Pride is a Very Expensive Attitude

You can see through it but you cannot go through. It has black cold metal bars piled narrower than your torso. It confines you to very limited space. In its shadow spells a big PRIDE.

Pride sometimes hinders us from taking an opportunity. Someone will always be there to present us with an opportunity but because we thought we already know what they are about to present us, we do not commit to listening to the opportunity.

We can see it clearly behind those bars but we can’t precisely explain how it works or what is it for. That is the pride talking. Just because we had an idea of what is about to present to us doesn't mean we know it all. The reason pride is expensive is because we might have missed a detail of the opportunity that might prosper us.

High School grades is not equal to High Paying Job

Whether you are college graduate or not, your school grades don't matter in the real world anymore. I have schoolmates both high school and college who are very talented and very smart. Some got medals of honor and some are top students of my class. Back then I thought these men and women will get the highest paid job when we graduate. Yet most of them now are still working so hard to live day by day. That is why I say this now: School grades don't matter in the real world anymore.

So, why is it that they still struggle financially even though they are on top of the class? This is because intelligence is also not equal to high confidence and courage. Some of these people lack the confidence even though they have the most intelligent brains on their circle. Some lack the courage to push through their boundaries and comfort zone. And these 2 qualities are needed to survive and thrive on the real world. It's not just intelligence that get you ahead.

During my days on college there is a very popular course that everybody wants to take, the BS Nursing course. At that time when you are a nursing graduate, you have a potential to earn 100,000 a month. After 6 years, most of the students who took nursing are now struggling because they only get the minimum wage. Some don't have a job. Some are now working on Call Centers. I always remember my friend who took that course in a very expensive university. He also has high grades, but now he is also struggling with money because he has a very low salary. The point is school does not protect us from the real world.

There are people like Bill Gates who didn't even graduate but are now billionaires. They also have the intelligence but what took them to the top is that they have the courage to take on what ever suffering the world will incur on them and make it as their strength. We need to be bold right now. We need to take control of our life by being courageous on every situation that needs our decision. We do not need to rely on school because school was made as a business.

10 tips to overcome fear for first time investors

The fear of investing is most common to people who are first time investors. It's a natural thing to fear for your money but there are things that will make that fear go away. I offer you 10 tips to overcome the fear of investing that causes people not to get ahead financially.

1. Don’t stop dreaming.

When we were kids, and asked what we wanted to be, we always have an answer. Some wants to be a doctor, a police man, an engineer, a rich man and so on. Then came when we graduate from our colleges and the real life splashes on our face like freezing water in the morning. We lose the dream. The reality sets in and the dreams that we have gets blurry. Buying a house alone would not let you get ahead for 30 years. Let alone the car that you want for your family would have made you bankrupt every month. It seems life is a very hard one and dreaming would not make any difference.

Well in fact, it will make a lot of difference. The only thing that stops us from dreaming is the bills that we have. The stress that accumulates every month. If we only have our dreams back and be emotional about it, it will make it easy to invest. When you dreamed of a nice house you own without a debt on it and you see that you can’t achieve that house by working, you will be forced to find an alternative to making money. And finding that alternative leaves you no choice but to invest, then you will invest no matter what the consequences are. So don’t stop dreaming. Dreaming will only make our will so strong and it cannot stop us from getting to our dreams.

2. Don’t tell your friends or family about it.

The most common stopper is our friends and family. I know some will disagree because there are families who built their foundation solely on business. But for most family, their foundation is built on job security and the concept that the government will take care of them when they retired. But there are people like me who came from job security to building my own wealth. Those people need guidance and this is my answer. Don’t tell your friends or family about it. Why? Because they will stop you, they will tell you negative things that they do not know of.

They will tell you things like, “that’s a very bad decision” or “it is a good investment, but for how long.” It doesn’t just give you a negative thought. It will also make you fearful. You see, the things they say are the things they say to themselves not you. They don’t want you to do it because they have not done it. And why would you listen to someone that did not do anything other than be on their jobs? If you can fight it, better, but then they may grew distant from you. So the best way is not to tell them so they won’t say anything to you that will give you negative thoughts and they won’t grew distant from you because you did not listen to their advice.

3. Avoid Analysis paralysis.

I’m not saying you should not analyze what you invest in. It’s just that, most investors only make this analysis paralysis a means not to invest. They say to themselves that they have to analyze more but the truth is they want to analyze to see the faults so that they may not invest. It is your responsibility to analyze what you’re investing with, but your life is also your responsibility so ask yourself why you should not invest. Don’t waste so many times analyzing an investment. Do the analysis in 3 days then have a decision.

“If you cannot make up your mind decisively, then you will not learn to make money anyway.” – Rich Dad, Poor Dad

4. Be greedy.

Do you want to have the things you aspire for? Then be greedy. I’m not saying be greedy and take money from other people. Be greedy in a sense that you want to have everything that you want. It will show you ways to make money. If you love your luxuries then invest so you can have money to pay for it. It is a very good motivation for most people. But some will buy their luxury on credit and that is a very bad greed that will also make you poor.

“Buying luxury on credit causes the person to hate that luxury because the debt on the luxury becomes a financial burden.” – Robert Kiyosaki

I’d say this saying is true most of the time. Yet unless the money that pays for the luxury comes from your investment, then you will treat that luxury with love.

5. Be emotional about things that you want.

Emotional intelligence is intelligence more powerful than our academic intelligence. Our emotion sometimes drives us to do things that are not logical like shouting on our loved ones when we are angry. But this intelligence if controlled will not only make you smarter, it will also make you wealthier. Use your emotional intelligence to think things through. For instance, when I want to buy that G-Shock bumble bee I made that emotional want to make me invest on a business I know so that the money will not only end up on the watch shop. It will grow and it will be able to buy me a new G-Shock. Sometimes these emotions are so strong that we will be able to forget the reality we are in and just force us to acquire what we want. So be emotional about what you want be it a Flat screen television, a fully furnished house, a brand new car. By using your emotions you will be able to buy anything you want without putting a debt into it.

6. Take a good look at the life of your retired parent.

This may sound brutal but it is a powerful way to make me to want to invest. When I look at my father’s life I simply don’t want to have that kind of life. He is now retired but his pensions won’t come. The social security company says that when he was still working, he took a big loan he did not pay for and that is why the money for his monthly pension goes to it. When I think about it, even the government cannot take care of him when he grew old. If I stop giving him money monthly, he will not be able to make it within a few months. That is one of my weapons to overcome the fear of investment. Because I don’t want to end up like him. Even if he has a pension every month it will still not make him live a comfortable life because he will only have Php 2,000 pesos every month. And that is so little money compared to the living expense here in the Philippines.

7. Luxury won’t make you rich.

Some time in my life I think about blowing my money on a smart phone instead of investing. But when I think about it, it will do me no good if I buy that phone. I will strive again every month just to have that kind of money. So what I did is I invest it so I can buy a lot of luxuries that I want. It’s simple as that. Your money ends when you buy luxury instead of investing it. But if you invest it, the luxury will never end. It will pour just as the investment money you pour in. You just have to discipline yourself not to buy luxury first. Buy luxury last.

8. Find someone else that wants to invest.

When you have someone who shares the same ideas with you, you will gain courage to do the things that you want to achieve. This also applies in investing. When I started to invest, luckily I found 2 people that are also into investing. It made me courageous to take the challenges of investing because I have 2 friends whom I can rely on and talk to about investing. It sparked my financial geneous. And it will not only give me courage, these 2 men are now giving me more ideas on where to invest and how to invest. It is good to have buddies who can appreciate and understand what you wanted to do. You just have to find.

9. The law of reciprocity.

If you want more money, simply give more money and it will come back in groves. Give and you shall receive what you want. I know it’s hard to give even a little money but if you want it then you should first give it. And more importantly, you’re not giving it to anyone else, if you invest it; you are giving yourself the chance to grow yourself financially. By being generous to yourself you will be able to grow yourself not just financially but also mentally.

