Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Financial IQ: Is it tougher to plan for retirement?

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Whether we recognize it or not, we have to admit times are changing!!!  Retirement planning needs to be more polished than what our elders did during their time.  Building the right financial foundation will help address the retirement concerns.  Is your financial foundation properly set-up?  If you are not sure, please consult a Certified Financial Advisor or Planner.


Planning for retirement is tough enough these days; living in retirement can be even tougher. That's why it's important to avoid being misled by the growing number of myths surrounding the difficult job of preparing for and living in a financially comfortable retirement.


Bankrate spoke to several financial professionals to get their perspective on those old chestnuts about retirement.



  1. $1 million will be enough
  2. You'll spend less money after you retire
  3. Social Security will take care of you
  4. Put all your money in bonds and CDs
  5. College education should be top savings priority
  6. Medicare is all you need in retirement
  7. 4 percent is a safe withdrawal rate


http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/113776/retirement-planning-myths-bankrate?mod=retire-planning


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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Financial IQ: Money and Marriage

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Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):

Studies have shown that money issues is one of the leading causes of failed marriages.  If you are among those that have problems managing money, recognize and start taking actions to address it.  Good luck!


When I was a child, my father used to joke with me saying, "Nancy, remember, it is just as easy to fall in love with a rich guy as a poor one." There is always some truth in a joke and looking back on this saying as an adult, it is obvious that he was steering me toward what he hoped was a happy life rather than a life of what he perceived would be a struggle. He is old fashioned and didn't think that a girl could create her own financial security (that is fodder for another blog) but his intentions were good. In my career as a financial adviser turned financial educator, I have worked with hundreds of couples and have seen firsthand how money problems, worries and other financial issues can lead to unhappy marriages. If left unchecked, financial problems can ultimately destroy a marriage.


Money and marriage is an age old problem. I've seen many societal and economic changes over my 25 year career: incredibly high interest rates in the 80's, a raging bull market in the 90's, the stock bubble bursting in 2000, the rise of 401(k) plans replacing defined benefit pension plans, as well as the most recent financial crisis. However, during good or bad economic times some things never change — couples are still fighting about money. In many cases, they are the very same things couples were fighting about 25 years ago. According to research as well as my own experience working with couples and money, here are the top five money conflicts that lead to marital strife and ultimately divorce.


Materialism — valuing "things" or money over the relationship. Research on marriage has shown that couples who are materialistic rate at the bottom of the happiness scale. A recent study by BYU and William Jefferson University found that spouses who were BOTH materialistic were worse off on nearly every relationship measure they looked at. It wasn't the lack of money that was the culprit; the authors found that it was materialism itself that created much of the difficulty even when couples had plenty of money.


Having conflicting money values. Now I don't know about you but if I was married to someone who gambled away money I'd have a really hard time with that. I see gambling as foolish (unless you are good enough to get into the World Series of Poker.) Foolishly spending money is the number one financial cause for divorce. According to Jeffrey Dew's paper titled Bank on it: Thrifty Couples are the Happiest, when a spouse feels the other spends their money foolishly, it increases the likelihood of divorce by 45%. What caught my attention in the report was the word "feeling." The researchers tell us that perceptions of how well one's spouse handles money play a role in shaping the quality and stability of family life in the U.S.


Adopting traditional roles when they don't fit. The commonly held belief that men should handle the financial planning and investments in the family and the women should take care of the day-to-day finances may not fit every couple. In fact, in my household, my husband manages the cash flow — he can be very detail oriented, which is painfully obvious when he is talking baseball with his buddies. It is amazing to me that he knows the batting average of players who retired 5 years ago! He is much better with our cash flow and I am more suited for our strategic financial planning. This is not simply because I have a financial background, but studies on the human brain have shown women to be hard wired to multi-task and those skills cross over to strategic planning. In our case, we switched roles and it works beautifully.


Having opposing money styles. It is not uncommon to see financial opposites attract one another. Couples often have mismatched money styles — one is a spender while the other is a saver. Instead of having them work against each other, causing fights and tension, successful couples don't try to change each other. They adapt their money styles to work for both of them. In a previous blog, I mentioned how a newlywed couple set up a plan that made the most of their opposite tendencies. Paula loves her husband's sense of adventure and fun but on the flip-side he spends every dime he has doing it. He loves her stability and discipline since it balances his free and relaxed nature but he is always asking her for money and wanting to tap into her savings. There is tension and resentment on each side.


