Resistance

I'm on vacation right now and while sitting on a beautiful beach watching the waves roll in, I was reminded of rip currents and the approach you take to escape them.  Therein lies an important lesson that can be generally applied to much of our lives.

The worst thing you can do is to fight the rip current by swimming against it.  You will quickly become exhausted and in danger of drowning.  The way to escape a rip current is very simple: you calmly swim parallel to the shore (perpendicular to the current) until you are out of it.  With a fraction of the energy needed to swim against the current and almost certain failure, you can swim away from the current and live.

Resistance and struggle against that which opposes you or that which you don't like is very often the worst thing you can do.  Just like the rip current, you should generally step aside and just watch whatever is bothering you roll on by.

Instead
of wasting your energy on the negative, you can focus it on the positive and with far less effort achieve far greater results.  Certainly there are some things you should resist and there are things I will and do resist.  But I chose my battles very carefully now and they are becoming increasingly rare.

I'm convinced that most of what we resist accomplishes little more than making us miserable and sometimes amplifies the problem rather than diminishing it.  Resisting the nutjob in Florida planning to burn the Koran, increased his audience from about 50 people to hundreds of millions.

I spent decades of my life resisting almost everything I didn't like and it was an enormous mistake.  My youthful idealism and cockiness led me to believe I might be able to change something or convince somebody they were doing it wrong.  I ended up frustrated and stressed.  I learned years ago to let go of many of the big things, but for some reason I thought I could still resist the small.  It's only in the last few years I've begun to stop resisting those small things as well.  I've found they grow even smaller as a result.

When you resist something you immediately make it a much bigger deal in your own life than it would otherwise have been.  Whether it's the government, toxic people, traffic, bureaucracy, the media, the masses, the neighbors, unpleasant tasks, poor design, inconsiderate bozos, or or anything else, do your best to step to the side and ignore it.  Let the currents rip by you without allowing them to suck your precious life out of you.  You need to conserve your energy in order to progress your agenda.  Sometimes this is easy and sometimes it is difficult, but in most cases you will be better off.  I suggest you seriously consider it.

I have a long way to go, but I'm getting much better at not resisting that which I don't like.  As a result, I've discovered a much better way to live and that same way is available to anyone who is willing to give it a chance.  Stop resisting life.

From "The Rat Race Trap by Stephen Mills" - http://bit.ly/dwQpB2

Investing in the Philippine Stock Market

I've been into stock market since 2006. It is a good way to grow money and help Philippine businesses as well. Though I am not a consistent gainer, my gains are still way higher than my losses. Below are selected stock transactions from August to December 2009. In spite of the losses, you'll see that returns are still higher compared with savings deposit.

 In the next few days, I'll be posting information related to investing in the stock market. See information below

  
Why Invest?

There are many reasons why you should invest your money. Investments are made to generate future purchasing power that will keep ahead of inflation and provide investors a sense of financial security. You can achieve your financial goals for your different financial needs over different time horizons like buying a house, paying for your child's college education, and setting aside for your own retirement.

The first and best way to start investing is by saving money. Always pay yourself first. Every time you receive your salary or profits from your business, set aside or keep some of that money, and invest it or put it in a bank. Rather than wait for the end of the month to see what is left for savings, at the beginning of the month, write a check to your investment account.

You should start a monthly savings plan so you can have your income work hard for you. Over time, small amount of savings become substantial.

Investing is the ability to make your savings grow or appreciate to achieve your long term financial goals. Investing is the most effective way to build your personal wealth and secure your financial future

Why invest in the Stock Market?

History has proven that investing in stocks over the long term provides greater returns and protection against inflation than other fixed income instruments such as savings accounts, time deposits, government securities and bonds.

What are Stocks?

Stocks are shares of ownership in a corporation. When you buy stocks of a publicly listed company, you become a stockholder or shareholder of a company. In other words, you become part-owner of that company. As an owner, you participate in that company's growth and future profits. Conversely, you may also lose if the company suffers a loss or performs below market expectations.

What is the Stock Market?

A stock market is a place where stocks are bought and sold. The Philippine stock market is the place where people can invest in "publicly listed" companies in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

How do I make my money grow in the Stock Market?

