Club.

Edward Lee has a very long track record of business success and he shared with us some of the key things he learned as an entrepreneur.  What struck me was that here was a man who’s very successful and wealthy.  But when he speaks, you can see the integrity and passion in his voice.  He’s really excited in sharing the lessons that he learned, occasionally sharing  some personal stories from which he derived most of his business success.

One very important thing I learned from him is that – business is all about relationships.  It’s building relationships with your people, your customers, and your suppliers.  As Bo mentioned later, “you buy from your friend”.  Upon reflection, I realized that “yes, I am like everyone else, I really buy from my friends.”  When I want to know something, I ask my friends.  When there’s something I want to buy, I try to find out who from my friends are into that business.

I realized we are just one piece of a big puzzle.  We do our share.  When we buy from our friends, what we’re really doing is sharing what we have to the world.  It’s the same thing when we sell.  Because we address a problem that our friends are facing, we’re making their life a little bit easier.

Business is about Integrity

The second thing I learned from Edward is that it’s very important to be very trustworthy and keep your word.  Even if it losses you money.  Even if it costs an arm or a leg.  This is a core value that rings very close to my heart.   I like to deal with those I trust.  I realized that when I don’t really believe in something, I hesitate to share it to my friends.  I am a silent man, but when I share, I want to make sure it is something my friends will benefit.  More than the money, it’s because they are my friends.  Friends look out for each other.  We want the best for them. Isn’t it great to give and be able to share something valuable with your friends?

Real Estate

The third speaker was Larry Gamboa, the author of Think Rich Pinoy.  He shared about the idea of franchising in the world of real estate.  Perhaps because it was something new and still in its infancy, I had a hard time following where the talk was going.  I guess because it is something that was still in the works, it was also hard for him to explain.  What I appreciated about him is that he realizes what people are going through.   He recommends learning while also earning at the same time to shorten the gap between dreaming and execution.

Internet Marketing part 1

Bo also shared some tips on internet marketing.  He mentioned that Kerygmafamily.com is making money through donations, all through the power of the internet and marketing. The website is actually making lots of money from those donations which all goes to the many programs that Bo is organizing to help those in need like the Anawim – a place for abandoned elderly, or the charity that aims to help pregnant women.  This is a very good example of showing that the ultimate purpose of money is to help and love other people.

This is only day 1 but there were already so many things I’ve learned. Watch out for the part 2 of this blog post where I’ll share personal insights I’ve learned from day 2 of the Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program.

Do you like to attend Bo’s Truly Rich financial seminars but you are based outside the Philippines? Here’s your chance!

Join the Truly Rich Club!
Join the Truly Rich Club

Categories
Life Lessons Money Mindset

Finding the song in me

It’s been a while since I tried to listen to music on my ipod.  I miss it.
It’s very refreshing to hear the music play.  The rhythm makes my heart
soar!

Sometimes, there are so many things that concern me.  My head is spinning
and it is going nowhere. It’s hard to relax.  It’s hard to make sense with
anything that’s going on.  In moments like these that I want to raise my
hand and say “God, take charge”.

I am a man of a few words.  I am more comfortable with silence.

How does it feel to sing a song you can relate to…finding the spirit that’s
been buried a long time ago.  To revive the fire that’s within.  To bring
passion and excitement everyday.

Oftentimes, I remember having a great time when I was a child planting
vegetables, dreaming for a bountiful harvest.  I am a farmer by heart.  That’s what my
parents taught me.  The value of hard work and earning your way, they taught
it to me everyday.  You have to work for it, they’d always say.  I saw how
hard they worked.  And that’s what I also did, hoping that it will give a different
results from what I already saw. They had enough. But so little time.

Having more money, meant less time.  Why can’t I have both?

Both money and time.  That’s the goal.  To pursue those things that excite me.
What excites me?  What are the things that make my heart beat faster?  What
are the activities I enjoy doing?  What seems to be playing for me?  What is
it that gives me joy even without the money?

What it is that  I want to be, that I want to do, and things I want to have.
Be – do – have.

The key is in being.  Being the best that I can be in everything that I do.
Being the owner, not the boss.  The goal is to focus on efficiency, minimum
effort with maximum result.  Work on tools to make things
easier.  That’s what I want to do.  To be able to make sense of this world,
I need to be free.

Free to do WHAT I want to do, WHEN I want to do it, WHERE I want to do it.
That is the goal.  The goal is to be FREE! Free to do the things  that excite
me and minimize those things that don’t excite me.  This is my goal.

Is the pursuit of happiness supposed to be lived without the enjoyment of
the moment?  Life is an illusion.  I need to watch out what I believe in.
What I think.   What I speak.  Watching the words coming out from my mouth,
there I will see what it is in my heart.

Looking at my life now, I know that one day I will be free.  And that
moment is coming.  There is freedom.  And it is possible.
I don’t have to do things that I don’t want to do, that don’t make sense to
me.  The goal is to be free.

Categories
Money Mindset Personal Finance Truly Rich Club

Bo Sanchez’s Truly Rich Financial Seminar (Part 1 – Money and Religion)

Last weekend, my wife and I went to attend Bo Sanchez’s Truly Rich Seminar.  It was an amazing experience meeting Bo face to face.  Bo Sanchez is a preacher who talks about money.  You can learn more about his Truly Rich Seminar here.

