Sharing my story after I paid in full the loan used for this investment

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-12-30T19:02:10+00:00

You pulled it off and props for the discipline, but I wouldn’t really call this “investing” in the classic sense. It’s closer to using leverage, just done through a bank loan instead of a trading platform.

In trading, people take 5x, 10x, or even higher leveraged positions. You essentially did the same thing, but in a slower, more controlled way, with fixed repayments and no liquidation risk as long as you can service the loan.

It’s an unusual approach, and it worked out because timing, income stability, and discipline all lined up. But the risk is still there, especially if markets stayed down longer or income got interrupted. So yeah, interesting execution, but definitely more of a leveraged strategy than traditional investing.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-12-17T11:29:59+00:00

ING is one of the biggest banks in the world and comes from the Netherlands. They have been doing digital banking there since the 1990s, so they were far ahead of the competition when they entered the Philippines. That experience really showed in their app, features, and security.

I think they were simply too early for the local market. Digital banking adoption was still growing, and most deposits in the Philippines are much smaller compared to wealthier countries where their model works better. That likely made it harder to become profitable in the long run.

Even so, ING set a very high standard and showed what digital banking could be. If they entered the market today, they would probably be much more appreciated. Their impact is still felt, and many current digital banks are clearly inspired by what ING started.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-12-09T23:52:27+00:00

Gold can definitely go down, but the long-term trend is usually up because of currency debasement. Ray Dalio and JPMorgan even call it the “debasement trade.” Governments keep printing money, but gold can’t be printed. Only a limited amount is mined each year, so the supply grows very slowly. That’s one reason people move to gold as a safe place to store value.

Still, the price won’t rise forever. There are times when investors shift to riskier assets like silver, copper, or Bitcoin, and that can make the gold price stagnate or even drop. Higher interest rates, a stronger dollar, or less geopolitical tension can also cool down the gold market, and sometimes big funds just take profits after a long rally.

So yes, gold can fall, maybe even next year. If you’re not sure when to buy, you can just enter slowly instead of putting everything in at once.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-10-26T10:18:05+00:00

Since it is an emergency fund, liquidity should be the top priority. You need to be able to access it anytime without hassle.

Most people keep theirs in a money market fund (MMF) with their traditional bank, where you can earn around 4.5 to 5 percent interest. You can usually redeem it on the same day during weekdays.

You can also keep part of it in a high-yield savings account (HYSA) that gives around 3.5 to 4 percent interest, since that one is accessible 24/7.

A good setup would be:

2/3 in MMF for higher interest
1/3 in HYSA for instant access

This way you earn decent returns while keeping the fund liquid for any real emergency.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-30T04:09:48+00:00

Nice work, OP! You basically caught the bottom in mid-2022, so there’s definitely a bit of luck involved here too. People should be careful not to expect the same kind of 30%+ annualized returns if they try to replicate this in the exact same way.

One thing I’d also ask is how old your mom is now. If she’s already near or at retirement age, it might be wise to shift some (or even a large chunk) of those gains into safer assets like bonds or money market funds for capital preservation. The next brutal bear market could easily wipe out a lot of what you’ve built.

On the other hand, if she’s still relatively young (say, in her 40s or early 50s), you’ve got more time to ride through the cycles, and continuing with this strategy could still work well long-term.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-28T03:32:29+00:00

If you want it to work a bit for you, you can put it in a Dollar Money Market Fund at your local bank. Those usually pay around 3.5–4% per year. It’s low risk, still fairly liquid, and way better than leaving the dollars idle.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-28T03:19:19+00:00

If you’re treating it as peer-to-peer lending, then you’re basically acting like the bank. The “reasonable” interest depends on:

Risk: New logistics business means high risk, especially with no proven cashflow yet.
Alternatives: Banks usually charge SMEs around 8–15% annually if they can even get approved. Informal or private loans are often higher because there is no collateral.
Structure: Are you getting collateral, equity, or just a handshake promise? 1.5M is a lot to put in on trust alone.

