Rich Money Habits Carnival – Frugality and Success

Post author By akosiallan
Post date March 1, 2010
7 Comments on Rich Money Habits Carnival – Frugality and Success

Welcome to the second edition of the Rich Money Habits Carnival!

In this edition we will highlight the top 5 frugality and success articles out of the tons of money stories we’ve received during the month of February. May these articles inspire you to live a wealthy and successful life. Enjoy!

Rich Money Habits Top 5 Picks

Steve C presents Why Being Frugal Can Only Take You So Far On Your Path To Wealth posted at MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. RMH – A great read on the age-old dilemma of going too cheap. Steve argues that raising your income by working on your business gives back way bigger returns than the measly saved income you gain from cutting back expenses.
Faizal Nisar presents Secret of Success: YOU | Be Truly Happy posted at Be Truly Happy, saying, “Creating money begins in the mind. Once you learn that success is a mindset, you can become rich in any industry.” RMH – Inspiring article on taking responsibility for your own success. The question at the end says it all, “will you take responsibility for your success, or blame others for your failure.”
KCLau presents Focus: Achieving Goals posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “A guest post by Sayeed, a senior manager in a large MNC in Penang on how he achieved his financial goals.” RMH – Interesting article on why we should keep on dreaming. Sayeed offers 5 tips on how to focus on your dream and achieve it. My personal favorite – “get 15 minutes a day to read a book, best before going to bed. Develop the habit from there…”
FIRE Getters presents A Simple Budget That Works? posted at FIRE Finance. RMH – Very helpful tips on how to make your budget “actually” work. The article aptly describes the problem of budgeting as being “too complex and rigid” while real life demands “flexibility and simplicity.”
Wenchypoo presents Ending Bureaucracy posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket. RMH – Great article explaining what bureaucracy means. While reading the article, I couldn’t help but compare it to how big companies “bureaucracies” disguised these things as “processes”…in reality, all these “processes” do is delay you from doing what you really need to do in the first place.

Other interesting articles in this edition

Money Stories

tristin presents This Is Me ? I Will Become a Millionaire posted at tristinaugustus.com.
Nathan Bishop presents 100 Best Companies To Work For 2010 posted at The Debt Hawk, saying, “100 Best Companies To Work For 2010”
MyMaria presents Debt Snowball: Making Progress posted at Frugal Homesteading Blog, saying, “We’ve paid off more than 75% of our debt since we started doing the debt snowball. Here’s how.”
Credit Shout presents Credit Cards From A College Students Perspective posted at CreditShout.

Business

Frank Goley presents Why a Business Plan is so Important to your Business Success posted at Business Success Strategies, saying, “The business success strategies blog is written by small business success expert, Frank Goley, the chief business consultant for ABC Business Consulting. Frank has more than twenty years experience helping companies start, grow, turn around and succeed.”
Eadwine Walter presents Why Are College Students Dropping Their Business Majors? We Give You the Stats. posted at Online University Data, saying, “Ironically, while the economy is in the tank, statistics reveal that the percentage of college freshmen who plan to major in business is at its lowest level since the mid-1970s.”
Martin Russell presents My Biggest Mistake Starting Off posted at Martin Russell.
Glory Scott presents Maruti Suzuki to roll out Sports Car ‘Kizashi’ in India posted at Breaking News Online, saying, “Maruti Suzuki India is all set to roll out its sports luxury car, ‘Kizashi’ in the Indian market. The car is expected to be priced at Rs 10 lakh – 13 lakh. It will give a tough competitions to brands like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Skoda and Volkswagen.”
John Paul Aguiar presents Why You Need To Be A Affiliate Marketer Today posted at Money Dummy Blog.

Personal Finance

Lazy Man and Money presents Seven Things You Must Do to Prepare for An Emergency posted at Lazy Man and Money.
Roshawn Watson presents Americans Have Loss Financial Hope posted at Watson Inc, saying, “A recent study highlights how Americans have loss hope for getting rich”
Kathleen Gaga presents One of the most effective ways to energetically attract money posted at Daily Awareness, saying, “You must expect nothing in return. Not from where you give your money nor from any other source. Simply give because you want to give.”
CreditCardAssist presents Card Issuers Step Up for Haitian Relief Efforts posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Credit card issuers have stepped in to assist with Haitian relief efforts by waiving interchange fees on relief donations and donating money to international relief organizations.”
youngandthrifty presents youngandthrifty joins the ?Million Dollar Club? posted at youngandthrifty, saying, “Youngandthrifty takes the plunge and joins Budgetsaresexy’s Million Dollar Club- whereby members pledge to have rich money habits in order to reach a net worth of a cool million.”
JJF presents IRS Imputed Interest Rules | IRS Tax Advice posted at The Personal Finance Blog.
Patrick @ Military Money presents Which Types of Insurance Do You Really Need? posted at Military Finance Network, saying, “This article covers some of the basic types of insurance needed by most people, young and old.”
ABC presents Income Tax Brackets And Marginal Tax Rates for 2010 posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “Complete list of income tax brackets and marginal tax rates for 2010.”
Four Pillars presents Complete Tax Return Myself Or Should I Hire An Accountant? posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Should you complete your own tax return or hire an accountant?”
PT presents How to Cook a Better Steak for Less posted at Prime Time Money.
FMF presents What Your Boss Wants You to Do posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “Your career is your #1 financial asset. This post tells how to make the most of it by delivering the results your boss wants delivered.”
Joel Ohman presents CARD Act | Credit CARD Reform Act of 2009 | Credit Card Accountability Responsibility & Disclosure Act posted at Credit Card Chaser, saying, “A 5,000 word guide to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, & Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD).”
Weddings Affordable presents Wedding Help From Friends and Family posted at Affordable Wedding Planning, saying, “A great way to save money on your wedding is to enlist help from your friends and family.”
Cathy Stucker presents Finding Money posted at Cathy Stucker, saying, “Know that cool feeling of reaching into your pocket and finding a $20 bill you forgot about? Multiply that feeling by 10’s or 100’s with the tips in this post.”

