OFW Corner : It’s Hard To Earn Money

September 18, 2012 Leave a comment


“It’s hard to earn a money even you are working abroad.”

I always hear this phrase from my fellow OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers).

Normally, when I ask my fellow OFW why they’re working abroad, their answers will always be like this “ang hirap kumita ng pera sa pilipinas, kaya ako nag-abroad”  (english translation –>  it’s hard to earn money in the philippines that’s why I’m working abroad).

And, if I’m going to ask them back if it’s easy to earn money working abroad they will say “ang hirap kumita ng pera sa abroad, nagtitiyaga lang ako dahil malaki ang sahod” (english translation –> it’s hard to earn money abroad, but it’s worth the sacrifice because the compensation is good).

So let us analyze our situation as an OFW, it’s hard to earn money in the Philippines and abroad, but the level of compensation is higher when working abroad.

What is the conclusion?

Where ever part of the world we are working, a good money is hard to earn…

Actually, we (I am not an exemption to this) always think that those who are working abroad has found the goose who laid a golden egg and their deep pocket has a perpetual source of ca$h. That’s why every time a remittance was sent to our relatives/family back home it was easily spend without discipline.

I guess many recipient of the OFW remittance will crucify me for this remarks.

But the message that I want to deliver to many Filipinos with relatives working abroad is to spend the remittance they received wisely.  Set aside a certain amount of the remittance for savings and investments.

Right now, the debt crisis in Euro nations and the stagnant US economy is threatening the jobs of many OFW’s. This kind of macro-economic always put the jobs of every migrant workers hanging on a thread.

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OFW Corner : OFW The Ambassador of Tourism

August 27, 2012 Leave a comment


Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) remittances contributes around 10% of the Philippine GDP. These remittances help pumps up the Philippine economy.

Aside from sending remittances from our family,  I also believed that every OFW can contribute more to the development of our country by being an ambassador of tourism.

Tourism can uplift our economy since more money pouring in means more jobs for Filipino people. Philippines has a lot of things to offer in terms of tourism. We have one of the best beaches and SCUBA diving places in the world.

OFW should be a driver to promote Philippine tourism. Let us invite the citizens of the host countries that we are working and encourage them to visit the Philippines , and enjoy the beautiful places and warm hospitality of the Filipino people.

Links for top tourist destination in the Philippines:

- (http://travelling-around-the-earth.blogspot.com/2011/05/best-tourist-attraction-places-in_19.html)

- (http://eternaltreasures.hubpages.com/hub/PHILIPPINES-Top-10-Travel-Destinations–Tourist-Spots-and-Attractions)

- (http://www.itravelphilippines.net/philippines-tourist-destinations/index.html)

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OFW Corner : Strong PhilippinePeso

August 10, 2012 Leave a comment


Since the start of this year, the Philippine Peso has greatly appreciated not only to the US Dollar, but also against other ASEAN currency. Of course a strong currency is good because it reflects the underlying strenght on the Philippine Economy and the influx of  investment into our country.

But sometimes, too much of a good thing is also bad. For an OFW like me, I feel the effect of the strong peso on my remittance.

I am working in Thailand and before the start of the year the Thai Baht to Philippine Peso conversion is 1 : 1.4. And now it is only 1 : 1.27 baht to peso ratio.

Example:

Last year (2011), everytime I remit 10,000 thai baht, it will be equivalent to 14,000 php.  But this year the peso strongly appreciated and everytime I remit 10,000 baht it is only equivalent to 12,700 php.

Imagined, almost 10% lost from the value of your remittance.

We have to learn from Japanese currency who experienced a strong appreciation in the yen since the mid-1980s. Due to the strong yen, Japan’s major exporters became unprofitable and lost market share to competitors.

Somehow our  very strong currency can be detrimental to our economy and the stock market, and something has to be done to cool down the rise of the Philippine peso.

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OFW Corner : Job Security

January 26, 2012 1 Comment


I was thinking about the macro-economic event like US and EURO debt problem start to unravel. Actually, this debt problem was always the subject of talk of most economist and financial analyst.

Have you ever think about the potential effect of this debt crisis to an OFW like us?

Normally, if this crisis will happen, the job of an OFW always hangs by a thread. Since, most of us are working in a multinational companies, the 1st reaction of a company to ease its financial burden is to cut cost. Of course, the most effective way to cut cost is to reduce manpower. And since, we are considered as an EXPAT the privilege of getting kick-out 1st is on our side.

With this, I just come to realized that being an OFW offers no job security tenure. Once, the $$$ or the world economy was battered by any Financial crisis, there goes our $$$ earning job.

If this event happens, many OFWs returning home ends up empty handed (without any savings or investment). Although there were some who gets an awesome retirement or severance package, it sometimes ends up with nothing because of their inability to save or invest.

With this, it is a must that every OFW must be an investment literate. I have read some very interesting article about an Investment Literacy and why it is a must for OFWs. (Please click on this link –
http://theofw-microinvestor.com/?p=16
 if you’re interested to read it.)

On this article, the author enumerates 3 compelling reasons on why investment literacy is a “must” for OFW.

