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An Investment Coop?

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by: Francisco J. Colayco

Last September 7, our very own Kapatiran sa Kasaganaan Multi-Purpose Coop (KSK Coop) celebrated its 10th year anniversary! From a handful of passionate members, it has grown so much throughout the years. It already has 2000+ members ALL AROUND THE WORLD.

KSK Coop is a very unique cooperative. It provides alternative investing opportunities to income-earning Filipinos who want to protect and grow their hard-earned wealth. It mainly invests in profitable businesses and the members would benefit from the returns of those businesses.

For a brief overview of what KSK Coop is, allow me to share with you this clip from our season ender episode of Nang Magising si Juan.

For more details about KSK Coop, visit www.kskcoop.com

Spending on Gadgets and Insurance

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According to a study from an insurance company, Pinoys prioritize buying gadgets and insurance equally. But why? What are the factors that come into play? And what does it say about our manner of prioritizing needs and wants?

Here’s Armand Bengco, our Executive Director at Colayco Foundation, to talk about the matter:

Want to watch more videos on personal finance? Visit www.pisobilities.tv today!

Mga Puwedeng Paglagakan ng Maliit na Puhunan (Part 2)

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ni: Francisco J. Colayco

*unang lumabas sa Bulgar noong ika-13 ng Agosto, 2009.

Ang direktang pamumuhunan sa stock market ay dapat ipinauubaya na lang sa mga eksperto. Sa MF at UITF, sigurado kang merong mga magagaling na tagapamahala ng pondong walang tigil na binabantayan ang mga parte at seguridad sa kanilang portfolio. Alam ng mga ito kung saan dapat ilagak ang pera mo.

Mas malaki ang kikitain ng perang sa MF at UITF dahil ito ay nagko-compound. Ang ibig sabihin, nadaragdagan at naiipon ang kinikita nito. Halimbawa, ang tubo mula sa pagbebenta ng mga equity o fixed-income security ng MF o UITF ay muling ibinibili ng bagong mga equity o fixed-income security para sa parehong MF o UITF. Kaya kapag ibinenta na ang mga parte sa kanila, patung-patong na ang kinita ng ipinuhunan.

Ang maganda pa, ang mga stock at seguridad na pinamumuhunanan ng MF o UITF ay pinapatawan na ng final withholding tax, kaya’t hindi na kailangang magbayad ng dagdag na buwis ng mga namumuhunan sa kanila. At hindi lang ‘yun — madali pang ibenta at gawing pera ang MF o UITF. Kahit anong oras ay maibebenta ito sa kasalukuyang presyo sa merkado.

May tatlong klaseng MF at UITF equity o stock fund, fixed-income o bond fund at balanced fund. Ang equity fund ay kadalasang ipinupuhunan sa stock market kaya mas malaki ang kita pero mas malaki rin ang panganib. Ang fixed-income fund o bond fund naman ay karaniwang ipinupuhunan sa mga Government Securities at iba pang fixed-income securities kaya mas mababa ang kita pero hindi rin naman ganoon kapanganib. Ang balanced fund naman ay hinahati — ang kalahati ipinupuhunan sa stock market at ang kalahati’y ipinupuhunan sa bond funds o fixed-income funds. Katamtaman lang pareho ang kita at panganib dito.

Ang bawat MF at UITF ay may kanya-kanyang layunin sa pamumuhunan at kanya-kanyang mga patakaran at kundisyon. Mas mainam kung kakausapin muna ang mga namamahala para malaman kung umaayon sa sarili layunin ang layunin ng MF o UITF na pamumuhunanan bago maglabas ng pera.

Dapat ring malaman na hindi kikita ng interes o makakokolekta ng dibidendo habang nakalagak ang pera sa MF o UITF. Kikita lang talaga kapag ibinenta na ang iyong mga parte o shares. Ang pinagkaiba ng presyo ng NAV noong binili ang iyong mga parte at kapag ibebenta na ang halaga ng iyong kinita o nalugi.