Investing

BeaBu presents Are You a Bear or a Bull? Or a BeaBu? | BeaBu posted at BeaBu.com, saying, “Investors, short sellers, and the others – why you should trade on both sides. BeaBu.com is a blog about risk taking, macro trading, and alternative investments.”
MoneyNing presents Avoid These Five Investment Mistakes posted at Money Ning, saying, “Don’t make the same mistakes I did and avoid the pitfalls with these simple but important points.”
Abdulrasool Sumar presents How to Retire as a Millionaire with your 401k Plan and 7 Strategies to Achieve Growth of your 401k Plan posted at 401k, saying, “Learn the story of Knute Iwaszko who saved $1 million in his 401k plan with a $60,000 annual salary and paying the costs to raise 5 kids. You do not have to be a Goldman sachs CEO or a whiz kid on Wall Street making millions!”
Gracie Turner presents The Heaviest Price Tags In Higher Education posted at Online Colleges.net.
Jasmine Hall presents 100 Best RSS Feeds for Your Financial Literacy posted at Accounting Degree.com.
Hoven Keith presents Ultimate Guide To Biotech ETFs posted at ETFdb, saying, “ETF investors looking to gain exposure to the biotech sector have a number of options to consider–five to be exact. While there are some similarities between these funds, there are also some significant differences that result in unique risk and return profiles and diverging returns. In this article, we profile each of the ETF options, highlighting the pros and cons of each.”
Honeypurple presents 100 Important Personal Finance Posts for Women posted at Accounting Degree.com.
Debt Hawk presents Best Mutual Funds 2010 posted at Best Mutual Funds Now, saying, “The Best Mutual Funds 2010 will be determined at the end of the year. What needs to be evaluated is which ones have the best prospects of having the greatest returns and which one will be consistent.”
The Investor presents Rebalance your portfolio for your benefit, not the tax man’s posted at Monevator.com, saying, “Rebalancing your portfolio between stocks, bonds and other assets can boost your returns and reduce risk over the years – but don’t reduce the benefits by increasing your tax bill.”
The Smarter Wallet presents Peer To Peer Lending Sites: Lending Club vs Prosper vs Kiva posted at The Smarter Wallet.
Steve Patterson presents FastSwings – Blogs – Netflix (NFLX) Continues to Move Higher posted at FastSwings, saying, “If analyst nudge their expectations higher again, the stock should move accordingly. Look for this increase as a chance to buy or look for a slight sell off for your chance to trade the stock long.”
Patty Pedersen presents Seven Ways to Invest in Auto and Auto Part Stocks posted at AlphaProfit MoneyMatters – Investing Blog, saying, “Auto stocks are a favorite of the momentum crowd. Assets in Fidelity Select Automotive have swelled 20 times from a year ago. This article presents five prudent auto plays including Autoliv and Penske Auto.”

Other

nissim ziv presents Career Goals: Examples of Career Goals and Objectives posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Every now and then we come across people who are unhappy with their jobs. The reasons of their unhappiness may vary – they do not like their work schedule, or they do not like a particular colleague in their office, or even that they do not like their boss. However, these vague reasons actually serve as a cover for the underlying reasons of all dissatisfaction with jobs – the employee is unaware of or has not given thought to his or her career goals and objectives”
Peak Personal Finance presents Advantage of Having a Tax Professional Do Your Taxes posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, “It can really pay to hire a professional.”
Joe Johnson presents How to Be Fashionable on a Budget posted at Fashion Merchandising, saying, “About saving money and resisting impulse purchases when buying clothes.”
Silicon Valley Blogger presents Balance Transfer Credit Card Tips, Facts and Traps posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Find out how balance transfer credit cards can help you out.”
Four Pillars presents How Many Years Should You Keep Tax Paperwork posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “If you have just filed your taxes – then keep your paperwork for a while.”
Deposit Accounts presents How to Build a CD Ladder (Infographic) posted at Deposit Accounts.
Rugbygirl Crosby presents Top 50 Sports Business Blogs posted at Sports Management Degree.
MatthewPaulson presents Tips to Repair Bad Credit posted at Fine-Tuned Finances.
Billeater presents Foreclosure – Should You Walk Away From Your Home posted at Billeater.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rich Money Habits Carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rich money habits carnival, blog carnival.

Tags frugality, Investing, money, personal finance, Rich Money Habits, starting a business, Stock Investing, Stocks

Personal Finance

Where to Invest in 2010 Series: Part 1

Post author By akosiallan
Post date February 25, 2010
6 Comments on Where to Invest in 2010 Series: Part 1

Last Saturday, I attended Moneysense Live’s Where to Invest in 2010 Seminar after I received an invitation from the event’s organizers.

In the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing the lessons I’ve learned from the seminar through a series of articles. This is part 1 of the series which tries to present the investing profile of Filipinos as well as the overall investment climate in the world and in the Philippines for 2010.

