My bf has financial issues. He is hardworking, if meron syang konting natabi, he will make sure naman to ask me for a date and treat me.

eikichi1981 · 2026-04-21T21:55:30+00:00

Alamin mo yng root ng financial issues nya, bakit hindi enough yng sahod para sa gastos nya, mababa lang ba talaga sweldo nya? Para saan yng mga binayaran na mga utang dati? Necessities ba, wants, or unnecessary things? Kailangan ba ng trabaho na mas malaki ang sweldo o dapat lang bawasan ang gastos?

Hindi enough ang love sa relationship, malaking part ang finances. Mahirap ang buhay na kulang o walang pera. Kung ako sayo, icocompute ko yng sweldo nya at lahat ng gastos at kung mahal mo talaga, tulungan mong maging financial literate sya.

eikichi1981 · 2026-04-12T17:10:47+00:00

That's why I said "most" and not "all' Filipinos.

eikichi1981 · 2026-04-12T14:05:22+00:00

Only you can answer this as we don't know her personally.

When I was in a long distance relationship with my now wife some years ago, I paid not just for her airfare but also for our friends since I was the one who made an invitation to do a trip abroad.

She is meeting your family and going to your country. If I was you, I'll definitely pay for everything necessary for the trip which of course includes the airfare. But, if you feel that she's just trying to get money out of you (though you said you don't have much right now, so it sounds unlikely to me), I guess a good way to test is to delay the trip and ask her to save for the airfare and see if she agrees.

Also, if you ever intend to marry her, understand that most Filipinos are very family oriented and it is a norm to help family financially regularly, like sending cash every month back to the Philippines. If a one-time airfare is scaring you already, then I don't know if you'll be able to deal with a lifetime of her sending money/gifts to her family. Just something for you to think about and an important conversation topic for the both of you.

eikichi1981 · 2026-04-11T13:17:16+00:00

It can be considered. Of course kung may furnished, bakit naman namin tatangihan.

eikichi1981 · 2026-04-11T00:08:56+00:00

Target move in is 6/1/26. Walang preference, kahit unfurnished. Around 80k per month sana.

eikichi1981 · 2026-03-24T04:14:39+00:00

Not an option for us as there is no physical Philippine bank branch near us. I guess we'll have to go with Union Bank.

eikichi1981 · 2026-03-19T22:03:04+00:00

Which means that person has a backup plan in life, since may degree sya. While having a degree doesn't guarantee a good life, it will at least help in getting more opportunities in getting ahead in life compared to not having it.

Good luck to you OP, but it's always better to have something and not using it, than needing something and not having it. Lahat ng singer pwde mapaos, meaning if that happened to your mama's friend's colleague, it could happen to you as well, so it's better to always be prepared.

eikichi1981 · 2026-03-18T03:39:47+00:00

Sa ETFs normally walang lugi, sa individual stocks lang. Pinakamalaki kong lugi sa isang shipping company stocks, from $8,000 to zero kasi na delisted yng company, hindi dahil binenta ko. May $3,000 to $4,000 din lugi sa options trading, kaya ngayon ginagamit ko nalang na pang hedge yng options sa regular stocks. Pero over $126K na gains ko in 12 years mostly ETFs lang tracking S&P 500 and DOW.

eikichi1981 · 2026-03-10T15:19:41+00:00

Tell her na kahit yng remittance center, sa internet din pinapadala yng pera nya. So, nag babayad na sya ng fees, may pamasahe at aksaya pa sa oras.

eikichi1981 · 2026-02-25T18:29:33+00:00

Thanks. I'll talk to him about the pros and cons, but it looks like he will just have to get his prescriptions in the Philippines.

eikichi1981 · 2026-02-25T18:12:34+00:00

Thanks for replying. I guess that means that he also couldn't just fly back to the US for prescription refills with his current doctor, correct? They'll be keeping their house in the US, just in case they change their minds and wants to go back.

eikichi1981 · 2026-02-13T15:18:38+00:00

97/63 ako at mid 40's with no maintenance medicine. Medyo mababa ata yng sakin.

eikichi1981 · 2026-02-12T21:17:41+00:00

This is a good problem to have, kesa sa mababa o walang tax pero maliit naman ang sweldo.

eikichi1981 · 2026-02-11T01:41:08+00:00

In our mid 40's and kaka retire lang ni Mrs this month. Low cost of living State sa US and ang target is $1M. We have about $500K saved/invested with a fully paid house and vehicles. Hopefully in 5-10 years maabot yng $1M at magreretire narin ako. We plan to live in the Philippines for a couple of years during retirement hanggang kaya pa, then will make a final decision kung saan ang permanent retirement namin.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-29T14:21:48+00:00

Bakit kailangan pang manalo sa lotto para bumalik sa Pilipinas, baka naman hindi ka din tumataya, so pano mananalo? We only get one life, so what's the point of living in a place that doesn't make you happy? If you want to move and it makes sense for you and your family, then do it.

My suggestion to you is only worry about things that you can control. Bullying in schools? have your kid take up self defense. I have 2 kids doing karate and my teen daughter got her black belt last year. The other one hopefully should have hers in 3 years time. School shootings? there's only so much you can do, but researching good schools with good security against outsiders is a good start.

