Technology: The 2 Things Stopping Filipinos from Investing in Bitcoin

Everyone wants to make money. Most ways to make huge amounts of money are hard such as starting a successful business or getting a stressful high-paying job. People who look for relatively effortless ways to make money turn to investing. There are a lot of investment vehicles out there, and some are better than others. The best performing asset as of 2020 is cryptocurrency. The most well-known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin.

 In the Philippines, not a lot of people trade nor invest in cryptocurrency. There aren't a lot of investors nor traders in the stock market neither but there are definitely more Filipinos who've dabbled in the stock market compared to cryptocurrency. So what's stopping Filipinos from taking a shot at the best performing asset of the year?

1. The Concept

Crytpocurrency, Blockchain, and Bitcoin are all still alien terms to the Filipino salaryman. They still don't understand what a decentralized public ledger means. Investing in gold is unusual in the Philippines, so it's hard for them to wrap their heads around the idea that Bitcoin is the new gold either. Cryptocurrency is hardly ever talked about in the local news, so the public never really learns about the important updates going on with the blockchain system such as forks. The news doesn't even talk about the wild fluctuations in price that Bitcoin goes through, so investor and trader interest doesn't grow in the country at all.

2. The Steps

Investing in cryptocurrency in the Philippines is complicated work. It's not the most difficult thing ever but there are a lot of hurdles to go through if you want to own some bitcoin. It's not as simple as buying stocks wherein you just set up an account at an online broker and click buy or sell on a website. Buying cryptocurrency involves moving money through digital wallets around a lot, and there are several tedious security checks to deal with. Buying bitcoin presents a steep learning curve that requires some tech literacy and the ability to follow multiple step-by-step instructions.

I believe that the concept can be overcome so long as the Filipino strives to educate themselves on the topic. Having more resources readily available for the Filipino to reach can prove immensely helpful in this regard. I also believe that the steps can be mastered with some perseverance because once you understand the concept, you know the steps are ultimately worth it, but at the same time developers simplyfing the steps to buying cryptocurrency will also make investing in bitcoin more of a possibility for a large number of Filipinos.

Technology: My eBook about Apps will Change the Way you View your Finances

It's no secret to my readers that I love to write. That's why I have a blog. Writing lets me organize my thoughts. There's always a lot going on in my mind, admittedly not all of the mess in it is beneficial for me. One day I decided to set my mind's thoughts into something that's actually productive, so -- this may come as a surprise to most readers -- I've actually written my own ebook. As in a true legitimate book with its own adherence to copyright laws, ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and cover page. I'm proud to be able to strike that off the bucket list. 😊

The title of my book is Gen-Z Financial Guide: How to be a Badass in the the Philippine Economy. I'd like to thank the artist behind the appealing cover page of my book, Moody Bread. You can check out her Link Tree and some of her art in the link. Literally the cover wouldn't have existed without her so I'm truly grateful. Obviously I've heard of the saying "You can't judge a book by its cover". I'm taking it literally here instead of applying the expression to people as you can see. Nevertheless I totally agree with it in either of the scenarios, but honestly it's still nice to have a unique, eye-catching cover that everyone can see.

When I wrote my book, I wrote initially about my own experiences with personal finance, like how I make a profit at the Philippine stock market, or how do I make money on the side besides the market. But I've also done a lot of research to better specify what I wanted to go in detail about. Thankfully, my girlfriend used to be an economics professor. She's also a veteran stock trader so rest assured most of the information I've written down is augmented by a professional's eye.

The book was months in the making, with a hiatus in the finalization. I had some hesitations about the contents of the book -- it's the first book I've ever written after all. I want the information in my book to be as accurate as possible and I genuinely want the people who read my book to learn something they can use for their personal finances in the Philippines. It isn't a self-help book with generic motivational speeches. It's a helpful pointer to tools and apps that can help you invest and manage your finances, as well as make money on the side really easily.

The book is completely FREE and you can go over the whole thing in less than an hour if you go over it in one sitting. You can get it here and you'd have absolutely nothing to lose :)

Thanks as always for your time in reading my post. Let me know what you think about the book in the comments below!