The Filipino Investor Profile

The first part of the seminar showcased some very interesting statistics based on a survey conducted by the event organizers. Here are some of the highlights.

50% of the participants are of age 31 – 40 years old
50% of the participants are single
46% of the participants are just starting to invest
77% of the participants want to have financial freedom

While the numbers are not reflective of the whole nation’s investing profile, it is very interesting to note that “a lot of single Filipinos in their 30’s are starting to learn how to invest in the hope of achieving financial freedom.” This is definitely a good sign!

Unfortunately, the reality is that only less than 1% of Filipinos are currently investing in the various financial vehicles in the Philippines. Most are still unaware of the different options to grow their money. Some have no savings at all. Others are still struggling with debt.

Whether the statistics are encouraging or not, the challenge still remains – how to encourage more Filipinos to invest and be smarter with their own money so they can achieve their dream of financial freedom.

Overall Financial Outlook for 2010

During the seminar, a speaker from Citibank noted that on a macro level, financial growth will be driven more by the emerging markets (e.g. China, South America, etc). Developed nations such as those in Europe and the US have been hit hard by the financial crisis and their growth will not be as fast as the emerging markets.

According to him, the Philippines is expected to grow slowly but surely, fueled by the strong domestic demand as well as the very strong remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers. In addition, there is also some expected volatility on the market due to the upcoming presidential elections. Stock markets may go up or down depending on the investor sentiment on who will be elected as President of the Philippines.

For those planning to invest in 2010, he offered the following tips:

Assess your financial goals
Know your risk profile: risk-averse, conservative, balanced, growth
Consider investing long-term to reduce volatility and risk
Do not time the market
Harness the power of compounding – reinvest cash flows
Invest regularly to benefit from cost-averaging
Rebalance regularly to reduce your risk
Consider managed funds if you do not have the time and expertise

Rich Money Habits Thoughts: The tips above are nothing new. Even though it’s important to know what’s happening all around the financial markets in the world and in the Philippines, I think it is NOT as important as discovering and unleashing the investor in you.

The battle of whether to invest or not is happening only in your own mind. The hesitancy is paralyzing. If you want to invest, take the first step. It’s important to learn from books and seminars, but it’s even more important to take action and actually invest.

At the end of the day, in spite of all the ups and downs of the market, your tendency will always be to turn to your own money habits. Do you save or invest regularly? Why not? Make it a habit. Start now. Invest and be financially free.

Watch out for part 2 of the Where To Invest in 2010 Series: 5 Stages of Life Cycle Investing!

Bonds Business How To Tutorials Investing Money Mindset Personal Finance Stocks

Reader Question: What to do with an extra PhP 50,000?

Post author By akosiallan
Post date February 19, 2010
5 Comments on Reader Question: What to do with an extra PhP 50,000?

I recently received an email from an avid reader of this blog. He asked me one simple question. He said,

“I have an extra PhP50,000. I don’t know if I should invest it all in RTBs? What do you think? What is the best thing I can do with my money?”

I remember sending a quick note asking him more about his financial situation whether he has any existing debts he can pay off with the PhP50,000 or if he has saved up for an emergency fund. If he’s financially OK with both, I then asked him if he’s willing to leave his money in RTBs for the long term (at least 5 years)? If not, perhaps he can consider using the extra money to start a small business.

Upon reflecting on the question, I realized this is a question most of us will face at least once in our lifetime.

The key to taking control of your own money

If you really want to be rich, one question you’ll have to ask yourself more often than anything else is —

“What is the best thing I can do with my money?”

Do you remember the time you received your last 13th or 14th month bonus? Maybe, about 2 months ago? 🙂 Suddenly you had extra cash to do whatever you want. Or perhaps when one of your grandmother was so pleased with you receiving honors on your graduation, she gave you a $100 gift? Or when you recently got your first promotion as a Team Lead and got a whopping PhP 3,000 as bonus?

All of these brought you the same thing – the sudden problem of having “too much money”.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’d rather have the problem of having “too much money” than the problem of “not enough money.”

Why having too much money is a problem

As some of you may realize, having too much money is indeed a problem. Granted, not many people are currently facing this problem, especially in this time of recession. These days, people are more familiar with the problem of “not enough money”.

If you have this problem of having too much money, congratulations! You have the opportunity to face a different kind of challenge in your journey to financial freedom. The challenge is to fully utilize your extra money and ask yourself what is the best thing you can do with it.

How people try to solve having too much money

1) Spend it

For some, the answer is simple. Spend it. Spend it on something you want. You want that cool gadget they call the “iPad" or the earlier generation and wildly successful “iPhone 3Gs”? Now, you have the money to pay for it – in CASH!

Or how about the smooth talking salesman offering you a limited-time-only-special-edition watch for ONLY PhP50,000? He lets you hold the watch on your hand and shows you how it would perfectly fit into your tiny wrist. After a while, you start to convince yourself. You say “I deserve to have this gorgeous watch”. After all, you do deserve the reward after so many hours of working hard at the office.

This is the most common way people use their extra money. Unfortunately, the ultimate question still remains – “is that the best thing you can do with your money?”

2) Invest it

For others, it is more complicated than that. Their solution? Invest it! But how?

There are people who define their investments with what they can put under their name. Invest it in a car or a house, they say! It is an asset, right? Of course, it is an asset says your banker. Unfortunately, he doesn’t say whose asset it is. The truth is, it is the bank’s asset. When you pay your mortgage every month, or your car loan, the reality sinks in and you realize that the bank is making money from you.

