OFWs must invest in something solid or safe

Life abroad is not easy as most people think. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) brave the untamed seas, the sweltering heat of the desert, and the harsh cold of winter. This is not to mention that Filipino workers are also exposed to abuse, discrimination, and other forms of racist undertones.

I’ve seen them all and am also a victim myself of racism. And much as you would really want to stand up and fight back, you choose not to. And I can understand why Filipinos swallow their indignation because we think about our families more than we think about ourselves. We have come to accept that they are a part of the whole schemes of things in overseas employment.

Adding salt and rubbing them to their wounds, the families they leave behind squander their hard-earned earnings in unnecessary goods, high-maintenance SUVS, partying and shopping. Others put up businesses that they don’t even know or unfamiliar with. In short, OFWs are not only made to endure the loneliness and cruelty outside but also the insensitivity of the people they care about inside their very own homes.

Our OFWs must learn to be assertive this time. To choose what’s best for their families for the long term and to spend only the essentials and in safe investments. They need to be to be educated not only in managing their finances but to find ways and means to grow their earnings in investable projects or businesses. The reason why many OFWs ended up broke or retired in vagrancy is primarily because of misspending and in businesses they once thought they can handle like owning jeepneys or taxis for example. Most often, this is the first thing that comes to mind for many OFWs, which I should say is one of those businesses that are doomed to fail.

Transport operation is a serious business and cannot be taken lightly. It requires human resource management, cost accounting, and technical knowledge. If you really come to think of it, more than 70% of the country’s transport operators are still considered “informal” in the way they are run their business.

If you are an OFW and don’t know what to do with your money, you can bet on insurance. The beauty of many insurance products these days is that they are integrated with earnings aside protection. Unfortunately, most OFWs are not so much about insurance investing and are very much settled to just getting protection than for investment. If you really want to comfortably retire, insurance is the way to go.

Real estate, in my opinion, is still the best bet an OFW can also try. The reason being is for its solidity. In bad days, it is the easiest to liquidate and in good days, yields better return. Real estate does not depreciate unlike cars. Between the most expensive SUV and the cheapest condo (for the price of an SUV), you can never wrong with the latter. What most people do not know is that – the moment you buy a brand new SUV, you automatically lose about 10% of its value. Meaning if you bought a brand new SUV today, it will be 10-15% less if you sell it the next day. Which means, OFWs should not waste their money on buying expensive cars as they only serve to boost once ego than your pocket.

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I would like to invite real estate practitioners to attend the Real Estate Business Optimization and Online Techniques Camp II (Reboot Camp 2) on March 18, 2014, at the Diamond Suites. This is a whole day seminar covering new and latest methods in marketing real estate online. This hands-on seminar, highlights the use of Facebook techniques and posting methods to generate leads and closing them online.  

The speaker, Mr. Anthony Leuterio, the first ePRO professional in the Philippines, is also the most successful online marketer of real estate and the country’s most authentic social media expert with more than 25 million combined followers in various social media pages. He owns the country’s most awarded real estate firm, Leuterio Realty, and had on record sold billions of real estate products in his four years of online and referral marketing.

If you wish to attend this seminar, text or call 09228800606 for details or shoot me an email. 

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