Tag Archives: Financial Literacy

Electronics Engineers in Riyadh Financial Literacy Seminar

27 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by in Speaking Engagement

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I have been invited by Engr. Perry Camson, Chapetr President of IECEP Riyadh Chapter to conduct a 1 hr Financial Literacy Seminar. This will be held at Orchid Hotel, in Riyadh Saudi Arabia on August 28, 2015. It will almost be the same seminar that I conducted with IIEE last June 2013.

The seminar will discuss about Financial Literacy 101 as follows:

  • Money Mistakes Among Pinoys
  • Income Management
  • Increase Cash Flow
  • Debt Management
  • Create Emergency Funds
  • Ensure Proper Protection
  • Build Long Term Savings

For speaking engagement you may contact me through our contact page.

I will update this post after the seminar…..

Financial Literacy Goes to Riyadh Philippine Embassy With Angat Pilipinas Coalition [Updated]

23 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Speaking Engagement

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[Updated]

It was indeed a successful event that was attended by more than 50 OFW from Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Thanks to the Philippine Embassy for accommodating such event in coordination with AngNARS Party List. I could say that it is a good start seeing the enthusiasm that we have seen with the attendee. One of the attendee even told me why it is only now and that it should have been made long time ago. We are planning to have the second Financial Literacy Seminar soon. You may enter your details below so that we can send you updates when will be the 2nd Financial Literacy Seminar in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Here are some photos that was taken during the event.

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (1)

The Speakers (Kristine Rodriguez, Dexter Panganiban (Me), Oddesa Liwanag (From Left to Right)

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (2)

The Paticipants With the Speakers

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (3)

The Paticipants With the Speakers

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (4)

The Paticipants With the Speakers

Angat Pilipinas Riyadh Philippine Embassy (5)

The Speakers (Kristine Rodriguez, Dexter Panganiban (Me), Oddesa Liwanag (From Left to Right)

Photo Credit : Ma Bel Olaso

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I am excited to share that I will be teaching Financial Literacy at Philippine Embassy in Riyadh Saudi Arabia this coming Friday, June 26, 2015. I am a volunteer of Angat Filipinas Coalition for Financial Literacy with the Mission OFW Usapang Piso (Mission for OFW’s Dependent and Former OFW). I together with 2 other volunteers, Miss Des Liwanag and Miss Kristine Rodriguez will be teaching Steps to Financial Security for OFW. This particular seminar is in coordination with ANG NARS Party list who help to secure time and place at the Philippine Embassy.

ang Nars Philippine Embassy

It is our objective to teach fellow OFW on how Eliminate and reduce debts, Be protected financially, Be a responsible spender, avoiding and fighting scams, investing in Paper investments and achieving financial freedom.

I am excited since this will be 2nd time teaching financial literacy in Public here in Saud Arabia, at First it was with Engineers during the Annual convention and this time with most of the attendees are Nurses.  I have been teaching small groups in private houses here in the Kindom of Saudi Arabia and good to report that there are some spenders that is now turning to savers after learning the objective of Financial Literacy and I hope there will be more OFWm who learn about how to handle their finances.

We will be reporting our experience about this event. BTW this event is also through the effort of Burn Guttierez, the Founder of Angat Pilipinas.

ADVFN acquisition of Financemanila.net for P6Million in cash and share of stocks

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Business and Economic News

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I just learned that FinanceManila.net has been acquired by ADVFN Plc (“ADVFN” or the “Company, for about Php 6 Million payable as PHP2.5 million in cash and PHP3.5 million inf new ADVFN shares of 1p each as reported in online.wsj.com.

“I am delighted to announce the acquisition of Finance Manila which, in my view, is the most exciting trader community in the Philippines. Financemanila.net hosts large, active investor communities, which I believe are a perfect match for ADVFN’s premium subscription and advertising offerings. We will use the Investors Hub template we have developed in the US to take the site to the next level and accelerate ADVFN’s planned expansion into the fast growing markets of Asia.” said Clem Chambers, CEO of ADVFN.

Just to give you an idea about the traffic of financemanila.net I made a comparison with sulit.com through alexa graph pageviews/user. The graph shows the margin of difference when it comes to pageviews/user. It also shows that it has almost the same pageviews/user of sulit.com.ph, which another successful pinoy website that becomes a business venture.

Compare Sulit and Finance Manila Rev 2

According to who.is, Finance Manila has been registered and become online since October 18, 2004. In just 9 years this website has attracted millions of visits per month and has a reported 2 Million Page Views per month.

Finance Manila Whois Data

So is it a good buy? Let me do some calculation as follows:

2,000,000 Pageviews x 0.05 (Ad Clicks Rate) x $0.05 (cost per click) = $ 5,000 per month x Php 43/1 $ = Php 215,000 per month

So based on my calculation ADVFN can have its ROI for its cash payment in just a matter of 1 year, as long as the financemanila.net will hold its visitors or even increase its visitor. It is a good decision from ADVFN since  lots of Filipino are now starting to learn about Financial Literacy. This is story is another success stories of the those netrepreneur that started earlier than most of us.