Other people likes risky & highly leveraged investments. The truth-they are just plain gamblers and not investors. You will hear them say

“Never mind, give it to me. I’ll make your PhP50,000 into a hundred million in 3 days. I’ll buy a lotto ticket and when I win, I’ll split the money with you.”

The successful investors like Warren Buffet, on the other hand, live with a different mindset from the rest. They made their money through sheer hard work, a lot of financial intelligence, and allowing the system to work for them. Yes, they also lose money. But they have gained more – knowledge and experience. After many many years of ups and downs of the market, they still ended up making a lot of money in the process.

So, which investor are you?

3) Donate it

The 2 richest people in the world both donate to charities. Bill Gates donates some of his money through the Bill and Mellissa Gates Foundation. Warren Buffet is a big fan of tithing and in fact planning to donate most of his money as part of his last will.

When you donate, you are allowing yourself to believe that you CAN give. You allow yourself to believe that life’s blessing is so abundant that sharing it will make it even more meaningful. When you GIVE, you gain so much more.

Unfortunately, while we busily try to earn a living and make money, we tend to forget that money is a gift to bless yourself and others. A gift that reflects what is important to you and defines who you really are – God’s blessing to others.

In the end, deciding how to spend your extra money is all up to you. Anyone can advice paying off your debt, save for emergency, buy insurance, or any other advice that seem wise.

The reality is, I do not know your situation. We are all facing different circumstances. The advise to start a business may work wonders for some, while it may lead to bankruptcy for others.

It is only YOU who knows what’s the best thing you can with your money. Because it’s only YOU who knows what’s important to YOU.

So, what would you do with an extra P50,000?

Tags What to do with your extra money?

Investing Life Updates Personal Finance

MoneySense Live’s Where To Invest In 2010

Post author By akosiallan
Post date February 15, 2010
1 Comment on MoneySense Live’s Where To Invest In 2010

I recently received an invitation to attend MoneySense Live’s Where To Invest In 2010 Seminar at AIM Conference Center, Makati City. As a first time investor I thought this is a good opportunity to learn more about investing, particularly the available investment options in the Philippines.

I am planning to attend the event this Saturday and share whatever I learn from the seminar to readers of Rich Money Habits. Watch out for that in the next few weeks.

Since this event will happen this Saturday, I thought it’s a good idea to extend the same invitation to you so you too can have the same opportunity to learn first-hand from the seminar. Here’s an excerpt from the invitation.

Learn where to put your hard-earned money to work harder for you. Attend MONEYSENSE LIVE’S WHERE TO INVEST IN 2010, the third interactive seminar of MoneySense Magazine, which will be held on February 20, 2010, 1:30-5:30pm at the AIM Conference Center, Makati City.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

The seminar features 4 relevant topics:

Where to Invest in 2010: Get an overview of and forecasts for various investment options, such as stocks, bonds, gold, real estate, and government securities

Life Cycle Investing: Understand how investing figures in important stages in your life and what appropriate strategy to take

Picking Stocks Like a Pro: Learn the various investing strategies of successful professional investors and fund managers

Where to Put Your PERA, How to Invest REIT: Know what these new financial products and reforms are and how to put them to your advantage

You can learn more about the seminar @ MONEYSENSE LIVE’S WHERE TO INVEST IN 2010.

DISCLOSURE:

In an attempt of full-disclosure to readers of Rich Money Habits, please note that I don’t earn anything from promoting this event other than a free-ticket to the seminar, which is nice. :)

Also, kindly bear in mind that I have NOT personally attended any seminar organized by MoneySense and Learning Curve prior to this event. If you plan to attend the event, it will both be our first time.

See you there!

Life Updates Money Mindset Passive Income Personal Finance

Rich Money Habits Gets Featured!

Post author By akosiallan
Post date February 8, 2010
3 Comments on Rich Money Habits Gets Featured!

I’m very excited today. Rich Money Habits just got featured at MoneyHackers.net! Here’s an excerpt of the interview.

What encouraged you to start Rich Money habits?

It has been said that we are creatures of habit. Some money habits make us poor, while others make us rich. The key to being rich is knowing which is which.

My money habits growing up can be described as “working hard for money”. The only way I knew how to make money then was to work hard and and get paid at the end of each month.

Being young and foolish about money, I made sure that my “hard work” was compensated by having lots of fun. I have earned and spent my money as if there’s no tomorrow, dining out with friends, buying the latest gadget, or buying home appliances all at once, EVEN if I didn’t have the money to pay for it. I only had to use my new credit card.

When my debts piled up, I realized that my money habits are eating me alive. I even had to do cash advance on my credit card just to pay for rent. That was a wake up call for me. I realized I had better take care of my own money by controlling my own money habits or I’d end up begging for money to pay for what I eat.

That proved to be a turning point in my financial life. My journey of trying to learn how the world of money works started by discovering my own “poor” money habits and forming new “rich” money habits to help me get started in taking control of my own finances.

Rich Money Habits was born out of my desire to help people take control of their own money habits. It starts with recognizing that years and years of “poor” money habits programming cannot be undone overnight. It takes constant exposure to the financial habits of the rich, making your own financial mistakes, and having the courage to take action in spite of financial failures. More importantly, Rich Money Habits was built in the hope of cultivating a community where people can learn and encourage each other to discover and strengthen the “rich man” within each one of us.

How does Rich Money habits differ from other financial sites?

