My Experience Wiring Funds to TD Ameritrade Account with BPI

Cross Border Investment

My Experience Wiring Funds to TD Ameritrade with BPI

PinShare12TweetShare12 SharesThis guest post is contributed by Real_Yield, one of the friends I met through the Reddit Phinvest subreddit and its discord server. Real_Yield is a bottomless font of knowledge. From current financial news, high finance concepts, to classical music, you can trust that Real_Yield will have his say, and everyone will listen. After opening his US brokerage account guided by my post How to Open a TD Ameritrade Account as a Non-Resident Alien and as a “token of gratitude” (his words), he consented to share with my readers his experience in wiring funds to TD Ameritrade with BPI.

September 12, 2020 12 Comments

Cross Border Investment

The Ultimate Guide to Philippine Feeder Funds

PinShare69TweetShare69 Shares** Updated on 27 April 2021 to reflect updated fees for ATRAM Filipinos are increasingly becoming interested in investing overseas. With the democratization of information, including information only formerly available to the rich and the moneyed, we are now becoming more aware of our financial and investing options, including options outside our borders. My post on How to Open a TD Ameritrade Account as a Non-Resident Alien was read by tens of thousands of people, many of whom opened their TD Ameritrade accounts. So, I pat myself on the back for helping the common folk. Not only Filipinos

August 17, 2020 14 Comments

Investing

Understanding FMETF

Pin2Share64TweetShare66 SharesIn my post The Ultimate Guide to Philippine Index Funds, I concluded that among the available index funds in the Philippines, the best option when all things considered is the First Metro Exchange Traded Funded or FMETF. Based on your enthusiastic responses, beautiful readers, you need more information in order to understand FMETF in detail. I heard you. In this post, I will answer your questions (and even the questions you didn’t think to ask) about FMETF. Before we proceed, I would like to clarify that this post is not sponsored by First Metro Asset Management Inc. to

July 18, 2020 10 Comments

Pag-IBIG mp2 vs SSS Funds - Which is better?

Investing

Pag-IBIG MP2 versus SSS funds – Which is better?

PinShare75TweetShare75 SharesI received so many messages from people who want to put money away for retirement but are hesitant to invest in the stock market for different reasons. Many simply don’t know how, while others are scared of the stock market’s volatility. Luckily for us Filipinos, the government is implementing programs to help those who want to prepare for retirement. So far, we have the Personal Equity and Retirement Account or PERA, the SSS Flexi Fund for overseas Filipino workers, SSS PESO Fund for all SSS members, and Pag-IBIG MP2. In this article, I will compare two of these government-backed

February 22, 2020 11 Comments

How Much Should Your Investments Grow to Beat Inflation

Back to Basics

How much should your investments grow annually to beat inflation?

PinShare8TweetShare8 SharesHow much should our investments grow each year? Most of us would answer that our investments should, at the very least, beat inflation. Despite the simplicity of this guideline, many investors do not really understand what it means. Or if we understand what it means, we do not know how to apply it to our investment strategy. For many of us, as long as our investments have positive returns, we’re good. Never mind if the said returns are barely able to cover inflation. In this post, I will reinforce why we should target to beat inflation AND figure out

January 20, 2020 2 Comments

Education

How to Invest for College – A Simple Method

PinShare22TweetShare22 SharesIf you’re a parent like me, one of your most important financial goals is to save and invest enough for your child’s college education. Even though there is an emerging trend in western and developed countries of people opting out of college, we in developing countries do not have the same luxury. If we ever want to ensure that our children stay out of poverty, have high paying jobs (if they choose to), and receive a modicum of respect from society, they need to attend and finish college. Periodt. Not saving enough money for your child’s college education is

November 22, 2019 4 Comments

Cross Border Investment

I Opened a TD Ameritrade Account – Now What?

PinShare1TweetShare1 SharesAfter the initial excitement of having a US-based online brokerage account, readers messaged me asking what else they need to do to actually start investing through TD Ameritrade. They needed additional information and guidance on how to proceed. This post is to bridge that knowledge gap from account activation to buying the stock or mutual fund of your choice. I wrote this post because I thought that if there are people who took the time to write me and ask these questions, there must be others who have the same questions but didn’t bother to write. If you’re one of

November 8, 2019 47 Comments

OFW

Analysis of Common Investment Options for OFWs

Pin6Share29TweetShare35 SharesA great way for OFWs to maximize their earnings abroad is through investing. Instead of just putting their money away in a regular bank savings account, OFWs can instead make that money earn more money by investing. But not all investments are created equal. Depending on several factors, one option may be great for you while it is not so for another. In this post, I will share my analyses of common investment options for OFWs. I mentioned in the post How to Build a Strong Financial Foundation As An OFW that you need to be prepared, mentally and financially, even

October 16, 2019 6 Comments

Investing

3 Pag-IBIG MP2 Hacks For Advanced Investors

Pin14Share3.8KTweetShare3.8K SharesI think most of us would agree that Pag-IBIG MP2 is a great investment. It is one of the most popular investment instruments for both OFWs and workers based in the Philippines. Its popularity is due to the fact that Pag-IBIG MP2 is guaranteed by the Philippine government and has a higher dividend rate compared to other safe investments like time deposits, retail treasury bonds, and money market funds The MP2 is a boon to Filipinos who want their money to grow but are afraid to put their money in other, riskier investments. If you’re one of these people,

September 27, 2019 71 Comments

TAXATION ON US STOCK INVESTMENTS OF NON-RESIDENT ALIENS

Cross Border Investment

Taxation on US Stocks of Non-Resident Aliens

Pin6Share9TweetShare15 SharesA few months ago, I opened a TD Ameritrade account to invest in US index funds because I believe this would help me achieve my financial goals faster. I have been buying Vanguard ETFs regularly since and plan to hold these investments for a long time. I’m also glad to say that my TD Ameritrade post received a lot of feedback from my readers and some of you were able to successfully open accounts while some were not due to restrictions set by the government of your country of residence. After sharing with you how to open

September 6, 2019 19 Comments