Wealth and Wellness Planners
“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
- Matthew 25:23
To those of you who have invested or are thinking of investing in real estate properties, let me ask you this…
Have you considered your motives or reasons behind your purchase?
Did you do it because you are expecting a good return of your money (ROI) or did you do it because you were pressured in purchasing it? If you have no idea why you bought a property, then l can tell you that the prospects of making your money work for you may be bleak.
Buying income generating real estate properties is probably the best and safest form of investment, but only if it adheres to the biblical principle of sowing and reaping. The important thing to remember is that all of us are given blessings of different proportions by our faithful Father in heaven who is what we may view, as our financier and our partner. If you can believe that even for one moment, shouldn’t you be consulting with Him daily for wisdom and guidance? Remember the parable of the talents?
“The man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”
- Matthew 25:14-18
Read Matthew 25:14-30 for the whole story.
You know the rest of the story. The master said to the servants he gave the five and the two talents, “Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Then the man who had received the one talent came. “Master, he said, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seeds. So I was afraid and hid your talent in the ground.”
His master bewildered, replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”
If we analyze this story, can we honestly tell ourselves which servant are we most likely to be?
Our survey these past 10 years tells us that a lot fall on the third category. People who are entrusted with just one, tends to be fearful of a lot of things and wants to be sure that none of what little he is entrusted to is taken from him.
He also tends to have the attitude of blaming others for his decision, just like the servant was pointing a finger to his master’s being a hard man as the reason why he hid the talent in the ground.
If the third servant only knew what opportunity he wasted by hiding that one talent!
Our Father, our partner, is expecting all his children to make their money grow. More is expected to those who have much, yet growth is also expected to the one who has less! In order for the Lord to tell us, “Well done, good and faithful servant, we have to make sure that there is a portion of our income that goes to assets and not just liabilities.
Making our money work for us is the very essence of investment. If we act and bought out of fear, ignorance or pride, then we fall prey to a false sense of security. When our money expectations do not materialize in that “investment” we bought, we cannot point a finger to anyone like the third servant.
Due diligence should always be there.
Again, I asked you: what is the reason for your purchase? Is it to show off and tell people that you have “arrived”?
Or is it because that income the Lord has entrusted us with can be the seed to give us more income in the future, thereby allowing us to be a channel of blessings to all?
The Bible teaches us that Investment could be compared to farming. In farming, ground preparation and our constant care are very important, yet the seeds, once sown, are also very dependent on the blessings of sunshine and rain from our Heavenly Father.
Entrust it to our Father and the result is sure harvest! Our understanding and especially our motives has to be aligned with our Heavenly Father’s desire to magnify His blessings on us. He cares for us so much that He wants us to have the best. Consulting with Him is like partnering with Him, you can’t go wrong!
Your perspective will be widened that you will be able to see the whole picture. Imagine such opportunity!
If you’re wondering what happened to the third servant, here’s what happened:
“Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Matthew 25:30
So I leave you with this question: Will I be like the third servant, or would the little or the much I was entrusted to, provide a sure harvest or income for me one day …
If so, when and how much?
I would love to hear from you by writing your comments on the comment box below.
The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.
- Proverbs 18:15
Your choice: you can wait for your break or you can make your own!
Knowing how to create money is true knowledge of the dynamics of marketing. Everything else is plain and simple business. You can take business out of marketing but you cannot take marketing out of business because it is the very source of energy that propels the world of money and trade. Marketing could be likened to a tree and business could be the branch or even the twig. Cut or remove the twig, you still have your tree intact, but cut the tree from its roots and you have everything, including the branches and twigs dead with it.
What’s important is for us to understand how marketing affects the very core of our existence. We can’t just brush things aside and be oblivious to the financial goings on in the world. We are in the information world and globalization is the key of the future. Whatever happens to the other side of the world will affect us one way or another. Let me tell you why.
Remember how it was with the Philippines once upon a time? We weren’t a third world country back in the late 40s and late 50s. Very rarely will Filipinos think of going out of the country. One US dollar is two pesos! We can travel anywhere without having to secure a visa. Our doctors, nurses, teachers and engineers were among the best and were so sought after, mainly by the US.
So, what happened to our economy?
For starters we lost our initiative and drive to stay. Our government encouraged us to go out and find our gold outside our country, and eventually, we became slaves of employers and thus instilled in us and the generations to come the “employee syndrome”. The lure of getting high paying jobs outside the country killed the entrepreneurial spirit of the Filipinos.