Magical thinking — getting results without a plan. One of the most undervalued yet important reasons to work with a financial planner is to force couples to develop a plan together and, at minimum, review it annually. Some people have some of the individual pieces of their finances in order but having a plan puts the pieces together. Couples who don't have a plan don't have a chance of meeting their goals.


Couples who improve their attitudes about money and their communication can truly have it all. Since finances are the biggest cause of stress (a 2010 APA study found that 76% of Americans see money as a source of stress in their lives) and stress is a major cause of disease, improving financial literacy also has the added benefit of improving your health. Keeping your values in the right place and improving finances can actually bring health, wealth and happiness. What more can we ask for?



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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Financial IQ: Philippines Wealthiest Women

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Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):

Interesting list, majority of the top wealthy women are Tycoon's life partner.


An informal survey of several tycoons and a dozen topnotch bankers to come up with this list:


1. Imelda Romualdez Marcos — The indefatigable, controversial and also charismatic “Iron Butterfly” and now congresswoman claims her husband was already rich from trading gold before rising to power, while her critics accuse her of ill-gotten wealth. Cosmopolitan magazine in December 1975 ranked her as one of the world’s top 10 richest women and speculated that Imelda might be the richest in the world and wealthier than even Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.


2. Cynthia Aguilar Villar — A business alumna of the University of the Philippines and an MBA graduate of New York University, she is the business partner of self-made realty tycoon Senator Manny Villar. The hardworking and humble Cynthia is scion of the Aguilar political clan of Las Piñas.


3. Imelda O. Cojuangco — The philanthropist widow of the late Ramon Cojuangco increased her cash hoard from the sale of PLDT stocks to First Pacific in the Erap Estrada administration; Imelda Marcos claims the PLDT stocks were actually theirs.


4. Katherine Tan — The wife and top business confidant of the Philippines’ third richest billionaire Andrew Tan, who founded Alliance Global, Megaworld and Emperador Brandy.


5. Bea Zobel — Wife of Ayala conglomerate patriarch Jaime Zobel de Ayala, she is a philanthropist who has helped tribal minority people in Mindoro and other civic and culture causes.


6. Gretchen O. Cojuangco — Wife of San Miguel boss Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., an art lover and a philanthropist, she told me her family has donated to restore or rebuild various Catholic churches in the provinces from Tarlac to Negros.


7. Fredesvinda Almeda-Consunji — Wife of construction, realty and mining tycoon David Consunji. Her sister Angelita is also the wife of top contractor Felipe F. Cruz.


8. Beatrice Dee Campos — Widow of the late immigrant self-made “Pharmaceuticals King” and Unilab founder Jose Yao Campos. She is also a daughter of the late lumber tycoon and Chinese community leader Dee Hong Lue.


9. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo — Former president of the Philippines, economics professor and wife of controversial lawyer Mike Tuazon Arroyo. Many people claim she should be in the top five wealthiest, but I want to err on the side of caution due to raging controversies and unsettled questions regarding her fortune.


10. Felicidad Tan Sy — She is the humble and deeply religious wife of SM Group founder Henry Sy Sr. Her younger brother Dr. Paulino Y. Tan used to be a top official of De La Salle University, and helps the Sy family run Asia Pacific College as its president. Felicidad is said to be the reason SM malls hold Catholic Masses every Sunday.


11. Helen Yuchengco Dee — One of the most talented businesswomen in the Philippines, she is the eldest child of RCBC and Malayan Insurance boss Alfonso Yuchengco and the late Paz SyCip. Her husband is respected banker Peter S. Dee of Chinabank.


12. Mercedes Tan Gotianun — Wife and business partner of Filinvest Group founder Andrew Gotianun, her maternal grandfather Vicente Gotamco was a pre-war lumber tycoon and Chinese community leader. She is a UP summa cum laude graduate.