The main focus of Rich Money Habits is in helping you develop the mindset of the rich in the hope of drawing out the “rich man” in you to help solve your own financial problems.

Some financial sites focus on being frugal. Others focus on ways of saving. While a few concentrate on the different investment vehicles, whether it be online savings accounts, mutual funds, real-estate or stocks.

Even though Rich Money Habits will occasionally feature these topics, it is mainly to highlight the money mindset behind the financial decision and examine how and why people take advantage of these financial vehicles in the first place.

Does personal experiences play a key part in the content of your blogs?

My personal experiences (both successes and failures) are occasionally included in some of the articles in Rich Money Habits in the hope that it might help encourage other people to explore and discover their money habits on their own.

Where do you get the ideas for your blogs?

Ideas are a dime a dozen. I’ve read hundreds of personal finance books, magazines, blogs, attended financial seminars and coaching, designed software solutions to major financial services companies but nothing beats jumping in and experiencing how to solve your own money problems. Listening to other people’s money problems also allows me to tune in and understand why people do what they do with their own money. My goal is to extract the valuable financial lessons from all these sources and effectively communicate those gem of money ideas to readers of Rich Money Habits.

What are some key concepts to keep in mind when creating a budget?

One thing I learned about a traditional budget is that it doesn’t work – at least for me anyway. I don’t keep a detailed list of all transactions that I make. What works for me is keeping an overall picture of where my money is coming from, where is it going out, and more importantly, if I’m keeping any of it at the end of each month. If I need to know where my financial life is, I can check my accounts and instantly get an idea if my money is growing or not. I’ve learned to stay flexible and treat a budget like a plan that has to be continually refined as I go.

What is some financial advice you could give our readers?

Keep learning. Keep dreaming. Keep building your own rich money habits.

Thanks to Lydia @ MoneyHackers.net for the interview. The original article got published @ http://www.moneyhackers.net/465/interview-with-allan-from-rich-money-habits/.

Tags budget, financial advice, Rich Money Habits, Rich Money Habits Interview

Business Investing Personal Finance Stocks

How to Invest in the Stock Market in the Philippines in 3 Easy Steps

Post author By akosiallan
Post date February 5, 2010
52 Comments on How to Invest in the Stock Market in the Philippines in 3 Easy Steps

Investing in the stock market is scary for a lot of people. Others like Warren Buffet love it and end up making a lot of money in the process. But everyone who wants to be rich through the stock market needs to know some basic things.

Here are the 3 easy steps I followed in getting started on how to invest in the Philippine Stock Market.

Step 1: Open a stock brokerage account.

To begin investing in the stock market, you have to have a broker. As for my case, I used an online stock brokerage firm in the Philippines, mainly because of the convenience of doing it all online, at the same time, taking advantage of the relatively lower fees.

A few months ago, my wife and I opened an online stock brokerage account with CitisecOnline.com. It was after many many months of thinking about it. I already wanted to open an account even when I was still in Malaysia but I always found an excuse not to do it. I’d say, it’s hard to open an account since I’m out of the country-Philippines. But the reality is, I can actually fax or mail the application forms to Citiseconline if I really wanted to and they’d be able to open the account for me.

I came across CitisecOnline.com again when I attended Bo Sanchez’s Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program after coming home to the Philippines last year. I got to know more about the company and the stock market in the Philippines. I was pretty convinced this was something I wanted to get involved into so I picked-up the application forms and brought it home with me. However, taking action on the investment opportunity is a totally different story. The only thing I had to show for it after a few weeks is the unfilled and un-submitted application forms on my hands.

Getting frustrated with myself for taking a long long time to decide, I finally filled-up the forms and decided to mail it to CitisecOnline.com the next day. My wife, being the thoughtful person that she is, tried to call up CitisecOnline.com to inquire how we can submit our application forms. She was pleasantly surprised because CitisecOnline.com offered to pick up the forms for us. It meant we didn’t have to pay for mailing the forms ourselves after all! So far, so good. 🙂

Step 2: Activate and fund your brokerage account

The CitisecOnline.com agent came to our office that same afternoon to pick up the forms. He took a quick look at the forms to make sure everything was filled out properly. After confirming that everything is in order, he smiled and thanked us as he went on his way to file our application forms.

The application process went on smoothly and after a day we got an email and a call from the COL agent that our application has already been approved and ready for funding.

Normally, COL requires a minimum amount of P25,000 to fund an account. For CitisecOnline Easy Investment Program (COL EIP), however, you can open an account for as little as P5,000 minimum.

We decided to fund our account with P5,000 first. We went through the nearby BPI branch and deposited the amount to CitisecOnline account number provided to us by the COL agent. Afterwards, we then faxed the receipt to the agent and waited for our account to be activated.

After a few days, COL advised us through phone that our account has been activated and our the login name and password have been sent to our registered email address.

Here’s where I encountered a few problems. The email containing the password was tagged as a spam. Since the email client I was using then was very old, I went through a lot of trouble trying to un-tag it so I can read the password. With no luck, I requested COL to re-generate the password again. Unfortunately, the new email containing the re-generated password got tagged as a spam too. Back to square one.

Starting to get frustrated, I then requested to have my email address changed. The COL agent sent the application form for changing my email address. I quickly filled up the form and faxed it to COL.

Eager to check my account, I waited for their reply everyday, expecting that they generate the new password to my new email address. But after a week, there was still no response. This time, I sent an email to follow-up and shared my frustration.