Looking at Bo’s eyes, It seemed like he was tired the night before.  But what amazed me was how he still managed to give himself, share stories, make people laugh and more importantly, reconcile faith in God and money.  I learned a lot during the seminar and I wanted to share some of those things to you.  This is part 1 (Money and Religion) of the series of posts in the coming weeks.

Money and Religion

One thing that amazed me was how Bo reconciled the mindset of religion and the seemingly evil world of money.  As the famous verse (Mark 10:25) in the bible says,

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Watching a camel go through the hole of a needle is literally impossible.  And if this is easier than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, then there is really NO WAY for a rich man to be holy and go to heaven!  That would be like asking what’s more impossible than impossible?  Who then would want to be rich?! 🙂

Looking at the same verse on its true context, according to Bo, the same expression “the eye of a needle” was actually an idiomatic expression by the Jews during the time of Jesus.  When the words “the eye of a needle” was spoken some 2000++ years ago, every one KNEW what it meant.  It meant only one thing — “the door to the house of the camel”, which was both very low, and very tiny.  For a rich man’s camel to enter the door, the rich man and his camel have to do two things: 1) the merchant must bring down all baggage that the camel is carrying, then 2) the camel has to stoop down to enter through the tiny door.  This symbolizes the act of surrendering everything to God, recognizing that everything comes from him, and most importantly, to stoop down, being humble to recognize that there is a more powerful force in this world, that is God.

If that’s the case, then I still have a fighting chance to go to heaven! I can be at peace being rich and holy at the same time.  Now that’s something! 🙂

If you’re based outside the Philippines and unable to attend the Truly Rich seminar, you can Join the Truly Rich Club!

Join the Truly Rich Club

Categories
Credit Card Personal Finance

Why is finance charge so confusing?

Last week, I read a story from a personal finance blog, about a first hand experience of credit card’s two-cycle billing. This was followed by an update on the post a few days later to clarify what really happened after he got a call and explanation from the credit card company. He was informed that the reason for the finance charges was actually NOT because of two-cycle billing.  Instead, the finance charges on the next month’s bill was due to “grace” period no longer applicable because of NOT paying the full outstanding balance from the previous month. In contrast, here’s an excerpt from the blog on what two-cycle billing means.

“Two cycle billing is when a company computes finance charges on the average daily balance of the last 60 days rather than just the last 30 days. What that means is that they will go back two billing periods before the cardholder sent in their payment, and average the daily balance of all 60 days.”

Reading through the blog post, I wondered how come financial terms are very confusing.  I definitely agree that the best way to not experience the “two-cycle” billing or “grace” period headaches is to pay the full amount every month.  It makes better financial sense.  If you can’t do that, perhaps, it’s a good idea to learn how to protect yourself from credit card debt by some other means.

Why can’t financial terms be simple, the way red, green and yellow means stop, go and go slow on a traffic light?  Ever since my credit card debt, I’ve tried to read books on financial literacy to help me get familiar with financial terms.  Reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad book helped me realize that money is actually flowing, hence the term “cash flow”.  I learned that money is never lost, it is just transferred from one person to another.  The only question is, is money flowing to you? or is money flowing out of you? As for finance charges, it is money flowing from your wallet to the credit card company. 🙂

I’d really love to learn more about finances and minimize my confusion.  It is my hope that sharing my own experiences with money will also help clear the confusion among others.

Categories
Life Lessons Money Mindset

Fighting the heavy rain

Yesterday night, there was a heavy rain.  Being in the middle of Mandaluyong City, this meant only one thing – flood.  When I woke up at 5 in the morning, the rain was still pouring.  Since I had to be at the office by 6:30 am, I hurriedly took a bath with my eyes still wanting to go to sleep.

I had to wear boots just so I can walk through the flood.  I was very fortunate, because the water was only about knee-deep.  I reached the gate and prepared myself for a long wait for a jeepney.  After minutes of waiting, a jeep finally appeared.  It was moving very slowly mainly due to the heavy flood.

For some of us, this is just an ordinary day.  For some, it is a day for fighting.  Fighting the forces of nature.  Fighting for survival.

I wonder whether we’ve grown so accustomed to floods that we practically never thought there might be other places where flood is unheard of.  Where rain is a sign for celebration.  Where life grows by the drop.

Rain on a very hot summer day.  That would be nice.

Categories
Life Updates Money Mindset

I am back home – Philippines

It’s been quite a while.  So many things have happened in the past couple of months.  The biggest of them is – I’m back home.  For good.  After a 2 and a half year stint in Malaysia, I am back in my home  country – the very beautiful 7,107 islands of the Philippines! 

It’s a mixed feeling being back.  The past 2 months was like a whirlwind.  So many things had to be done.  I had to wrap everything up in a hurry.  So many things to pack.   In my count, we actually shipped 5 balikbayan boxes just for that.  I’ haven’t actually settled in yet.  Hopefully I’ll be able to share more about my experience of settling back in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned.