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The featured article below would help those confuse people who got the money to invest but don’t know or have any idea on where to put it or perhaps just reluctant in finding the safest way to invest.
Take the query below as well as the answer to Edwin’s question.

Q: What’s the best way to save these days? I am expecting a big amount of money to come from the sale of a lot we’ve had in the family for a long time. With the global economic crisis affecting our economy, I want to play it safe yet grow my money. – Edwin

A: It’s good that you are thinking of protecting your money (your capital) by investing the proceeds from the sale of your lot. Investing your money may make it grow over time.

Understand, though, that with investing comes risks and rewards. If you want your investment to grow and yield higher possible returns on your investment, be prepared to meet setbacks and losses if they happen. Investments that yield higher returns come with higher risks such as heavy losses, as what stock market investors have realized last year at the height of the global financial crisis. Investments that have low risks may more or less safeguard your capital but give you low rewards as well (low interest income or minimal capital gains).

Bank deposits and government securities may offer you relatively safe investment options.

Bank deposits take the form of savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, and time deposits. You deposit your cash in the bank and you get interest back after a month or so. While this may seem to be safe and will preserve your investment, this may not actually be the case as inflation may eat into your investment.

The current rate for savings accounts, for instance, is about 0.75 percent per annum. The inflation rate is way higher than that, which means that the growth to be yielded by your investment in a savings account will be overtaken by the rise in prices of commodities.

Time deposits may give better rates, but still may not be enough to match the cost of inflation. You may need to keep your money on deposit for a longer term to achieve a higher rate of return.

As “The Citibank Guide to Building Personal Wealth” (a book published by Citibank) says, “Inflation is a major risk if you hold large sums of cash permanently, because it reduces the buying power of cash.” Put simply, inflation may erode the value of your investments over time.

We mentioned government securities above. These come in the form of treasury bills, treasury notes, and treasury bonds. Bills have the shorter term (less than a year), and bonds have the longest term. Government securities are generally low risk since the government guarantees to meet its obligations and pay the published interest rate.

But since you mentioned that you want to grow your money, it may be wise to look into other forms of investment as well to achieve your goals:

1. Stocks or equities may give you high possible returns over the long term, but these come with high risk, which you don’t seem to want to assume at this time.
2. Bonds may also give you good rates of return, but these also come with some form of risk, although lower than that of stocks.
3. Pooled funds come in the form of mutual funds or unit investment trust funds (UITFs) and depending on their nature may be invested in stocks alone, bonds alone, money market funds (government securities and commercial papers), or a combination of these.

To keep your money safe and make it grow at the same time, we advise that you do what wise investors have been doing all along: Diversify! Keep some funds in bank deposits, some in government securities, and some in pooled funds. Since you may have other financial goals and may have a timetable in needing your funds later on (example, for retirement), we advise that you consult a financial professional who will assess your risk profile and suggest the best possible allocation of your investments.

You may also invest your money in tangible assets such as real estate property. However, market values fluctuate over time, so be prepared for any eventuality. Investing in a business also comes with a high risk as not all businesses realize income. Jewelry and art are also forms of investment, but bear in mind that it may take a while for their value to increase. Converting them to cash may also take a longer time should you find the need to do so.

Whatever investments you go into, study all aspects thoroughly. Look into the pros and cons before deciding. We wish you the best.
Entry Credit: http://business.inquirer.net/

*Disclaimer: Those who happened to read the article above are solely responsible for their own investment decisions and should consult professional advice from financial experts or analysts.Thegetwealthy.com will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained from our web site. Thegetwealthy.com receives no compensation of any kind from companies or industries or funds that are mentioned above.

When I first engaged myself in the world of stock market, I have lots of questions and apprehensions. That’s when I tagged myself as a “newbie”. Certainly, I’ve been wanting to know how to trade and invest money thru stocks when I was in the university but never get the chance to have a hands-on training or sit with a stock market expert.

I learned much on financial education and how money works for me just early this year, 2009 when I joined the great people at International Marketing Group (IMG). This is the time I know that financial security is a priority for everyone. Hence, I came to value the worth of my money, investing it to where it could earn double or triple or more. That’s money working hard for me!