Sali na sa aming Investability: Mutual Fund seminar sa ika-20 ng Setyembre, 2014. Mag-click lang dito para sa karagdagang detalye.

How to Find Your Passion

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by: Francisco J. Colayco

*First published in Good News Pilipinas on August 5, 2013

You might recall my advice to people choosing the best business for them. One main factor is the need for “passion” for the kind of business they choose. As time passes, I begin to see more and more how his word “passion” can be misinterpreted or misunderstood.

Let’s look at this further by understanding some ways you can follow in determining your passion. Remember that you are looking at your passion that can be your business.

You can ask yourself the following questions. You will surely have a long list and you will not know everything in one sitting. It will take days, even weeks and months. Keep a diary. Take notes and review what you have written each time you add an entry. Maybe, you will cross out some items as you come to know yourself more each time.

  1. What is it that you really love to do and seem to be good at it? Let’s take the example of cooking. Let’s say you love to cook and are happy doing it. People say the food you cook really looks and tastes good. So let’s say you think that cooking is your passion.
  2. If you in succeed doing it, will you be so proud of yourself? In the case of cooking, each time you are able to make a special dish you are particularly proud of yourself. You practice so often so as not to make any mistake. Your self-pride increases as you continue your love for cooking. Still good for the example that cooking is your passion.
  3. If you do something the complete opposite, will it destroy your self-pride and cause you strong embarrassment? Still in the case of cooking, when you prepare a dish that is really bad, do you say it is because you are not practicing enough? Or is it really embarrassing because your level of expertise clearly is far too low from where it should be? If your standard for excellence is low that you are willing to accept major lapses in your skill, then perhaps, cooking in this example, is not your passion.

Want to know more? Read the rest of the article by clicking here

Wealth-filled Messages from the “Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo” Workshop

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by: Francisco J. Colayco

Last Saturday, the Colayco Foundation team and I held a “Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo” Workshop to almost 100 people at the Development Academy of the Philippines Building in Pasig City. I was astounded with the number of people in attendance. Even if it was a Saturday, they took the opportunity to start taking charge of their personal finance. It was an exhausting day for us. Nevertheless, it was fulfilling for us to see so many people learning and enjoying from the workshop.

After the event, we received some personal messages from our participants. I would like to share some of their thoughts with you.

Here are other letters from our participants:

It always makes us happy to be able to ignite a spark of change in our participant’s lives. I always said that becoming wealthy is an obligation to everyone. If you are wealthy, you will not just be able to help yourself better. You will be able to contribute more to your family, community, and country.

I hope you will join us in our financial seminars. For the schedule of our upcoming seminars, please visit www.colaycofoundation.com!

When Will You Decide You Made a Wrong Investment?

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by: Francisco J. Colayco

first published in Good News Pilipinas on October 14, 2013

Believe it or not, most investors invest without clearly defining what they expect to gain, what they need it for and when it should happen. For many people, “Hope springs eternal” because their focus is just in earning the gains. Having clear targets with specific timetables is the best guide in tracking investments.

In the first place, before you make an investment, you have to study how your money will be used to generate income and grow in value over time. In the process, you must also study and understand the attendant risks that could cause losses. It could be a bank deposit or a bond or a mutual fund or real estate or a car or anything that you will put out money. You have to look at all documents and study them carefully. Ask advice if necessary but please do not ask advice without having studied first. It is so sad and frustrating that many people want to be “spoon-fed.” This means that they don’t even want to study. They just want to be told what to do. Unfortunately, when you do this for your money, you could be in trouble.

You cannot depend on anyone except yourself for money issues. If you insist on depending on someone else, you are taking a very serious risk. No human being knows everything and the person you depend on, even myself who you probably think already knows a lot about money issues, is certainly limited. So, my advice is that you really have to educate yourself. Read books, articles…take seminars, listen to talks and do everything you can to learn.

