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Investing made easier with BDO’s Easy Investment Plan (EIP)

Disclaimer: I have not been paid by BDO to write this post. I am simply presenting one product that I think can be useful and relevant to my readers. This post may not contain all the details about the product so I recommend that anyone interested should contact the bank directly.)

In a previous post, I wrote about having been invited to a workshop (Steps to Financial Peace) given by Randell Tiongson, a well-known financial planning consultant, as well as other inspirational speakers.

Randell spoke of the Philippines’ low savings rate – 16% in 2003 – the lowest in Asia. If Filipinos saved only 16% of their income, it meant that so many are not saving or not saving enough. In the workshop, Randell also mentioned that if all extra money is placed only in savings or time deposit, it earns at a lower rate than inflation. Purchasing power then is being eroded by inflation as it cannot keep up with the higher inflation. The only way to keep purchasing power ahead of inflation is to put one’s savings into higher-yielding products. Trust products are the popular investment channels available now to most people Problem is that while the minimum placements have gone down considerably to allow more people to invest in these, it is still not low enough.

I remember a time when the minimum investment amount in Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF) was around PhP 1 million. That meant only the already rich could invest in these types of products. Everyone else had to be content with a savings or time deposit product. Over the years, however, the minimum trust investment started coming down to Php500,000, then PhP100,000 and eventually, as low as P10,000. A sponsor of the workshop happened to be Banco de Oro (BDO). During the workshop, the executives of BDO’s Trust Department, introduced a new trust product called Easy Investment Plan or EIP.

For only P1,000 a month, you can already join the ranks of those who have access to higher-yielding products.

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Financial Peace Begins NOW!

Whether you’re still in school, in your prime or about to retire,
You need financial peace to live a happy life.
And there is no time to begin but NOW.

Highly sought-after financial planning consultant, Randell Tiongson, who also happens to be a dear friend, invited me to his workshop recently, Steps to Financial Peace. The opportunity to attend and listen to the counsel of someone known for his know-how in investments was too good to pass up. And truth to tell, there was a little voice inside me saying that maybe blogging was another way to share stored-up knowledge from almost two decades in the corporate world.

Randell Tiongson

Some Things to Keep in Mind

When you invest, your goal is to earn at a rate higher than inflationary trends. If all of one’s extra money is in savings or time deposit, which at the moment hovers in the range of less than 1% to 2%, depending on which bank you use, your money is really losing value while it is sitting there because your purchasing power is being eroded by an inflation rate that is higher than the interest rate you get.

80% of what is needed for investing is BEHAVIORAL. People need to get into an investment mindset. Randell mentioned that even those who are themselves in the financial industry are not spared from financial woes. Many know how to preach but do not apply the principles to themselves.

There is what is known as a Filipino vicious cycle — the parents spend everything they have on the kids, ending up with no savings of their own. Then when they are old and medical issues begin to crop up, they become fully dependent on the children to support them. And the cycle continues. Some will say but that is because we are family-oriented and that supporting elders is a natural obligation. This mindset, however, results in generations of people who have no financial peace.

55% of families in the Philippines do not own their own homes. Many have been renting for decades with nothing to show for the money spent.

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Yahoo! pays tribute to Pitong Pinoys

Yahoo! recently gave recognition to seven Filipinos (‘Pitong Pinoys’ in the vernacular) whose contributions in the realm of volunteerism and advocacy work made a significant impact in the lives of Filipinos. It is Yahoo!’s first initiative to celebrate patriotism and national pride among Filipinos. This recognition, for me, is so timely because, under an administration that was elected on a platform of transparency and good governance, there is a clear need to show the Filipinos that despite general cynicism stemming from scandalous revelations of corruption in all corners of society, there is no dearth of ordinary heroes.

During the launch, Yahoo! Philippines Country Editor Erwin Oliva related that they were wondering at first whether they could actually find 7 heroes. After the initial call for nominations some time in May 2011, they were surprised by the submission of hundreds of applications representing people from all walks of life, including simple folk who were doing community work without any prodding or thoughts of compensatory recognition. Those applications were eventually whittled down to the final 7.

What made this awarding ceremony particularly special was the fact that two good friends were among the 7 awardees: Jay Jaboneta and Anna Oposa.

