Buying Lottery Tickets ISN'T Investing

It's fascinating (and annoying) that people want to get rich quick. The bad news is it's easy come and easy go. People do all sorts of crazy stuff trying to get rich quick. Back in 2022 while repairs after the Odette disaster were done, I wrote an article about not investing while having a gambling addiction. Some people may have pulled their money out of the index funds and played Axie Infinity trying to make a quick buck. Some people got into cryptocurrency with the same hopes of getting rich quick fast. Before cryptocurrencies and Axie Infinity, the lottery ticket was treated like a "golden ticket". When I mention "golden ticket", some people may have seen the classic Willie Wonka movie where each child had a golden ticket. Only one of the children could inherit the main character's candy factory.

It makes me laugh (and cringe) that people waste their money on a lottery ticket. A wife can complain about her husband buying lottery tickets instead of spending the money on their needs, saying the Return On Investment (ROI) will be better. Calling buying lottery tickets an investment is a huge insult, even if it's not directed at my face. I recall fighting with a working scholar, who mentioned her sad situation. She didn't only waste my time. She gave her sob story, mentioning that her father would buy lottery tickets, hoping they would no longer be poor. I replied, "Isn't it any wonder your financial situation is like that?" I didn't have high financial literacy during that time. I didn't know I could invest in stocks via UITFS at that time. However, being raised by frugal parents (though they too had their own mistakes) gave me that important insight. As my frugal parents will say, "Don't rely on the lottery." It's because the lottery is a gamble. It's not investing at all! How many people win the lottery vs. those who lose it? It's like a raffle draw where you can't hope to win the car. You win the car, you win it. You don't win it, you don't win it! In short, it's a gamble or a game of chance.

As I learned about investing in stocks via UITFs (and take note, I never learned it in school), here's a quote from Peter Lynch. His advice is to never treat stocks as lottery tickets. Behind every stock is a company. A Jollibee stock is a piece of Jollibee, and Jollibee is a company. In those UITFs, there are multiple companies under them. My recent investments are with ATRAM's international stocks. The consumer trend fund focuses on companies feeding that sector. The technology fund focuses on companies feeding that sector. The ATRAM Global Equity Opportunity Fund invests in different companies in different sectors. The PSEi index funds invest in the 30 best companies on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

True, some stocks do fail when the company fails to perform well. However, stocks from companies like Jollibee and Apple are bound to appreciate in value. One thing I learned about UITFs (and any seasoned investor beat me to that) is that investing in stocks won't get me rich overnight. Instant gratification is non-existent in buying a stock or investing through the UITFs. I could invest PHP 5,000.00 in Jollibee, and I have to wait. I may want to buy more Jollibee stocks when the value is lowered during certain seasons. I could buy into the PSEi with an index fund. I invested this amount toda,y but shouldn't expect to get rich quick tomorrow. Stocks aren't a gamble but a long-term investment. Some people even hold their stocks for five or even 10 years.

The lottery offers instant gratification when one wins. What do most people do with the lottery win anyway? Most prefer to do "happy-happy" instead of investing the money. It's the same feeling when people win a gamble. People would gamble the wins from the gamble. Maybe, we should call it "re-gambling" the money because it's so addicting. It's the opposite of reinvesting when someone reinvests the money. I would reinvest the money market interests into a stock-based UITF. The interest coupons still have that addictive feeling. However, the addictive feeling isn't deadly compared to the instant gratification of lottery wins.

That's why I don't buy lottery tickets. Lottery tickets should be treated like mahjong cards or playing cards. Nobody reall gets rich sustainably through gambling. It's because the shortest road often leads nowhere.

