Stop losing MONEY by making TRUST expensive

Years ago, I got into two networking businesses. Unfortunately, I didn’t succeed on both. I even think I lost the trust of some people whom I invited and joined. Though my intention then was sincere. It was to get them into business so we can earn money together. I was too positive and believing that we would make it. And probably that was my fault. I might have gave them false hopes that we could do it easily. And thinking that failure was not possible. And that I was too good not to succeed. But I lacked the knowledge then. So I failed. But we earned some from selling products. And of course by having recruits. But we didn’t earn that much. Not as much as those businesses promised. So I lost their trust. The business was not easy anyway but I think I sent them the wrong signal. And it was my fault. I was too good in telling them we could do it. Too good that I so much believed myself knowing that I still didn't know that much about investments.

Most of us must have heard about the big scam that victimized thousands of people mostly from Visayas and Mindanao just recently. The Aman Group owners just duped them for billions of pesos. The promise of getting rich quick was utilized, and lots of people fell into the bait. This had happened before. And sadly, it still happens now. As you read this, chances are that some people out there are currently dealing with their innocent victims of the same scheme.

Is it?

Because of these scammers, a lot of people becomes too skeptic about anything involving money. From being too trusting to totally unbelieving. And most of them end up avoiding risk and investing as a whole. And it makes the ending more sad for them.

It's not difficult to avoid becoming victims of scams. But it's also not always easy to identify them. It was said that if something is too good to be true, it usually is. But sometimes there are things which are good but really is good. And being good doesn't mean it is easy. And what is good for me may not be good for you. It still depends on expectations. And it is a good expectation if it is backed up by knowledge. A knowledgeable person will always have more realistic and attainable expectations.

Grandfather of 'em all, Charles Ponzi

Patience is a virtue. It's truer in moneymaking. As what the “Great Bear of Wall Street” Jessie Livermore once said that he earned his moolahs from the sitting, not on the thinking. Get-rich-quick is not really impossible though. If you check the stock market chart, doubled and tripled price in a day happens more than you think it does. But how often you can hit those is a different story. It's actually like gambling if you don’t know what you’re doing there. But still, stock market is a risky thing even with much knowledge a person has. But at least, you can always give an intelligent bet than an 'ala-tsamba' style of an ignorant one. With knowledge, chances of "winning" is therefore bigger. You can choose to pick on the fundamentally sound businesses and hold them for long. Do the sitting. And there are also ways like 'cost-averaging' which furthermore lessens the risks. These all sounds good, but again, good doesn't always mean it's easy. And time is always a friend when you invest. But it can also be your worst enemy if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Due diligence is also important. There are a lot of choices of investment available for you. From all the traditional business options, to paper investments like buying stocks, bonds, special deposits, mutual funds, UITFs, VUL funds, etc, the choices are endless. And even if you got offered by one, don’t stop there. Look at all the other options. At first glance, an offer may look salivating, with all the hype and the promise. But always remember that it is not the only vendor that offers the same service. You might get a better deal with another. As a help, some sites are even giving lists of comparison like this site which gives lists of mutual fund performances. Though past performance will not assure anything in the future, it will still give you a glimpse on how they manage their funds. Then it will help you decide.  

Bricks. Oh, wait?

Lastly, never put the seller’s sweet words in consideration. Just get the numbers, calculations, processes and the computations. Understand all technicalities. Leave out the honey-coated words which are all for the hype. Be more intelligent. Not all that speaks of good things have the best intentions. Or maybe they have it but definitely not for you, but for their own pockets. So invest wisely. Choose wisely.….Meanwhile, the next local elections in the Philippines is coming.....