Friday, December 29, 2006

FORD

FORD

The SO has a Mustang that was built on the same year that I was born. It is a beautiful yellow-green car with a vinyl top. There are rust stains here and there, but the car is solidly built. We have dreams that when we are sufficiently prosperous that we will have the car rebuilt from the tires on up.

Today, I just bought some FORD stock. I read in the Wall Street Journal that Alan Mullaly is planning to do to Ford what he helped do to Boeing. Knowing that, I am betting that this guy can turn the company around in two years. The stock right now is at $7. I figure in two or three years that this will be about $30.

I'm buying the stock as part of the risky ventures that my teacher has been teaching at the financial group. For the last five years, we have been building up our base (IRA, Roth, etc account). This past year, my teacher gave us the go-ahead to learn how to buy some riskier stocks.

The hardest part is the buy. You have to face the fact that you can lose money. For someone like me who struggled for so long with respect to finances, I can not help but flinch at the prospect of losing $1000. But then again, I reason to myself that I can just find another $1000.

So this one is the small step, small step, baby step that I need to do before I can go on to larger and bigger and riskier ventures. How I hold up to this small venture will decide what I will do in the larger ventures.

Good luck to me! PROSPERITY!!!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The First Steps

Perhaps, the hardest part to begin in becoming prosperous and rich is the ability to control money. Money comes in, but more often than not, it goes out just as quickly. Usually, there is no other reason than just when you lose control, you spend the money.

When Tuhan taught us, he first taught us how to keep track of money. Use a budget. Keep track of how much you spend for the rent, the food and the bus or car. When you spend your money on iimpulse buying, keep track of that too. The thing you need to see for yourself is that you spend money on certain things. If you spend money on movies, you should budget for that. Keep track of how much you spend on the things that make you happy.

The second component is that you need to prove to yourself that you can save money. It is true that if you just keep it in a CD, you will most likely break the CD. Why don’t you save money in your 401K account? I did not turn around until I saw my money climb month after mmonth. I put away $300 every paycheck. I could not believe after three months that I had nearly $2000 in the bank. I did nto think it was possible for me to ever save. Until I proved it to myself, I could not do it.

For many of us, we need actual proof. Use the 401k account to do so.

The Road Is Not Easy

The road to being prosperous is not easy. The mind has to expand and understand that prosperity is not simply about money. Prosperity is the relationships with others, the wealth of friends, the wealth of health, the wealth of sprituality and the wealth of income. Without those, there is no prosperity.

When I first started in the money group, I was afraid of every single thing in life. I had to overcome all those fears and face other fears. The road was not easy. But from where I was at, the road could only go up.

One of the things that I did was to make excuses. I could justify anything that happened to me as a result of everyone else not being fair. A great lesson I learned is that “LIFE IS NOT FAIR.” Everyone keeps saying that life is fair or should be fair. Yet, there are instances in everyday life to show you that life is not fair.

For example, a great challenge to me was that I kept saying to myself that I was poor only because I was on my way to med school. Hell, if I had become a doctor, I would be even poorer because of all the financial products I would have had to take out to pay for my schooling. I kept using my credit card to get that simple and quick satisfaction so I could go on living. But when those credit bills came, I retreated and ran away.

I was living day to day through my credit cards. Could not pay off my student loans. My credit was shot. Could not even get blockbuster renting credit. What I should have done was get another job!!! What a lazy SOB I was. But nope, I reasoned and rationalized that because I was a Donner Fellow from the Institute of Bling-Bling, it was beneath me to work to get more money. I was a doctor of philosophy after all. I was worth more than serving coffee and drinks.

Unfortunately, not having worked in high school, I was separated and feared the work of manual labor. My kids will not be because I want them to have a complete understanding of where money comes from.

So for those of you out there who can not buy the things that you want. Or you can not pay your bills. Or you don’t go out with your friends because you can not afford it. Or you are welching on your business partners. Listen to the advice. Get another job. Get off your lazy ass. Go pay your obligations. Show that you can take care of yourself. It can be done. If I can do it, so can you.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

So You Want to Be Rich

The first lesson we had to do in the financial group TUBIG was to write our obituary.

It was very hard for me because I wanted all these things in my life. I wanted the Nobel prize. I wanted to be rich, filthy rich. I wanted to be a dirty old man. I wanted to be able to buy anything and anyone. I wanted happiness. I wanted children. I wanted everything that the world had to offer.

Finally, I settled for 10 million dollars in net worth. I should have ten or more homes / apartment complexes. Three kids. Retirement at 55 years old.

For some people, these are pipe dreams. From what I have learned in life, your mind is the one thing that sets barriers in your existence. If you think your life sucks, it will. If you think you can not make 10 million dollars, you won't.

But you are out there asking me, "How do I start?"

Start by how I started. Becoming rich requires that you save a certain percentage of your income. A good number is 15 to 20%. You say though that this is too much. Well, I didn't say that being rich was going to be easy. If it were, then everyone would be doing it.

It helps to delay your gratification. It helps not to be too extravagant in your ways.

I don't recommend dieting or putting yourself in a budget. You always end up losing as Tuhan says. Get another job if you don't make enough money. Then, you can save more. That is how most people do it.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

I Have to Kill You

Have you ever heard of that joke… "I can tell you the secret to life…but I have to kill you"? In one of the more livelier seminars by Tuhan, he said exactly that.

The plain truth is that the secrets to life are simple and easy. The difficulty. The challenge. The secret of all secret is that YOU have to be willing to change your life. So you see, in changing your life, you are in essence killing the old you.

This is actually not as morbid as it sounds. Every day, we change. Sometimes we change for the better, sometimes for the worse. If we make sure that day by day, we change for the better more than the worse, we come out ahead.

So in this blog, I expect readers to be critical and questioning. The only proof I have is that I am not homeless. I married the woman of my dreams. My life is happy. My wife is fun. We have plans to be successful.

Seven years ago, I was afraid of being homeless. I could not find a job. I was ready to let go of my then girlfriend. I was miserable.

Note that what happened to me is that I was in so much PAIN that I was ready to kill the old me. I was ready to change. Unless a person is ready to change, they will fall to the same old habits over and over again.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Money Matters

Money Matters

I am nearing forty. I still remember when I was thirteen and I had just come from the Philippines. I was just a high school graduate about to enter Berkeley. I was a college senior applying to med school and graduate school. I was the future of America. Now, I am the present of America.

Time flies. Five years flew by. A year ago, I was not married. Now, I am.

In all these moments, I have been fortunate enough to have had a teacher. His name is Tuhan Joe Arriola. From his experiences, he decided to teach a community. I am lucky enough to be taught by him.

But it was not all beds of roses. I am intelligent, and very often I collided with Tuhan about his advice and his thoughts. In the end, I had to follow my wife and trust that she did things for the best.

Years later, I understand the things that Tuhan said. I understand that sometimes, to make money, you have to let go of the emotion, the prejudices and the ego.

This is my story…

Friday, May 12, 2006

Beginnings

Five years ago, I began taking classes in money matters. It took me a while to figure things out. Some things I am still figuring out. This is my way of reminding myself of the things I need to know and remember.