Confuse on where to invest your money where it could earn more at bigger interest rate still an issue? No worries, I will share my experiences in where I invested my money.

Point 1

First to consider is to secure yourself, which is, SAVING for your future. It is important that you have LONG-Term Healthcare, Life Insurance, and Investment. Just these three!

*Healthcare – the very basic and first to secure. Why? To get sick is really expensive. People who don’t have healthcare but have lots of money in the bank will just exhaust their savings just to pay for their medical expenses. You don’t want to touch your savings or income right? Then get a healthcare program that will pay your hospital bills and medicare if the need arises. Philhealth is not just enough (for Pinoys). Your savings are still intact if you get your own personal healthcare!

*Life Insurance- if you’re the breadwinner of the family and in the event that you lose your job or death cut your life short, the family you left behind could still continue their living as Life Insurance companies will give the coverage benefits to them. Or when you get disabled and you can’t function doing your normal job, life insurance will support you to start a new life! So get one!

*Investment- if you have extra money, then you could start to look for something new to start to grow your money. You may want to acquire solid assets like houses, cars, business, etc. Or you may participate in the Stock Market where you could earn high returns of your money but also with high risk! But risk is manageable if you know how to deal and play with it which is easy to learn. For first timers, investing in Mutual Fund is advisable.

Yes! I got those three on the second quarter of the year. How? When I joined IMG, they have a business partner that caters to the three above. It’s an all-in-one program! I’m positive in getting the Kaiser Premium Health Builder. This is my SECURED investment/long-term investment. It’s giving me back a fix 10% annual compounded interest for 10 years or more. SECURED? Money put in this program is placed in stock bonds and other securities and is managed by professionals.

Note: Returns that yield a rate of interest from 12% below is a SECURED investment. Anything beyond that is a Risky one!

Point 2

The next thing I took advantage of is putting my money in Mutual Funds. If interested in joining the stock market but with no experience at all, mutual fund is what I recommend that you engage in.

Mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then typically distributed to the investors annually-Wikipedia.

My mutual fund at the moment is PhilEquity. It is the Philippine’s best performing equity fund in a 10-year, 5-year, 3-year category. Now, make your winning investment today!

Point 3

Having quite an ample of knowledge on financial education. I started to actively participate in the stock market. I have 2 mentors, friends and online buddies (forums) who helped me in how to deal with the stock market! I say, it’s addictive!

Investing in the stock market involves risk. Why? It’s giving you high return of your money! 12% more, even 100% , 200% and even more than that! That’s why it’s risky! Your loss might be equivalent to that rate. But in any market condition, it’s guaranteed that you will be earning! It’s just how you play it.

To date, I already earned 45% return of my stock investment in the span of 2 months. I was able to play around with Megaworld’s (MEG) stocks and yeah, profit-taking is done! Will be divulging information on stock trading in my next post!

RULE in Stock Market Trading: Buy LOW, Sell HIGH!

Links:

International Marketing Group (IMG)

Kaiser Premium Health Builder

Mutual Fund

PhilEquity

If you’re new to the world of Stock Market, you might be hearing the term “ghost month” by the investors/traders circle. Well, we visited some sites on how they view the Ghost Month as it influences business market for many. Read below:

* This years Ghost month starts on August and ends September.

The Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries. In the Chinese calendar (a lunar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 14th night of the seventh lunar month.

In Chinese tradition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower world to visit earth. The Ghost Festival is the climax of a series of the Ghost Month celebrations. Traditionally, ancestor worshiping was an important part of the festivals, with activities including preparing ritualistic offering food, and burning hell money and bags containing cloth to please the visiting ghosts and spirits of the ancestors, as well as other deities. A very solemn festival of ancestor worshiping, the festival nevertheless represents a connection between the ancestors and the descendants, the living and the dead, earth and heaven, as well as body and soul.