Travel: Stereotyping the 4 Classes of Filipinos and what Malls they frequent

I was inspired to create this blog post after hearing about this reddit thread from my sister. If you haven't seen it yet, you should go check it out. I was both aghast and entertained by the audacity of the posts. It's a... peculiar way to look at the society in the Philippines. The first one is still my favorite and it's what motivated me to do some research.

During my research on the different classes of people in the Philippines, I found this very interesting e-zine post that does the job expressing what I wanted to do by writing my own blog post. It's entertaining and on point but the more I read it the more I notice how outdated it is. The author wrote about CD players, cheesy slang, and cable TVs, all of which have been rendered obsolete by the year 2010. Where's the mention of Netflix, first world problems in a third world country, and social media?

The articles listed a bunch of Jologs words. Who talks like this in this day and age?

This will not stand. We are long overdue for a post that mocks the widening gap between the classes in an era powered by smartphones and memes. I would happily create this blog post solely for the sake of fun.

Warning:
Sincere apologies for those who are easily offended. I'm sure what I write down is going to sound judgmental to some people, but keep in mind this is just a joke based on my observances and I don't actually mean any of it seriously. Take the list below with a grain of salt, but at the same time, take heed of it because Stereotypes are based on some level of truth.

I've included the malls the different classes frequent so you can see what they look for yourself.

1. Class A (Upper Class)

The 1%. These are the kind of people that most definitely studied in Ateneo or De La Salle University. They're most likely born rich. These include the most powerful family names like Villar, Sy, Ayala, Tan, and then some other clans in the Philippines that own family businesses. Although Class A enjoys the benefits of having so much money, some of them live tumultuous lives prone to scandals that the public eye loves to see.

We're talking about billionaires who have money to last a dozen lifetimes. They live in gigantic mansions, and they probably own a pet albino tiger. I've met a Filipino billionaire at his own home before and I'm not exaggerating when I say their wealth seems immeasurable.

Class A people are too rich to casually talk about investing in stocks; they're more interested in Real Estate. Most of their focus goes into running the empire that they own.

Gamers in this class play with state-of-the-art toys, e.g. VR Headsets like the Oculus Rift, and the hottest new video game consoles like the Xbox One, PS4, and high-end PCs. They play pricey AAA games (For non-gamers, "Triple A Games" are the kind of games made by big corporations with millions of dollars in budget) like God of War, Grand Theft Auto V, and Overwatch.

They normally have Chinese or Western features, i.e. their skin complexion is on the light side, and either their eyes are squinted or their nose is pointed. Rich people in the Philippines tend to talk in hushed tones, instead of being really loud in public places. They wear clean and simple clothing that tells little about their actual net worth.

The youth of Class A loves to party. They prefer nightclubs and hotel bars. They aren't afraid to do a bit of dirty dancing.

A couple of pictures of Okada. This was the last mall I visited that I took some pics of so here you go.

Malls they frequent: Casinos like Okada, City of Dreams, and Solaire. Greenbelt. Shangri-La.

2. Class B (Upper-Middle Class)

Class B people aren't very different from Class A people in terms of clothing or mannerisms. Both classes are comprised of people who have a sense of subtle, elegant fashion, and they talk in Conyo. Their sentences tend to lean more on English than Filipino, and their English grammar is always impeccable. Even though they're Filipinos, they will struggle with Filipino words e.g. if you ask them what day it is, they'll tell you it's Friday, instead of Biyernes.

Although Class A people are born rich, Class B people are the kind of people who rose up from the lower class. These are the people who worked rigorously up from Class C through financial discipline and responsible work ethic. Thanks to their hard work, they live comfortable lives with just enough money to not worry too much about financial stress, and they aren't interesting enough to the public to be swarmed by the media.

Kids under this class are capable of entering expensive schools like Ateneo and La Salle, but out of interest of saving money, not every parent in Class B will find it necessary.

Class B people will invest in stocks and real estate, because they have the funds and they normally think in the long-term.

This class is up to date and savvy enough to download Netflix and Spotify on their phones. They are willing to actually pay for their entertainment as opposed to the more cost-efficient lower class.

Millennials in both Class A and Class B experience First World Problems in a Third World Country. They are troubled when the cafe they chose to spend the afternoon in doesn't have Wi-Fi. They also have problems with taking a bath when the water hasn't been heated.

