Election is just around the corner and soon, a new President will be sitting in the Palace. Most will look to him for hope to pull the country out of the many miseries that beset it. While politics and the government are beyond our control, it remains a duty upon us-- it's citizens to vote responsible and by using good judgment.
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Showing posts with label Financial Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Financial Freedom. Show all posts
By Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, MANILA TIMES
A FILIPINO household has to earn close to half a million pesos this year to remain in the middleclass, according to the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB).Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary-general, said the country’s middle class is likely to have shrunk in light of the global financial crisis.
“In 2006, the middle income class may be defined as those families with annual income ranging from P246,109 to P2,000,072. However, in 2008, a family needed an income that ranged from P276,626 to P2,251,551 to be considered middle class. And in 2009, you would need to earn close to half a million pesos to be in the middle class,” the NSCB official said, citing the results of the agency’s update of an earlier study on the matter.
The NSCB said the middle-income class included families that own refrigerators, radios, and a house and lot, and with houses that have strong roof materials.
“The Pinoy middle class remains vulnerable and has continued to shrink. And that is prior to the global crisis,” Virola said.
He said the middle class shrank from 19.9 percent of the population in 2003 to 19.1 percent in 2006. However, this pace of collapse was not as sharp as that between 2000 and 2003, when the middle class fell from 23 percent to 22.7 percent.
The NSCB official said the middle class must expand, as it is generally believed to be the driver of “development” and “economic growth.”
In the first quarter of the year, the economy as measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 0.4 percent, a sharp fall from 3.9 percent in the same period last year.
Virola said savings and investments of the middle class posted percentage increases between 2003 and 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006, the use of telephones and cell phones among the middle class almost doubled from 51 percent to 95.3 percent, while computer ownership jumped from 10.6 percent to 28.5 percent.
The NSCB said the top four expenditure items among the middle class and the general population were the same in 2003 and 2006: food; house rental; transportation and communication; and fuel, light and water.
Among the least priority expenditures of the middle class and the general population are non-durable furnishings, which include utensils and household linen; alcoholic beverage; house repair and maintenance; and recreation.
“Tobacco and taxes complete the bottom five expenditure items for the middle class and the general population. As we have said in the past, tobacco is no longer the good business it used to be and we have not been paying taxes to our government,” Virola said.
In December, the NSCB released a report that showed the country’s middle class was collapsing.
For its update to this report, the agency said it used inflation data to come up with new estimates of the income boundaries of the middle class.
"The way of the Entrepreneur will prevent the middle class from shrinking, if you start now, time will be on your side." Click Here to Read More...
A FILIPINO household has to earn close to half a million pesos this year to remain in the middleclass, according to the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB).Romulo Virola, NSCB secretary-general, said the country’s middle class is likely to have shrunk in light of the global financial crisis.
“In 2006, the middle income class may be defined as those families with annual income ranging from P246,109 to P2,000,072. However, in 2008, a family needed an income that ranged from P276,626 to P2,251,551 to be considered middle class. And in 2009, you would need to earn close to half a million pesos to be in the middle class,” the NSCB official said, citing the results of the agency’s update of an earlier study on the matter.
The NSCB said the middle-income class included families that own refrigerators, radios, and a house and lot, and with houses that have strong roof materials.
“The Pinoy middle class remains vulnerable and has continued to shrink. And that is prior to the global crisis,” Virola said.
He said the middle class shrank from 19.9 percent of the population in 2003 to 19.1 percent in 2006. However, this pace of collapse was not as sharp as that between 2000 and 2003, when the middle class fell from 23 percent to 22.7 percent.
The NSCB official said the middle class must expand, as it is generally believed to be the driver of “development” and “economic growth.”
In the first quarter of the year, the economy as measured by the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 0.4 percent, a sharp fall from 3.9 percent in the same period last year.
Virola said savings and investments of the middle class posted percentage increases between 2003 and 2006.
Between 2000 and 2006, the use of telephones and cell phones among the middle class almost doubled from 51 percent to 95.3 percent, while computer ownership jumped from 10.6 percent to 28.5 percent.
The NSCB said the top four expenditure items among the middle class and the general population were the same in 2003 and 2006: food; house rental; transportation and communication; and fuel, light and water.