That same day, I received my login and password via email and was able to view my COL account online.

Now, we’re getting somewhere! 🙂

Step 3: Buy stocks using your brokerage account

After reading the book Rule #1 Investing by Phil Town, I learned that the basic idea of investing is buying a $1 worth of stock for half the price-$0.50. But calculating the value of a stock is not a very straight forward process, and to some degree, it is more of a guess than anything else.

I tried to calculate the value but it took a lot of effort digging up historical data. Fortunately, CitisecOnline provides about 3 years worth of a company’s financial performance but it’s just not enough. Looking at the negative growth rates in 2008, when stocks and businesses were hit by recession, it is even harder to make a reasonably accurate guess of the company’s future.

At this point, I had a dilemma. I realized I needed to learn more. However, until I have some money actually invested in stocks, I would not be able to learn through experience. This meant I had to invest another way, for now.

Enter COL Easy Investment Program (EIP). The program takes advantage of the Cost Averaging method of investment. The idea is to invest a fixed amount of money on a regular basis (weekly, monthly or quarterly) on premium growth stocks and take advantage of the power of compounding to grow your money in the long term.

Since your investing the same amount every week/month/quarter, your money will buy more shares when the market is down. If the market is up, the value of your shares will also go up. So in essence, you’re making money both ways. The only disadvantage is that you have to have the discipline to invest the same amount on a regular basis and leave your money for the long term (COL suggests at least 5 years) and not get carried away by your emotions.

For those investing through COL EIP, you can even choose to invest on the recommended companies/stocks listed on the COL site.

Here are the 3 main advantages of using the COL EIP method of investment.

You don’t have to worry about constantly watching the stock market.
For as low as P5,000, you can invest on solid growth companies.
Simple to use, regardless of age, income, or investing experience.

To gain valuable learning experience, I figured this is a great way for me to start investing in the stock market. Without the necessary experience, I won’t have the knowledge to properly analyze a company and I won’t be able to make an educated assessment of the value of the stocks I want to invest in.

Besides, the Philippine stock market only has a limited number of companies at the moment, so I might as well invest in the most stable of companies for now, those that I think will still be in business for the next 10 years.

I know that P5,000 is a very small amount for some people. However, it is an amount I’m comfortable
investing in into the stock market. I may decide to invest more in the future as I gain experience in learning the world of stock market investing, but for now, I’ll stick to investing at least this amount on a regular basis.

How about you? Have you started investing in the Philippine stock market? How’s your investing experience been so far?

Tags CitisecOnline.com, COL, COL EIP, How to Invest in Stock Market, How to Invest in Stocks, How to Invest in the Stock Market in the Philippines, Stock Market Investing in the Philippines

Life Lessons Personal Finance

Funny math video-are you cheating yourself?

Post author By akosiallan
Post date February 2, 2010
3 Comments on Funny math video-are you cheating yourself?

Here’s a funny video I came across about the tricky world of Mathematics.

So, who do you think is the better Mathematician? 🙂

While watching the video, I learned that anyone can easily manipulate numbers to prove what he or she believes in, even in the seemingly accurate & precise world of Mathematics.

The danger happens when we use the same tactics to deceive ourselves and make excuses instead of facing our money problems with honesty.

You might say “I’m not interested in money”. But the reality is, you’re willing to do anything to get a job and earn some money.

Or you can say “I saved 50% off when I bought this new pair of shoes on sale!” The reality is, if you didn’t buy anything, you would have saved 100% of your own money! 🙂

How about you? What “excuses” have you been telling yourself lately?

Business Credit Card Investing Life Updates Money Mindset

Rich Money Habits Carnival: First Edition-Best Money Stories To Jumpstart Your Year!

Post author By akosiallan
Post date January 28, 2010
7 Comments on Rich Money Habits Carnival: First Edition-Best Money Stories To Jumpstart Your Year!

Welcome to the first edition of Rich Money Habits Carnival-Best Money Stories To Jumpstart Your Year!

Every month we will be featuring the best articles in the world of personal finance through the Rich Money Habits Carnival. In this first ever edition, we’ve reviewed a total of 27 articles submitted by personal finance bloggers and picked 5 of the best money habits stories to jumpstart your year on the right note and inspire you in your journey to financial freedom.

Rich Money Habits’ Top 5 Picks

PT presents How to Negotiate Price posted at Prime Time Money. [RMH] Great tips and examples on how to negotiate to save on haircut, shipping, and freebies. The advice, “don’t be afraid to ask for a little something extra or a discount for being a good customer” is spot on.

Anastasia presents Discover Your Personal Model of Success in 10 minutes posted at LIVING ON A BUDGET. [RMH] Interesting article on how to discover your personal models of success (a.k.a your dreams), identifying how much you’re willing to bid or pay for your dreams, and re-examining what’s important to you.

Lovelymary presents 100 Extreme Ways to Save Serious Money posted at Accounting Degree.com. [RMH] A very long list of unusual money saving tips bordering on being too cheap but funny nonetheless. Some of my favorites are: on personal care-“No more toilet paper”, and on Food-“Ignore expiration dates.” Hilarious! 🙂

Roshawn Watson presents Thoughts on Escaping The Rat Race posted at Watson Inc, saying, “Do you yearn to be free…really free? What would you do if money was not a limitation? Perhaps the primary reason for increasing your financial literacy is so you may indeed escape the rat race.” [RMH] Great solid tips and advice on achieving financial freedom. More importantly, the article recognizes the fact that the battle is not in learning the “how” but discovering your “why” in your journey to financial freedom.