13. Mercedes Zobel — Daughter of the late Ayala conglomerate boss Enrique Zobel.


14. Susana “Chuchu” Abad Santos Madrigal-Eduque — heiress of the late Consuelo “Chito” Madrigal-Collantes, her family supports the NGO Habitat for Humanity.


15. Ana Maria Gizela “Ging” Madrigal Gonzalez-Montinola — heiress of the late Consuelo “Chito” Madrigal-Collantes, a lawyer and wife of BPI President Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III.


16. Socorro Cancio Ramos — Legendary entrepreneur behind the leading National Book Store and Powerbooks chains, as well as matriarch of the Ramos clan in the mining and realty businesses. Her father was a Chinese immigrant who died young.


17. Vicki Belo — A successful doctor, a marketing entrepreneurial whiz who has built up the Belo and Flawless beauty chains, she told me her ancestor was the famous Spanish colonial era Chinese immigrant tycoon Nicasio Chiong Veloso of Cebu.


18. Jinkee Pacquiao — The wife of the world’s top boxing champion and rags-to-riches billionaire Rep. Manny Pacquiao.


19. Vilma Santos Recto — Multi-awarded actress, governor of Batangas province and wife of Senator Ralph Recto. She told me her brush with bankruptcy during her youth had taught her the importance of saving her showbiz earnings and investing wisely.


20. Susan Roces — Movie queen of the past, still active in showbiz and widow of the late “King of Philippine Movies” Fernando Poe, Jr.


21. Sharon Cuneta Pangilinan — The well-read Megastar and wife of Senator Kiko Pangilinan has been one of the top savers and an astute realty investor throughout her over three decades’ success with singing, movie acting and TV hosting.


22. Kris Aquino — One of the biggest earners and possibly the No. 1 most popular celebrity endorser in the Philippines, Kris reportedly could easily earn way beyond P100 million every year with her commercial endorsements alone.


23. Lani Mercado Revilla — Herself a top actress before, Rep. Lani Mercado Revilla is said to be a good money saver and is wife of Senator Bong Revilla.


24. Mother Lily Yu Monteverde — Founder of Regal Films, owner of Imperial Palace Suites and daughter of the late 1950s copra tycoon Domingo Yu Chu, she built her fortune all by herself.


25. Amalia Fuentes — This former movie queen has for decades wisely invested her earnings in prime real estate properties from New Manila in Quezon City, to Makati and all the way to Ayala Alabang in Munitinlupa. This Chinese/German-Spanish Bicolana mestiza told me that during her heyday, the income from each of her movie contracts she would use to buy a house in Dasmariñas Village, Makati.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=745058&publicationSubCategoryId=86


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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Financial IQ: Riches to Rags

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Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):

Once wealth has been built, we need to have the discipline in order to keep it as well.


One of the big lessons is not to binge on debt. Frank says that, in percentage terms, the very wealthy have taken a larger hit to income in recent years than the poor and the middle class. ("Hold the violins," he notes.) And while that may make sense — wealthy people tend to have more money in the stock market -- it marks a departure from history. "Prior to 1982, the top one percent were a stable line on the income charts," says Frank. "When things were great, they did OK. When things were bad, they didn't do as bad as the rest."


But things have changed. And It has a lot do with debt. The very rich can easily inflate their net worth by borrowing tens and hundreds of millions of dollars to buy assets, only to see it all disappear in a poof of smoke. High-Beta Rich is full of such tales: the former millionaire who now does odd jobs and lives out of a truck, the guy had to stop building a 75,000-square-foot home near Orlando after his time-share business collapsed under a mountain of debt.


One of the best stories revolves around Tim and Edra Blixseth. After making a fortune in the timber industry, the Blixseths decided to go big by building the Yellowstone Club, an ultra-exclusive ski and golf resort where plots went for $3 million an acre. (Members included Bill Gates, and the trails had names like EBIDTA and Lear Jet.) Demand was so strong for debt backing the project that the Blixseths borrowed several hundred million — more than was needed to build the resort. The cash went to support an insanely lavish lifestyle: seven homes, two private jets, and his and hers Rolls-Royces. During the boom, Frank went to visit one of the couple's homes, which was nestled in a private golf course and full of waiters and other staff. When he returned after the Yellowstone Club went bust and the couple got divorced, Frank rang the bell at the front gates. "I got a Verizon message saying it had been disconnected because they hadn't paid their phone bill." After 25 years in a gilded paradise, Edra Blixseth had to learn how to fill her own gas tank.