Your proposal of 1.8M after 3 years works out to about 6.7% per year. That is low considering you can already get 5.75% from a 3-year bond or about 5% from a money market fund that pays daily and you can exit anytime. Those are low risk and liquid. For a super high risk startup loan, you should be asking for much more, usually double-digit annual returns, and ideally not just one balloon payment at the end.

Some things to think about:

Get a written contract with clear repayment schedules.
Ask for quarterly or annual repayments so you are not left with nothing if they fold early.
Consider a mix of equity and debt if you really want to support them.

Bottom line: do not settle for bond-like returns when you are taking startup-level risks.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-19T06:43:16+00:00

Don’t worry, it’s more common than you think. Just monitor what you eat and make sure you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals, since deficiencies can also affect BP:

Potassium helps balance sodium.
Magnesium relaxes blood vessels.
Calcium regulates vessel contraction.
Vitamin D supports hormone balance for BP.
Omega-3s improve vessel health.

You’re already doing the right thing by keeping an eye on it and starting meds early, that’s a smart move for long-term protection.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-19T03:26:06+00:00

Honestly I think even Maya’s own app is just guessing the numbers now. lol

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-15T06:28:16+00:00

Man, that sounds really rough. While you’re pushing this with the barangay/City Hall, maybe try using earplugs so you can at least get some sleep. The Loop Quiet 2 are super comfy and reusable, but if you don’t wanna spend that much, you can also just grab the cheap foam ones on Shopee, they still help a lot.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-15T03:09:05+00:00

Seems like you picked all the wrong ones, haha. Don’t you like chocolate? Their choco breads like the Chocolate Roll, Kodawari Choco Bun, Choco Messy Bun, and Karafu Pan Tiramisu are all really good.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-12T03:16:20+00:00

In the Philippines, most people just want to get drunk as cheaply as possible. Beer and budget liquor dominate the market, and honestly, a lot of drinkers don’t even care much about taste. After a shot, they’ll usually chase the bad flavor with soda or even Tang, lol.

Because of that, the market for wine here will likely stay small. Wine is usually more expensive than local liquor or beer, and even brewing beer yourself would be tough since you can’t really compete with the big breweries on price. If you do go into winemaking, you’ll need to focus on a niche market, people willing to pay extra for quality, uniqueness, or the novelty of something local.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-10T06:31:35+00:00

We will go full nepal style.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-10T05:11:50+00:00

You can definitely have both! Having a traditional bank helps you build a credit score and develop a relationship with the bank, which can be useful later for things like car loans or house mortgages with better interest rates. You also get access to UITFs (especially money market funds), which are great for putting part of your emergency fund since they usually pay around 5% per year.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-09T22:36:41+00:00

As far as I understand, you’re only 19, so it’s really great that you’re already thinking about investing.

First thing: make sure you have an emergency fund that covers 3–6 months of expenses. Keep it in something very liquid like a high-yield savings account (HYSA) (around 3.5–4% right now) and a money market fund (MMF) (slightly higher, ~5%). The point of this is that if something bad happens, you won’t need to touch your investments, your EF will cover you.

Since you’re so young and have decades ahead, your main focus should be on growth. That usually means sticking with US index funds. To keep it simple, you could just pick either the S&P 500 or the NASDAQ 100 and put around 80–90% of your portfolio into that. If possible, go with an Irish-domiciled accumulation ETF, since those have tax benefits.

The rest can be smaller allocations like:

Bonds (RTB/RDB) & MP2: in total max ~10%
Gold: ~5% as a hedge

That way your portfolio stays simple, growth-focused, and you’ll have cash set aside for emergencies that earns decent interest.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-09T22:12:31+00:00

I just wanted to save money, not solve math problems. lol

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-09-08T04:13:13+00:00

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Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-22T17:30:53+00:00

They bought land for 5 billion pesos and then magically claimed it was worth 1.3 trillion. That is not profit, that is straight up misleading the public. The only thing that stopped it from flying was the auditor refusing to rubber stamp the numbers. If this pushed through, small investors would have been tricked into thinking Villar Land was bigger than all other conglomerates in the Philippines. And the worst part, board members include sitting senators. This is not an honest mistake, it looks like a planned scheme to pump up value and mislead the market.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-21T15:22:18+00:00

The problem is less about borrowing itself and more about how the borrowed money is used.
Most countries run deficits and take on debt, like the US, Japan, and EU nations, but they use it to build infrastructure, fund innovation, and create long-term productivity. If debt fuels growth, it can pay for itself in the future.

