Hubze: One card to link them all

Just finished watching a webinar replay about Hubze. I've signed with them very early on, when they were still called Moneza. The change of name is an effort to make it sound more like what they intend to accomplish: to become a "hub" or a central point where one can automatically update all the social networking sites and subscriptions one is connected to.

To give an illustration, let's take this blog. After I have written and published this post, the only people who will know that I have a new post are those that subscribed to either the Feedburner or the Google Reader on the sidebar (which I am encouraging you to do right now ^^). To be able to let other people know, I need to make an update on my Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook accounts. The effort to do so is multiplied with the number of social network sites that you belong to.

Through Hubze, one update on my Hubze card informing those connected to me at the Hubze network that I have a new post will also tell people on my Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook networks (who may not be using Hubze) that I have a new post. When I change my contact details, the mirror details in Twitter and Facebook also gets updated. In effect, it becomes a single point of updating for me, allowing me to concentrate more on matters more important to my blog (such as content creation and site design) than having to repeat the announcement in every social network site. It also helps to ensure that I get to update each and every social network site I belong to. For a business person, that would mean being able to reach more audience at a fraction of a time. Other contents are in the works such as an in-house blog and making the site searchable.

Well, at least that's what the developers envision Hubze to accomplish. It's still in its very early stage, though the Hubze card will probably be out in a couple of days. You can click on the pic above to take you to the registration page, with me as referror. It really doesn't matter if you have been referred or not, you can simply go to their site at www.hubze.com if you like. But by being connected to me, we have started the networking and we can check on the effect of Hubze to our networks.

Thanks and let me know if you signed up and what's your initial impression of Hubze.

Fiverr - How Much Is Your Five Dollars Worth?

What will you be willing to do or sell for $5? Or conversely, what would you be willing to buy for the same amount? Fiverr provides the platform to meet the needs of sellers and buyers of good and services that are priced at very low amounts.

You register to Fiverr, and if you have something to sell (either something you will deliver or service you will perform) you post a notice called "gig" which are fixed at the price of $5 each. Conversely, you can browse or search through the gigs and buy one that you need.

Buyers pay $5 in advance via Paypal, while sellers get their net share of $4 (the site keeps the $1 as fee) after the sale has been completed. Sellers are notified that buyers are interested in what they are selling, and they have 24 hours to accept the order, otherwise the system cancels the order.

I haven't gone through the list of gigs available for purchase, but one problem I see in this set up is the lack of protection to the sellers. The Terms and Conditions state that if a purchase is canceled by the seller, the amount paid by the seller through Paypal will not be credited back to their Paypal account but will remain in their Fiverr account and will be available for their next purchase. The trouble with this is if you've got several canceled purchases or you do not see other goods and services that you would like to buy, you've got your money locked-in. It would be better if the buyer at least has the option to get back his money (minus any processing fees) when his Fiverr account reaches a certain amount, the way that the seller gets their Paypal account after reaching the $40 threshold.

With that said, the possibility of finding some gems in this virtual haystack is always there. And for those of you who have time to burn, you may check out the Silly Stuff category for some amusement.

And while you're at it, why don't you leave a comment and let us know what will you be willing to buy or sell for $5. You might just get the deal of your life!

E-Money in the Philippines: What Is E-Money?

I'm off to Bacolod on Monday to give a short presentation about electronic money. And I thought I'd get myself all primed up by posting a bit on what I will be sharing there. I provided a short perspective about e-money in the Philippines in my previous post here, and now I would like to start going deeper into the subject by defining what is considered e-money in the Philippines.

E-money in the Philippines is defined as monetary value that is:

1. Stored in an electronic device or instrument; and

2. Issued in exchange for an equal amount of cash (or sometimes less, if there are charges involved, but greater than the amount received); and

3. Acceptable as a means of payment to the issuer and other merchants; and

4. Withdrawable in cash and other cash forms; and

5. Have complied with the requirements of Circular 649 of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) which is the Philippine central bank.

What are the implications of this definition? If you are an issuer (meaning, you accept cash in exchange for e-money), then you must ensure that the e-money you are issuing complies with BSP guidelines.

On the other hand, if you are an e-money holder (you've exchanged your cash for e-money), then you should be aware of the various features of the e-money that you have, including those that the BSP required for certain reasons.

Next time, we'll discuss some of the types of e-money. Do leave your comments and questions to liven up the discussion.

Wish me well on my presentation!

Pay Yourself First

Robyn of Get Out of Credit Card Debt has started a discussion in her blog about Paying Yourself. As far as I can remember, I first encountered the phrase Pay Yourself First from the E-Myth, which is basically on the premise that a new entrepreneur should consider the amount that he should be paying himself to show whether or not the business is actually earning or not. The same concept has started to be applied to personal finance along the concept of setting aside first, often automatically, a portion of what one receive as income or salary. This automatic setting aside of money as savings is also being advocated by David Bach of the Finish Rich fame. And like most things that has been passed around, it pays to reconsider again what does the phrase Pay Yourself First really mean.