Abigail Perry presents i pick up pennies: Sleep and personal finance posted at i pick up pennies, saying, “Not getting enough sleep? You could be endangering your money!” [RMH] Great article describing how your lack of sleep may be costing you more than you know.

Business

Frank Goley presents Strategic Planning for Business Success posted at Business Success Strategies, saying, “The business success strategies blog is written by small business success expert, Frank Goley, the chief business consultant for ABC Business Consulting. Frank has more than twenty years experience helping companies start, grow, turn around and succeed.”

Lyn Wooten presents Work From Home Typing Jobs – How To Get Started Today! posted at Lyn Wooten, saying, “Work from home typing jobs are hard to find if you’re not looking in the right places. Discover a quick and easy work from home typing job you can get started with today.”

Investing

TheSmartestConsumer presents Real Rate Of Investment Return posted at The Smartest Consumer, saying, “Understanding real rate of return is important for successful financial planning.”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Online Discount Brokers: SmartMoney Broker Survey posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

The Smarter Wallet presents TradeKing Review: Top Discount Brokerage posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks for the carnival!”

John Laugherton presents Ultimate Guide To Agricultural ETFs: Agriculture ETF Investing 101 posted at ETFdb.

Frederick Yarmy presents Definitive Guide To India ETFs: India ETF Funds 101 posted at ETFdb.

Diane Steward presents Ultimate Guide To Dividend ETFs: How To Find A High Dividend ETF posted at ETFdb.

ABC presents What Are Money Market Mutual Funds posted at ABCs of Investing, saying, “A brief explanation of money market mutual funds.”

Sam presents ETF Exchange Traded Funds Are a Great Investment Strategy. Buy and Sell easily. posted at Surfer Sam and Friends.

Personal finance

Nate Kragness presents My Free Cash | Portfolio Insurance: Designing an Ethical Asset Protection Plan posted at My Free Cash | Your Guide to Money Management, saying, “Designing a solid yet ethical asset protection plan is one of the most important ways to protect your portfolio from the unforeseen, and can be even more important than carrying a general insurance policy. By creating redundant layers of separation between your assets, you can insulate and protect yourself from judgments, and even avoid lawsuits altogether.”

Mr Credit Card presents Best Business Credit Cards Recommendations for 2009 posted at Ask Mr Credit Card.

Abdulrasool Sumar presents What is a 401k Plan? History of 401k Plans & Annual Developments Timeline from 1978 – 2003 posted at 401k, saying, “As at 2003, total estimated number of 401k plans was 438,000 in America with assets totaling $1.9 trillion & 42.4 million active participants. Do you have a 401k plan?”

Abigail Perry presents i pick up pennies: Should you correct others’ mistakes? posted at i pick up pennies, saying, “If you notice a clerk’s mistake in your favor, are you obligated to say something? Where is the limit?”

KCLau presents DREAMS Do Come True!! – Our actions and visualizations set our Future posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “This is a guest-post by Sayeed, a senior manager in a large MNC in Penang about wealth accumulation”

nissim ziv presents Career Goals: Examples of Career Goals and Objectives posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “It is only when a person has a clear thought about his/her career goals and objectives that he or she gets ultimate satisfaction from his/her job and therefore progress faster. This article covers many examples for your career goals & objectives.”

Darryl Holland presents Why You Should Care About Your Credit Scores posted at Credit Secrets Revealed By Darryl, saying, “Learn to improve your credit score by up to 247 points in the next 90 days.Soon you will be able to proudly run a credit check with no shame.Stop paying more interest for your loans and credit cards.Start getting those low interest rate loans that you deserve.The Credit Secrets Revealed ebook will help you solve your credit problems.”

Big Cajun Man presents Adventures in Car Buying (or Now that is Chutzpah!) posted at Canadian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “Chutzpah is important, but you should be the one with it, not the person selling to you!”

Credit Shout presents American Express Preferred Rewards Gold or Platinum? posted at CreditShout.

BankShout presents TD Bank Relationship Checking Review posted at BankShout.

Four Pillars presents Why You Might Need A Tax Attorney Rather Than A CPA posted at Quest For Four Pillars, saying, “Some benefits to hiring a tax attorney over a cpa for serious tax issues.”

Real Estate

Peak Personal Finance presents Tax Advantages of Having a Mortgage posted at Peak Personal Finance, saying, “Are the tax advantages of having a mortgage worth it?”

That concludes this edition of Rich Money Habits Blog Carnival.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of rich money habits carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

rich money habits carnival, blog carnival.

Business Life Lessons Money Mindset Passive Income Personal Finance

Passive Income Opportunity Myths & Realities: How to Spot a Scam

Post author By akosiallan
Post date January 26, 2010
2 Comments on Passive Income Opportunity Myths & Realities: How to Spot a Scam

The idea of a passive income attracts a lot of people mainly because it promises to earn you money while doing little or no work at all. Some even think of having a passive income stream as an opportunity of a lifetime. Who wouldn’t want to earn money while you sleep? Who wouldn’t want to make money the easy way? Who wouldn’t want to sit comfortably on the beach, drinking a glass of your favorite drink while your “passive stream of income” works hard to make money for you.

That is the dream, right?

What is passive income?

Passive income is the residual income you receive from rental properties, royalties from your books, licensing income from your businesses, etc. This income is passive because it supposed to be earned with little or no work required from you at all.