COMMUNIST Vietnam Has Defeated DEMOCRATIC Philippines Again This 2025

Cổng thông tin Trung ương Đoàn TNCS Hồ Chí Minh A few days ago, I wrote about warning Filipinos that they shouldn't wait for more unmitigated typhoon disasters, before realizing that the Filipino First Policy isn't working ! There's a statement that says, "Just because being tanga (inattentive) is libre (free), doesn't mean you should be tanga!" Analyzing the different policies: why policies matter I found a Business World article, written by Cesar Polvorosa, Jr., on my Facebook news feed discussing the Vietnamese economy . In fact, it would be better to share some hard truths that the article offers about what really went wrong with the democratic Philippines compared to Communist Vietnam : DIVERGENT ECONOMIC MODELS Vietnam pursued an export-oriented manufacturing strategy which has proven significantly more successful over the past half century than the Philippines’ service-heavy, remittances-dependent model . Export performance alone tells a compe...

The OFW Working Abroad and Their Family on Christmas

It's a few days before Christmas. I don't like December because of heavy traffic, some people prefer Christmas shopping at the last minute (since procrastination is a common habit in the Philippines), the stress of year-end work, and December is the end of the year's cycle. I decided to write this entry. There's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas or having a good time. The problem comes when one celebrates beyond one's means (read here ). That means having extravagant Christmas parties that require a music band that one can't afford, inviting the whole village, etc. when one can't afford it. Speaking of which, these incidents remind me of OFW families. I remember a study presented at the University of San Carlos. If I remember correctly, it was done by accounting students. It was a study showing the spending habits of OFW families. Outstanding Filipinos Worldwide Facebook Page Here's a meme on Facebook that I found. For the sake of non-Tagalog spea...

Having the BADLY NEEDED Tenacity to Hold My PSEi Related Investments During INEVITABLE Paper Losses

I decided to do a portfolio review, especially because Christmas to New Year is around the corner . I thought about checking my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund. For the sake of confidentiality , I wouldn't give out the exact loss. I was tempted to sell my AXA Chinese Tycoon Fund (which was at a paper loss , not an actual loss) and go for cryptocurrency . However, after looking at the ghost of Quadriga-CX Crypto Scam made I said, "I need to stick to what Warren Buffett said about the stock market." Buffett's advice doesn't require an MBA or even a PhD in business administration to understand them. Instead, I was looking at these lessons that Buffett such as: If I'm not willing to open to own a stock for 10 minutes, I shouldn't think of owning it for ten years! Definitely no day trading for me! The stock market is a device that transfers money from impatient people to patient people. I have to be more patient as the stock market inevitably corrects itself, unless t...

Economics 101: Pre-Colonial Philippine Natives Already Did Business with Foreigners

Art by Hugo Yunzon It's finally August or Buwan Ng Wika (Month of the Language), though it may be better to call it Buwan Ng Kultura (Month of the Culture). Buwan Ng Wika programs tend to focus more on the uniqueness of several types of Filipino people. What I recall back in my high school days (late 1990s) is how I was asked to play an "American" in a Buwan Ng Wika program. There were also other people asked to portray the Chinese traders, Arab traders, Indian traders, and the Japanese occupation. It would be good to do a review of the pre-colonial Philippines. The name Philippines was derived from the Spanish king, King Philip. Back then, the natives were called Indios which sounds very similar to Indonesia . Yes, most Filipinos are either Malay or Indo. A look at the Indonesians and Malaysians would have one mistake them for Filipinos. A note is that the Chinese population there usually speaks Hokkien. From Purdue Filpino --here's some basic information about Fili...

Are People Who Insist That Workers Own the Means of Production Be Willing to Open a Business Where Workers Own the Means of Production?

Last 2022, I wrote two articles on the means of production. One article I wrote refutes the idea that workers, not the business owners, own the means of production . Another article discussed whether or not anti-capitalists have no choice because capitalists own the means of production . The other day, I wrote a dare where I want people who insist on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics (higher salaries, lower prices) to open stores that operate on that mindset . I'm afraid that what I wrote was merely the tip of the iceberg . With that in mind, I'd like to ask people who say that the workers own the means of production to open a business, where the workers own the means of production. What's their reasoning behind the logic that the workers own the means of production? The common logic is that because the workers did all the hard work they own the production. They say that the businessman can die but not the workers. It's because according to these smart alecks--it's b...

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