Shaun T. Dy's Business & Economics Perspective Blog

It's October 31 tomorrow.  I remember writing a Halloween post about protectionist scare tactics . This time, I'm going to address a new issue. A lot of Halloween costumes these days are anything but limited to ghouls and ghosts. Some even dress up as angels and superheroes. Though, some people would still want to dress in the scariest costume, right? The meme above by the Simple Sum Philippines might strike a big point. It's because a considerable amount of Filipinos really have poor financial habits . It's almost as bad, if it not just as bad as the typical American and overspending . The scariest costume is a jar with a label that says PHP 0.00 savings.  As Christmas is around the corner, the November sale is around the corner. Why do so many people wait until the last minute? It's easy to reason about living paycheck to paycheck. However, one could examine the many dumb ways that the paycheck is drained after payday (read here ). I believe it's often called

Back in high school and after college, I had a sedentary lifestyle. I would play countless hours of video games and watch TV almost non-stop. Exercise tends to sound so complicated. Fortunately, it doesn't have to sound very complicated since exercise shouldn't always sound like being athletic. The moment I got a Xiaomi MiBand--I soon installed Google Fit aside from the official Xiaomi app (which gets really buggy) and the Notify for MiBand app. I started off rather fat in 2013 and I'm happy to say I've lost a lot of weight. A fitness band would be used to count steps. At first, I aimed for 6,000 steps a day but I wanted to beat that record. 6,000 steps was my bare minimum . There were times when an exercise would barely give me the steps I wanted. I could do some cardio boxing, feel very tired, and still not get the steps I wanted. Fortunately, fitness devices can be used in workout mode. With my MiBand, one of the things I did was to set it up to workout mode. I could

As a Filipino, I've observed the Filipino diet tends to lean on a sweet tooth. What causes this probable genetic disposition of the Filipino to crave sweets? That trait might be traced to one's ancestors. Newsweek also mentions it might be with the DNA . The Malaysians and the Filipinos have close genetics. The Britannica also cites this about Filipinos: The ethnically diverse people of the Philippines collectively are called Filipinos.  The ancestors of the vast majority of the population were of Malay descent and came from the Southeast Asian mainland as well as from what is now Indonesia . Contemporary Filipino society consists of nearly 100 culturally and linguistically distinct ethnic groups. Of these, the largest are the Tagalog of Luzon and the Cebuano of the Visayan Islands, each of which constitutes about one-fifth of the country’s total population. Other prominent groups include the Ilocano of northern Luzon and the Hiligaynon (Ilongo) of the Visayan islands of Panay

Interaksyon I was running out of ideas until I saw iPhones on the Facebook feeds. Right now, I'm indirectly invested in Apple stocks via the ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund and recently, the ATRAM Global Opportunity Feeder Fund. ABS-CBN News reports that scores queue for iPhone 15 release . This was just the introduction of the whole event: Around 200 peopl e queued outside an Apple Premium Partner store at a mall in Makati City on Friday, with some even having spent the night lining up, so they could be among the first to get their hands on the latest iPhone model. Accessories worth several thousand pesos were given to the first 300 individuals who purchased the iPhone 15 before dawn.  Now, I'd like to also present this part about Filipinos and the iPhone craze: Krisel Loreto, the marketing manager of Power Mac Center, said they host the giveaway annually to help patrons “make the most of their investment.” “ We all know iPhone comes with a hefty price. We do events such a

BBC I could remember that when I was in my fourth year of high school (under K+10)--I frequently threw tantrums in Math class. I felt Trigonometry was the "most useless" mathematics. I always viewed myself as inadequate, and unworthy all because I was labeled "bad at math". I felt I wasn't worthy because of that especially when I once aimed to enter the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) and get that "invincibility badge". I looked at some of my previous entries where I felt Chinese math was redundant since students are learning math in their English classes. Maybe, I'm wrong to say that. I decided to Google "Chinese mathematics" and I felt, "Maybe, it's time to apply the Chinese method of teaching mathematics in the English class instead!" I think Mandarin teachers should just focus on teaching 華語 (Huáyǔ) so students can speak better Chinese.  I looked at Chinese mathematics. I heard some people who managed to reach the fou

