Ten pesos a day keeps bankruptcy away (Part 3)

This comment arose from a portion of my 22 April 2008 blog. This type of exchange between Glenn and Litong lito is what makes my otherwise fulfilling advocacy, frustrating. I thought it would be good to highlight this kind of thinking of some people. The sad part is that they seem to have closed their minds to learning more. Instead of asking where they could learn more about the principles, they decided it was not possible and chose the easier way out. They would prefer to have nothing at the end of 10 years rather than setting aside a small amount daily. Even if it did not earn anything, they would still have that amount of Php10/day x 360 days per year x 10 years = PhP36,000 at the end of 10 years, which might only buy PhP18,000 worth of goods after inflation. If every peso earned is so important, why is PhP18,000 not even considered important? I already explained many of the issues in the two previous articles. Below is my additional reply:

Glenn Hi Bro, We are thinking on the same situation.. parang malabo yung 12 percent-20 percent per annual na kita.. kahit maginvest ka pa sa mutual fund or uitf lalo na bagsak ngaun yung mga yun. I dont know how he compute[s] para makuha yung 28.8M in 40 yrs. Kahit abacus gamitin ko parang di mangyayari yun.. Kidding aside, baka maginvest nalang sa lotto ng 10 pesos everyday, baka matsambahan mo yung jackpot on or before 40 yrs instant millionaire ka na, baka more than 28.8M pa makubra mo. Litong lito Glenn, Its seems mas okay nga ang lotto kasi araw araw ay may t[h]rill, saka matalo ka man for ten years, at least part of it ay nakatulong sa ibang nangangailangan. Pwede mo na rin itong kalimutan tulad ng sabi ni Mr. Colayco na "Since the return is high, the risk is also high. Invest only amounts you can forget for years." Although after ten years ay zero ang balanse mo kung hindi ka papalaring tumama. Samantalang yung pag save ng 10 per day ay baka sobrang frustration lang ang abutin ko dahil malaking pera nga ang hawak mo ay wala namang halaga after 10 years. "parang malabo yung 12 percent-20 percent per annual na kita." Tama ka pre, hindi ko rin ito kayang paniwalaan, though wala talaga akong alam sa stock market/mutual fund, etc. Ang basehan ko lang ay ang interest sa savings ko sa bangko. Dati ang bank interest rate ay umaabot ng 10 percent, mayroon pa noon na 12 percent or more sa time deposit. Pero ngayon ay 3 percent or lower na lang yata. Ibig sabihin ay hindi na ganoon kalaki ang kinikita ng mga kumpanya, lalo na yung mga inaasa lang ang puhunan sa bangko. Second is, wala sanang insurance companies na nalulugi pero alam nating maraming nagkakaproblema. Isa pa, kung talagang siguradong kikita ang mutual funds and the like, siguradong lahat ng mayayaman ay dito ilalagay ang kanilang pera at hindi basta basta makakasingit ang mahihirap or ordinaryong tao. My apology po Mr. Colayco, frankly speaking, kung wala po siguro kayong ibinebentang libro? ay mas madali pong paniwalaan. Sana ay masabi nyo rin po sa amin yung mga "negatives" aside from "positives" para po talagang matulungan nyo kami ng tamang pagi invest. Salamat po!

MY REPLY: Before anything else, my having written books is precisely to help income-earning Filipinos with complete information including positives and negatives. You can only judge if I have not given a complete explanation after you have checked out the books. Also, the profits from the books is used to maintain the overhead of Colayco Foundation for Education that continues to educate and advise those who want the information and the advice through info@colaycofoundation.com and the various articles I regularly write for eight publications and two websites. I cannot force readers to believe in me. But I do hope they will have the open mindedness to try to understand what I write about objectively. It’s about time that people listen and question the song, and not the singer. I already explained in the previous article that 12-20 percent p.a. return is very real especially if the investment is made regularly and on a long-term basis. In the end, one must accept his responsibility and obligation to provide for his own future and that of his family, and then TAKE ACTION. This requires the willingness to learn about the things that count and the discipline and determination to improve one’s life. As one writer once said, “if you do not think of your future, you will not have one…” Php10 gamble in lotto will definitely give you the thrill that you want. But do not be deceived. Lotto helps the pockets of people who already have money and not pockets of people who do not have money. In terms of investment, the chance of winning the lotto is practically nothing. To add to the sad story, people who win the Lotto also do not hold on to their winnings for long. They are back to nothing after a while because as the saying goes “Easy Come, Easy Go.” Keeping money in the bank even in a savings account today earning less than 1 percent per annum still has a purpose. In the first place, not having the cash with you prevents you from spending it. Second, it is for safekeeping instead of keeping it in cash in your home. Again, if every hard-earned pesos is important, shouldn’t the interest of Php10 earned on a deposit of Php1000 be important too? Finally, the opening up of some Mutual Funds with a minimum initial investment requirement of Php5,000-10,000 makes this investment options available to the ordinary income-earner and not just to the rich. ———————— Check out www.colaycofoundation.com or call 6373731 or 6373741