Monday, September 12, 2016

Pursuing Passion Without Getting Broke


Take it from me, NOW IS THE TIME TO INVEST!


My mother used to motivate us into saving money in the bank as early as 12 years old. She opened up a bank account for me and my sister and promised us that she will double it if we would not spend the money in it when she comes back from working in Milan, Italy.

That simple deed fostered a savers attitude in me and I'm glad I was able to pass it on to my kids. But hey, the season we live in, where modern amenities and adverts rule, money tends to disappear in one click.  I have to admit, college was my introduction to a life of spending pleasure, when malls started to sprung in every city and weekend sales were something to look forward to.


Fast-forward to family life, though I do understand the value of savings, buying stuff for the kids was inescapable and it indeed brought joy to them which in turn brought joy to us parents.

Eventually, the stuff filled our house and I was not happy bumping into them and picking them up to keep them, these stuff became just mere "kalat."  Every mom would agree that though shopping can bring upon instant happiness and a de-stressing tool, the thought that these stuff that we buy may just gather up dust or be eaten by moths is apparent.  Through the years of being a parent, and having regular confrontations with my husband about credit card bills and stuff lying around in the house, I realized that we can go above and beyond this habit (for some addiction) and be wiser in spending and budgeting.

It came to a time that a realized I have turned into the dreaded "frugal-mom."  But hey, I couldn't be more proud of myself and how my husband and I became religious in paying our pre-need insurances.

Fast forward to today, we have been happily managing a water-purifying and refilling business for 6 years now, which was invested from one of the pre-need insurance that got matured.  Since then, the value of investing captured my mom-being and well, my husband couldn't be happier.

Summed up the event with these quotes from Warren Buffet

Thus, when Em Sulit invited me for a talk entitled "PURSUE YOUR PASSION Without Going Broke," sponsored by Security Bank's Trust Division (SBC Trust), I didn't hesitate saying yes.  I'm all for what's going to make the future of my family secured and I knew, I'm going to learn even more.

Indeed, the event wasn't only an eye-opener, it was a true revelation and an affirmation of how I can broaden my knowledge of investing.  I do have money invested in equities and insurance/retirement plans but I have to wait long to see my money really grow as expected.  My husband at first was adamant about it, and thought that I might not able to maximize it's use, until such a time.  With the small savings we have now, banking isn't helping us that much and as Martin Belgado (Head of Asset Management Group, Retail Sales, and Marketing) said during his speech in the said event, investing your money as a savings in the bank will not help beat inflation.

Although I'm not against saving in the bank, or having a piggy bank at hand, there are way better means of getting more from the money that you have now, however, you have to take that risk of playing in the money market or keeping your money in the market, until it's safest to pull out, that is if you have a need to.

Two featured speakers gave enough clarity to the subjects - pursuing ones passion, and the big word, INVESTMENT.


Christine Dychiao, an advocate of Konmari method and thoughtful consumerism, the person behind Manila Fashion Observer and Better Me website, embedded these words on me:
BUY LESS, CHOOSE WELL, INVEST!
DON'T BE AFRAID OF INVESTMENT.
Also, according to her, stick to what will give you that spark of joy, when deciding to either let go of things or buying new things.  Same goes in the type of investment you will eventually choose.



 While Monica Manzano, re-affirmed me that it's not late to chase your dreams, you can dream big and with what you have (capital) you can start making your dreams come true.  With her ambition to be a yoga teacher and to travel around the world, and with her husband supporting her along the way, she was able to establish Flow Retreats and put up a blog documenting her family's adventure at Dharma Dreams.

Though her story may not be a testimony about pursuing one's passion without going broke (as she herself used up their marriage savings to move in the countryside and establish a yoga center con family farm in Puerto Princesa), it was still very inspiring, and she admitted that investing beyond her profession is something she is very interested in and would want to do.

With their backstories and profiles, there is a product fitted to "Super moms" like them- UITF or Unit Investment Trust Fund.

So, what is UITF and how does it differ from other kinds of investments?

Security Bank's UITF is an easy and convenient way for the average Filipino to be able to invest in the financial markets.  

Once combined from different investors, UITF is then managed by a team of professional investment experts.  It's like setting up your company and having people work for you, but you don't have to worry about their salary.  Unlike investing in stock markets, you don't need to monitor your units of investment, whether you would need to sell or buy more units.

These very competent managers will be the one to choose the appropriate investment outlets in order to provide UITF clients with attractive returns, such as bank deposits, government and corporate bonds and equities.