Through capital appreciation or when there is an increase in the market price of your stock and through dividends issued by the company you invested in"

There are two ways to make your money grow in the stock market:

1. Through an increase in stock price or capital appreciation

Capital appreciation is an increase in the market price of your stock. It is the difference between the amount you paid when buying shares and the current market price of the stock. However, if the company doesn't perform as expected, the stock's price may go down below your purchase price. For example, if you buy a share of stock at Php100.00 and it rises to Php110.00, your capital appreciation or gain is Php10.00. Keep in mind, though, that you only realize your gain of Php10.00, if you sell at Php110.00. If you choose to hold it and it further increases to Php150.00, your capital gain would be Php50.00. However, if your stock decreases to Php100.00 then sell it at that price, your capital gain is zero.

2. Through dividends declared by the company


Dividends are paid out to shareholders, representing earnings of the company that is not going to be reinvested in their business. There are two types of dividends that can be given by companies cash and stock dividends.

Cash dividend is the earnings for every share of stock declared by the company. So, if the company declares a dividend of 25 centavos per share, a stockholder with 10,000 shares will receive a cash dividend of Php2,500.00 gross of tax (Php0.25 x 10,000) in cash.

Stock dividends are additional shares given to shareholders at no cost. If the company declares a 25 percent stock divident, a stockholder with 10,000 shares will be entitled to additional 2,500 shares of stock. These shares can also be sold anytime after the shares have been issued.

From Philippine Stock Exchange Primer 2010

The more you learn...the more you earn" - Brad Sugars

“Just make up your mind at the very outset that your work is going to stand for quality... that you are going to stamp a superior quality upon everything that goes out of your hands, that whatever you do shall bear the hallmark of excellence.”,,- Orison Swett Marden

Calculate Your Philippine Income Withholding Tax

Hello!

Thank you for visiting my site! I know you are very much interested in learning how to compute for your withholding tax. You are very much concerned about where you money goes especially with the taxes. Why don't you take the next step and read how to manage your finances here

Going back to your withholding taxes. There are two reasons why you should learn how to compute for your withholding tax yourself

One, you doubt the accuracy of your payroll in computing the withholding tax thus for your peace of mind you might want to recheck it yourself. (Yes! It is doable and very easy. Do not be scared of the math)

Secondly, would it not be cool to just know how? I mean. If you go around and ask your co-workers, most likely majority are just looking at the amount under the withholding tax. No one knows how to compute except for the payroll guys. Not fair and this post will help you do that.

Steps in Calculating the Withholding Ta

1. How often do you receive your salary? Do you get it weekly? Monthly? Or just like everyone else who receives it twice a month? It is important to know because the Bureau of Internal Revenue (that’s BIR) has different tables depending on the frequency of you getting your pay. You know. Different strokes for different folks.

2. Review your payslip and look for allowable deductions. These are the government mandated deductions such as SSS, PAG-IBIG (or HDMF) and Philhealth or (PHIC). Note: At this point, we are only talking about mandatory deductions. If you have loans from these institutions, deductions for loan payments should be set aside for now. Just look for the mandated deductions. When I say mandated deductions, these are the deductions you see payroll in and payroll out even if you do not have loans.

3.  Know your tax exemptions status. See list for quick reference

S/ME       Single or Married with no qualified dependent
ME1/S1   Single or Married with one qualified dependent
ME2/S2   Single or Married with two qualified dependent
ME3/S3   Single or Married with three qualified dependent
ME4/S4   Single or Married with four qualified dependent

Are you ready? Get your payslips ready and we are now ready to compute for your withholding tax table.

Step One: Look for your taxable income. You are lucky if your payslip shows a line that says taxable income. Just take note of that and we will use it in the tax table. If you don’t have that line, your taxable income will be your gross salary plus overtime pay plus holiday pay plus night differential plus allowances (other than rice and clothing) minus tardiness deduction minus the government mandated deductions. Still with me?

Let’s take a sample payslip for a single person with no dependents

With the example, we get the taxable income by getting the basic salary less all the deductions. (Reminder again, if you have loans, these should not be deducted for the purpose of computing your income tax). If you are still with me, you should get the amount of P5,771.75


Then we look at the BIR’s withholding tax table for semi-monthly payroll. We look at row 2. S/ME since the person is single with no dependent. In case you are married with three dependents, then you have to use row 3. ME3/S3.

Going back to row 2.S/ME we look where the amount of P5,771.75 falls under. It should be the column where the computed taxable income is higher but not above the next column. In our example, we will select column 5 since P5,771.75 is above P5,000 but below P7,917 under column 6. Still with me? Now, go look for your taxable income and identify under what column it falls into.

Now the fun part. See that the rows saying exemption and status? Those are the numbers needed to compute for your withholding tax.