 

Want to read the rest of the article? Click here

Combined Mutual Fund and Insurance

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by: Francisco J. Colayco

first published in Good News Pilipinas on October 23, 2009

Some asked me about a kind of insurance policy, which offers the insured the option to define whether he wants more protection or investment in one single instrument. His kind of policy is sometimes called VUL or Variable Universal Life.  VUL generally offers higher returns compared to the ordinary life insurance policy.

You should remember that like mutual funds, there is no guarantee of a specific rate of return. Some VUL policies guarantee return of principal if maintained over a specific period of time. In such a case, you will at least get your investment back even if it does not earn.

VUL policy can be a good alternative particularly if you need to have life insurance protection.  The main advantage is that you have both the mutual fund and an insurance coverage.  The mutual fund that is incorporated in the VUL is a mutual fund that is established and managed by the insurance company itself.  In general, there are agents for insurance policies and therefore, their commissions are deducted from the premium that you pay.  This means that the amount to actually go into the investment for the mutual fund portion could be reduced by that commission.

You should ask your insurance provider about the effect of the commission and what specific type of mutual fund your premium payments would be invested in.  Usually, there are fixed income, equity and balanced mutual funds. Be also sure that you fully understand the terms of the VUL, particularly the provisions on lapsation if any.  Lapsation means that if you forget to pay your premium, will the insurance company consider your policy as cancelled or will it give you time to pay etc.

Generally, VULs are cheaper and more cost effective compared to the ordinary whole life insurance policy.  Another advantage of VULs is that being an insurance product, your VUL policy is not subject to garnishment.  Garnishment means that if your assets are foreclosed for whatever reason, the VUL policy is not considered an asset for foreclosure.

On the other hand, investing directly in a mutual fund offers only pure investments.   It gives you more flexibility in case you want to withdraw part of all of your investment should the opportunity or need arise. If you take this route, in addition to the mutual fund, you should consider getting yourself term life insurance, which is simply buying life insurance protection year by year.

Paano Mag-Invest Nang Ligtas sa Mutual Funds

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ni: Francisco J. Colayco

unang lumabas sa Bulgar noong ika-30 ng Hunyo, 2010

HINDI garantisado ang tubo sa mutual funds. Sa katunayan, puwede pa ngang bumaba ang halaga ng investment mo. Pero kung susundin mo ang ilang simpleng patakaran, napakaliit ng tsansa na matalo ka. Tandaan na sa Mutual Funds, hindi ka kumikita o nawawalan ng pera hangga’t hindi mo binebenta ang shares mo.

Mahalagang maunawaan na puwede mong ibenta ang iyong shares anumang oras at tiyak na may bibili nito. Sa ibang uri ng investment, puwedeng maging mahirap ang paghahanap ng buyer lalo na tuwing panahon ng emergency.

Ang pangunahing patakaran ay ang mga sumusunod:

1.) Piliin lamang ang mga pinagkatitiwalaan at kilalang mutual funds. May inaalagaang reputasyon ang mga kilalang kumpanya at napakalayong mangyari na ipapaubaya nila ang kanilang mutual fund sa mga fund manager na hindi mahuhusay. Pero siyempre, kahit ang mga kilalang pangalan ay puwede pa ring magkamali. Kung kaya puwede pa ring protektahan ang sarili sa pamamagitan ng mga sumusunod na patakaran.

2.) Pumili sa mga pangunahing uri ng mutual funds: Equity Fund, Bond Fund, Balanced Fund. Piliin kung alin ang angkop sa iyong personal na planong pinansiyal (kailangang may malinaw kang plano bago mo man lang isiping mag-invest). Sa bawat uring nabanggit, ang mga fund na may mas mataas na paglago sa mga nagdaang taon ay may mas mataas na tsansang maging matagumpay pati sa hinaharap.

