How can OFWs cope with the weakening of the US $?

**gwen2ita** · November 3rd, 2007 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by DonT

Great posts there mga Ka-Tsikot. Instead of letting our USD sleep and degenerate..why don't we place it in some useful investments which could earn from 5 to 30%..depending on your risk tolerance.

And of course, Income - Savings = Budget for Expenses and not Income - Budget for Expenses = Savings. Kasi baka wala na matira kapag lagi expenses ang unahin.

I have learned it from a friend who works for a Chinese national, its a good principle but up to this day havent practice it yet hehehe. I agree it does require a strong mind shift.

**yuichi** · December 12th, 2007 06:00 PM

hirap nga ng paghina ng USD. nung una medyo ok lang sa akin, but in 6mos lang bumaba na ng 40-50K monthly salary ko dahil don. now i planning of go business and if it does'nt work, balik China na uli ako. atleast mas maganda palitan ng RMB-Peso.

**bladerunner** · December 12th, 2007 06:11 PM

ang swerte nyo na naman andami nyo dollar$ na ipon. ako kasi negative na eh, although I understand your plight, nawawalan ng halaga dollar$ nyo as the Philippines continue to improve

mahirap din yan ang sinasandalan nyo eh hindi stable ang value.

**froshie1** · December 14th, 2007 12:03 AM

Kung may-asawa kayo na nagtatrabaho sa Pilipinas. Baka gusto ninyong iplanong magasawa na ang gagastusin lang sa pang-araw araw na gastusin sa Pilipinas ay ang sweldo lang ni misis. Ganyan ang ginawa ng papa at mama ko noong nagsasaudi ang papa ko. Nabubuhay lang kami ng mama ko sa sahod nya habang ang USD ni Papa ay naka invest sa iba't ibang instrumento - Stocks (US at Pinas), Real Estate, and Bank Savings (which is sa kanilang principle hindi ito dapat galawin even life and death. kung baga maski na life and death kung may mararaket pang iba eh doon dapat kunin talagang sobrang last option na talaga ito kung walang wala na).

Ngayon nag weweaken ang US$ idiversify ninyo iyong USD ninyo. Isipin ninyo na mas malakas pa rin yan (sa ngayon) compared sa Peso (oh well kelan ba lalakas ang Pilipinas hehehe pag wala ng magnanakaw sa gobyerno). Depende kasi yan sa goal ng bawat tao. Ako (i'm not an OFW btw) some of my money I invest it in US$, I'm keeping the US$ kasi gagamitin ko pa sya after 15 years pa and feel ko hindi naman mag 1:20 ang palitan hehehe. I'm going to buy Euros soon too but now is not the right time. Pag bumaba na.

In summary, tell your wife to live using her salary only. Diversify your USD and last but not the least live below your means.

**bladerunner** · December 14th, 2007 02:09 AM

although ok ang suggestion ni *froshie, i lived like that for how many years. lagi lang ako sa turo-turo kumakain o fastfood, binibili ko maong local hindi branded. pero nawala pa din eh.

pay yourself first. wag na kayo mag-ipon kasi mawawala din. basta importante may cashflow and umiikot ang pera nyo. ganun talaga buhay you win some, you lose some. even if you hoard money, you still lose it.

nature has a way of knowing kung gano kalaki ang bank account nyo. talagang papaikutin nya ang pera nyo or lose it this way

**sea.piper** · December 16th, 2007 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by bladerunner

although ok ang suggestion ni *froshie, i lived like that for how many years. lagi lang ako sa turo-turo kumakain o fastfood, binibili ko maong local hindi branded. pero nawala pa din eh.

pay yourself first. wag na kayo mag-ipon kasi mawawala din. basta importante may cashflow and umiikot ang pera nyo. ganun talaga buhay you win some, you lose some. even if you hoard money, you still lose it.

nature has a way of knowing kung gano kalaki ang bank account nyo. talagang papaikutin nya ang pera nyo or lose it this way

I totally agree with you here.
To our fellow tsikoters.
[SIZE=2]Correct me if I am wrong here. Some of you are encouraging us (OFW) to invest in Mutual Fund. When buying a Mutual fund it is not that easy as transacting with the bank for a dollar or peso Time Deposit . AFAIK when buying a mutual fund you should have atleast a basic understanding about stocks/bonds and there is also a fee to be paid. Mutual fund is not the easiest thing to understand. You cannot do it in one sitting, you must study and learn how to deal with it. You should know different kinds of Mutual funds etc. etc. There are a lot of things to consider, like risks, risking our hard earned money if it's going to earn or not. Trust? How can we trust the company where we can buy mutual fund. Knowledge..do we really know about this?

Is it really worth or ok for us OFW's to invest in Mutual Fund?

