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Plan your finances during the 8-day Christmas break

Filipinos will have at least 8-days holiday after the government officially declared December 25 until January 1 special working and regular holidays. (Actually, some people are planning a 12-day holiday by not going to work during the “sandwich” days.)

The last banking day of the year then is on December 24 while the next banking day is on January 2, 2009. During the long holiday, make sure you plan your finances. Otherwise, you might end up cash-strapped because ATMs might go offline or might have no more available cash.

Here are tips from BPI how to plan and manage your finances during the long Christmas holiday.

Ayala Corp’s “Class A” Preferred Shares

Ayala Corporation, the country’s largest conglomerate, will be issuing a total of 12 million preferred “Class A “shares for P500 each. Proceeds from the issue will be used to fund the company’s investments in business process outsourcing (BPO) and overseas real estate projects.

Unlike owners of common shares, preferred stockholders do not have voting rights but are the first to get paid in case a company is liquidated.

Ayala Corp (Stock Code: AC)‘s Preferred Shares will pay a fixed dividend rate of 8.88% per annum. Minimum subscription is 100 shares and succeeding placements must be in multiples of 20 shares.

Low-risk investment: Manila Water’s 8.25% fixed rate bonds

If you missed the Retail Treasury Bond offering of the Philippine government back in July this year which offered 8.5% and 9.0% interest per annum, you currently have a chance to earn a similar amount of return at the same low level of risk through Manila Water’s 8.25% fixed rate bonds.

The Php 3 billion corporate bond issue pays a fixed coupon rate of 8.25% per annum. The interest are paid quarterly or every 3 months. The bonds mature in October 2013 but investors can redeem their investments by as early as October 2011.

Subprime Mortgage 101 – A simple and funny Powerpoint

With all the buzz going on about the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the $700 billion AIG bailout plan, and the US financial crisis and its impact on Philippine banks, the word “subprime” suddenly gained notoriety in mainstream media.

What exactly is the subprime mortgage problem?

How to detect fake peso bills

A few days ago, we talked about an emerging scam tactic wherein a store cashier replaces a buyer’s cash with fake money. When faced with that situation with no evidence to prove that the money was in fact replaced, the buyer has no other choice but to to give the cashier a new one.

One way to prevent this from happening is to confirm before paying that the cash you are using is indeed not fake. For you to do this, we’ve provided below a good guide in determining if your currency is fake or not. Information were provided by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

How to Invest in Pag-IBIG Housing Bonds?

Were you able to invest in the Philippines’ Retail Treasury Bond (RTB) offering?

The RTB issuance has been cut short because the government has already raised enough funds. If you were able to invest, good for you. You are now guaranteed a 6.80% net return (if you invested in the 3-year bond) of 7.20% (if you invested in the 5-year bond).

If you were not able to join the offering, don’t fret. There’s another guaranteed, government-backed security although it pays less than the RTB’s.

More OFW families are now saving and investing

Now, here’s one more good news.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines), almost half of the families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) are now saving and investing part of the remittances they are receiving.

Do women with bigger salaries depress their husbands?

PMT Forum member bullet asks the men: Does it bother you if your wife makes more money than you?

Here are some replies taken from that discussion thread.