Continuing with our example, the exemption amount under column 5 is P354.17. Set it aside and do the next step. Deduct P5000 from P5,771.75. Where did we get the P5,000? That’s the intersection of the column and the row. (With our married person with three dependents scenario with P7,000 taxable income, the amount is P6,458. The intersection of the row and column 4)

Now we are left with P771.75 (That’s P5,771.75 less P5,000). We multiply that amount with 20%. Where did I get that 20%? It is right under the P354.17.(With our married person example, we should get 15%. Hope you are still with me)

20% of P354.17 is P154.35. We add the amount to the P354.17 earlier and we get the withholding tax of P508.52

Now, do it and let me know if you got your withholding tax correct. If you need help, comment below and will try to assist. 

Knowing What You Want

Ask anyone if they want a million and you'll sure get a positive response. Everyone wants a million or billion if possible. Then ask what will you do with your million? Set of responses that you'll get will include buying a new house, car, paying off debts, saving it in the bank or starting up a business. The list will go on and on. Dig down a little deeper by asking what kind of business, what kind of house, where will it be located and the response will be slower this time.

It is really easy to say great big things. Everyone wants to get that big goal but not everyone is prepared to really have it. No one has a definite plan of what to do once they get that goal. Not all are prepared to know what to do. 

I read yesterday a blog about a baby crying at 3am. For all parents out there, i'm sure you have experienced this. It is a bit challenge to pacify a baby who constantly cries and have difficulties in communicating what he wants. It is said if you really want something, you must be clear on what you really want. Everything ready to be given to you. We must just be clear as to what we want. In other books that i've read, they said you must be able to clearly see what you want in life. See it in vivid detail as if you already have what you want. It will be the bridge that will lead you in getting what you want in life.

From Evernote:

More Money Making Tips Clipped from: http://www.toasteggme.com/index.php/money-making-talk-etc/more-tips-to-keep-the-money-you-make/

It is said that regardless of how much money you make if you cannot keep the money, than you might not have any money at the end. A lot of millionaires actually did not make a lot of money but they sure know how to keep the money they make. Here's an article from Yahoo Finance title "Stretch Your Paycheck" introduces some tips and guides to keep you keep the money you make and perhaps can help you become a millionaire.

Trim your grocery bill. This is the part where almost every family lost their count of money when it comes to grocery. It is better to set a maximum budget for grocery before heading to the stores. One of the most important things that we need to do is always keep track of our purchase. I always treat it the same as my online business. Either it is grocery or business, over spending is the same as losing money. Another simple way to reduce the expenditure is by using coupons. Honestly I think most people know the existence of coupons but just that most of us are either lazy or too troublesome to use them.

Cut your cell phone bill. This is the part which I mostly over pay for the cell phone bills. In order to cut down the cell phone bill we need to actually take a good look in the plans offered. There are lots of features that we normally don't use or not needed. In fact it will be best to go for prepaid plan if you're not using cell phone that much.

Boost your deductibles. Auto and home insurance always have the space which you can reduce your total payment. In most cases if you're able to increase your monthly payment, you might get a discount.

Switch your TV package. If you have a long working hour job, it's unlikely that you'll spend lots of time in front of the TV. It's better to just cut the cables or satellite TV packages. In fact I think you can get almost everything the same from an online computer.

Rein in your eating out. My mom always tells me that "It's better to cook your own food than dinning outside as you'll save money and it's much healthier." Let us just take a look at how much we spend eating outside. If you actually calculate the money that you spend for the food, coffee and snacks, it can cost as at least quarter of your pay. Make a comparison between cooking for your own food and eating outside. You might be surprise of the amount of money that you can save.

Get rid of your stuff. If you're not using them, sell it. A lot of stuff will be useless or outdated if you keep them for years. It will be better to sell the stuff when there are still some values on them. At least trade it for the money for now. Purchase them if you ever need to use them again. This way you won't be keeping lots of old junk.

Refinance your mortgage. This is the most troublesome method but if you do it right the reward is great. Always consult an expert before taking any action. Careful calculation can help you save few hundred dollars a month.

Unload your second car. If you have a car and you're not using it much, sell it. Car is the one asset that values decreases over time. Besides you need to pay for the maintenance and insurance. Also if you don't drive the car for a long period of time, it can break down easily.

Some of the above actions are just a cut down of the things that you might not needed. Some of the stuff you can get just the same with a lower price if you know where and how. All you need to do is little bit of research and you'll save hundreds of dollars a month. I suppose we call this the smart way to spend money.