Journey to My First Million Fund

This week, Insular Life launched its First Million Fund wherein you help your child raise his/her first million. That's where I primarily got the idea.

Secondly, I have friends who want to start investing but do not know how. I often tell them how I invest, but it has become so broad (wide-ranged) that they probably do not know exactly where to begin. This is me building a separate fund, which I call My First Million Fund, from ZERO. For these friends, I am hoping that you journey with me in building our first million.

Lastly, I learn through doing things I have read. I wanted to know for myself if the content is true. One time, I have read about long term investing vs. trading in the stock market. So, I tried both. Another time, I read about buying term and investing the difference vs. getting a VUL. So, I did both.

Being the "high risk, high return" kind of person that I am, I must say that an investment in knowledge pays the best interest indeed.

And beginning today, backed up with what I have learned over these years in investing, I will try to build my first million fund.


So, here are the details:

Goal:                          Php1M in 8 Years (A goal is a dream with a deadline)
Day 1:                        October 19, 2016
Starting Amount:         Php10,000
How:                          Through investing in Insular Life's VUL, an investment tool with insurance


The stock market is my favorite money machine.

Why?

Because with my small amount, I simply buy shares of giant companies. Through doing this, I partner with business tycoons. They do everything to continuously grow their companies, while I get to do nothing, and yet I get a share of their profits. This is called passive income, or money working for me even while I sleep.

I will monitor my progress through this blog. So..., GAME!

October 19, 2016

I got a new VUL with Insular Life with my Php10,000 invested in the Guardian Fund. This type of fund seeks to deliver growth and capital appreciation in the long-term by initially investing in ten listed companies deemed to be the next set of the most liquid  and well-capitalized dividend-paying stocks un the Philippines stock market.

This policy also goes with Php100,000 insurance coverage PLUS current fund value.

Price per Unit: 0.799082
Amount invested: Php10,000

November 21, 2016

I made a top up to my Insular Life VUL with the money I earned from my second income stream. I put it in the Equity Fund, 44 actively managed companies in the stock market. I grabbed this opportunity to buy while the market is low.

Price per unit: 4.514057

Amount invested: Php14,000



The stock market has been down for the past weeks. This is a great opportunity to buy and accumulate more shares. As Warren Buffett says, "Be greedy when others are fearful."

December 23, 2016

I made a top up to my VUL again with the income I earned from my second source, invested in the Equity Fund.

Price per unit: 4.298100

Amount invested: Php13,800

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

As 2016 came to a close, I got this update shown below comparing the fund performance of the top insurance companies.


And I am very happy with my decision of growing my hard-earned money where it grows best.


Even during the time when the stock market was down, Insular Life's Equity Fund was still able to give positive returns, and it was the ONLY company that was able to do that. The way I see it, that is what 106 years of investment expertise can do.

January 10, 2017

I made a top up again, hoping to be able to do it monthly, with my income from my second source, and invested it in the Equity Fund. The Equity Fund has been the best performing type of fund based on history, with a 14% Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since 2005.


Price per unit: 4.605420
Amount invested: Php14,800


Because my sum insured increases by 125% every time I make a top up, it has exceeded the Minimum Guaranteed Death Benefit (MGDB). With this latest transaction, my sum insured increased from Php100,000 to Php103,250.



P.S. Got Php10,000 that you want to begin investing with? 

If you want to take on this challenge and journey with me, send me a PM on Facebook or email me at financialplanningforpinoys@gmail.com. We will monitor our progress together. Hope to hear from you soon.

Coming Home From a Trip, I Felt I Was Flat Broke

There was this post I read on the Internet that says, "Travel now, pulubi (broke) later."

Truth is, somehow, that's what I felt when I came home yesterday from an out of the country trip with my daughter.

Why?

Because I had to pay for something that was unplanned -- or more like, something that was beyond my control.

I do not own a credit card. It works better for me. So, before we left, I already paid for the airfare tickets, our hotel accommodation for two nights and Disneyland park tickets.

I was bringing enough cash for other expenses while we are there, and my debit card, just in case.

And then I receive an email of our cancelled flight back home

As I was packing our luggage on Saturday night, I received an email that our flight home on Sunday morning has been cancelled due to unfavorable weather. All flights from Hong Kong to Clark via Cebu Pacific have been cancelled. I checked with Philippine Airlines, and they had cancelled flights, too.

Experiencing this for the first time, I immediately sent a message to my friend who owns a travel agency to book us the earliest flight back home. Fortunately, there was this one particular flight via PAL that wasn't cancelled.

Those tickets cost me an arm and a leg, so to speak. And that is the main reason why I felt flat broke when we came home. But I didn't mind because we want to be home ASAP. My daughter and I prayed so hard that night that this flight will not make last minute cancellations.

In times like this, is when I appreciate more having other income streams and investments

I kept thanking God for our answered prayer. It was such a relief to be home.

So, come Monday, I was in a "work work work" mode. I need to recover from that unplanned expense. And this is how my Monday beautifully went:

• Because my advocacy is to help as many as I can to be financially prepared, I work as a Financial Advisor on the side. That morning, I received a message that one of my client's pending insurance application has been finally approved. I can expect my commission from that transaction in three days. This incentive is enough to cover for those PAL plane tickets. First thing in the morning, and my worry has already been solved!

• Because we arrived later than expected last Sunday, my meeting with a client was moved to early Monday morning. She and her husband availed of a VUL (investment with insurance). Upon approval, I can expect my commission from there in two weeks, at least. I can use that money as top up to my own VUL -- my retirement fund.

• I was able to get through Cebu Pacific's line and requested for a refund of our cancelled flight. Refund will be deposited back to my debit card in ten banking days. Ummm.. This can be used for early Christmas shopping perhaps? *happy thoughts*

• I received a text message that my share of the income from our corn planting partnership has been deposited to my account. And this income will be invested again. Rule of thumb is this: Make money. Use that money to make more money. Repeat.

• I checked my COL account and an announcement of Pilipinas Shell Initial Public Offering is finally up. This is an opportunity to invest more and eventually earn more. I can use my corn investment income for this. When I learned about this IPO by Shell more than a couple of months ago, I told my friends who have been asking me about investing directly in the stock market to open their COL accounts, so that they can subscribe to this offer as soon as it is made available. Unfortunately, many of them didn't open an account. And their common reply to me when I informed them of the IPO today was "SAYANG." Remember, there is nothing more expensive than a missed opportunity.

So, I ended my Monday with a very grateful heart, not only because my financial worry the day before was already addressed, but more importantly, because there is just so much to be thankful for. Being home remains to be on top of my "Thank God I'm Blessed" list for that day.


Let me leave you with this question, and you decide for yourself.

If you knew how money could actually work for you, will you still be spending it all? Or finally start investing as much as you can?

For your investment and insurance inquiries, send me a PM anytime or email me at financialplanningforpinoys@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

Be very blessed!