Slowly but surely our faith and belief in ourselves got weaker and weaker and the powerful marketing propaganda of the US and other countries lured our best and brightest to try it in their land, promising their very own place in the “land of milk and honey”. This started the very devastating “brain drain”… followed by “labor drain” then eventually …”family drain”. Yes, my dear kababayans, many of us, if not all of us, got taken by their alluring marketing of any countries, as long as it is outside the Philippine domain.
Now, it is our very own brown American/European brothers who are doing the marketing, “punta na dito, mas maganda dito” and surely in troves they go, even illegally. Many years later, some wondered if they could have done more with their careers if they had stayed on, some lost the vision to be more than what they are now. Let us not wait 20 more years to just look back and say “sayang” or “sana”… We can now ease our time to give way to being entrepreneurial and slowly invest in our country and ourselves once again.
Though migrating now is getting tougher, and some countries are experiencing economic downturns, as we speak, thousands upon thousands of our kababayans will give up everything, including the future of their family unity to go abroad. Our going abroad is so ingrained in our culture that even a grade school kid, when asked, will tell you where he wants to go. Someone commented that if Cebu is another country, many of those in Luzon and Mindanao would try to migrate and live there.
No need to look any further. Here in Italy,we have 3rd generation OFWs now taking over the work of their family, with no more dreams to finish school and be better. Do you see the power of “abroad” marketing has done? A few of us who started it some 30+ years ago have continuously manage to position the illusion of the good life that comes with earning Euros. And look at the quality of life we have…
Broken families, delinquent children, dependent relatives and a lonely single existence of old maids whose lives have been dedicated to support their siblings…
We all have been luring and entrapping our fellowmen making them believe that we can have a quality life with meager paying jobs.
Now look at the quality of life of those who stayed on, no not your relatives nor your friends.
Of course, I am talking about those of us who saw big marketing opportunities in the Philippines, those who are the movers: Henry Sy, Lucio Tan and the like. They believed in our country, they who are just “dapo” but hang in there. You know, one day many of us will come back, and you will be surprised to see a very different Philippines, beautiful, progressive and very expensive but good to those who had faith in their country and took the initiative to invest, to those who didn’t…
Sorry na lang…
What is really my point? Well, it is about selling or being sold to your own country, being patriotic. Buy Filipino, believe in the Filipino, patronize your own. Help market your country by aspiring to be financially progressive yourself and be done with being a small mind and you can start by understanding the game of marketing.
Why do some business people fail miserably?
One would never know how much more he could be blessed until he understands the principle behind the Law of Numbers or what most of us know as the numbers game. The lack of interest or adherence to this law can prove to be catastrophic as this is often where business operators or those in the selling business fail miserably in making good their production aspirations. Why is this so? It is just sheer lack of information to the simple rule of numbers. Let me show you how you apply the numbers game to avoid disappointments:
Let’s do the math
Let us say that your “must earn” goal a month is a volume of 3 (or its equivalent in Euro) and that you know your average ratio is to be this:
10 calls to get 3 appointments / presentations and then from those 3 appointments will come your 1 YES!
Let us say that your goal is to get 3 a month.
You will then start by having 60 names to call, then from there, 30 will probably agree to see you and from here you should be able to make your 10 effective presentations and will be able to close 3 out of those 10.
The Principle of Averages
It is called the 10-3-1 Principle of Averages. Now, you might say I’d probably be able to do the appointment setting, the presentations and closing but where do I get a continuous flow of names? Can you believe that this is the easy part? All we have to do is simply ask all the people we know to help you fill your referral list of names on a continuing basis very simple. Just ask 
and you will receive, right? Listing it down as a formula would go like this: Start and replenish your monthly referral LIST of 60, expect to INVITE 30 and even if you ended up PRESENTING to just 10 you should be able to CLOSE 3.
Whether we are aware of it or not, all things end up to one simple truth and that is, all of us, whether we are a business operator, a salesperson, a service staff or a housewife are in the business of selling something to someone. Thus, we are engaged in the game of numbers.
That is a fact of life.
Some people will call it influencing or trying to change the way people think of things to see your point of view, or we can simply call it selling. The sooner you understand this principle the better off we are as we can now simply adapt to the rule of numbers.
No more disappointments, no more heartaches…
As you will be spared all of these because you are now under the protection of the law of averages.
Hear it from “His Airiness” and the guy who had the best chicken recipe
You remember Michael Jordan, right? Considered by all to be the greatest basketball player of all time, but did you know what his shooting percentage is?
You’ve guessed it right! That’s 30+ percent!