10. Just put the money up.

If you still fear to invest your money, just put it up. The investment may fail but you will gain knowledge. It will be a foundation for your future ventures. It will start your career as an investor. Always remember that failure is not a sign that you are dumb, it’s just a sign that you still have to improve your skills. And skills in investing are very vital if you want to live in this world wealthy. If the investment succeeds, then you hit the jackpot. But don’t get it in your head, the more you succeed the more you should test your limits in investing. Don’t stop at a certain level where you think it’s already enough. It will make you richer than any man you will ever know.

In conclusion, these tips are not necessarily the things you should follow. You may have better tips. But this will be a foundation for you to think of better ways to overcome the fear of investing.

Return of and on Investment Formula

We often here the term ROI or return on investment in mutual funds, hedge funds and real estate investing. The ROI formula is very simple yet it conveys a vital information for investors.

What is my ROI?

In the world of investing, the most often question is: what is the ROI? Most people knows what ROI is, but not often did they ask its application. ROI is a part of an investment strategy in which investor calculates how much money their money is making and for the rate in which an investment money will return. In other words an ROI does not just answer how much, an ROI also answers how long an investment money returns to your pocket.

The key is HOW LONG

If you are an investor and you will put off your money, you will want to know how long does it take to get that money back so that I can invest it on another investment vehicle. The usual answer is in months and in years. When the ROI is high, the probability that that money will get back within months is high. When the ROI is low, your money may return after a year.

ROI Calculator

The formula for return on investment is as follows.

ROI = (earnings)
            Capital

Rate of return =   Capital   
                           earnings

With regards to the topic of the discussion, I have made a calculator to as a preference for investors in calculating their ROI.

Monthly Profit:
Initial Investment:
ROI:
Rate of Return:

What is the Rat Race?

Have you ever seen a rat or a guinea pig on a cage? Have you noticed them running on some kind of stationary wheel? They run all day and never get anywhere. That is where the term "the Rat Race" came from. In real world most of us are trapped on "the Rat Race." We may not notice it but we are also on a stationary wheel. We run all day at work. But at the end of the day the work we've done never get us to where we wanted.

For most of us, this is the pattern for our wheel: go to work, pay bills, go to work, pay bills, a little vacation, more bills, go to work, pay bills, loan a car or a house, more bills to pay, go to work, pay bills. It may not be the same for every body but the most common patter for every one of us is go to work and pay bills. That is "the Rat Race." The repeated pattern of trying to go ahead from everybody but not really getting anywhere.

Earn More Money by Losing your Credits

We always tend to search for ways to make more money. We search for it on Google. We ask our neighbors or friends if they know some rockets on how to make more money. But we never ask ourselves how we can earn more. In our own little ways we can find a way to earn more. If you are looking how to earn more money then read on. These simple steps can make a big difference in your financial status:

1. Pay yourself first
   
   
   
   A very common mistake when people apply the saying pay yourself first is that they pay themselves with rewards. It may come in the form of food, a watch, new clothes, a new phone or anything that will make their hearts contented. It is not the way to pay yourself first.
   
   
   The best way to pay yourself first is by keeping the hard earned money you received, not spending it on things that you think are rewards because you worked hard for it. By paying yourself first, you may lessen your credits. If you want to pay yourself first you will think twice about taking a loan to buy that expensive smart phone you wanted. Because it will take a cut from the money you earn. That way you will earn more money.
   
   
   Pay yourself first means that you have to lessen the effort you exert on making money. By paying yourself first, more money will pour in to your pocket which will help you on your next step to earn more money.
   
   
   
   
2. Put your hard earned money to good use
   
   
   
   For most people, the only way to make more money is by using your own money. Meaning you have to invest. That is right most of the time because not everyone has the capacity to be a capitalist. A true capitalist can build a big business without spending a cent. And not everyone can be a capitalist. So the only option is to have money which can be solved by the first step.
   
   
   For most people this is a very risky move. Well in fact, all kinds of business or investment have its own risk. But the biggest risk of all if you did not invest is you getting old and poor. Not having all the things you aspire for your life.
   
   
   Most will say, “instead of investing I will buy the things I want because it will make me happy.” Yes, it will make you happy but for how long? The happiness that we felt only last a month then we start to find another thing that we want.
   