Congrats to FinanceManila.net and to ADVFN partnership.

Electrical Engineers in Saudi Arabia Listen to Financial Literacy on their Annual Convention

22 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in Speaking Engagement

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Yesterday I was invited by Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines Inc. (IIEE-CRCSA) Central Region Chapter, Saudi Arabia to discuss about Tendering Process and Financial Literacy. It was indeed a great experience to discuss financial literacy with more than 100 attendees of the convention. There are some attendees who have already started having their stock market or even mutual fund but majority of the crowd have not yet started investing. OFW’s in Riyadh needs to be literate on things like this since as what I have told them in the seminar, it is not a matter of how much salary do they have but how much savings do they have  as part of hat salary.

IIEE 2013 Plaque of Appreciation Dexter Panganiban

IIEE 2013 Plaque of Appreciation for Dexter Panganiban

 

IIEE 2013

I teach them the basics about 70%-20%-10%, in which 70% goes to expenses, 20% to investing and 10% as your good will or tithes.

Here is the topic that was covered during the seminar:

FINANCIAL LITERACY:

  • Money Mistakes Among Pinoys
  • Income Management
  • Increase Cash Flow
  • Debt Management
  • Create Emergency Funds
  • Ensure Proper Protection
  • Build Long Term Savings

It’s really more on Financial Literacy 101. An Introduction that could open their minds about investing and Financial Literacy. If you happen to be one of the attendee during the event. You may get the presentation files at http://bit.ly/iiee2013

For speaking engagement you may contact me through our contact page.

Learn to Start Investing

17 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in Personal Financing

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One day when I was discussing about Financial Literacy in one of my colleagues, he told me that he doesn’t want additional insurance or any other investment because he have already invested in a reputable company. When I asked about his policy he cannot tell me anything about his investment in that particular company, what he have told me is that he is pretty sure that he will earn.

The next question I ask him was when did he think that he will earn from that investment and the answer was he did not know all he knew was he will earn because his friend invested in the same company and later earn more than 50% after 2 years.

It is so sad to know that there are lots of sales agent whose mission is just to sale, they don’t care if their client knows the risk that they are going to face. There are lots of sweet talk from different agent.

As an investor we need to know the specific details on how a certain company will make our money become bigger. We also need to know the risk that we might face after investing. We need to understand that there is NO risk free investment.

We need to ask everything from the sales agent, and if he cannot respond it only means that he/she is not the right person to advise you about the particular investment. But still give him a chance to ask his superior maybe his just new, but if he cannot answer it with in one day that means his support is weak.

We need to be wise in investing our hard earned money. Don’t make your friendship, family relationships, and church relationships as your basis of investment. You need decide after knowing the ins and outs of your investment.

In investing we need to have some goals, it is why you need to know the estimated time frame of growth of your investment.

This morning my youngest son, Daniel, 6.5 years old, gave me 1 Saudi Riyal (11 Php), he told me that he want to start investing like his older brother. I asked him about his goal and replied “ What is goal” and after discussing with him the meaning of goal he understood and told me that he want to buy his own Nintendo DS next year.

One Saudi Riyals

I am glad that at a young age my son is starting to understand the idea of investing. He understood that in order for him to get what he wants, he need to sacrifice a portion of his daily “baon” and stop buying some of his wants.

So if my son got the idea and decided to start savings, I challenge you to act and move to start saving for your goals.

Cost of Ignorance vs Financial Literacy

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in Personal Financing

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They say that Financial Literacy Seminar and Financial Investment is too expensive for people to start and I say it is more expensive to be ignorant than to get Investment portfolio such as Insurance , Mutual Funds and other investment.

Let me explain my point.

Most people when asked about their savings and investment, they will just reply, “I don’t have investment, it is only for the rich”. It is the reason why our society needs to be educated about financial literacy.

Ignorance

Saudi OFW who goes back to Philippine with Final exit normally gets End of Service Benefits (ESB) from his employer. This is worth 50% of his/her monthly salary per year for the first 5 years and 100% of monthly salary for the next year of the total service rendered. The problem; whenever an ofw goes to Philippines without any financial literacy, chances are this money will only last for few months and end up being poor while in Philippines. It is also the reason why many old aged ex Saudi want to go back to Saudi to work again.

I can give you an example, let say an OFW earns 5,000 riyals per month (assuming it is his latest salary), and he stayed on his company for 15 years. This will be his computation:

  • First Step : 5,000 x 0.5 x 5 years = 12,500
  • Second Step : 5,000 x 1 x (15-5) years = 50,000
  • Total take home = SAR 62,500 = approx. Php 675,000

Imagine working for 15 years in Saudi Arabia who have no knowledge in Philippine Business, put his ESB in business and ended up of becoming bank craft.