When it comes to gaming, both Class A and Class B people have the privilege of owning the latest video game consoles. They also play pricey AAA games. In the end, Class B people tend to play more games than Class A people because the 1% has other things to do than play video games.

Malls they frequent: Robinsons Galleria, Megamall's Mega-Fashion Hall, Podium

3. Class C (Lower-Middle Class)

Most Filipinos fall into this class. A large portion of these people are living paycheck-to-paycheck thanks to the rent and bills they have to pay. They're also probably under an ever-growing mountain of debt, or they have kids, which are either way insanely expensive in the long-run. The numerous, giant billboards advertising products with cheeky puns and local celebrities are targeted at these kind of people.

Their skin complexion tends to cover every shade of brown. They generally aren't as tall as the classes above them, but it's no surprise if someone from this class manages to be of the same height as class A or class B people.

The Class C speak in Taglish, which differs from Conyo because it leans more on Tagalog than English. People in this class and below also count in Spanish. Moreover, when these people talk, they have a distinct palangkera or palangkero voice, which is fairly loud and diverse with intonations.

Class C people wish they could put some money in stocks, but they never actually get around to doing it. Some Class C people manage to get an account with an online broker started, but they end up trading -- not investing -- in our volatile markets so they're essentially gambling, and it incurs more losses than gains.

The people in this class love to post their selfies on Instagram and Facebook. Instead of using Spotify and Netflix, they'll pirate their movies and songs.

Gamers in this class typically play mobile games like Mobile Legends, or they play timeless classics like Dota II or PUBG in poorly furnished PC shops. If they do happen to play AAA games, they'll go out of their way to pirate the game and get it for free, instead of paying for an expensive disc.

When it comes to drinking, this class likes to spend their hard-earned money at resto-bars, ordering buckets of beer filled with San Mig and Red Horse. Afterwards they hit the karaoke place and sing to their heart's content.

Malls they frequent: SM Fairview, Fairview Terraces, Lower levels of Megamall

4. Class D (Lower Class/Below Poverty Line)

This is where we can categorize the squatters that live under bridges. Beggars, Jeepney drivers, and shabby fishball stand owners make up the bulk of the occupations of the people under this class.

They speak absolutely no English whatsoever. They have the darkest complexion of all the classes. They probably don't mean any harm (emphasis on probably; petty crimes are rampant in the Philippines), but their mere presence on the streets make the place feel unsafe.

They partner rice with condiments like ketchup and mayo because meat is too expensive.

Unfortunately, people that can be found below the Poverty Line are beyond hope. Although there are fairy tale stories like that of Manny Pacquiao where he rose from rags to riches, those kind of stories are literally one in a million.

Basically you get the point of this class.

Malls they frequent: StarMall or Ever Gotesco. They can't afford to go malling elsewhere, but Pedro Gil in Manila is a good example of a street infested with them.


So there you have it, a lengthy overview of the different classes of the Philippines in the year of our lord 2019. For the lower classes, you should strive to be a part of the class above us :) Are you already Class A at the top? Then congratulations because you literally have it better than most of the people in this country. If you're one of the people from the upper class, then you ought to show some humility for those that aren't as fortunate as you.

What do you think of my list? Let me know if you have any comments or violent reactions :)

Reflection: 4 Big Misconceptions when Investing

Did you know that less than 1% of the Philippine's population have invested in the stock market? That's less than 1 million people, in a country populated by 100 million people. (Source) If you already have some money in stocks, then congratulations, because that makes you different from most of the people in the country (the whole world, actually) and you're actually thinking about the future.

If you have some money in the stock market and you're actually making money, then that's even better, because that doesn't happen often in our economical climate. Most people buying stocks won't admit it, but they're actually losing money in the stock market. Why is that? Because risk is a very real factor in the stock market that a lot of people either don't understand or tend to underestimate. They mostly treat the market as if it's one giant casino to gamble your hard-earned money into, as if any stock you choose has the same amount of chance of making money. That's not a very good mindset to develop.

Traders like to use terms like "bulls", "bears" and "death cross" to make their lives sound more exciting.

I know stocks sound boring, especially for a blog titled "Escapist Adventures", but it's always been something that I'm very fond of because I believe that being responsible with money is the key for us to live free and adventurous lives. I've been investing for a couple of years now, hoping that the money I put in will pay-off in the far-future.