3.) Ikalat ang iyong panganib. Huwag ilagay lahat ng savings sa mutual funds. Hinihikayat ko kayo na i-invest na lang ang mga halagang gagastusin sana sa mga bagay na walang halaga. Sa halagang Php 35.00 kada araw, makakaipon ka ng Php 1,000.00 sa isang buwan. Kung sumali sa isang Equity Mutual Fund na karaniwang lumalago nang 15% kada taon, ang Php 1,000.00 kada buwan (na dagdag sa Php 5,000.00 na panimulang hulog sa mutual fund) ay magiging Php 238,000.00 sa loob ng 10 taon. Pero sa loob ng 120 buwan na ito, ang inilabas mo lang na pera ay Php 125,000.00. Sa loob ng 20 taon, ang pera mo ay magiging Php 1,409,000.00 kahit na Php 245,000.00 lang ang inilabas mo.

Kung ang panimulang requirement na Php 5,000.00 ay ang kabuuan ng lahat ng inyong savings, mag-isip nang mabuti bago mag-invest. Kung sa susunod na 3-5 taon ay wala naman kayong mahigpit na pangangailangan para sa savings, puwede n’yo nang subukan ang investing. Kung may biglang pangangailangan at mapipilitan kang ibenta ang iyong shares, may posibilidad na malugi ka nang kaunti pero maliit lang ang posibilidad na maubos ang iyong investment.

 

4.) Magtalaga ng target para sa sarili mo. Sabihin na nating gusto mong kumita ng 20% sa loob ng isang taon. Kapag naabot mo na ito, ibenta mo na ang ilang bahagi ng iyong shares upang makuha mo ang tubo, pero huwag mo na galawin ang original na halaga ng iyong investment. Kung piliin mong huwag magbenta,  pwedeng bumaba lang ang iyong average return on investment.

Beware of Card Skimming

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by: Art Ladaga

Few days ago, news got out about a woman who lost her retirement fund of P400,000 from her ATM account. For 31 years, she worked hard to earn and save that amount. Investigation revealed that her bank account details were obtained without her knowing it. Apparently, someone installed a device in the ATM machine she used and copied her card’s details (for more details of the story, click here).

The woman was one of the victims of card skimming, a dubious practice where criminals install a device within an ATM machine to obtain card details of ATM holders. Most of the victims are those who have a big amount of money in their ATM accounts. In just a blink of an eye, they can lose everything they had worked for.

We at the Colayco Foundation would like to remind everyone NEVER to have a big amount of money in your ATM account. It’s important to spread your money in different investments. Mr. Armand Bengco, the foundation’s Executive Director, recommends having only an amount up to P5,000 in your ATM card, especially if it’s your payroll account. Life savings (if one already has it) should be placed somewhere safer like a time-deposit account.  Putting it in an ATM account is highly vulnerable to ATM skimming.

When handling your ATM card, you must always exercise caution. Here’s an infographic from Inquirer.net on how to protect yourself against card skimming:

There’s a deep truth in the saying “Prevention is better than cure.” And this is highly applicable in personal finance. If you do not exercise it, then you risk losing the wealth you worked hard to achieve.

Sources:

http://http://kickerdaily.com/ex-cop-loses-p400k-retirement-fund-to-atm-fraud/

http://business.inquirer.net/176605/bsp-officials-downplay-atm-fraud-in-ph#ixzz3AM77rF8C

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

 

“Nang Magising si Juan” Season Ender

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The first season of Nang Magising si Juan ended last Aug. 10.  Look out for announcements on the second season by late August or early September.  Ariel went to Hong Kong with the CFE Team to attend an orientation of members of KsKCoop.  He had such a great time with them and Ariel realized how much sacrifices the OFWs in Hong Kong have been enduring through the years.

 

Ariel got a little emotional at end of the KSK Coop Orientation Seminar — with the following realization:’Na-realize ko, kung ito ngang mga kababayan natin — naghihirap at nagtitiyaga dito sa ibang bansa, malayo sa kanilang mga pamilya — ay kayang ayusin at harapin ang kanilang mga problemang pinansiyal, ako pa kaya na nasa sarili kong bansa at may maayos na trabaho. Nagising ako…‘

Ariel with Mr. Armand Bengco (KSK Coop Gen. Manager) and the rest of KSK Coop members in Hong Kong

Missed the past episodes of season 1? Catch it on www.pisobilities.tv!