While passive income promises a lot of things, it is NOT without a price. Identifying the myths & realities of a passive income opportunity allows you to spot if it’s an opportunity of a lifetime or a total scam.

Myth: Little or no work at all

Reality: A lot of upfront work

The most common myth about a passive income opportunity is the allure of not having to work at all while money keeps coming to you. While this may be true at some point, it is NOT the complete picture. In most cases, the reality is that setting up these passive streams of income requires a LOT of hard work especially in the beginning.

Real Estate

One of the most common examples of a passive income is rental income from tenants through real-estate properties. To some degree, it is a passive income. But still not purely 100%. If you are the one managing the property, you have to worry about maintaining the property and possibly fixing toilets in the middle of the night. 🙂 If you do hire a real-estate managing company, then you would need to make sure they do their job and worth more than you’re paying them. Otherwise, you stand to lose more compared to running the business on your own.

Business

Ask any employee what they plan to do after retirement. Most of them will answer that they want to go into business because “finally” they have enough capital to do so. Unfortunately, it could be the riskiest move they will ever make. The odds are against them. Statistics say that 9 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 5 years. Few do make it. Others are forced to go back into employment. The rest are content to live a “cheaper” lifestyle and forego their dreams.

Running a business needs your time and attention. It demands your focus. For that reason, it is not a passive income until you’re able to setup your business systems. Setting up these systems will demand your hard work, your patience, not to mention your time and money.

If you’re able to set these systems up properly and hire a great CEO to run your business, only then can you let the system work for you and allow it to give you a steady stream of passive stream income.

However, if you setup the wrong system, especially if the system requires you to be the one managing the property, you will end up having a job instead of a sustainable business system.

Myth: You need a lot of money

Reality: Having money is not a guarantee

Some people think that building systems to create passive income requires a lot of money. The reality is that successful entrepreneurs are not hindered by the lack of money in setting up their business systems. They even use it as an inspiration to be more creative in selling their ideas to potential investors and partners.

While having money is an asset to a savvy entrepreneur, it is actually a liability for someone who doesn’t know what he is doing. A lot of money in the beginning for an inexperienced businessman can be a hindrance to his success. With money readily available, a frustrated and inexperienced entrepreneur can just throw away money at any problem that comes his way.

This is hardly the way to set up a business system. It will only make the problem worse because the real problem is not identified and fixed, hence, the system does not improve. All it does is throwing money down the drain.

In the end, money is an asset or a liability depending on how a person makes use of it.

Myth: Setting up a passive income stream is very hard

Reality: Setting up a passive income stream can be learned

While setting up a passive income requires a lot of work especially in the beginning, it certainly is not limited only to hardworking individuals. Sometimes, not wanting to work hard can also be your asset as it forces you to think of ways to setup the business without you having to work for it.

You can choose to hire hardworking employees to do the work for you. You can spend your time learning and figuring out how to set up efficient systems. You can concentrate on the 20% of things you do that brings in 80% of your output and delegate all the rest.

Doing any of these things allows you to leverage your business system to complement your employees’ strengths and provide more high-value offerings without necessarily doing the work yourself.

Internet

In this day and age of living in the information superhighway, it is now easier for someone to be in business. With access to the internet, someone working at home can setup a blog or sell stuffs through ebay, amazon, or other online stores. While this requires you to learn how internet businesses and marketing works, you can certainly hire someone to do it for you if you really don’t want to be involved in the technical details.

Making money online is such a popular dream for many of us. The reality is, it is also NOT for everyone. It requires a lot of learning, patience and self-discipline to make the system work. As with any brick-and-mortar business, it also needs your skills, time and attention. It demands your focus and unrelenting desire to give more. And with more and more clutter competing for your customers’ attention, there’s no other way to serve but to stand out and give your customer ALL you’ve got.

Demystifying the myths of building a passive income stream is only the first step of a lifelong journey. The only way for you to learn how to build these systems, is to do it yourself, always remembering that something worth doing, is worth doing well.

In the same way that an overnight success is actually a culmination of a decade long history of working hard, building passive income streams is a journey laden with challenges and opportunities.

In the end even though creating passive income may be an opportunity of a lifetime, it is still up to YOU to make it happen.

P.S. CLICK HERE to email me if you would like to learn a legitimate, legal, low-capital investment with huge passive income potential.

Tags Business, Internet Marketing, Passive Income, passive income opportunity, passive income stream, passive stream of income, real-estate

Life Updates Personal Finance

RMH Reader’s Survey-It’s time YOU get heard and get a chance to win Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book, Rich Dad Poor Dad

Over the past weeks, I’ve been writing mostly about myself. I wrote about my financial situation the past year, my goals for this year, as well as my health & investments. Enough of my stories.

This time I want to hear from YOU.

Let me know your thoughts, your dreams, and your ideas on how this site can help you achieve your financial dreams.

Participate in the first ever Rich Money Habits Reader’s Survey .

Click here to take the survey

Take the survey and get a chance to win Robert Kiyosaki’s all-time bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad-What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! for FREE!

This survey will officially close on February 21, 2010. After the survey is closed, I will choose among those who participated in the survey who will receive the FREE book give-away.

Hurry! Take the survey NOW! Answer the 7 questions in the survey and get a chance to win our FREE giveaway – Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book Rich Dad Poor Dad!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The FREE book is a paperback edition. Only one copy of the book will be given away. FREE shipping is available to Philippine and US residents only. If you’re based on another country, you’ll have to shoulder the shipping for the book.