He converts 1 out of every 3 attempts.
That’s all!
The problem with most us is we stop after just a few attempts or worse, not even making an attempt. We ought to learn from these great characters who made their lives exemplary all because of their faith to execute those numbers in.
The likes of Col. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken who didn’t give up even after more than a thousand rejections to his chicken recipe and to think this even happened during his retirement years. The list goes on and on …
Lots of great people succeeding out of sheer obedience to numbers. They never take these challenges as personal insults, but for them the rejection is just another hump to skip or another step to climb in the ladder of success.
So if we want to be in business (and we ought to be) or want to stay in business, let us understand one very important law: WORK OUR NUMBERS!
Each one of us should know our conversion percentages… Our closing ratio. Michael Jordan knew from the very start that all he has to do is put in 3 shooting attempts to score 2 points in each and every single game and the Law of Numbers will take care of itself! That is why he is the greatest because he has the law in his side.
As we nurture our dreams each day, awake, alive and excited about our God given opportunities staring straight at our faces, let us do our part and put in our numbers of attempt passionately and untiringly. Then we lift everything else up to God for blessings and results and with this great attitude, we know we can’t go wrong because our Heavenly Father who is on our side will be cheering for us with every step of faith we make. Isn’t that a great assurance?
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
- John 10:10
Jesus came to give us life and life to the fullest.
Think about it, the reason we don’t have much is because we don’t dream much. If we are to accomplishbig things in this life we have to set ourselves up to big goals – the kind that will make us jump out of bed excitedly each morning. Someone said, “Laki lakihan mo na ang pangarap, libre naman ‘yan, eh!” We better believe it. Our financial success is directly proportionate to the size of our financial dreams. As the saying goes, what our mind can conceive and percieve it will achieve.
“Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is like a broken-winged bird that can not fly.”
- Langston Hughes
We can talk, talk and wish the whole day through but until we make that first crucial move to greatness, nothing happens. We have to move out of the typical mold and dare to be different. In fact, we have to seperate ourselves from those with loser’s mentality and resolve that we can be great ourselves, even if its one baby step at a time. Anywhere and everywhere we go, we will always encounter people who will make us feel that we don’t deserve anything great …watch out for them because they are what we call, “dream stealers”.
The path to financial freedom requires discipline and desire to make things happen and with the income we have, we could. There is a popular Filipino saying that goes like this, ” Kung gusto may paraan, kung ayaw, maraming dahilan“.
Remember, we have a Great and Loving Father who art in Heaven and who desires the best for His children. He is the one who created and in-planted the spirit of dream in us. Believe it and claim it, but like any gift being offered, it isn’t a gift until it is accepted. Careful that we heed this loving commandment less we fall in despair.
Finally, someone said: Those people without dreams are already dead, just waiting to be buried.
Now is the best time to ask yourself … “Is my dream big enough and am I willing to pursue that dream with purpose and passion?”
“For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
- Matthew 25: 29
Choosing the right property investment is the key to your passive income.
Property Investments by its very essence has to have continuous income, if it does not, it couldn’t be classified as investment.
In the same manner, an Income Generating Property Asset (IGPA) has to provide income continually if its to be called an IGPA. Now, why is this important to know? Because anyone of us can easily fall into the thinking that all property
investment can and will provide income, when it actually won’t.
1. They provide substantial equity upfront, meaning you bought your IGPA between 20% to 30% below market value. This is what is called Appreciation and Equity.
2. One can use the OPM principle (Other People’s Money) and they can be bought with little or no down payment.
3. There is a positive cash flow or income generated by that property.
One should also understand the financial experts definition of an “Asset” and a “Liability” in order for one to assess what they have at the present moment. Simply put, an “Asset” puts money in our pockets, while a “Liability” takes money from our pockets.
If the house or property you now own is not giving you any income then what you have is a liability. A liability just meant that this house or property is the one getting money from your pocket. There is nothing terribly wrong with liabilities if its within manageable reach but the problem is when we don’t give a hoot about the extent of liabilities we get ourselves in. Liabilities are part of life, but If we can just manage and contain the limit of our liability to no more than 50% of our income, then we would be OK and would be on our way to the road of financial freedom.
Try and imagine what could happen when we discipline ourselves to control our liabilities, we would have more assets, won’t we? Assets that could transform to income and income that could buy us more assets, the skies the limit! Sadly, this will not be the case with many of us as we have already max out in the liability column.
What can we do? Break out from the viciuos cycle of getting yourself deeper and deeper into the liability pit and look out there and see the horizon for opportunities that would change your financial aptitude. Do it now and waste not one moment!
