Done w/ EF, what's next? Am I missing out on something

[alexis1148]

Earning 40k. Monthly expenses around 25k.
I like saving up once I got the hang of it a few months ago. Pero I'm genuinely uncomfortable with seeing money that I have that is more than 5k. I come from a lower middle class family. Started working when I was in high school for daily expenses.

I can say that I'm doing pretty good. Just looking for honest opinions. I might be missing out on some better opportunities.

Savings total of 200k.
- 100k EF in RCBC Hexagon.
- 100k scattered across high yielding digibanks.

Here's what I'm thinking of right now.
1. Planning to put 50k in a 7% dividend coop, also serves as EF bc their interest rates for loans up to deposited amount is lower than the dividends.
2. Will leave the 50k as buffer. Might use it to invest in a business with my partner.
3. Planning to save up for another 50k and deposit it full in MP2.

Other context:
1. Not planning to pull out the 100k from RCBC to maintain ADB. I get free life insurance and free withdrawals from any ATM.
2. I'm debt free but am saving up separately for a new phone. Will only buy if I have the full amount already onhand. But not sure if I should do installments (better liquidity, improved credit score), or pay full cash through resellers (net amount a lot cheaper). What do u think?
3. My actual monthly expenses are around 10k to 18k only. Splurged a bit lang last few months. Saving up isn't very difficult but I feel like I've saved up enough but I also feel that I should earn more.
4. I tried crypto for but got paper loss 20% in one day. I waited until I got back my initial deposit then pulled out lol. Should I continue and try crypto with money "willing to lose" maybe around 20k?
5. Can't afford term insurance yet. Company provides good HMO but I'll be paying for dependents.

Am not comfortable with this level of comfort tbh. Di ako sanay na I can always say "meron akong extra". Wc is why MP2, coop, time deposit, and locked savings were my go-to.

Now I think I should step outside of my comfort zone but am unsure where to go. Am I doing this right?

 

[ytinifni132]

@alexis1148 Hi! Your plan so far sounds good! Everyone has their own pace and there's no need to rush into risky investments if you don't feel comfortable. It is worse to jump into a risky asset with promises of better returns, regret it, and sell it when the price drops than to invest in a safer asset from the start.

I would recommend trying to look into UITFs with your bank, RCBC or whatever bank you want, if you want to try and "step outside of my comfort zone". UITFs (Unit investment Trust Funds) are investment products offered by banks so you can get exposure to different markets. Note though, that this is an investment product and there are no guaranteed returns. It's "safer" than individual stocks since the banks will be the ones to invest your money in stocks on your behalf. They charge a certain premium (I checked and the PH Stock UITFs in RCBC are around 1% per annum for stocks + Minimum investment is P5,000) to manage your money. You can also go into UITFs of bonds if you want to take less risk. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Don't jump in just cause others recommended it. Don't rely on the % returns that they advertise. Past performance is NOT an indicator of future returns.

If you do want to try something even riskier/want to control which stocks you own, you can try opening an account with a brokerage. I personally use First Metro Sec (Metrobank's Brokerage arm). Though, it requires MUCH MORE research to pick individual stocks. I would stick with UITFs for a bit, learn some more from others, then try a little bit here and there.

Otherwise, you're doing a great job and keep it up!

 

[benftw]

@alexis1148 Try to invest in US stocks, ETF, & REITs as they offer more growth for your investments as well as higher dividend yield annually.

If youre curious about this route, I mainly see 2 ways that members of this subreddit use:
A. IBKR
B. Gotrade

Gotrade is good especially if you like to deposit monthly or quarterly or if your deposit isn't that huge of an amount (ex. 20% APR per year especially on bull runs

C. Trading
-i really love to trade crypto as an asset, as it operates 24/7 but stick with the big coins ETH and BTC, as other coins just follow the movement and trends of these 2 big coins except for a few other coins
-papertrade first, you can try it on TradingView for a free Paper trade account, can also paper trade other equities like US stocks, and forex there
-learn your basics and fundamentals in trading before stepping your foot in trading crypto and learn proper risk management unless you wanna get your burned in a few trades.

*Trading is a very broad topic so ill just leave this as a sort of very short intro.