Financial Literate OFW will definitely think of something on how he can grow his money, taking into consideration different risk that he will face on his venture on investment while,

An OFW without any Financial Literacy Background will definitely spend 10% or more for “Pasalubong”, then after arriving in Philippines “Painom” and more. This is just to tell everybody that he came back from overseas work. His friends will approach him to open a business and gives his money with no proper feasibility study. So what do you think will happen to this OFW? Will he enjoy his retirement?

Financial Literacy is important for all of us. Ignorance is the most expensive things in the earth as well as ignorance can also be equated to gambling. Any business without proper study will have high chances of business failure.

Learning Financial Literacy does not mean you don’t have faith in the Lord. Financial Literacy is preparing for your future and having faith that the Lord will help and guide you in your plan.

I always believe in If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail.

Proverbs 22:3 ESV

The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

Be wise on your hard earned money.

How Can I Start Investing if I am in Huge Debt?

25 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in Personal Financing

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Debt ManagementThe question mentioned in the title, is a common question from readers of this blog as well as messages from my Facebook Page and personal account.

When people started learning about Financial Literacy, they want to start immediately. NEWS that they are hearing as well as different comments that they are reading in the forums triggers them to do so.

Many want to start immediately but due to their debt they think they cannot start investing.

Did you know that you could start investing indirectly even in debt?

Let me explain what I mean with that statement. Well this is how you start investing even in huge debt.

First Pay off your debt, paying your debt is like investing, just imagine if you have paid off your debt earlier than what you expect, you have already earned those interest that was supposed to be given to whom you are in debt.

You can do this in two ways, either increase your cash flow or decrease your expenses. Know the priority.

When everything goes well. It only means that you have already earned from paying off your debt by not giving more interest.

As an example, if you are in debt of Php 100,000 with 20% interest per year. And you paid the Php 100,000 earlier than 1 year let say 6 months, the effective interest will now only become 10% of the capital (20%/12 * 6). So you save the 10% interest which is supposed to be given as part of the interest for the whole year.

Next, since you have already made a decision to pay your debt chances are, you have change your lifestyle and learn about delayed gratification.

Decide to have a mindset that even you are not in debt you need to continue doing things while you are in debt like delayed gratification, less wants, less social life and more, and now your money that was saved because you have not changed your lifestyle can now be placed in your emergency fund (3 months of your expenses).

Next, after completing your emergency fund, start getting Insurances, Mutual Funds and if you want more, go to the stock market.

Just a friendly advice, don’t start in stock market while in debt, especially if you are in debt, specially in debt with  credit card or debt to people which is commonly know us as “5-6”.

There is a very small chance that your earnings in stock market could beat the compounded interest that is being given by those credit card company.

I know that the steps I mentioned above is not easy to do, but if you have your goal for your family and for your retirement I believe that you can do it.

Remember the following verses:

Proverbs 22:7

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

Romans 13:7

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Paying your debt is not easy, it takes courage and determination. So to avoid being servant of lender, pay off your debt and prioritize your payment. First pay those debt that yield the highest interest.

Red Market Last Week, Is Your Investment Affected?

17 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in Daily Dose, Personal Financing, Stock Market

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PSEI

It’s Sunday, and no trading day, a day that was agreed by many in the Philippines as the day of worship and is the time to contemplate with our Lord. Remember that we are just a steward of his blessing and whatever the Philippines is experiencing about its great economy is God’s plan for Filipinos.

Last week Philippine stock market have experienced a “Red” mark. (Just for information “Green” means gain and “Red” means lost). According to the news , it was due to the weak banking sector that makes the market “Red” last week. Many have taken their profit due to non-availability of good news as cited in the news. Remember that I have told you that news could affect the price of the stock. So what was your strategy last week?

Many might ask, is this the start of the so called “bear market“? Do I have to sell my MBT? BDO? or other stocks? As always it is still the decision of the stocks holders. Nobody is responsible for your stock but the owner.  Let me also remind all of our readers that stock market is the riskiest investment in the market but also an investment instrument that could give the highest gain. More risk means more possibility of gain. Below is my take in those question.

50% of my portfolio is in banking sector so, my portfolio was affected. But did I sell last week? My answer is “NO”. I believe it is just a correction in the market. But this also reminds me of “diversification”. My portfolio should be diversified so that when 1 sector like banking is affected, my whole portfolio will not be affected.

I also believe in Long Term Investment that is why I am not affected with the ups and down of the market. It’s all about mind setting.

If I had more funds, I would be buying more since I believe that the majority of the blue chips stocks are now on sale. This is a very good opportunity to buy since an investor could buy more stocks with the same amount that he could be spending about 2 weeks ago.

We will see if the market will still have its correction tomorrow.

To those OFW who have not yet started investing, you need to think again and always remember that we need to be prepared for our family future. But first of all you need to have Emergency Fund before investing and control your expenditures buy knowing about Good Debt and Bad Debt. Increase your financial literacy.

God provides, and this is 100% true and God will give His provision to those who have vision.

Proverbs 22:3

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

To those who have just visited this site, I would recommend you watching the full session of the Pesos and Sense and know how to start investing in the stock market

Image Credit : Philstar.com