Most stock market gurus will tell you that there's a lot of learning and discipline involved when you get into the stock market. Obviously that's true, but what I don't like is that they don't try to expound any deeper than that. I'm fed-up with all these so-called stock experts refusing to go into detail on the learnings that a beginner to the stock market would find useful.

So with that said, I've listed down some misconceptions I had that I corrected once I got more experienced with investing:

Misconception 1: When you buy a stock, the Gain/Loss percentage you see at your port will start off as 0.0%

This is false. It sounds like it makes sense because theoretically when you buy a stock and as long as the price doesn't increase or decrease in value, then you'd have made no profit nor loss. That's reasonable logic, but what most people don't know is that online brokers tend to include their broker fees when you buy a stock. So unless the stock rises in price, you're more likely to see a red negative percentage after you've clicked buy.

It's not a very big percentage; it would be around -1.0% if you buy the bare minimum. Seeing the red number is kinda discouraging at first, because it has a psychological impact on your brain and you assume that you've made a mistake. It honestly stops becoming a big deal when a) you know that it's just your broker's commission, and b) you've done your research and you're confident the stock you bought is going to gain much more than that in the future.

Misconception 2: Investing has little to no risks compared to trading, and putting your money into stocks and never taking them out will allow your wealth to constantly grow upwards and increase in value

This is only partially true. Investing is less riskier than trading, but there are still some risks involved when you invest. In the long-run, investing in stocks will indeed increase your wealth, but the short-run will have moments where your stock will be plunging down and you begin to question if you made the right choice. It's very hard to not let your emotions get the best of you. I can speak from experience that there are times when I get so frustrated and irritated at how low my stocks have gotten.

A glimpse of my port back in November 2018. It's red with all the losses I've accumulated.

Regardless of your decisions, the stock market will go through some ups and downs -- just like life itself. The beautiful thing about stocks and life is that when we're prepared for the downfalls, they become manageable and their impacts don't look so bad. It's also a nice thing to know that time and time again the stock market has proven that it can always rise higher and better in the long-run. Maybe the same is true for life itself?

This is my portfolio in January 2019. It's clearly looking greener than it did last year.

My stocks are in the green right now, but I'm mentally prepared for my portfolio to bleed red all over again once the market goes into another crash. I'm prepared because I know that the companies that I invested in won't stay down for long, and the crash is just a sign that the stocks I want to buy are on bargain sale.

Misconception 3: As long as you invest in Bluechip stocks, you'll start to see profits in a few months

Stock picking is a lot more complicated than that, and investing takes much longer than that. But when I was still a beginner in the stock market, I was naive enough to assume this misconception. I bought MEG and DMC in my first year of investing. I didn't hold onto them for very long because every week I was looking to see how much I gained. I was running out of patience because my gains were so small -- less than 1%, and I didn't understand just how long "long-term investing" really is.

It turns out I bought the stocks at a bad time when the market was going sideways after an upwards trend. Eventually the prices sunk and I sold all my shares because of disappointment.

Misconception 4: Stocks have compounding interest aka "interest on interest" that turns $1000 to $1,000,000 in 20 years

I used to hear so many fairy tales pertaining to investing wherein if you invest $1000, you'll get $1 million in 20 years thanks to compounding interest. These stories are very misleading, because the truth is it's almost impossible to find an investment vehicle that will constantly give you 5% and upwards per year. It most certainly isn't true in stocks. If your starting investment in a stock is 25,000Php and you don't touch it for 20 years, you won't get compounding interest. The closest thing to compounding interest in stocks is when your dividends are reinvested, which is what Mutual Funds do for you automatically.



Aaaand that's about all the time I have for this topic without getting too boring. There are probably some other things I've learned that I could talk about but nothing comes to mind that I want to extensively write about like I did with the 4 items I just mentioned. It was my own experience and time that taught me what was right and what was wrong in the stock market, but I also want to thank the book The Intelligent Investor for showing me the right path. It might not be the right path for everyone per se, but it's the path that works for me. Warren Buffet wasn't joking when he said it's one of the greatest books on investment ever made.

What are some misconceptions you had with stocks that you've overcome? Let me know in the comments below. What you learned can save a newbie from making a big mistake :)