So why does this matter to you? Well ghost month is embedded in the chinese tradition where you’re not supposed to spend unnecessarily during the ghost month. this really does happen every lunar ghost month of the year, as some foreign (Asian) funds do not like to make investments at this time. Stock trading is considered an unnecessary expense what this means for traders is less liquidity. If there’s nobody there to really buy up a stock then there’s really no way for stocks to go but sideways or even…. DOWN

Credit to: http://financemanila.net

*Bearish mood to persist as ‘ghost month’ rolls in

TRADING AT the stock market this week would still be influenced by crude prices and the performance of US stocks, analysts said, but consolidation is also expected during this “ghost month.”

“The outlook for the market remains bearish for the long and medium term,” said Jose L. Vistan of AB Capital Securities, Inc. “Short-term view looks cautiously positive as the near-term rally seems to be on shaky legs.”

He added that although last week’s rally might continue this week, the market still lacks the solid fundamentals to make it snap out of its downtrend.

The composite index last week made a surprising gain of 2.8% or 71.49 points to 2,584.21 as local investors focused on crude prices on Friday, ignoring the drop in US stocks.

Credit to: http://www.bworldonline.com

* Ask advice with any old timer in stock market and he’ll tell you to stay away from stocks during the Chinese ghost month. Indeed, the table below shows that stocks tended to perform poorly during this period (12 out of the last 19 years), registering an average loss of 4.1 percent.

PHISIX Performance during the Hungry Ghost Months (1987 – 2005)

*Source: Technistock, Philequity Research

Double whammy

This year is a double whammy of sorts because of the occurrence of a double ghost month. The Chinese lunar calendar (as the name implies) follows the cyclical movement of the moon. Therefore, in the Chinese calendar, a year has a total of 354 days or 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar year. To balance the lunar and solar calendars, a leap lunar month is added every three years. And this year, the leap month occurs in the seventh month with the regular seventh month from July 25 to August 23 and a leap seventh month from August 24 to September 21.

So far, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) is up 3.9 percent since the ghost month started last July 25. Will it stay up or will the jinx of the ghost month finally haunt it in the end? Only time will tell.

Trading simulation

Heeding the old advice of staying out of the stock market during the ghost months should have earned investors more money in their pockets. A simulation below shows that if one peso was invested in the PSEi in 1987 and a strategy of selling before the ghost month and buying it back afterwards was employed, the investment would now be worth P15.10 (or an annual compounded rate of 14.8 percent). Meanwhile, a simple buy-and-hold strategy would have resulted to only P5.01 (or an annual compounded rate of 8.6 percent).

Credit to: http://www.yehey.com/finance

*August is known to be the Chinese ghost month where the perception is that liquidity and the index takes a breather due to the Chinese tradition. However, it has been proven that this phenomenon does not have its usual hold on the market anymore. How will it be this year?

Credit to: http://www.absolutetraders.com

I have never profited from my office – GMA

Philstar.com – Tuesday, August 11Send IM Story Print
MANILA, Philippines – President Arroyo maintained yesterday that she has never and will never use her position for personal profit even as she strongly denied manipulating her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) that showed her net worth doubling in the last eight years.

Her lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, said the President vehemently denied “any report or speculation alleging defect or her non-compliance with the law in filing her SALN.”

A report from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said that based on her SALNs, Mrs. Arroyo’s declared net worth more than doubled from P66.8 million in 2001 to P143.54 million in 2008, or bigger than the combined growth in declared wealth of her three immediate predecessors, including former President Joseph Estrada, who was convicted for plunder.

“The President reiterates that she has never used and will never use or take advantage of her position for personal profit as she had declared in her State of the Nation Address and as expected of her by the people,” Macalintal told a news conference at the Palace that was also attended by First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s lawyer, Ruy Rondain.

He said he spoke over the phone with the President who was in Ilocos Norte yesterday and received instruction that he speak for her on the matter. She did not sound upset, he said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo prepared and signed her SALN under oath to the best of her knowledge and in full compliance with the Constitution.

“She honestly believes that she has been very transparent on her assets and liabilities and she has nothing to hide,” Macalintal said.

He said the report insinuating irregularities in the preparation of her SALN “is most unfair and uncalled for.”

He said the report “would accuse the President’s SALN as somewhat irregular just because she reported an amount bigger or higher than her predecessors.”

