Mutual Fund Investment Update, July 2012

Wow, first blog post this year! I hope I still have readers left. A little recap: I started investing in mutual funds mid-2010. My plan was to invest P1000 each month. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do that.
I'm pretty happy with the results so far, but keep in mind these are just paper gains. I hope I can re-start investing P1000 a month soon, but I'll probably choose a UITF this time. Check out that discussion: UITFs vs. Mutual Funds

Total Amount Invested:

P13000

Number of shares owned:

5772

NAVPS:

P3.1966

Total Value of Shares Owned:

P18,450.7752

Total time since initial investment:

Approximately twenty-five months

 

 

June 2011 update

Pleasant Squidoo Surprise

First blog post in two months. Things have gotten a little boring lately. I don't have extra funds to invest, and mutual fund prices have been stuck in a holding pattern. One thing that is not boring is my Squidoo income. I started at a new job recently and have not been able to blog or update my Squidoo stuff. So it was a very pleasant surprise to receive $4.80 and $17.63 last month and this month, respectively. That brings my total to over $90 this year. Two months left in the year, I hope I can break $100. That's just not a huge amount but it's like finding a little money every month that you didn't expect.

Banco Filipino Update

I've been really busy the past few months (notice the sharp drop in blog post rate) but I was finally able to file a claim with the PDIC this month. I'd actually had the documents ready for some months, I just didn't have the time. I spent a little less than an hour at the PDIC office. Most of that time was spent waiting for my number to be called. The actual filing took less than ten minutes, because all my documents were in order. I found the PDIC staff to be pleasant and courteous. There were a lot of other people filing claims, I don't know how many of them were Banco Filipino depositors.
Here are a few tips for Banco Filipino account holders wo have yet to file their claims:
1. Download the form here: PDIC Claim Form

2. Read the instructions on the form carefully and fill in the form. Instructions are also available at the PDIC website: How to File Claims

3. Make sure to bring all required original documents and photocopies.

4. Bring three valid IDs if you have them. One for the building pass, and two to present to the PDIC officer (I think they only need one but better to be safe.). If you only have one ID you might be allowed to retrieve your ID from the building guard.

The PDIC office is located at the 4th floor of the SSS building, Rufino (formerly Herrera) corner Ayala.

Emergency Fund

I need to build my emergency fund back up before I start investing again. Various websites recommend from three to six months of living expenses. Right now I'm nowhere near that. So why not mix the two (investment and emergency fund) by building up an emergency fund in a profitable investment vehicle?
I'm guessing there are probably a lot of people who do this, but it doesn't suit me. I subscribe to the conventional line of thinking that says emergency funds should be placed in very low-risk vehicles like bank savings accounts. Even a slight, short-term dip at the wrong time could be disastrous.
Another concern is liquidity. In an emergency quick and easy access to cash is important. Even a one-week holding period would be too long. An ATM account, on the other hand, earns virtually no interest but is easily accessible.
It may seem like a lost opportunity to put three to six months worth of living expenses in an account that earns very little, but the security of having ready cash more than makes up for it.
You might decide to keep your emergency savings smaller or larger depending on your circumstances and preferences. The important thing is to get it set-up as quickly as you reasonably can.

Fun Stats

Today's post is not investment related. I'd like to share some stats about the blog. Think of it as a meta-post.

The top five countries by page views are:
1. the Philippines (no surprise there)
2. the US
3. Singapore
4. UAE
5. Saudi Arabia

The three most popular browsers are:
1. Firefox - 45%
2. Chrome - 23%
3. Internet Explorer - 21%

Page views by OS:
1. Windows - 90%
2. Mac - 4%
3. Other Unix (BSD? HP-UX? Misidentified Linux?) - 1%
4. Linux - 1%
5. Others (iOS, HTC, Nokia) < 1%

The five most popular posts are:
1. MF Roundup 1
2. UITFs vs. MFs
3. MF Roundup 3
4. MFs vs. Direct Stock Investment
5. UITFs

Thanks for reading!