   
   There are investments that only cost Php 3,000 or Php 5,000. And most of the things we want cost the same. The choice is yours on what you want to do with your money. But buying everything you want especially if it will leave you bankrupt does not follow the saying pay yourself first. If you invest and the investment succeeds, then you paid yourself by having more money and lessening your burden on earning hard.
   
   
3. Improve your Cashflow
   
   
   
   Cashflow as described by Robert Kiyosaki is the flow of cash based on your income, expenses, assets and liabilities. Cashflow tells the story of your financial status. Let’s say you have a monthly salary of Php 12,000 and you have a monthly expense of Php 10,000, then your cashflow is Php 2,000. It means every month you have a positive cashflow. That money can be used to invest to increase your cashflow. And increasing your cashflow mean improving it. The more money you invest, the more it increases. The more it increases the fewer burdens you have and the more money that will come to your pocket.
   
   
   For some, if they have an extra Php 2,000 a month they are qualified to make a loan they can pay for Php 2,000 a month. That is not a sign of good financial mind. Credits will make you poor and no matter how much more money you earn, if it only goes to credits, it will not solve your problem.

Tyrion Survives the Trial

By Jeffrey Alca

The Game of Thrones Season 4 seems to be the darkest days for Tyrion Lannister. Tyrion had been in so much hardship since his journey from Winterfell. He had once been in a trial-by-combat to protect his own life from the Lysa Arryn who accused him of conspiring with Cersei Lannister for attempted murder of her nephew Brandon Stark. Fortunately Bronn the sellsword is there to be champion. He had fought at the battle of black water bay which should have cost his life if it wasn’t for Pod Payne.

And now he faces his family for a crime he did not commit, the murder of King Jeoffrey. He already know that we would not stand a trial alone so he demanded trial-by-combat once again knowing that his brother would be his champion. But since Jamie lost his sword hand, he would not accept the challenge. Fortunately there is Prince Oberyn Martell who has a grudge on the opposing champion, The Mountain.

Unfortunately Tyrion did not survive the trial-by-combat. Or rather Oberyn did not survive the battle. He had poisoned The Mountain during the battle which gave him an advantage, and just so he put his guard down that cost his life. The Mountain ceased the opportunity to hold Oberyn and smashed his head. 

It put Tyrion in a much desperate situation. On the eve of his execution, Jamie Lannister plotted an escape. The fact that his brother Jamie is the only one who loves him in the family earns him his life. But before Tyrion escapes, he confessed that Lancel Lannister have been a lover of with their sister which made Jamie hate him eventually. Also behind the plot is the Spider Lord Varys. Which eventually lead him to his escape to Pentos. The first scene where Daenerys was introduced.

Make a Good Vision

Every day we put something in our mind that last a day or even a week. Those things we wanted to have or some events we wanted to happen. These things linger in our thoughts and make us work our mind on how we can have or attain it. It may be a new watch; a relaxing time with your girlfriend on a beach; a new dress. Sometimes we imagine wearing it on our wrist; feeling the warm salty breeze; seeing yourself on a big mirror wearing it. These imaginations are called visions. It’s not much of witchcraft or wizardry thingy. It is what you see with your mind. And sometimes these visions are so powerful we are forced to work on our limits just to make it happen. But the question is: are we making the best vision for ourselves?

The Best Vision

We aspire for the best vacation of our lives. Sometimes we spend all that we have save all for that vacation. We got some lines like, “Live your life to the fullest!” or “This happens only once in a lifetime”. So we spend everything we got to be able to come. It’s because we already knew what will happen if we did not. We have a great vision of DOOM, the left alone feeling. Those vacations always happen. After it happens we talked about it, what a good time we had, the thrilling experience and we envision another vacation next year, or next month. Believe it or not, we will work hard for it. It’s not a bad vision. But it’s not a good one either. Especially if you tend to lose all you have after the vacation. So what is the best vacation that we have to envision?