Of course, the story of these rags-to-riches-to-rages tales are cautionary ones. Most readers will find it difficult to relate to many of the characters in the book. You won't be able to get through this entertaining, well-reported book without shaking your head in disbelief at the arrogance and stupidity of people who had it all -- and then lost most of it because they wanted even more. But Frank warns that we should try to understand them at a human level. Why? The manic behavior of get-richer-quick types has a larger impact — people using leverage to make big statements and take big risks influence the markets in which we all invest, and the economy in which we work.



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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Financial IQ: Presentations with Humor

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Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):

In case your schedule permits, the topic "HOW TO MAKE GREAT PRESENTATIONS WITH HUMOR" sounds interesting.


FREE TRAINING! You are cordially invited to the Grand Assembly of the Genius Creation Mastermind Assembly (Mon, Nov 7 at Roofdeck, Prestige Tower, Emerald Ave, Ortigas) featuring world-class speaker Mr. Raju Mandyan, who will be sharing about HOW TO MAKE GREAT PRESENTATIONS WITH HUMOR. Training is FREE. Pay only a minimal fee of P200 to cover venue and your dinner. To register, call 7487646 or text 09178790543.

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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Financial IQ: How safe is wireless technology?

Financial IQ Philippines Quick Hit(s):

Health is wealth.  Medical bills easily pile up as we get up in age.  I'm not sure if there are health risks... and it does not cost a penny to take precautionary steps.


We are constantly wired to something – cell phones, internet, cordless phones, etc. We come to the office and we have wireless internet and these days most of us have 2 or 3 cell phones – we use cordless phones, wireless speakers, Bluetooth and what have you. At the end of the day, we go home and most of us have wireless internet at home, cordless phones and several cell phones for each member of the family.


Although the issue on the safety of the use of cell phones had died down since the US National Cancer Institute declared them safe and since the stringent requirements of the US Federal Commission (FCC) that manufacturers should not exceed the maximum 1.6 watts per kilogram specific absorption rate (SAR) before these phones can be sold to the public were implemented, still there were experts who warn on the safety concerns of cell phones.


They were asserting that the FCC safety declaration was generally based on specific absorption rate (SAR) level, or the rate at which our bodies absorb radiation. In the website of FCC it defines SAR “as a measure of the rate of RF (radio frequency) energy absorption by the body from the source being measured – in this case, a cell phone”. These independent researchers were saying that SAR only monitors thermal effects – meaning, if it’s not emitting harmful energy on your brain, it passes as safe.


It’s not as important as the research that shows that it’s the non-thermal radiation from a cell phone (the energy waves that made it possible for cell phones to connect to the cell towers) that “can damage our immune system and alter cellular functioning.” This has nothing to do with how high or low the SAR level of your phone is. All cell phones emit a hazardous amount of non-thermal radiation.


The sad thing is that most of us are still ignorant about this fact on non-thermal radiation. All we are concerned are the SAR which is the one much publicized.


Moreover, these safety studies on cell phones involved adults aged 18 or older. Working parents especially gave their children cell phones to closely monitor their activities in school and whereabouts. Other countries discourages children from using cell phones such as the British government when in December 2000 recommended reducing the length of time children spend on a cell phone.


If we cannot do anything much with RFs in offices, we can do something in minimizing our exposure at home not only with regards to cell phones but to anything wireless such as the internet. At our home, we have this router in the master’s bedroom right beside our bed – now we plan to place it in our office room. Where before, the router is turned on the whole night until morning, now we make sure it is turned off at night and when not online.


With cell phones, let’s try to use speakerphones when at home or in the car or use corded headphones and shy away from wireless headset. Let’s also make sure to turn off to wireless mode our cell phones and IPADs when not going online. Cordless phones should also be avoided if possible, since it can prove more harmful than a cell phone. The phone base is like a mini cell tower radiating 24/7 at a range of up to 300 feet.


Technology is progressing day by day so we should make the most of technology to our advantage rather than be slave to it to the point of sacrificing our health.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/333335/how-safe-wireless-technology