1. Is Paying Yourself First (PYF) any different from savings? Essentially it's the same thing. However, the emphasis here is on "first". Which means that saving should be prioritized over any expense.

2. Is PYF for everybody? Obviously, if you are spending more than earning, then it won't work. But the more important thing to realize is that this is a goal that one should strive to one day achieve. Start here to get your finances in order.

3. How much should you pay yourself? You can always start somewhere, and slowly build up the amount you pay yourself over time. It can be as painless as starting on a very small amount, or you can start off with an amount where you can feel the "pinch" on you, reminding you that getting into good financial health does not come without sacrifice. To make the amount you decide to pay yourself more realistic, you may consider the amount of disposable income you have after you have taken out your expenses.

That's it for now. Do share your thoughts on this topic and help enlighten all of us.

Preparing for a Rainy Day Part 2: Insurance

Nobody wants tragedy or loss to strike one's life and loved ones. And yet it happens in the most unexpected time. Which makes preparing for it all the more important. Despite all the efforts of planning and knowing our expenses and building up an emergency fund (see here), a family's finances may still not be able to take on the pressure if a breadwinner is suddenly unable to earn income because of death or disability. That's why having an insurance for accident and life is a very important component of personal/family financial planning.

Here are some pointers to consider in taking out an accident or life insurance:

1. An insurance policy should allow you or your loved ones to get money years after you have entered into a contract with the insurance company. Obviously, stability and strength of the insurance company is of primary concern. Understandably, people are wary of handing over their hard-earned money for several years only to find out that their insurance company, even the reputable ones, are in the red several years later, as what have happened in the recent financial crisis. And yet, not taking out an insurance on that basis is even more unwise. One way to spread the risk is taking out insurance coverage from more than one company, say, two separate contracts that pays 1M proceeds each, if you intend to be covered for 2M. Of course, that may jack up the premiums you may need to pay, which you should also consider.

2. How much insurance payout is enough? Ideally, the proceeds of the insurance should allow a family to pay off any debts it has, basically starting on a clean slate. It should also tide it over for several months of limited income while other members of the family try to find regular livelihood to replace the one that was lost.

3. Keep insurance premiums low by availing of "plain vanilla" insurance. There are insurance policies that include additional "benefits" that you would hardly use. For example, would you really avail of a loan window that has an interest rate higher than the prevailing?

4. Avoid paying yearly premiums in several installments, as you will pay more in total that way. As much as possible, pay in one or two installments per year, instead of monthly or quarterly. You will probably not earn enough (in interest, for example) for the money that you didn't pay immediately compared to the discount that you will get for paying ahead in the year.

5. Compare the total premiums you will pay. Some insurance have the option of paying for a certain number of years, with the remaining years "self-liquidating" from dividends being earned from the premiums. That sounds nice, but you still need to check if an option to pay for the full duration of the policy will result in shelling out less money overall.

6. An insurance, especially a life insurance, is intended to benefit those that you will have left behind. Make sure that the beneficiaries are aware of the insurance you took, and the benefits that they can have if the unfortunate should happen. Provide them instructions on how to claim benefits, telephone numbers and insurance agents to call, forms needed, etc.

In case of accident insurance, the same applies, as you may be unavailable to arrange for these matters should the accident turns out to be serious.

With these info, hopefully you can get for yourself and your loved ones an economical yet effective tool for protecting your finances.

Preparing For A Rainy Day Part 1 : The Emergency Fund

One of the first goals one should have with regard to finances is having an emergency fund or buffer. The purpose of this fund is obvious enough: it is intended to tide you over during those times when things happen that may take a toll on your finances. Some of these situations may involve a medical emergency or being between jobs. These are not things that we want or expect to happen, but such is the reality of life. Here are some things to consider in setting up an emergency fund:

1. How much is enough? This is something that would differ from person to person. The usual rule of thumb is around 6 months of one's usual expenses. Personally, I would go for a full year, since it makes sense to provide for a normal yearly cycle. These expenses should include not only the daily expenses that we've been monitoring through our simple exercise (click here), plus other non-daily expenses like tuition fees, maintenance, periodic dues, etc. Of course, one cannot simply wish to have an emergency fund of 6-12 months. The important thing is to make it a goal to stash enough in a given period of time. Knowing how much you get to keep at the end of a month can help you in arriving at a reasonable idea on how long before you can reach your target emergency fund amount.

2. Set up your emergency fund first before committing your money to long-term investments. At the very least, you should have a buffer that can cover for the next few month's expenses, while you are still building up a full year's worth of emergency fund.

3. Don't let your fund sit idly, though. You may want to place it in short-term investments that allow you to "preterminate" once you have need of it, with minimal penalties. At the very least, you'll probably get a lower interest for your money if you preterminate, but that's just fine. Your main concern at this stage is liquidity, rather than profitability. As you build up your fund, you may vary the maturity of your investments so that you can avail of better interest rates.

That's it for now. Next time we'll take a look at another aspect of Preparing for a Rainy Day.


Related Post:

Preparing for a Rainy Day - Part 2

Where is My Money?

A New Year's Resolution to Make this Year