“We do not know what standard used by the reporter in coming up with her analysis. It is as if that if you reported a big asset, this must be investigated; if small, it’s okay and there should be no more investigation,” Macalintal said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo is inviting anyone to question before the Office of the Ombudsman, where the SALNs are filed, “if he or she has any evidence that the President violated or did not comply with the constitutional requirements in the filing of such disclosure documents.”

He said the President filed her SALNs in good faith and without any intention to deceive anyone.

“Those who alleged otherwise should come up with evidence to prove their uncalled for or self-serving accusations instead of being speculative or judgmental on the matter,” he said.

Macalintal and Rondain said if there were any vagueness in the SALNs, the Office of the Ombudsman should have already pointed out the matter to the First Couple.

Rondain also criticized the article’s use of the term “token compliance” to describe the First Couple’s handling of the requirements of the law.

“Under the law, there’s no such thing as token compliance. Either you comply with the law, with the requirements or you don’t comply. Either you’re alive or dead,” Rondain said.

On the issue of the alleged non-disclosure of the First Couple’s business in the stock market, he said the data is open and available in the records of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“My feeling is that if the PCIJ has any evidence, it would be better if they bring it out. Because the report is just full of insinuations,” Rondain said.

“It’s a clear indication that democracy is in action in the Philippines and nobody is prevented from making this report but of course the President expects the report to have evidence and not based on speculations,” Macalintal said.

A lot of explaining to do

Senators said the president has a lot of explaining to do regarding the allegations in the PCIJ report.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said every public official should account for the wealth he has acquired as stated in the Constitution and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II said the Office of the Ombudsman should be the one to look into accountability of a public officials but it was unfortunate that the anti-graft body was sitting on many scandals involving the Arroyo government.

“Of course it will raise eyebrows and the people will wait for an explanation on how it happened because she has no other businesses that can be the source of (her additional wealth),” Roxas said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said it would be wise to check the income taxes filed by Mrs. Arroyo.

Enrile said the figures must be justified. “I’m a lawyer, I know how to handle that,” he said.

Roxas said if the President and her financial advisers would say she earned from her shares of stocks, it would be good to check the rates at the time she said she made money out of them.

Sen. Francis Escudero said he had not seen the SALNs of the President but that her salary was considerably low.

Moreover, he said, there is always conflict of interest when a president ventures into a business.

“There is also a worldwide crisis not only in the Philippines, so you wonder why her wealth grew much bigger considering ordinary interest rates, ordinary return on investments on any business that one gets into,” Escudero said.

“I hope she will put that in her SALNs, the explanations of where her wealth came from and that she must be transparent along with the public officials,” Escudero said.

Escudero said it’s doubtful that the wealth had been acquired legally by the President and that her lawyers’ defense should be examined in detail.

Confirmation

The United Opposition (UNO) said it is seriously concerned over reports of “exponential growth” in the wealth of President Arroyo and her family during her term, which exceeded the growth in the wealth of all the three presidents before her, spokesman Ernesto Maceda said yesterday.

“The PCIJ report confirms what people have long known. Arroyo has flouted the rules on accountability and transparency in government and has made a bad example for the million and a half other civil servants running the government,” Maceda said.

“Now we know why she has made token compliance to the requirement of regularly stating a public official’s assets. It’s because she has much to hide. In her eight years in office, Arroyo’s declared net worth more than doubled, from P66.8 million in 2001 to P143.54 million in 2008. The increase of P76.74 million represents a growth rate of 114 percent.” Maceda said quoting the PCIJ report.

Maceda said the PCIJ report showed that the late President Corazon C. Aquino’s declared net worth grew by only 4.8 percent from 1989 to 1992.

He said, by comparison, Fidel V. Ramos’ rose by 34.2 percent from 1992 to 1998, and Joseph ‘Erap’ Ejercito Estrada’s, by 7.2 percent from 1998 to 1999.

If various allowances are thrown in, Mrs. Arroyo’s monthly pay would total P100,000 at most or P1.2 million a year before tax. Yet even then, this represents only 10 percent of the P10.97-million average annual increase in Mrs. Arroyo’s net worth since 2001.