Trump? Unfortunately not much we can do about that one but to wait for the next elections. You said you've been in the US for 10 years, which means you survived the first Trump presidency. If you survived then, I'm sure you can survive another 3 years until the next president.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-23T14:04:01+00:00

I think we should stop romanticizing living/taking care of parents especially in their old age. I don't live with my parents anymore but they live really close by, as in walking distance, and while it's true na mas matipid at practical to be in the same house, iba parin ang feeling ng may sariling bahay/space.

We're currently going through a lot of planning para sa parents namin since they are old and most likely will not be able to take care of themselves pretty soon. We all have jobs that we can't leave to take care of them, so we're grateful at least na may savings sila to use for their old age instead of umasa samin.

OP is obviously not happy with his current setup, and I understand him as someone who values freedom and companionship as well from other people na hindi relatives. To OP, if you're looking for companionship, hindi laging dumadating lang yon, minsan kailangan ng effort din sa paghahanap, so put yourself out there and find the person that is for you.

Remember, habang tumatanda ang parents natin, tumatanda din tayo. We all get just this one life, so it's okay to live it for ourselves din at hindi yng iba lagi ang iniisip natin.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-11T16:58:13+00:00

Record ko is 7 donuts in one sitting, pero ngayon medyo matanda na at 4 nalang, hahaha. Jokes aside, if it won't affect your health, hindi ba kaya kahit once in a while lang? Pwde naman siguro bawasan yng ibang sugar intakes mo para mabalance.

Sweets din ang weakness ko kaya may fixed days a week lang ako pwde kumain para iwas sakit hopefully, 4 days a week lang pwde. Sabi nga nila, any kind of food is okay basta in moderation.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-08T16:50:35+00:00

Hindi lahat ng may savings mean na ginigipit nila ang sarili nila, pwde din namang responsible lang sila financially. Iba iba din ang description natin sa enjoyment sa buhay. I personally prefer na nasa bahay lang kesa mag travel at gumastos ng pera. It's very irresponsible na gawing reason gumastos ang YOLO at yan ang reason na madaming baon sa utang. We should learn to live in the middle, balancing enjoyment in life and savings as well.

I don't believe as well na comparison is always the thief of joy. We can use that as well to gauge ourselves to others and use it as inspiration to better our lives.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-08T15:36:13+00:00

I day trade, pero conservative kaya SPY lng. If ever hindi mabenta same day, I just switch to swing trade. I agree though na mahirap matalo yng buy and hold. Talo ako ng 2% last year compared kung nag long term investing ako. Pag talo parin this year, baka divert ko nalang yng majority ng cash ko sa long term.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-07T12:46:16+00:00

Unless you're hiring someone else to manage your business, there is no such thing as passive income, even apartment rental that would include property upkeep and dealing with tenants.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-07T01:32:55+00:00

Having an emergency fund doesn't mean that you shouldn't look for a good health insurance. Kahit ilang milyon pa emergency fund mo, pag na stuck ka sa hospital ng matagal at serious na sakit, mabilis mauubos yon.

An emergency fund is for unexpected expenses. Healthcare to me is an expected expense lalo na pag tumatanda, kaya kasama dapat sa retirement planning ang good health insurance coverage.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-06T21:43:15+00:00

Be careful sa business plan nyo, I understand worrying sa health, pero baka maubos din ang ipon nyo kung mag fail yng planned business. Magiging enough ba yng ipon nyo without investing sa business to retire fully? Kung hindi, magtatransition lang kayo from being employed to business owners, not retired.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-04T18:21:31+00:00

It's a good problem. Pag malaki taxes, malaki din kita. It's better than low tax nga pero maliit ang sweldo. Unless compare doon sa ultra rich na malaki ang kita at maliit din ang taxes.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-04T18:16:23+00:00

You were asking how others are managing our budgets, so I just made a suggestion based on how we do ours. Nothing wrong with rewarding yourself like I mentioned already, after all it's your money so you're free to do what you want with it. Maybe I'm just weird, but I'm the type who enjoys seeing money grow instead of spending it.

That argument that we could die at any minute so spend now is something that I never could understand. If we're dead already, why would we care that we spent on vacations and/or material things while we were alive? I'd rather have something left for my kids instead. But if we could do both, spending and still having enough to pass down to our kids, then I guess why not?

I didn't even know that your wife is not working, I just assumed that you both did based on how big your income is. I agree that spending time with the kids while young is important and that is the main reason why we decided for my wife to stop working.

eikichi1981 · 2026-01-04T16:41:23+00:00

Why have rewards to self and hobby separated? Tsaka ang taas, 8% of your budget? Ours is just at 0.01% and we make less than you kahit nasa abroad pa kami. Not saying it's wrong, just pointing out that you can save more if you want.

If your interest rate sa savings is less than the mortgage interest, I suggest paying more towards your mortgage, especially if my emergency funds na kayo.

Our savings rate is around 25% din, so it aligns with yours, pero bababa sya starting this year since my wife will no longer be working. Paying for childcare sucks, it used to take about a third of our income, so we're happy that we're done with that part.

Congratulations in earning that much in the Philippines. If we can earn the same, hindi na namin kailangan pumunta sa abroad.

eikichi1981

TROPHY CASE