Author Archives: Issa

Setting Up A Charity (But It Is Not What You Think)

October 27 11:23 pm ,

Shelter. Are You?

I always wanted to set up a charity.

When my father died in 2003, I wanted to set up a charity for him.  I could not explain the motivation.  I just needed something to remember him by, for his name to remain and stand for something great and good. I looked at the website of my university and found out that for USD$1,000 per semester, I can do that.  But it did not happen – it was probably because I did not have the support or the money I needed or I eventually talked myself out of it.  But I had the strong desire to really do something like that and I often talked about it to my husband.

It is ironic because this year, we were the charity.

Let me explain.

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Posted in: Health, Life Stories, Random Thoughts , Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Invitation to A Webinar: What You Can Do With Your Christmas Bonus

October 25 4:39 pm ,

Learn the Many Ways You Can Advance Your Finances

My mom had this to say about my video invitation to my webinar: You should have tied your hair.

Because I kept flipping my hair this way and that. (chuckles)

But I just had a haircut and the complementary blow dry and the hair was falling smoothly across my face and I did not want to mess it up and I was feeling good anyway and …

Yeah, I should have tied my hair.

Not-tying-my-hair aside, I hope you can join me for my webinar on October 29, 2010 from 12 noon to 1 pm.  I will be talking about what you can do with the bonus that you are going to get.

I’m sure it’s on your mind.  But before you blow it on that special something, know that it can be your startup money for a project, or your ticket to being debt-free.

(there’s also a great company that will have an initial public offering soon and you can invest on that – ask me about this during the webinar)

I hope you can join me.  You can register here.

Special thanks to Medicol.ph and Didi of LovingtheDistance.com for making this happen.

Article and Poster by Issa.  Copyright 2010.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com

P.S.  I will be on live chat during the webinar – you can ask me anything.  You will also get a certificate at the end.  I hope you register now.  See you!

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Posted in: Financial Education, The Basics of Finance, The Beginning , Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Musings of a Working Mom

October 19 11:47 pm ,

Love Personified

I have been thinking.

As light rain drizzles the cityscape and the horizon is blanketed by grey darkness, I thought of home and of holding my baby, tightly, in my arms.

At once, I was embraced by melancholy.

Because there is a woman holding him right now, one that both of us hardly know.

And I was seized with a realization: I am the one with the college and post-college degrees yet she is the one who is holding the prize.

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Posted in: Life Stories, Random Thoughts , Tagged: , ,

Blog Action Day 2010: On Water and Saving Rivers

October 15 8:00 am ,

The Way It Should Be

I should have joined.

On 10-10-10, a marathon was sponsored by the ABS-CBN Foundation.  It was no ordinary marathon because it was ambitious, its main aim being the rehabilitation of the Pasig River, a major water artery choked with human refuse that traversed the countenance of the once clean, once beautiful, Metro Manila.

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Posted in: Life Stories, The Philippines , Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

A Frugal Night and One Sinful Chocolate Cake

October 13 10:52 pm ,

Moments

I could not fit into my pants.  And I know the culprit.

It is called “The Most Sinful Chocolate Cake”.  And when Connie of HomeCookingRocks.com wrote about it, I knew I had to try to make it for one of my “frugal nights”.

A little backtrack.  I started having “frugal nights” because I was getting frustrated with the restaurant scene where I was paying so much for food.  Especially dessert.

It’s crazy.

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Posted in: Recipes for Frugal Nights , Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Life Insurance for Your Child: What Would Happen If You Discontinue It

October 5 7:36 pm ,

 

As If In Prayer

I just found out.

But first, the back story.  On the year I sold my house in Cavite, I bought life insurance coverage for my daughter.  It was an endowment type of insurance, one that I would have to pay for 5 years.  According to the plan, the sum insured would almost double (x 1.8) on year 3  and my daughter will start receiving money on the 8th year and every other year after that.  I thought it was a great plan and a great investment and a wonderful beginning for my insurance business.  After all, I get a commission, which means I get to have a good discount.  I forgot that I had to pay premium for 4 more years. (pained grin here)

And then I read an article that insurance for children is not really recommended.  After all, the purpose of insurance is to replace the income of the person living.  Children have no income.   Parents provide for them and not the other way around.  Life moves forward.

But it was too late.  I already bought it.

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Posted in: Financial Education, Insurance, Life Stories , Tagged: , , , , , ,

How We Did It

September 25 7:55 pm ,

 

A Door, Windows

“Did”.  I am not sure about that word.  Because it is in the past tense and means the fun and the adventures are over.  When they are not.  We are just beginning.A reader wanted to know how we “did it”.  She said she read my first post but that I just skimmed the surface of how we overcame the bleak prophesies of our first financial planner, that I did not really explain how we got that 24% increase in our annual income, and more importantly, how we overshot it.  If you have not read that first post, here is what our first financial planner said:

“While the couple’s Emergency Fund Ratio (EFR) will be over 1x by the end of 2007, the ideal ratio is 3x.  The couple would need to add around Php149,000 to their annual income to meet such a ratio.  To raise their savings rate to 18.1% from 6.7%, the couple would need additional annual income of Php262,000, or add 24% to their current annual income.”

So, how?

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Posted in: Financial Education, Life Stories, The Beginning , Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

I Thought I Was Saving with Breastmilk

September 23 7:19 pm ,

The Other Half

I had full faith in it.

Twice (or even thrice) a day, on a work day, my door would close and I would be enveloped in the womb of my office, in semi-darkness, lost in my thoughts or looking at the sky (which, surprisingly, is many shades of blue), my right hand in constant motion, pumping.  My efforts would be rewarded by the gurgle of a small stream of white froth.  I would smile and continue to muster all the love that I have so that it will nourish the froth, while my eyes, although mirroring the clouds in the distance, seek the slopes of my memory for my son’s face.

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Posted in: Children's Stories, Life Stories , Tagged: , , ,