Category Archives: Kwentong May Kwenta

Grow your money! Plant Early!

Ano ang mararating ng PhP 20,000 mo?

Kung sa nakaraan walang nangyari sa 13th at 14th month pay mo, maaring may magawa ka ngayong taon.

Halimbawa, naitanong mo na ba kung ano ang mararating ng ₱20,000 mo?

Sa isang ₱20k, maaari kang bumili ng tatlo hanggang apat na taon na life insurance na P1m pesos kung age 35 and below ka. Kung kunin ka ni Lord ng maaga, ang mga mahal mo sa buhay ay makakakuha ng ₱1 milyon para kapalit ng kita mo.

Sa isang ₱20k, maaari kang magsimula ng iyong long term healthcare, at mag-bayad ng semi-annual premium (o premium para sa kalahating taon). May sukli pa na pang open ng mutual fund investment account.

Sa isang ₱20k, maaari ka ring mag-invest sa equity mutual funds, na may compounded annual growth rate na 12%. Sa ganitong assumption, ito ay magiging:

  • ₱40k after 6 years
  • ₱80k after 12 years
  • ₱160k after 18 years
  • ₱320k after 24 years
  • ₱640k after 30 years
  • ₱1,280,000 after 36 years
  • ₱2,560,000 after 42 years

Isang ₱20,000 lang iyan!

Kung ₱20k/year for 5 years, starting at age 30
Maaring makakuha ka ng life insurance na ₱1 milyon hanggang 65 years old ka.
Maaring may mutual fund ka na worth ₱2.4 million kapag 60 years old ka na.

Kung ₱20k/year for 30 years:
Maaring kang mag-Buy Term-Invest-the-Difference strategy, combining term insurance and mutual fund investing at 12% CAGR, para insured ka ng worth ₱1 million hanggang age 60 AT may investment na worth ₱2.5 million pag 60 ka na, o ₱4 million kapag 65 ka na!

The earlier you start, the better!

Paano ba makapagsimula?
Maari tayong magusap sa Facebook sa Ask the Money Coach

Usap lang tayo.

Bobet
The Money Coach

Protect Your Familyh

What’s the best protection for your baby?

What’s the best protection for your baby?

When your baby arrives, you begin thinking of your child’s future.

Many begin by opening a bank account for the child, promising to oneself to set aside money every month for the child’s future.  But realistically, with today’s low savings account interest rates of 0.2% effective rate ( after witholding tax), a thousand pesos per month is expected to grow to only ₱245,000 after 20 years ( or total interest of ₱5,000 after 20 years )

The best protection for your child is a combination of equity mutual funds in-trust-for (ITF) your baby, plus term life insurance for the breadwinner with your baby as beneficiary.

If we set up an equity  mutual fund, in-trust-for  your baby, assume 12% growth and invest ₱1,000 per month, we get these projected values:

  • ₱1m to ₱2.3m after 20 years, or
  • ₱3.5m to ₱14m after 30 years or
  • ₱12m to ₱86m after 40 years!

This investment can probably suffice to fund your baby’s college tuition after 18 years, or jumpstart family life on marriage after 30 years, or provide retirement as early as 40 years!

This is a great plan, but we know that what actually happens do not always match our plan.  What if you die too soon?

If the breadwinner is 31 years old or younger.  ₱500 per month can buy ₱1m of life insurance coverage for 18 years.

This means that if the Lord takes you, the breadwinner, home early, and you die too soon in the next 18 years, you can leave ₱1,000,000 for your baby as a parting gift.

With this combination, you protect your baby’s future whether you die too soon, or live long enough to see your child grow!

This solution requires only ₱1,500 a month or about ₱50 per day.
Can you commit ₱50 per day for each of your children?

Ask your questions or put your comments below this.

Enjoy Your SSS Pension – P1,200 per month?

by Bobet Prudente

Note from the author: when first written, minimum pension was ₱1,200.  With an across-the-board increase of ₱1,000 in 2017, all pension amounts were increased accordingly. 

Imagine retiring, and getting a pension of ₱2,200 per month.

If you read the newspapers, you probably remember President P’Noy was in the headlines in early 2016, for vetoing a proposed law raising the pension of SSS retirees by ₱2,000 per month. He said doing so will bankrupt the SSS fund.

It was such a distressing news. SSS could not afford to raise the pension by ₱2,000?