Among the least priority expenditures of the middle class and the general population are non-durable furnishings, which include utensils and household linen; alcoholic beverage; house repair and maintenance; and recreation.
“Tobacco and taxes complete the bottom five expenditure items for the middle class and the general population. As we have said in the past, tobacco is no longer the good business it used to be and we have not been paying taxes to our government,” Virola said.
In December, the NSCB released a report that showed the country’s middle class was collapsing.
For its update to this report, the agency said it used inflation data to come up with new estimates of the income boundaries of the middle class.
"The way of the Entrepreneur will prevent the middle class from shrinking, if you start now, time will be on your side." Click Here to Read More...
Written by Free Enterprise / George S. Chua
Tuesday, 07 April 2009 18:57
TO MOST people, being an entrepreneur would not even have crossed their minds. After all, who in their right minds would rather come up with the money to give a payroll than to be in it?
This is particularly more so in our society where being a paid professional in a large company is looked upon with much higher regard than just being self-employed. Our government, both local and national, and government agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the labor department, Social Security System, Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth also make it difficult for an aspiring entrepreneur to go through the process of securing all the permits and licenses to start a business and even more so in complying with the regular reportorial requirements, making regular payments and meeting all the deadlines, not to mention being subjected to all kinds of examinations by a myriad of agencies.
Of course, there are a host of other hurdles in being an entrepreneur. Most people do not even have the money or cannot raise the money to be able to start and run a business. Being an entrepreneur also requires a certain level of management skill, which, again, not everyone has or can be trained for.
An employee works for eight hours and has sick and vacation leave entitlements. An entrepreneur works as long as it needs to get it done even when he is sick, and a vacation is a luxury most start-up entrepreneurs will not be able to afford for a while. Is it any wonder that few dare consider being an entrepreneur?
However, having said all that, should we totally turn our backs to becoming an entrepreneur? Perhaps not, if the conditions are right.
In the Philippines, most entrepreneurs are self-employed individuals without any emplo-yees and this is not what I have in mind. I am talking about setting up a business that has the potential not only to provide you with a livelihood, but a real opportunity in employing a lot of other people and making yourself truly wealthy in the process. If you can do this, you will have truly become a free man, where you work for no one but yourself.
What are the right conditions that would make it worthwhile for someone to consider being an entrepreneur? These are the idea, investment funding, incentive and an inside track. Starting a business means that you need to have an idea of what you want to go into. Of course, this idea must be sound and has a fighting chance to succeed. It would also be nice if the business you are planning to go into is something that interests you, as well.
Investment funding either by using your own capital or sourcing funds from other equity sources or loans is needed to get the business off the ground. Without the capital to start the business, this is just a dream. Hopefully, you would have been smart and fortunate enough to have saved some money for an opportunity like this.
Knowing where and how to get additional funds by attracting people to the viability of your business idea is critical when you have limited funds to start up the business.
Going into your own business with the right idea and funding will only happen if you have the right incentive to do it. Among the most popular incentives for people to go into their own business is dissatisfaction with their salaried jobs. Dissatisfaction could stem from not liking their work, office mates, boss or too much work, too much pressure or simply just burnout.
Of course, losing your job will also force you to take a closer look at taking things into your own hands. Pressure to earn more, family considerations, dreams of greatness and thoughts of mortality could push people out of their comfort zone and into entrepreneurship.
Having an inside track or an advantageous competitive position could be the final push needed to cross the line. This inside track could be due to your training, work experience, circle of friends, family ties or just an amazing opportunity that happens to come your way. With this additional edge, your chance to be a successful entrepreneur could be greatly enhanced, reducing the risk you will have to take to an acceptable level that you would be foolish not to take it.
Waiting for a great opportunity to come your way may leave you waiting forever, which is why, sometimes, we have to make our own opportunities. There is nothing wrong with being an employee, you can have pretty much everything if you end up with the right job for you. Enough money to buy an elegant home, have nice cars, send your kids to the best schools, live and travel well, and have more than enough to retire on.
However, sometimes the desire to be and do more overwhelms us and this is when it might be the right time to visit entrepreneurship. For the Philippines to move up economically, more people will need to become businessmen, maybe you can be the next hero our country needs.