The Lifetime Vacation

This kind of vacation is what not most of us had in mind. The vision of being with our loved ones every day, every hour and every precious second we have left. For most of us, we only envision it happening after 50 years of work. It’s what we call retirement. What we do not know is it can be attained without spending 50 years of your life for nothing. We just have to envision it. As I have said, the power of our vision can make us work on our limits. So why work your limits on something that will only last 3 days or 3 weeks? Why not work your limits on something that will last a lifetime? It may be a long tiring work, but it’s worth the effort. And it doesn’t take longer than 50 years.

The Other Power of Vision

There is also a power that a vision can ultimately give us: the power of seeing how to do things that we do not know. A vision forces us to think hard. That thinking makes us see how we can solve ours or other people’s problems. When we solve problems, it gives us more knowledge that will ultimately contribute to attaining our vision.

The lifetime vacation is just an example of the best vision for us. We may have different wants which gives us different visions, but always ask yourself if is this vision is the best for you. Start by selecting and making a Good Vision.

BUY yourself some TIME

I know most people would agree with me when I say TIME is more important than money. But I am saying this not because I don’t have money. Most people say this because time is all they have. Not money. I’m saying this because I always want to BUY time for myself. I love being with my girlfriend. Our time is so precious and sometimes I don’t want it to end. I love spending time with my family, drinking some brandy, talking to each other, talking about stories we encounter. I love writing things up. Those are the things that I want to spend my time with, and not spending 10 hours of my time on work every day making other people rich. So how do I buy some time?

Buy other people’s TIME

We may not recognize it buy we often buy other people’s time. We buy other people’s time when we eat dinner on a fast food and restaurant; when we pay for a Laundry; when send gifts to our loved ones faraway using services like LBC. We pay for the service they render to buy us some time. Fast foods and restaurants save our time cooking for dinner. Laundries save our time washing our own clothing. And services like LBC save our time traveling to connect us from someone we love. We pay for other people’s time to buy us some time to do things like being with our family longer. By using other people’s time we can do so much more with our life. We can do things like playing around, reading some novels, doing what our heart desires. But as you can see those can only be done using money. Time is our most important asset but money is still a necessity to make that time long enough. So how do we make our time so much longer?

The ticket to the chocolate factory is a Passive Income

So what exactly is a passive income? A passive income is a source of money that does not necessarily need your presence to be able to generate money. It usually is a business. Many think that it is so hard to work on a business. Often times we hear “it’s too much of a hustle to learn how to do business” or “I don’t really need money so I don’t need a business”. But often times the people who say those lines are the ones who suffer a great deal of stress because all their time was spent on someone’s business. Their time was being bought by someone else capable of making their time longer. Their time shortens and the ones paying them gets the longer time. Little do they know that their lives are getting miserable because they are too lazy to take time to study business. Having a business is really a hard work. But when you work hard for it and it succeeds, it will give you all the time in the world to spend with what your heart desires. So what do I recommend for a business?

I won’t recommend any type of Business, but I recommend this,

I do business and I would not tell anything about it but I will tell you how I acquired a business. It’s not really rocket science. It’s just about common sense. One day I spotted a car that costs Php 50,000. I said aloud, I’m going to buy that car in 3 months time. It’s a very nice car; the thing is it’s not brand new. It’s an old model Mitsubishi Lancer hotdog. My co worker heard what I said and he said why not buy a new car. Well, I did not say anything to him at that time but I was thinking if I bought a brand new car that costs Php 800,000, that would make me suffer for 5 years time because a brand new car initially costs Php 90,000 and every month I have to pay Php 10,000 to Php 12,000 for it for 5 years. It is not what I aspired for. At that time I have Php 140,000 in investments. I have acquired it by saving money and investing that savings to a business. I don’t have much monthly payments because I don’t have many debts and that is the reason why I have that much money. I only spend money on buying other peoples time like paying for a laundry, eating on fast food or restaurants. That investment gave me a business that gives me almost 50% ROI every 2 months. I can use that money for the brand new car payment but I never did. What I did is I invested that money on my business. And In 3 months time I will be able to pay for the old model Mitsubishi. The lesson I am portraying is most people tend to bury themselves on debt. When you buried yourself in debt you will lend most of your time to other people who can BUY your TIME. And that is the start of your miseries. Simple and is not a rocket science.