What if I told you that a simple P10,000 monthly amortization if coursed through a right IGPA will provide you with a steady flow of income in just two years? I am sure you’d be interested.
If we want to be free from bad debt and financial worries we need to change our mindset and develop our prosperity IQ. We need to understand MONEY!
Survey shows that the average age of our Filipino Migrant Worker in Europe is 42 and has been working as a Service Staff for about 22 years and sadly has no foreseeable means of substantially supporting oneself beyond her working years. “Bahala na ang Diyos sa akin” they would quip. Why is this?
It seems that it was never in our culture to take care of ourselves first. We would look and do everything for our family, relatives and even to our neighbours. That is why we are called “Mga Bagong Bayani!” Ironically because of such undeserved sacrifices. If they only know that it is easier to be called a Hero than to make oneself a Hero!
Another reason could be our lack of understanding about money. We have always thought that what we earned is all ours to spend, unmindful that for us to grow financially, part of our income must be invested. As the saying goes: Money begets money and It is not how much money we make nor how much money we saved but where we invest it that matters.
Look at the billions of dollars being remitted every year to our country a very small percentage, if any is ever being invested. Until we learn to value and respect money we will never be able to capitalize on it. Talking about investment, little do we know that business is not investment and investment is not business, they are two very different things.
In business, you will need your time, your money and your management skill to make it. While in investment, all you need is the right type and your money will generate money, no need for you to be around, It’s passive!
As the saying goes, there are only two ways to make money: Man at Work and Money at Work.
The good news is that we can already enslave and make money work for us, passively while at the same time actively working for money while we can. Two ways to make money, not just one.
Being unmindful of the realities of life could be another reason. Relying solely on ourselves or on Man to make money is fine IF there is no such thing as sickness, disability, death or even unemployment. What if you can’t work anymore, will your need for money stop also? Have you ever thought that any of these could happen tomorrow?
All you need to know is “Money at Work” or what we call investment is the HELPER, and it could bring you to a new dimension in creating passive income!
In our next blog post: Understanding the concept of Income Generating Property Assets (IGPA) and how it could create real and honest to goodness passive income for you.
Freedom to Choose (Part 1)
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
-Proverbs 13:12
Imagine what our life would look like if we followed our childhood dreams?
When was the last time we thought about our dream jobs-the dreams we had when we were younger and felt free to dream, and dream big. Wasn’t it fun and exciting imagining yourself as a firemen, doctor, actor, traveler, scientist? How would our life be like if we were to live-out our childhood dreams? There was not much talk then about how much money would be made, but only on how much fun and excitement it would bring to our heart to work at such an occupation.
Sadly, as we get older, the importance of passion, joy and heart in our job becomes a distant second to how much money we can make. Our attention first goes to the higher bidder, and not to the higher calling of our heart and dreams. “Mamaya na yan” is what most of the people I meet would say. “Kita muna, bago pangarap” And its an easy trap to fall in-the trap of postponing your dreams and heart’s desire for later. More money, more expenses. More expenses, Less free time. And so the cycle continues for years, decades and maybe til the end of one’s life.
We have traveled all over the world meeting our fellow countrymen. We have met them in meetings, seminars and personal appointments. And in over 10 years, hardly anyone has said yes to this question: “Kabayan, are you living your heartfelt dreams and desires now?” “Kabayan, do you work because you like it, or because you have to? There is a big difference in wanting to do something, and HAVING to do something?
In our life we have to work. And because life is hard, many of us will be forced to work jobs we don’t like to make the money we (and our families) need. But the important question to ask is: “What are we doing today to get closer to our dreams and heartfelt desires?” Never say or think that you can no longer make it to your dreams. There is still time. As long as we are breathing, and as long as the Lord, God allows us to go on, He is forever longing for us to make it to our dreams…those big dreams that we believe He placed in our hearts a long time ago. Those big dreams that only YOU can accomplish…yes, only YOU can accomplish. Let us start today to make those big dreams into daily goals. Goals that will allow us to take baby steps each day to get closer and closer to our dreams! You have the freedom to choose!
“Man fully alive, is God glorified” –Saint Irenaeus
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
- Matthew 7:7
The secret to financial success lies strongly on the giving.
“Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)
Money begets money. If we want money we will have to give money, that is how it works in investment. Money will not bear fruit or multiply if it is just buried under your bed or saved in an account that will be eaten up by inflation. Then the only remaining question to ask would be to whom or with whom will i give my money? This is where the services of a professional planner becomes indispensable. We can not just ask the average Joe for his opinion. Opinion is probably the cheapest commodity in the world. We need the advice and counsel of the upright, those who put biblical principles first and above all, this is if we want blessings of the Lord to be upon us.
A simple measure is in our practice of giving. Are we a giver? Do we give money regularly to our church, to charity? Do we pay the right taxes? Do we pay ourselves also? These are mandated prerequisites to becoming an investor. Remember, the promise of abundance will only be for the compassionate and cheerful giver. We are His vessel and He wants to channel His blessings through us. We are also His financial stewards.
This is the only commandment in the Bible that promises great reward to those who heed. “Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty,” and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessings that you will not have room enough for it. (Malachi 3:9a) This is also a timely advice as we have seen so many of our compatriots languishing in their finances, “Utang dito, utang duon, Diyos ko, Kailan matatapos ito!”
If we have been giving from the goodness of our hearts, we have every right to ask the Lord, by faith, for His blessings. If we do not doubt it for one minute, our God will pour blessings upon blessings on us that we would not know what to do with it!
The one amazing promise about heeding Biblical financial principles is that you will never go wrong, even the specific investment idea will be placed on your lap. Isn’t that great? God’s agenda is all about blessing His children with material things that He knows we also need.
The next time you ask for the right investment idea, let us ask ourselves this question first: Are we a compassionate and cheerful giver?
Now, lets talk about the second “K” in our KKK principle.
What would you say if you were to stumble on a wellness product that is so revolutionary that it will change you upside down? Would you go out and tell everyone or would you keep it a secret? Here lies the power and opportunity to our second stream of income! You only need to share it, not sell it, why so? The power to influence people to your way of thinking lies on the truth on how the product affected you.
Now, what would you say if your “sharing of the truth” exponentially catches fire and you were to be rewarded by the manufacturer of the product for every person who are now enjoying the same benefits? Let us say that the reward will pay you in excess of P500,000. a month for an indefinite period? I am sure that this is something that you would like to know about immediately, right? Let me give try and show you how this exponential growth works. Think of it this way. If for example, the owner of a very famous food chain gave you a deal and tells you that for every person that you referred who buys their food, including all their referrals all the way down to the 12th generation, are to be paid a fixed royalty amount, can you just imagine how much those royalty amount would add up to in time? That is similar to how musicians or inventors are paid perpetual royalty for their creation that they only did one time.
Very few people will ever know about this type of business we call “leveraging” all because they just don’t know where and how to look for it. Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki co-wrote a book for those who are seeking to be millionaires to consider the wealth that could be found in Network Marketing. Now, I know what you would say, “If it’s Multi level Marketing, forget it! I have been burned so may times, I won’t do it again!” And this is where you are going to permanently lose, when you don’t stand up to seek and find again!
A famous quotation says that the only difference between a loser and a winner, is that the winner is able to stand up after a failure, and try again.
Consider this for a moment. Here is a 20-year old debt-free Manufacturing company out of Kansas, Missouri who has been producing wellness products that are in global demand, earning a $50 billion operation with distribution reaching out to some 87 countries worlwide and has now launched under their new network marketing subsidiary a revolutionary health supplement that in three years, we believe will be the number one health power drink of the world! It is like this, you have the opportunity of a life time to be the very first in this country to join and be right on top. If you understand network marketing, you know that being the first has its amazing benefits especially when the marketing plan is not binary but forced matrix!
Here is how you become one of the very first in this country and obviously, on top of many thousands, even millions who will be under you. 1. Order any one $69.95 health product and; 2. schedule an orientation with the person who invited you; and 3. Begin your journey toward success, and bringing wealth to others!
Someone said: “The opportunity of a lifetime must be taken during the lifetime of the opportunity.”
Are you willing to take that opportunity and work towards your second K, or will you just sit by and let that opportunity pass by due to fear?
This blog is a compilation of articles written by Mr. Willy Young for our kababayans in the newspaper Kabayan Times. It's originally titled "Money Matters... According to the Scriptures" and it's aimed to educate our hard-working Overseas Filipino Workers on matters of financial freedom.
His passion for teaching the Filipinos on wealth accumulation by Bibilical standards are continued in this section and he will be writing in this column every week. He is just an email away. If you want questions and comments that you would want to get featured in this blog, please email: williamyoung@wvyoung.com.
Aside from Mr. Young, we will also be having guest blog writers and lecturers (thru video) who will plan with you on your wealth and wellness needs.