[/SIZE]

**b1rken5tock** · December 16th, 2007 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by sea.piper

I totally agree with you here.
To our fellow tsikoters.
[SIZE=2]Correct me if I am wrong here. Some of you are encouraging us (OFW) to invest in Mutual Fund. When buying a Mutual fund it is not that easy as transacting with the bank for a dollar or peso Time Deposit . AFAIK when buying a mutual fund you should have atleast a basic understanding about stocks/bonds and there is also a fee to be paid. Mutual fund is not the easiest thing to understand. You cannot do it in one sitting, you must study and learn how to deal with it. You should know different kinds of Mutual funds etc. etc. There are a lot of things to consider, like risks, risking our hard earned money if it's going to earn or not. Trust? How can we trust the company where we can buy mutual fund. Knowledge..do we really know about this?

Is it really worth or ok for us OFW's to invest in Mutual Fund?

[/SIZE]

from what i understand, mutual fund is for those who would like to invest in stock/equity/money market but do not have the time to study and track the condition of the market. there are plenty of types of mutual funds that may suite your financial plans. mutual fund is normally consist of different types of financial instruments and managed by a fund manager. it is best to speak to your financial adviser and they will find the type of mutual fund suitable for your need. at wag mahihiya magtanong pag meron inde naintindihan, remember, it is your money...

OT: karamihan ng mga kasama kong OFW walang alam sa financial planning, akala nila pang mayaman lang yun.. kaya ayun, pagnakahawak na ng maraming pera, inde alam ang gagawin, gastos dito, gastos doon...dahil nga sa inde alam ang mga posibleng mga sensible investment, naloloko pa ng mga pyramid scheme guised as an invesment scheme...

**DonT** · December 17th, 2007 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by froshie1

Kung may-asawa kayo na nagtatrabaho sa Pilipinas. Baka gusto ninyong iplanong magasawa na ang gagastusin lang sa pang-araw araw na gastusin sa Pilipinas ay ang sweldo lang ni misis. Ganyan ang ginawa ng papa at mama ko noong nagsasaudi ang papa ko. Nabubuhay lang kami ng mama ko sa sahod nya habang ang USD ni Papa ay naka invest sa iba't ibang instrumento - Stocks (US at Pinas), Real Estate, and Bank Savings (which is sa kanilang principle hindi ito dapat galawin even life and death. kung baga maski na life and death kung may mararaket pang iba eh doon dapat kunin talagang sobrang last option na talaga ito kung walang wala na).

Ngayon nag weweaken ang US$ idiversify ninyo iyong USD ninyo. Isipin ninyo na mas malakas pa rin yan (sa ngayon) compared sa Peso (oh well kelan ba lalakas ang Pilipinas hehehe pag wala ng magnanakaw sa gobyerno). Depende kasi yan sa goal ng bawat tao. Ako (i'm not an OFW btw) some of my money I invest it in US$, I'm keeping the US$ kasi gagamitin ko pa sya after 15 years pa and feel ko hindi naman mag 1:20 ang palitan hehehe. I'm going to buy Euros soon too but now is not the right time. Pag bumaba na.

In summary, tell your wife to live using her salary only. Diversify your USD and last but not the least live below your means.

Somehow, I agree with you here..but..Money invested in Peso now has more mileage than its $ counterparts. Php Time deposits are better than $ Time deposits.
Your peso can earn as much as 10 to 20% in interest per year depending on the instrument however, the dollar will take more than 3 years to recover the 20% loss in Forex. Speculation ko lang yan.

**froshie1** · December 17th, 2007 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by DonT

Somehow, I agree with you here..but..Money invested in Peso now has more mileage than its $ counterparts. Php Time deposits are better than $ Time deposits.
Your peso can earn as much as 10 to 20% in interest per year depending on the instrument however, the dollar will take more than 3 years to recover the 20% loss in Forex. Speculation ko lang yan.

Again, it depends on when are you going to use your $s. If you're going to use it very soon then might as well convert it into Php.

If you're going for long term you may want to diversify it to protect you somehow from the weakening dollar.

**170kphlang** · December 17th, 2007 10:54 PM

start a small business sa kung anong meron kang naipon it does not necessarily mean na big business, start small and eventually it wll grow depending on your hands on performance, patience and passion for it..

i believe now is one of the great times to start a business here in the phil. (and the good thing about it is that you won't work for the man anymore, because you are the man and you handle your own time from then on)

dati ng mataas ang dollar ay ang mga dollar earners ang nakakaramdam ng ginhawa dahil nga malaki ang napapapalit nila/naiipon at halos malugi o nalugi ang mga negosyo dito sa atin pero ngayon na bumabawi na ang piso sa dollar ng paunti-unti ay ang mga dollar earners naman ang nahihirapan ( you can't have the best of both worlds, laging may mag eearn at may magsasacrifice palitan/bigayan nalang talaga depende sa sitwasyon)