Today is Friday the 13th and I felt like writing this post. Also, Halloween is just around the corner. I found this from the Simple Sum website. The word pera-normal is a portmaneau of the word "pera" (money) and paranormal. There's always this savings jar is always empty or the bank fund is running out of money. It's because impulse buying seems to be the norm in the Philippines. The Philippines tend ot follow the US a lot. I even heard Filipinos tend to follow bad American spending habits too. A lot of Americans today are overspenders . The basic rule is to charge to your credit card what you can't afford. Instead, a lot of Americans are doing the reverse. Whether we want to admit it or not, it's very tempting to overspend especially on payday or profit-sharing day. The money received hardly lasts on the hands of an extravagant person . Shouldn't it be a rule that if you live paycheck to paycheck not to splurge the paycheck? It's already payday. Ins

Nothing is wrong with getting a loan. However, it can become a real problem when one becomes the infamous loan ranger . This is a term that might be best described for someone who likes to borrow money but not return it. With Christmas being very near, the Philippine holiday debt trap is certain (read here ). Many people tend to live a life that's debt-driven because they're notoriously loan rangers. I even wrote an article where I discuss how a Merry Christmas can lead to an unhappy New Year .  I'll recall some failed business deals I made back when I was younger. Somebody owed me money and never paid me back until now . Some people have been conned even of millions and have not been paid until now. Maybe, even the best entrepreneur will confess that at one point, they have lost the trust of someone because the person owed them millions and never paid them back . I could recall how banks would seize assets if people couldn't pay. It's because when a person borrows

Earlier on, I wrote a post about why being stingy in one's expenses is also stupid . I witnessed some of my elders brag about how stingy they are, saying it's "some sacrifice". Sure, it's never ideal for children to get everything they want. However, it's not ideal for children not to be deprived of everything they need . Back on track, I think one of the many misguided things I've had was to assume expensive is always better. Sure, one needs to pay a higher price for better quality. I should expect to pay a higher price when I order tea or coffee from a tea store or coffee shop. However, there are some things in the world that are just plain overpriced . I would like to use a classic film scene to illustrate a point. As the holidays hit, maybe some people who were either parents or children in the 1990s may remember Jingle All the Way . It's one stupid film that delivers a smart message in some way. It can be a message against last-minute shopping and

Atlas Institute for Internal Affairs   Happy Double 10 to Taiwan! Chinese Filipino schools would take part in what's often called the Double 10 celebrations. October is the 10th month and it's the 10th day. I remember talking about how Taiwan succeeded by accepting FDIs and how the Filipino First Policy caused us to fail . The typical response I would get on American-made social media (of all places), such as Facebook, would be, "How many times do I need to stress that the Philippines isn't Taiwan. We are the Philippines! We are unique!" If those fools did a study, they may realize that there's a link between the Taiwanese aborigines and the Filipino aborigines (read here ). The Philippines should've learned from Taiwan during COVID-19 One of the best models for fighting COVID-19 was Taiwan. Sure, I'm more in favor of shifting to a parliamentary system and Taiwan is still a presidential country (with parliamentary features).  Former Taiwanese president

I advocate for helping others. I believe in helping others but there were times I overdid it. One time, I gave up so much that I had to be stopped. I was told, "If you gave everything now, how can you help others later?" I would donate some sums here and there, without thinking much. I'm not going to write them all. Some of them left me good while others left a bad taste (and a bad record) for me to endure. Sure, I want to help people but I tend to overlook the consequences. Some of the bad habits I had in the name of helping others are like: Being too generous with buying with credit. Eventually, I lost a lot of money which was never recovered . Some seasoned entrepreneurs may admit their own falls including the credit trap pitfall. Being too willing to give a discount without thinking about how it'd affect profits. Sure, a cheap price can draw people near. However, there are times when the prices of goods and services need to be raised to keep a business running. I

It's time to begin a new road into investing. I went from a moderate risk taker to a moderately aggressive risk taker. Of course, I need to be careful with how much money I invest or I don't invest the money that I need. I believe that one could start by investing 15% to 20% of one's income. Basically, it's money that's not needed now. Fortune Recommends gives this ideal sweet spot: Many of the experts we spoke with suggested, as a general rule, to invest a set percentage of your after-tax income. Although that percentage can vary depending on your income, savings, and debts. “ Ideally, you’ll invest somewhere around 15%–25% of your post-tax income, ” says Mark Henry, founder and CEO at Alloy Wealth Management. “If you need to start smaller and work your way up to that goal, that’s fine. The important part is that you actually start.”  Some budgeting strategies account for this, such as the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy, which breaks your monthly budget into three ca