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What I’ve Learned From Blogging?

January 16, 2012 Leave a comment


It’s been 8 months that I was blogging by convincing Filipinos that investing is one way of making wealth, and at the same time helping our country. Actually, for this short period of time, blogging taught me a lot of things.

To enumerate, below are things that I’ve learned from blogging.

  1. Be Patient – before I started this blog, it never came to my mind that readers/visitors of this blog will have some comment. Of course, a good comment is definitely most welcome, but believe me there are some that will get into your nerves.  Normally, I have a short patience especially if I read some non appreciating words, but blogging has taught me how to handle this kind of situation.
  1. Be Responsible and Accurate – as a blogger, I understand that I will be held responsible for all the articles that I have posted so I make it sure that it is accurate. I was not saying that all the content of this site is 100% correct but, I am trying all my best to make it accurate. Of course, I will be happy to correct it if you found something wrong on some content of this blog.
  1. It Is A Continuous Learning – in my quest to write a good and interesting article, I was reading a lot of investment books, attending different investment and financial literacy seminar. Actually, I just come to realize that blogging is twice learning.
  1. It Is Fun – Honestly, I go into blogging because I heard a lot of story about bloggers earning more money and for that they don’t need to go to work. However, there are other things than making money from blogging. It is  fun, because it is one of the places where I can share my thoughts to the world. Sometimes, I even share my frustration thru it.
  1. Learn How to Care for the readers – Actually, I received an offer from some networking companies in the Philippines asking me to publish some articles about their companies. Normally, this article is about the success stories of their members (rags to riches stories) that are somehow impossible to believe. (Honestly, I have a bad experience with a networking company before so I don’t publish their article.) Although, this site has only few followers, it feels good knowing that I don’t present them to a potential scam.
  1. Freed me from playing PVZ games – Hate to admit it, but I was obsessed with the PVZ (Plants vs. Zombie) game. It is game where a zombies attack your house and you have to depend it by shooting peas on them. Since, I need to write a fresh article for my blog regularly, my obsession for playing this game was lessen until I quit. (I don’t want to offend the PVZ game developer, but honestly this game is good.)

For an OFW like me, I think responsible blogging can be a good outlet to share my thoughts to other Filipinos, and a good way to relieve me of  stress.

I think there are lot more things to learn from blogging, and I am looking forward to learn more from it.

Happy BLOGGING.

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OFW Corner: The Remittance

December 28, 2011 1 Comment


This year World Bank forecast that the OFW Remittances will reach $23billion. Actually, this is higher than the Philippine Government forecast of $20billion. These humungous amounts made up 10% of our country’s GDP. Imagined where our country would be without these huge remittances. Right now, Philippines were ranked number 4 in terms of remittance recipient. (Number1 – India, Number2 – China, and Number3 – Mexico)

What is not included in these impressive $$$ amount is the cost of separation by leaving their children without the guidance of their father or mother, and the cost of loneliness and abuses suffered by some Filipinos working in a foreign land. This psychological cost could not be match by any foreign currency earned by working abroad.

POEA data shows that there around 10million OFW all over the world (WOW .. this is more than 10% of the total Philippine workforce).

Last November2011, I read news on Philstar and Inquirer (on the internet) in which P-Noy claims that the Philippine economy is now investment driven, and not very much dependent on the OFW remittance. I might be wrong, but contrary to what he said I think our economy is very much OFW remittance driven. Of course, I am not blaming P-Noy for the exodus of Filipino workers, and I know he cares. But as long as there are Filipinos working abroad to provide their family a better living, no administration have the rights to claim economic prosperity.

I am an OFW for more than 7 years, and I think that working abroad is a temporary approach to provide food and a better life to our family, while our economy is working its way. Sad to say that many decades had past and a gargantuan amount of remittances were sent home, and yet we have not seen the economic prosperity that we are waiting for.

This New Year, I hope and pray that our leaders will have a sense of urgency and political will to keep our economy up and going.

A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all Filipinos working abroad.

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OFW Corner : The Chemist

November 23, 2011 Leave a comment


I  hear this joke from 1 of my friend. At first it sounds funny but, after awhile I feel bad since there were sad truth hidden on  it.

Do you know, what is the common occupation of an Overseas Filipino Workers spouse?

It is CHEMIST, which means “Ke Misis o Ke Mister umaasa” this Tagalog word sounds like Chemist. (In English – they were dependent on the income of their wife or husband working abroad). It may sounds a joke, but it is also a sad reality. Actually, I found it a common phenomenon for a family with a kin working abroad, that many of them don’t work anymore and just waiting for the remittance to come.

Actually, this is the main reason why a bunch of OFW’s ends up nothing after working many years abroad. They regularly sending remittances, and their relatives were also spending it regularly. This story of sending and spending (without any saving or investing) money is a disastrous financial habit.

I urge relatives and spouse of OFW’s to do work, so that their extra income can be reinvested and their family’s money can grow. When I say work, it is not necessarily the 8 hours job but other productive thing that can yield extra income or extra savings in which they could later re-invest to grow more.