Meet the Pitong Pinoy awardees who have chosen different advocacies to make life better for the ordinary Juan.

(L-R) J. Jaboneta, T. Leonor, J. Enriquez, A. Oposa, T. Saniel, H. Mendoza, A. Belonio

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Why you should read the fine print of your credit card terms

If you are holding a credit card, you should be aware of its terms and conditions so you can use it responsibly and minimize any risk that could make you financially liable.

I realized I had to write this post after I read a new addition to my Citibank credit card terms and conditions.

Something caught my eye when I recently printed out my statement to pay my bill. A box at the end of my statement caught my attention: “Please be informed that effective immediately, should your credit card exceed the credit limit, Citibank has the discretion to approve any requested credit card transaction depending on your credit standing with the bank.”

Wait a minute! So the bank can approve transactions on my behalf even if that transaction causes me to exceed my card limit?

Seems convenient? Under some situations (like a sudden medical expense or foreign travel) when we need more than the usual credit limit, it may seem so. But medical emergencies don’t happen every day. And we don’t take foreign trips all the time, do we? Remember, all credit card terms apply to us for as long as we continue using the card.

In my case, Citibank’s new terms and conditions made me somewhat uneasy. Here’s what the actual new section says:

“5. DISCRETION (Effective June 2011)

Without giving any reason or notice, and without prejudice to the other provisions hereof, the Bank has the absolute discretion…(b) to approve any proposed Card transaction which may cause the card account to exceed its credit limit;… (d) to increase or decrease the Regular Credit Limit, Combined Credit Limit or Special Installment Limit;…”

Take note. ABSOLUTE DISCRETION.

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Secure Your iPad NOW!

I’ve had my iPad for close to a year now and had downloaded the Find My iPhone app. But that’s as far as it went. Call it procrastination or simply neglect, but I never really spent time looking into, and activating, the app (shame on me!).I also had a password set up on the ipad but lazy me would keep forgetting to activate it whenever I’d step

At least until now.

A good friend recently lost his iPhone on the way home. He was not fazed. Being a geek, he used his Find My iPhone app to lock his phone remotely. Since the phone was not on wifi or 3G connection, he could not locate it right away but the ability to do it is there. I had already heard of people in other countries who have used this very same app to locate their phones which they accidentally lost or were deliberately taken from them (some such stories can be read HERE and HERE). But it was not until it hit close to home that I realized that I could easily lose my own iPad along with all my important data in it.

Losing a gadget does not just mean losing a gadget. Because of its storage capacity and portability, your entire communications and working life is often inside the gadget or phone. It has your appointments and contacts. Often, because of the convenience of being able to check email, you are permanently logged on to many of your email accounts. The same is true with social networking sites. Can you imagine what a disaster it would be to lose your gadget with you logged in to all your email and social network accounts?

On an iPad, this is what you need to do to secure your device (it may be a bit different on the iPhone or iPod Touch but hopefully, you can google the steps specific to your device):

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Celebrate Social Media Day 2011!

June 30 is Social Media Day –  a day when millions of people all over the world celebrate the advent of technological advancements that have shrank the world and allowed people who live on opposite sides of the world, whether they know each other in real life or have met virtually through a common forum, social networking site, or some form of online community.

The world is indeed so small today with social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Plurk – the 3 more active sites I am on. On Facebook, I have rediscovered my elementary and high school classmates and touched base again with my closest college friends. On Twitter, I get to engage with celebrities, newspeople, bloggers and ordinary folks like myself in discussions that range from intellectual and political discussions to mundane tweets like ranting about the weather or what one is doing for the day. And Plurk is my haven, my closed community, where I get to share things not meant for Facebook or Twitter. Each of these social media sites have a purpose.

My world now revolves around social media. From the time I get up to the time I sleep, I am almost always online. Even when on the road, I feel uncomfortable when I am unable to check back into the internet to see the latest tweets, check if someone sent me email, or what the latest Facebook messages have been.

But it has not all been just socializing and making virtual friends. I have seen the power of social media in public service and in being an influencer. As part of Blog Watch, a citizen watch group that was formed in the months running up to the 2010 Philippine elections, blogger friends and I harnessed the technology and social media sites to bring voter education closer to the online community. To this day, we continue to use all the social media techniques available to us to continue our advocacy for transparency and good governance in government.

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