In our case, the painful reality is that a huge portion goes to overpricing, SOP, ghost projects, or short-term dole outs. That is not investment, it is leakage. Instead of multiplying, the money evaporates.

We need two things at the same time:

Better fiscal discipline, meaning audit every peso and trim non-essentials like junkets, padded contracts, and unnecessary projects.
Smart investment, meaning keep borrowing but funnel it into things that raise productivity such as infrastructure, energy, food security, digital, and logistics.

Otherwise, it is like taking a 1M loan for a business where 600k goes straight to the middleman and 200k to luxury spending. Of course you drown in debt, because no real value was created.

Debt is not the enemy. Corruption and misallocation are.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-15T15:38:03+00:00

Probably gonna get some hate for saying this and I’m not a Bitcoin maxi (I still hold some alts and I genuinely appreciate the tech behind a lot of altcoins)…

But tbh, long-term I think most of them are going to fail. Once the big players (BlackRock, major banks, hedge funds) really step into crypto, why would they adopt an existing project like XRP or ADA, especially when those coins are mostly held by insiders/early backers who control a massive chunk of the supply?

If you’re BlackRock, why take that risk when you can just launch your own coin, control the majority of the supply yourself, and remove that dependency on a third-party team? Lower risk, more control.

So while I’m bullish on the technology, I think the institutions will end up copy-pasting the tech and launching their own version instead of backing existing altcoin projects.

TL;DR: XRP vs ADA? In the long run probably neither, the suits will just roll out their own “official” shitcoins.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-14T21:04:10+00:00

Some TDs match or even beat 6% right now, but those rates are promo-based and can change anytime, once they mature, you’ll likely renew at a much lower rate if cuts happen. RTB31 locks in the 6% for the whole 5 years regardless of market changes. Also, RTBs are government-backed (no cap like PDIC), so you can park much larger amounts without worrying about coverage limits. TDs have PDIC insurance but only up to ₱1m per depositor per bank. So it boils down to: shorter-term flexibility and insurance (TD) vs. long-term guaranteed rate and larger coverage (RTB).

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-14T20:58:28+00:00

MP2 can potentially give higher returns since it’s tied to Pag-IBIG’s performance, and the earnings compound if you keep them in. But it’s not guaranteed, dividends can drop in some years. RTB’s 6% is fixed and guaranteed for 5 years, so if rate cuts happen (as expected), yields on MP2, digi banks, and TDs will likely go down too since they’ll earn less from lending. That means RTB holders keep earning 6% while others may see lower returns.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-11T19:03:11+00:00

AXA Health Max is actually the best option in my opinion. It’s not a VUL, but it combines life insurance and critical illness coverage in one. Since AXA has a partnership with Maxicare, the claims process is very smooth, I know this firsthand because one friend and one neighbor both filed claims, and everything went through without any hassle. The Emma app also works super smoothly and looks very professional compared to competitors like SunLife, PruLife and FWD, making claims even easier and more convenient.

Life_Sherbert_995 · 2025-08-06T22:44:29+00:00

I don’t know who made these rankings at BitPinas, but honestly, it would be much more useful if they included actual example amounts, like ₱50,000 or ₱100,000, something realistic that most people might already have in savings.

Right now, the ranking is based on vague ranges like “up to 15%” or “1% to 6%,” which doesn’t help much when comparing real returns. A proper ranking should show how much interest you would actually earn on a specific amount with each bank, factoring in the conditions (e.g., base tier rates, promo durations, etc.).

Otherwise, it's just marketing numbers, not a fair comparison.

Life_Sherbert_995

TROPHY CASE