*There is a theory that says that difficult things upon initiation have a great tendency to become EASY in the long run while doing easy things usually end up become DIFFICULT in the long run. Take the case of the Entrepreneur who suffers quite a bit in the setting up of a good business plan and later becomes successful in all aspect. It will be worth it! Click Here to Read More...
Tuesday, 07 April 2009 18:57
TO MOST people, being an entrepreneur would not even have crossed their minds. After all, who in their right minds would rather come up with the money to give a payroll than to be in it?
This is particularly more so in our society where being a paid professional in a large company is looked upon with much higher regard than just being self-employed. Our government, both local and national, and government agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the labor department, Social Security System, Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth also make it difficult for an aspiring entrepreneur to go through the process of securing all the permits and licenses to start a business and even more so in complying with the regular reportorial requirements, making regular payments and meeting all the deadlines, not to mention being subjected to all kinds of examinations by a myriad of agencies.
Of course, there are a host of other hurdles in being an entrepreneur. Most people do not even have the money or cannot raise the money to be able to start and run a business. Being an entrepreneur also requires a certain level of management skill, which, again, not everyone has or can be trained for.
An employee works for eight hours and has sick and vacation leave entitlements. An entrepreneur works as long as it needs to get it done even when he is sick, and a vacation is a luxury most start-up entrepreneurs will not be able to afford for a while. Is it any wonder that few dare consider being an entrepreneur?
However, having said all that, should we totally turn our backs to becoming an entrepreneur? Perhaps not, if the conditions are right.
In the Philippines, most entrepreneurs are self-employed individuals without any emplo-yees and this is not what I have in mind. I am talking about setting up a business that has the potential not only to provide you with a livelihood, but a real opportunity in employing a lot of other people and making yourself truly wealthy in the process. If you can do this, you will have truly become a free man, where you work for no one but yourself.
What are the right conditions that would make it worthwhile for someone to consider being an entrepreneur? These are the idea, investment funding, incentive and an inside track. Starting a business means that you need to have an idea of what you want to go into. Of course, this idea must be sound and has a fighting chance to succeed. It would also be nice if the business you are planning to go into is something that interests you, as well.
Investment funding either by using your own capital or sourcing funds from other equity sources or loans is needed to get the business off the ground. Without the capital to start the business, this is just a dream. Hopefully, you would have been smart and fortunate enough to have saved some money for an opportunity like this.
Knowing where and how to get additional funds by attracting people to the viability of your business idea is critical when you have limited funds to start up the business.
Going into your own business with the right idea and funding will only happen if you have the right incentive to do it. Among the most popular incentives for people to go into their own business is dissatisfaction with their salaried jobs. Dissatisfaction could stem from not liking their work, office mates, boss or too much work, too much pressure or simply just burnout.
Of course, losing your job will also force you to take a closer look at taking things into your own hands. Pressure to earn more, family considerations, dreams of greatness and thoughts of mortality could push people out of their comfort zone and into entrepreneurship.
Having an inside track or an advantageous competitive position could be the final push needed to cross the line. This inside track could be due to your training, work experience, circle of friends, family ties or just an amazing opportunity that happens to come your way. With this additional edge, your chance to be a successful entrepreneur could be greatly enhanced, reducing the risk you will have to take to an acceptable level that you would be foolish not to take it.
Waiting for a great opportunity to come your way may leave you waiting forever, which is why, sometimes, we have to make our own opportunities. There is nothing wrong with being an employee, you can have pretty much everything if you end up with the right job for you. Enough money to buy an elegant home, have nice cars, send your kids to the best schools, live and travel well, and have more than enough to retire on.
However, sometimes the desire to be and do more overwhelms us and this is when it might be the right time to visit entrepreneurship. For the Philippines to move up economically, more people will need to become businessmen, maybe you can be the next hero our country needs.
*There is a theory that says that difficult things upon initiation have a great tendency to become EASY in the long run while doing easy things usually end up become DIFFICULT in the long run. Take the case of the Entrepreneur who suffers quite a bit in the setting up of a good business plan and later becomes successful in all aspect. It will be worth it! Click Here to Read More...
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