President Duterte thought otherwise.  Under his administration, the SSS implemented a ₱1,000 per month across the board increase in early 2017 for all SSS pensioners and is set to implement a second round in 2019.  But this will reportedly bankrupt SSS by 2026 only eight years from now!

Maximum Contribution for 30 years

I computed how much I’d get as pension when I turn 60. I was a senior manager for more than 30 years, and hence paid the maximum SSS contribution for 30 years. Therefore, I expect the highest possible pension for 30 years contribution.

And the number I got was….. (drum roll please) ….. ₱ 10,900 per month!

What?

How could a highly paid employee, paying maximum contribution for 30 years, survive on ₱10,900 per month when he retires?

But that is NOT the sad part. ₱10,900 is for those who paid maximum. How about those who paid less?

What if you paid for only 10 years?

There are Filipinos who paid less, and contributed for 10 only years.

The minimum pension after paying 10 years is ₱2,200 per month!
Can you imagine living with a pension equivalent to ₱70 PER DAY?

The maximum pension after paying 10 years is ₱7,400 per month.

What if you paid for more years?

If you contributed:

  • for 10 years, your pension will be ₱2,200 – P7,400 per month.
  • for 15 years, your pension will be ₱2,200 – P7,400 per month. (same as 10 years!)
  • for 20 years, your pension will be ₱3,400 – P7,700 per month.
  • for 30 years. your pension will be ₱3,400 – P10,900 per month.
  • for 40 years, your pension will be ₱3,400 – P14,100 per month.
  • for 45 years, your pension will be ₱3,400 – P15,700 per month.
After contributing the maximum SSS premiums for 20 years, you will be eligible to a maximum pension of ₱7,700

After contributing the maximum SSS premiums for 20 years, you will be eligible to a maximum pension of ₱7,700

We must build our own retirement fund!

Obviously, we can’t depend on the government or the SSS to provide us enough during our retirement. We must take control of our future, and build our own retirement fund. Otherwise, we might be among those who will retire with a ₱2,200 pension, or if you contribute the maximum premium for 30 years, ₱10,900 per month.

Do we want to prepare for your retirement?
We must take control of our future, so we will not retire dirt-poor.

Would you like to attend our free 1-hour “Building Your Future – Controlling Your Money” seminar in various locations, to get financial education?

After attending the Building Your Future seminar, you can attend workshops 1 to 4 at the
World Centre for FREE.

The third workshop is particularly interesting if you are planning to build your retirement fund.

Workshop #3. Building Wealth. Asset Accumulation.

  • Wealth Formula.
  • The Hidden Cost of Waiting.
  • The Rule of 72. Understanding Interest.
  • Peso Cost Averaging.
  • Mutual Funds.
  • Passive vs. Active Management.
  • Saving for your Children’s Education.

Plan to retire rich and retire happy!

p.s.
Learn the  “The Secret to Saving and Building Your Future.”  Click here to learn how.

p.s.  #2
Get a  free eBook “The Secret to Saving and Building Your Future.”  Click here to download it.

p.s. # 3
My wife Mary Ann and I conduct the “Building Your Future” financial seminars on Mondays at 2pm and 6pm in Quezon City.  Click here to register for our FREE seminar.

 

Take Charge of Your Children’s Future!

By Bobet Prudente

I remember 39 years ago, when I first enrolled at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. I was a full scholar and didn’t have to pay for tuition fee, but we were still assessed. And our typical assessment was about P300 tuition and fees for the entire semester. Not P300 per unit, it was about P300 for the entire semester.

UP Diliman

The Oblation at the University of the Phillipines in Diliman, Quezon City.
By Rinangel Buenavente, Crispin Sta. Ines [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Last January, my youngest son enrolled in the same campus at UP Diliman, and his tuition and other fees totalled P30,000. And I think UP has not increased tuition fees for at least 5 years.

Let us do the math.
* P300 x 10 = P3,000
* P300 x 100 = P30,000

In my lifetime, in 39 years, the tuition fee in my school increased 100 times, or about a compounded rate of 12.5% every year.

How much would YOU pay for YOUR children’s college education?

Most of you will be sending kids to college in less than 15 years, so maybe you will not pay 100x, but perhaps 8x to 10x what YOU paid when you were in college?

I talked to a seminar attendee a few weeks ago, and asked him how much he paid in college. He said, P15,000 tuition fee per semester.

Let us do the math again:

  • in 15 years, maybe tuition will increase only eight times.
  • P15,000 x 8 = P90,000 in one semester
  • P90,000 x 8 semesters = P720,000

And that is just for tuition. How about other school fees, transportation, allowance?
Let us say you spend another P280,000, and the cost of sending one child to college is P1,000,000.