The job of your spouse or relatives working abroad is not forever, and a single global macro-economic event that will result to unemployment could somehow spells disaster for the family’s income.

Don’t just sit and wait for the remittances to come, every OFW dependents (spouse or relatives) should spend their time, energy and money on ways that builds wealth.

It’s hard to earn a living abroad, I know it because I was an OFW for more than 7 years. And my message to all the OFW’s dependent is to manage their finances wisely, save and invest.

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OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) and SSS (Social Security System)

September 30, 2011 5 Comments


One of my colleagues asks me this question: Is it advisable for an OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) to continue paying its SSS contribution?

Of course, my reply is a big “YES”.

Why? Because, time will tell us that we will not be working as an OFW (with better compensation) forever. Actually, when we reach our retirement age (in which we could not hardly work or even walk), we will need this additional stream of income to sustain our day to day expenses. Unless, you have an investment that’s worth 10 times of your annual income and a gargantuan savings of 10 times of your annual income, I guess you are exempted from paying your SSS contribution.

If you don’t have those numbers above, you should start contributing now before time runs out. It is true that the pension you will be getting from SSS will not be sufficient to sustain your expenses but it’s better than nothing.

The monthly SSS contribution for Filipino working abroad is a bit higher compare to those working in the Philippines. Anyway, I was shocked to learn that from our group of 15 OFW, only 2 of us were religiously and continuously paying our SSS.

After working more than 7 years abroad, I observed that many OFW were not keen on investing, saving and planning on for their retirement. Actually, it’s hard to resist the luxuries that you see while working abroad. And this is the reason why some OFW return home empty handed.

I was thinking that if POEA instead of just issuing an OEC (OFW Overseas Exit Clearance), will also conduct a Financial Literacy seminar to every Filipinos before going abroad. I think by doing this, many Filipinos working abroad will have an idea on how to manage their finances, save and invest for their future.

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The Tale of the Philippine Crab

September 9, 2011 2 Comments


Maybe you already heard the story about “The Tale of the Philippine Crab”. Anyway, I just want to share this story especially to all Filipinos.

The Tale of the Philippine Crab

The story starts when a trader goes to a wet market, looking for a crab. In a crab store, there are 3 baskets of different crabs.

The trader opens the cover of the 1st basket and asks the owner what kind of crab it is. The owner replies by saying that it was an “Alaskan King crab”.

After that, the traders open the 2nd basket of crab and again ask the owner about what kind of crab it is.

When the trader looks at the 3rd basket, he was surprise why the basket was not even covered and he quickly asks the owner? The trader worried that the crab might get out since, it was not covered.

The owner tells the trader that it was a “Philippine Crab” and there is no chance that a crab of this kind will likely get out in that basket because, if there is a single crab going near the edge of the basket, the other crabs at the bottom will surely pulled him down.

I guess there is no need to further explain the message of this story. In our quest for success especially in our work or career, we become this kind crab pulling our colleagues just to gain an edge.

Actually, after more than 7 years as an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker), I have seen how a small community of Filipinos divided to many small groups. These small groups were trying to outsmart and outdone each others.

I was not exempted from this kind of thinking but, I will start my journey to get out from this crab mentality.

I guess the next challenge is what I should do or what should we do to get out from this mentality.

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Quote:

If you go for revenge, you must dig 2 graves. Dig 1 grave for your enemy, and dig 1 grave for yourself. – Anonymous

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Encouraging My Fellow OFW To Invest

September 5, 2011 31 Comments


It’s been 2 years that I was encouraging my friends (my fellow OFW’s working here in Thailand) to invest.

Last year, I encourage 2 of them to invest in the Mutual Fund, and after a few months of MF investing, they are now brave enough to invest directly on the Philippine Stock Market. This year, I hope I can convince another 2 or more persons.

It’s tough to encourage them to make an investment. Actually, it is very easy to ask them to buy a SLR camera, LED TV and other tech gadgets. However, if you ask them to invest, it’s like asking them to commit a suicide. Sounds exaggerated but it’s true.

Honestly, the topic of “INVESTING” were somehow DULL to some OFW’s especially, those who are well compensated.

To give an example :

Try to open a topic to a group of Professionals about the PSE index and the current interest rate. And you will become an outcast.

However, open a discussion about the hot deals and best buy for the LED TV and, the latest news about IPAD, Tablet and cool software’s. And you will be surprised and think that you are talking to a person with a PHD, or you might be thinking that you are talking to the brain behind this tech wonders.

I could not find a good statistics on how many Filipinos were investing in the Philippines (I guess the number is less than 5% only). Just imagined, if we can encourage more than 10% of the Philippine population to make an investment, I think our country will have enough fund to pump our economy.

Many Filipinos still think that Investing is only for the rich and for those people who have exceptional intelligence. To tell you frankly, you don’t need to be wealthy or genius to venture the world of investing. All you need is a proper temperament, discipline and financial literacy. And you have all the main ingredients of investment success.

It is the advocacy of this blog to convince many Filipinos to venture the world of Investment and Financial literacy.

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