*As always do your own research for all these assets, as these are just advice

 

[freedomfighter732]

@benftw Could you please provide instructions on how to wire transfer funds from Union Bank (UB) to Interactive Brokers (IBKR)? Thank you!

 

[benftw]

@freedomfighter732 Hi sorry of the late reply, unfortunately I haven't tried using UB pathway yet, most of what I've writte above are based on others post or experience shared in phinvest subreddit. Also upon checking, I found out that you cant open a UB dollar acct remotely on the app, you still need to visit their branch to open a USD acct.

Most likely I'll be proceeding with Eastwest bank route to fund my IBKR acct, as I spoke with some of the officers there and confirmed its much easier to do it there (based on my personal opinion). Only downside is the $40 wire transfer fee.

 

[saltlee]

@alexis1148 It’s a very sound plan. Also, yes to you should earn more.

 

[mark7]

@alexis1148 ok yang plano mo kung san ka kumportable and may peace of mind. next mo gawin is to stick on your plans for the next 30 yrs if kaya ng pasensya mo. Pwede karin mag save ulit pang capital if plano mo mag business.

 

[parentucelli]

@alexis1148 item 4: before you invest in anything high risk, ask yourself if you have the stomach for it because not all people do. kaya nga sya high risk, it is not uncommon to see red. it also requires more skill— patience, knowing kelan ang tamang pasok/labas. while it’s true na it’s ok to try out high risk investments early in your career (so you can recoup losses) it also requires a bit of research and hard work on your end. sure baka swertihin ka without knowing what you are doing but the key with high risk e managing that risk a bit to your comfort level.

 

[josephkarthic]

@alexis1148 First of all, I commend you OP because it seems that you have a good financial plan.

If I may add lang, my suggestion for you is to use your extra funds to upskill. Attend a course/seminar/training to invest on your personal development or career development which you can use to earn more.

Another suggestion is to increase your psychological wallet. Overcome that "uncomfortable" feeling of seeing more than 5K funds on hand. Set a target to become comfortable holding 10K, then gradually 20K and so on.

Best of luck!

 

[crk3297]

@alexis1148

Here's what I'm thinking of right now.

Planning to put 50k in a 7% dividend coop, also serves as EF bc their interest rates for loans up to deposited amount is lower than the dividends.

Will leave the 50k as buffer. Might use it to invest in a business with my partner.

Planning to save up for another 50k and deposit it full in MP2.

For me, instead of doing 1 and 3, just keep it 'simple, stupid'. Just place your extras in ETFs, either VT, VOO or QQQ. I'm not a fan of MP2 because of the lock in period and very low yield (vs other options like equity ETFs). The coop return is also quite low, imo.

You should aim for more conservative investments the closer you get to your retirement age.

 

[fayrow]

@alexis1148 Sounds good. You will map out the errors and inefficiencies along the way but you are off to a great start. A+

 

[essy1010]

@alexis1148 How about health insurance?

 

[daughterofgod15]

@essy1010 Same tots, i know there is a term insurance available for OP with a good price. OP seems at a young age rin and health muna talaga before anything else.

 

[essy1010]

@daughterofgod15 Agree! Mas cheaper din if you'll get while you're young. Look into health insurance OP, secure your funds first before investing them.

 

[grandpa2390]

@alexis1148 Hello po OP, ano po yun pinakamaganda na digital bank to save? Thanks po

 

[artlicbunny]

@grandpa2390 Here are the digital banks I use.
Maya Savings- interest rate can go up to 14% but ang na-rereach ko lang is 10%. May amount kasi na you have to spend to earn higher interest rate. (You can look up lazada/grab hack)

Seabank: 4.5% per annum, free 15 transactions per week.

Uno bank: 4.25% per annum, free transactions

You can also explore yung mga time deposit account nila which yields even higher interest rates.

 

[gourmetcandy]

@alexis1148 Lipat job OP. With that attitude you can surely get a higher paying job.

 

[yochanagrace]

@alexis1148 bitcoin na lang.

How to retire early with bitcoin:

https://buybtcretireearly.substack.com/p/how-to-retire-early-with-bitcoin

 

[canuckister]

@yochanagrace Hahahahahahahahahahaha