The president’s SALNs, however, offer few clues to explain the big difference, or whether she has other lawful sources of income.

PCIJ said that since 2001, the president has apparently taken the path of “token compliance” instead of going for full disclosure in form and substance of her assets and liabilities, in accordance with the Constitution. As a result, her SALNs in the last eight years have been remarkably full of gaps in data.

Allies come to GMA’s defense

Mrs. Arroyo’s allies at the House of Representatives defended her from insinuations that she had enriched herself during her eight years in office.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III saw nothing wrong in Mrs. Arroyo’s net worth since her wealth came from legitimate sources.

“Baka nga interes lang ng pera iyan sa bangko o kaya sa stocks, shares and other investments,” he said.

“Critics are trying to throw everything because they have no more legitimate issues to raise. It is very clear that politics is behind everything.”

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo said the report on Mrs. Arroyo’s wealth is incomplete.

“It should have included details about the increase on President Arroyo’s net worth,” he said.

Romualdo said being an economist, Mrs. Arroyo had made some good significant investments that earned dividends.

“It seems that the battle among newspapers to boost its circulations is to report negative stories,” he said.

“How about good news? What happened to the positive gains of this administration? Do these good stories and positive achievements of the administration have been given enough space and prominence?” — with Aurea Calica , Jose Rodel Clapano, Delon Porcalla, Jess Diaz – By Paolo Romero (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

Entry Credit: http://ph.news.yahoo.com

Do you want to know how Compound Interest works for your money? Do you want to know how to double your money for a period of time say in years? Do you know about the RULE of 72? Do you want money work for you instead you working hard for the money? Do you want to get wealthy? Knowing the secrets of the wealthy is in your hand! Please read below:

Trivia:

“Albert Einstein called compound interest as the 8th wonder of the world and mankind’s greatest invention, because it is the mightiest force ever unleashed for the amassing of wealth”

How is Rule of 72 computed?

- It is dividing the value of 72 by the interest rate per period to estimate the number of years it takes for your money to double.

Example: If you have Php 100. When will this become Php 200?

Answer: W e have to apply the Rule of 72 and in depends on the interest rate where you put your money at.

* Scenario 1: Bank- it will give your money 1% interest rate per annum. But consider taxes, it might give you less than 1%, say .66% perhaps. This is on regular savings. You may get 4% interest rate per annum if you put your money in time deposit in the bank. Computation: 72/1=72. It means, it will take 72 years for your Php 100 to become Php 200.

* Scenario 2: Bonds- these are certificate of indebtedness issued by the government or any company who wish to borrow money from you with the promise to pay you out after a certain period (say 3 years) with a guaranteed interest rate. This is SECURED and NON-RISKY investment of your money. Most of them will give you 4% to 6% interest only per annum. Way better than 1% right? Let’s take at 4%. Computation: 72/4=18. It means, it will take 18 years for your Php 100 to become Php 200.

* Scenario 3: Stocks/Equity- these are shares or certificate of ownership issued by companies or corporations if you acquire a portion of their outstanding shares offered to the public. This is a risky investment but it may give you more than 12% or let’s say 100% or 200% or more of your money! But taking the risk is ok if you know how to manage your investments. Let’s take 24% rate of return. Computation: 72/24=3. It means, it will take 3 years for your Php 100 to become Php 200.

* Scenario 4: Mutual funds- it allows many investors (individuals, banks, companies, etc.) to pool their money and Professional Money managers will invest it in a diversified portfolio of securities (bond and/or stocks). It is recommended for NEWBIES who wants to try the stock market. It is “quite” non-risky or may be risky. So, it’s important to know what mutual fund to invest in. It may give you like 8% or more. It depends on how your Professional Money managers invested your money to give you the highest return possible. Let’s take 8%. Computation: 72/8=9. It means, it will take 9 years for your Php 100 to become Php 200.

There you go, that’s the power of Rule of 72. It is easy to compute. Now, you know already where to put your money to double it! It’s just choosing the options above, if you have questions or suggestions, you may leave a reply below or go to our FORUMS or chat with ME.