Hence, I chose SB UITF considering these factors:

1. Liquid/Easily convertible to cash

    Investors can get their money back (with interest) on any banking days.

2. Easy to track performance

    When you invest in a UITF, you are actually buying “units” or shares of the fund, thus, the word “UNIT” in UITF.

And the price of one unit is often called NAVPU or Net Asset Value Per Unit.  NAVPU may depend on the kind of investment you would choose.

Will discuss further down on how you can earn your money from this.  Security bank have an online Investment/UITF calculator which is readily available to see the trend.

3. Diversified Porfolio

    Remember what Warren Buffet said above about investments?  "Do not pull all eggs in one basket."

With the variety of investments readily available you can go ahead and put your money where it         would suits you or better yet divide your money and put it in different investment and then check       which would render higher returns.

To compare returns/interests in NAVPU, you can check this link.

4. Profiling the Customer depending the kind of risk-taker they are

     Are you a conservative, aggressive or highly a risk-taker, or moderate (on the safe ground)?

When you have decided to enroll in a UITF, you will need to fill up a sheet asking you questions         regarding your investment attitude.  It will compute and reflect the kind of risk-taker that you are. This will suggest which kind of investment would be best for you.  Security Bank's financial            officers will guide you through it.

5. Professionally managed

    UITFs are managed by Security Bank's Trust Division (SBC Trust) and has been in operation since 1951.  With more than Php 55 Billion worth of institutional and retail funds through Retirement Funds, Investment Management Accounts Facility Agencies, Escrow, UITFs and other Trust account, the division was able to mark as of June 2016.

6. Low participation amount

With the minimum investment of P 10,000 and minimum additional participation of P 5,000, anyone can do it.

Also, many consider UITFs as one of the most basic and simplest investment product there is.


How to earn money from UITFs?

At first, it was nose-bleed for me.  Understanding how investing money in insurance funds was like taking algebra twice (for me).  But my financial manager taught me how to analyze it and properly calculate my equity funds.  Just like computing your UITF's.

Say you invested P10,000 with a NAVPU of a UITF at P1.50,

Your units of participation will be computed as

Amount invested/NAVPU
10,000/1.5 = 6,6666.67 (approx)

then you will get 6,666.67 units of the fund.

The bank will issue a certificate bearing the units of the fund.  This will be used in turn to redeem your money and how it played in the market.

Let us say the market was good and in a year, NAVPU became P 2.0.

Units of Fund x NAVPU
6,666.67 x 2.0 =  P 13,333.34

Your initial investment P10,000 have grown P3,333.34 in a year.  That's not bad, compared to savings account.

However, there maybe a risk, what if it went down from a NAVPU of P1.50 to P 1.30?  You can compute and you will see you might lose some money.

Again, the bank is so flexible with redeeming your funds, so you do have an option whether to get it back or let it stay until it reaches your expected amount.

I like that Security Bank's UITF is very transparent with the NAVPU trend, you have the freedom to decide when you're money stays or when to get it.

So yes, I have invested P 10,000 and I will keep topping off until my budget would allow me, making this as a future fund for probably my daughter's Masteral Degree or my son's Law school fund, or for my husband and I to travel abroad.

Loads of possibilities!  Thanks SB!

You know, we are naturally afraid of things we don’t understand yet.  For me, this investment is just like a TV set, it's complicated to see in the inside but outside it's easy to operate.

Many may hesitate, specifically those who can't seem to see it clearly.  But only few risk-takers are able to enjoy the fruits of this kind of investment. I hope I was able to demystify this idea out and hopefully encourage you to jump in too.

Will be having a meeting soon with Security Bank officials regarding my application, so do shoot me questions regarding this so I can address it to them properly.

You can also log in to www.securitybank.com for more info.

For more on the SB UITF you can also click here.



READ about some of the payoffs we reaped from savings below.

Our Own Hi-Low Kitchen Project





7 comments:

  1. There are so much to learn from talks like this, and it's awesome to be able to attend it. I'm sure it was a nice learning experience for everyone!

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  2. Buy less, choose well, and invest.. that's the best thing I've read today. As a frugal Mom, I always tell my kids about this.

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  3. Very enlightening input. Call my wife a frugal one, and yes because of her frugality we've acquired some investments and she always tell our kids to follow her footsteps.

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  4. I love listening to event like this where a person shared from her humble beginnings to being a successful entrepreneur. I myself love to save.I started saving $25 every two weeks from my paycheck. It is little but you never know, it will go up as I save along, right?

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  5. I was enlightened. yep, it's time to save and invest now.

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