If the basis is P30,000 (like what I paid in UP Diliman), the cost of sending one child to college in 15 years, will probably be P2,000,000

If you have two children, that is P2,000,000 to P4,000,000 you’ll be spending in 15 years.  Are you preparing to send your children to college?

Are you saving and investing so you’ll have an extra two to four million pesos in 15 years?  Are you saving enough, so you’ll have some money left over for your retirement?

Would you like learn ways to increase your cashflow, save and invest, so that you can send your children to college?

IMG launched a new seminar “Building Your Future” in January 2016 to help Filipino families achieve financial freedom through financial education, saving and investing. Our goal is to have 1 million financially educated families by 2020 ( hashtag #1M2020 )

Would you like to attend our free 1-hour “Building Your Future – Controlling Your Money” seminar in various locations, to get financial education?

Would you like to take charge of your children’s future?

#1M2020

Kwentong May Kwenta

Literally, “Kwentong may kwenta” means  either

  • stories that matter
  • stories with calculations

In this site, “Kwentong May Kwenta” mean stories with calculations that matter. There are many financial articles that explain financial concepts in great detail, citing numbers which seem magically derived from some advanced mathematics bordering on rocket science.

Our  “Kwentong May Kwenta” use tables of numbers to illustrate financial concepts, and practical applications, showing simple calculations one can do with a basic calculator or Excel.  The computations are easy to replicate for use in actual, personal situations.

We do not even expect readers to do computations.  We hope that by showing numbers to illustrate concepts and practical applications, the readers simply appreciate and relate to the concepts shown.

 

How to Invest by Paying Credit Card Debt

Do you have credit card debt?

If you have credit card debt, one of the best gifts you can give yourself is to pay your credit card aggressively. Paying high-interest debt is actually a very good investment strategy, sometimes “earning” you more than 50%

It isn’t enough to just pay the “Minimum Amount Due” every month. Create a payment plan, put it in writing, and attack your credit cards, starting with the highest interest credit card first. If the cards have the same interest rate, choose the one with the lowest balance.

Cut up your credit cards!

Aggressively pay your credit cards starting with the card with highest interest rate.

What happens if you just pay minimum? Let’s take a look. Suppose

  • you have credit card debt of P20,000 in one credit card
  • you do not add any more debt to that one credit card
  • your monthly interest rate is 3.5% and
  • you normally pay only the minimum P500 per month for this card
  • you keep your other credit card payments constant
Paying Minimum

Paying only the Minimum Amount Due will often increase your debt

After the first month, your P20,000 debt incurs 3.5% interest or P 700, and you pay P 500 only, so your ending balance is P 200 higher at P20,200. After 12 months, you would have paid P 6,000, but incurred P 8,920.39 in interests! Hence your ending balance after 12 months is higher at P22,920.39. Your debt and P 6,000 payment actually lost you P 2,920.39 or 49% loss!

But what if you decided to save an additional P10 per day or P300 per month to add to your credit card payments. That isn’t much, right? Instead of paying the minimum P500, you pay P800.

Pay more than minimum

Paying more than minimum, at least more than monthly interest, will reduce your credit card balance.

Because you are paying P800, or more than the interest (3.5% of balance), your debt actually shrinks every month. Specifically, your P20,000 debt will shrink to P18,539.80 in 12 months. This means your twelve P800 payments totalling P9,600 earned P20,000 minus P18,539.80 equals P1,460.20 or about 14.6%* !!!

But what if, when you get your 13th month pay, you use part of it to make a large payment on your credit card debt? What if, after deciding to save an extra P10 a day or P300 a month, you paid P7,500 on the first month?

Balloon Payment

Making a balloon payment reduces the interest rate

The balloon payment of P7,500 substantially paid the balance of your P20,000 debt, so after the P700 interest, first month ending balance is P13,200. Hence subsequent interest per month dropped initially to P450 then lower every month.

So your debt shrinks faster every month, up to P8,758 after 12 months! This means your P7,500 plus P800 every month totaling P16,300 earned P20,000 minus P8,758 equals P11,242 or about 69%* !!!

But let us make a real plan. Can you save P33/day instead of P10/day? The P23 difference is about the price of a cup of coffee at the cafeteria, or that modest ‘turon’ after lunch. That translates P1,000 per month. What if, in addition to your P7,500 on the first month, you add the P1,000 to the original P500, and pay P1,500 per month?

Aggressive Payment

Aggressively paying your credit card debt will enable you to quickly retire your debt

Wow! Is this for real? The P7,500 initial payment reduced the balance to P12,500 plus P700 interest increased the first month end-balance to P13,200. But the aggressive repayment at P1,500 per month very quickly reduced the balance to P1,022.81 after the 11th month, enabling you to fully retire the P20,000 debt after only 12 months!

Just think about this. Your P23,558.61 in payments earned you enough to fully retire one credit card with P20,000 beginning balance. That is like earning P20,000 on P23,558.61 in one year or 85%! Where can you find an investment that gives you 85% in a year?

After 12 months, it is time for your 13th month pay again. Time to start retiring your second credit card or next P20,000 debt. It will be easier for the second card. If you were paying minimum of P500 on your second credit card, you can then pay P1,500 more ( what you were paying for the first credit card ).

Pay high-interest debts! It is one of the best investments you can make!

* Strictly speaking, the effective interest rate is the same as the credit card rate, approximately 3.5% per month, or a compounded annual rate of approximately 51%.


Learn more about Practical Money Management Techniques in our FREE Saving Your Future seminars in

Related topics

Save Early!

Si Aga Maaga, Inna Sakana, Pol Pahabol at Loi Tuloytuloy

Let me tell you the story of four college friends, who  became millionaires when they retired.

The first friend, Aga Maaga, immediately started saving at age 21. He began saving P2,000 per month and investing it at 12% per year. After six years, he had a mini-reunion with two of his friends.

Aga Maaga

Aga Maaga started saving early, and invested P24,000 a year at 12% per annum. He did this for 7 years.

He told his friends, “Wow! I saved only P24,000 per year for six years, for a total of P144,000. But thanks to the power of compounding, my accumulated balance is now P218,13! But I am getting married already, and I can’t afford to save anymore, so I will stop saving.”

His two friends, Inna Sakana and Pol Pahabol  said “Wow! We’re 27 years old already, but we want to start now! We will begin saving P2,000 per month too, and invest the savings at 12%”

The three friends met again six years later, and compared their portfolio.

All three friends saved P2,000 per month, or P24,000 per year for six years for a total of P144,000. But Aga Maaga already had P430,562 after 12 years, while both Inna Sakana and Pol Pahabol had P218,136, just like Aga Maaga six years earlier!

They noted Aga Maaga‘s investment was already P430,562, or almost twice their P218,136!

Inna Sakana said “I will also get married, and have to stop saving. Maybe my investment will grow like Aga Maaga

Aga Maaga, Inna Hulina and Pol Pahabol

Inna Hulina and Pol Pahabol copied Aga Maaga’s investment, but started 6 years later. They saved and invested P24,000 per year at 12% per annum for six years.

Pol Pahabol said, “I want to catch up with Aga Maaga, so I will keep on saving and investing, until my accumulated investments exceed Aga Maaga‘s”

The three friends met many years later, when they reached 60 years old. They compared their portfolios.

At age 60, Aga Maaga, after saving P144,000 from age 21 to 26, and waiting till age 60, had P10,283,493 in his portfolio. His money grew 71 times from age 21 to age 60!

At age 60, Inna Sakana, after saving P144,000 from age 27 to 32, and waiting till age 60, had P5,209,938 in his portfolio, about half of what Aga Maaga had! The only difference in their investment strategy, is that Inna Sakana began saving six years later!

After 40 years

After 40 years, Aga Maaga and Pol Pahabol both had P10M pesos. But Aga Maaga invested onyl P144,000 while Pol Pahabol invested P816,000!

Pol Pahabol observed that because he kept on saving and investing, his portfolio grew faster and through the years, he was slowly catching up with Aga Maaga. Finally, at age 59, he finally had more than Aga Maaga. At age 60, after saving P816,000 over 33 years from age 27 to 60, he had P10,335,924 in his portfolio, his money grew only 13 times compared to Aga’s 71 times!

Inna Sakana said “Hay naku, nakakainggit si Aga!  Pareho lang ang aming na-invest, pero nahuli lang ako ng 6 years, tapos P5M ang diperensiya, kalahati lang ang aking investment ikumpara sa kanya?  

Pol Pahabol said “Hay naku, ang hirap naman habulin ni Aga!  Grabe! He saved and invested P24,000 a year for only 6 years, or P144,000!  And I invested P24,000 a year for 33 years or P816,000!  Tapos halos pareho lang pala kami?”

Then their fourth friend, Loi Tuloytuloy joined them. He said, that like Aga Maaga, he started saving P2,000 per month or P24,000 per year at age 21. Like Pol Pahabol, he continued saving P24,000 per year until age 60.

At age 60, he had P20,619,417, or about the same amount as Aga Maaga and Pol Pahabol combined!

Loi Tuloytuloy

Loi Tuloytuloy just kept on investing P24,000 per year for 40 years. At 12% per annum, he had more than P20M by age 60!

Who is your role model? Who would you like to copy?
Si Loi Tuloytuloy?
Si Aga Maaga?
Si Pol Pahabol?
O si Inna Sakana?

We’d all like to be like Loi Tuloytuloy, and accumulate P20,619,417, but if not we should be like Aga Maaga, who started early!

Are you ready to start saving and investing? Are you ready to grow your wealth?

Save Your Future by learning Practical Money Management Techniques in our FREE seminars. Register early, there are limited slots available!   Click below to register for the FREE Financial Seminar in

Are you ready to grow your wealth?

Are You Ready to Grow your Wealth?

Investing early and correctly make it easy!

Don’t’wait for the right time to invest, now is the right time!

People who wait till tomorrow to invest never actually  start, because tomorrow never comes;   there will always be another tomorrow.

Suppose you are 20 years old, and you want to have P5M in your retirement fund at age 60, then you have 40 years to build your retirement fund.

If every month, for 40 years, you save P421 in an investment vehicle that earns 12% per year, you will have P5,000,000 in your retirement fund.

Investing P421 monthly at 12% will give you P5M in 40 years!

Investing P421 monthly at 12% will give you P5M in 40 years!

But most young people will say, “I’m young, I’m healthy and I just got my first job! I’ll enjoy my salary and begin saving later!”

At age 30, you wonder if you should begin saving.  You still have 30 years to save before you retire at age 60, right?

If every month, for 30 years, you save P1,416 in an investment vehicle that earns 12% per year, you will have P5,000,000 in your retirement fund.  Because you waited 10 years, the amount of money you need to save to reach P5,000,000 already tripled!

Investing P1,416 monthly at 12% will give you P5M in 30 years!

Investing P1,416 monthly at 12% will give you P5M in 30 years!

At age 30, people say, “I just got married and have lot of new expenses.  I’ll save tomorrow.”

Many people have excuses not to begin saving and investing.  But just look at this table.

Investing early makes it easier to build wealth

Investing early makes it easier to build wealth

At age 40, one needs to save  P5,004 every month, investing at 12% per year for 20 years to have P5,000,000 at age 60.  But people at age 40 say, ”The kids are growing up, and I have lots of school expenses.  Maybe I can begin saving tomorrow.”

At age 45, one needs to save  P9,909 every month, investing at 12% per year for 15 years to have P5,000,000 at age 60.  The amount needed almost doubled in five short years!  But still people say, “My God, I didn’t know college can be so expensive! I can’t afford to start saving.  Maybe tomorrow.”

At age 50, one needs to save  P21,500 every month, investing at 12% per year for 10 years to have P5,000,000 at age 60. The  amount more than doubled! But still people say, “My parents’ retirement money just ran out, and we have to support them.  And I have more bills to pay. I really hope I can start tomorrow”

At age 55, one needs to save  P60,600 every month, investing at 12% per year for 5 years to have P5,000,000 at age 60. The  amount almost tripled!  That is about P2,000 per day!

Which is easier, saving P421 PER MONTH starting at age 20, or saving P2,000 PER DAY starting at age 55? At age 55, people sadly say,

“I should have started saving yesterday.”

And finally at age 65, people say, “My retirement money is just enough to pay for my debts. What will I spend tomorrow?”

It is never too late to start saving and investing! The earlier you start, the better!  It keeps on getting exponentially more difficult as you grow older.

Are you ready to start saving and investing? Are you ready to grow your wealth?

Save Your Future by learning Practical Money Management Techniques in our FREE seminars. Register early, there are limited slots available!   Click below to register for the FREE Financial Seminar in

  • Makati (World Center Bldg, Sen. Gil Puyat Ave, Makati across Mapua)
  • Quezon City (Timog Ave cor. Quezon Ave, in front of Ninoy Aquino monument)
  • Dasmarinas Cavite (Camerino Ave, near main Church)
  • Calamba Laguna (Highway corner Chipeco, Brgy Halang)