Can winning a raffle turn you into a millionaire?

I’m almost always in a rush when I’m at the grocery store, so I hardly listen to hurried invitations from cashiers to get my raffle coupons. Supposedly, these raffle coupons will give me the chance to enter the rank of millionaires.

“What kind of marketing gimmick is that anyway?” I asked with disdain over the weekend, during yet another foray into the consumer haven that is SM Hypermarket. I was trying to follow my own personal finance advice after all, and that is to get in, buy the stuff I need, and get out as quickly as I can :-).

Apparently, however, this marketing gimmick is more popular than I thought. Have you noticed how many raffle gimmicks are out there?
You’ve got Citibank’s 10 million rewards raffle, or equivalent to P10 million credited to your credit card and Mastercard’s trip to the USA raffle, and that’s only for today in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Walk through the mall and you’ll see raffle promos left and right.

Over dinner, I asked a statistician and lecturer at the University of the Philippines if it makes sense from a personal finance perspective to spend more to join a raffle. Here’s Ohmar Z. Landagan’s opinion: the chances of winning a raffle is very small. But if you are spending anyway, what have you got to lose by joining? If you’re going to spend more just to join, don’t count on winning and say goodbye to your money.

If you ask me, I simply hate writing my name, address and phone numbers on 20 different raffle stubs.

So What Chocnut?

GMA7 had a pretty good showing at its trading debut today.

If you bought GMA7 shares at P8.50 apiece, you would have gained 20.6 percent on the first day as the share price rose to a high of P10.25 as of 10:00 a.m. That’s encouraging, considering the dark clouds of worry hovering over the market in the past few days.

University of Asia and the Pacific and First Metro Investment Corp. expects the government to sell more Treasury bills and bonds than initially planned because of shortfall in tax collections in the first half. Bonds and T-bills help spread the risks in every portfolio, and while the stock market is the darling of investors lately, old-time investors typically hold on to their bonds and investments in government securities for the long-term.

In fact, the Bureau of Treasury has sold around P50 billion in retail treasury bonds (RTBs) – the bonds that are supposedly for small investors because the minimum investment is P5,000 – since Monday. Three year RTBs fetched 6.875 percent and 5-year RTBs settled at 7.125 percent, said this article.

Here’s a tip: if you are interested in RTBs, don’t dilly dally because they are still selling like hotcakes. Most banks sell only a limited portion of their RTB offerings to their preferred clients and hold on to the rest.

Cielito Habito says in his column today that the three most significant economic indicators that matter to most Filipinos are prices (inflation), jobs (unemployment) and incomes. He adds that, no, not everything’s okay with the economy as some would have us believe.

Lastly, read here our latest personal finance feature entitled How much insurance do you need? from our new editorial partner MoneySense magazine. Remember that insurance is critical, so buying one requires careful thought and consideration. It’s too easy to make a mistake when buying insurance and mistakes are expensive!

By the way, there are some indications that insurance policies may get cheaper if the Insurance Commission has its way. This article shows that Escobillo is looking for ways to get five million Filipinos insured by yearend, and she is thinking of getting cooperatives and mutual benefit associations to sell cheap insurance policies to their members.

I hope “cheap” doesn’t mean from “below-standard” insurance companies, though.

Articles from MoneySense’s July-August issue:

1. Look good without blowing your budget. Save on medicine expenses, health maintenance organization plans, hospital bills, and life insurance premiums.
2. Features on select five-star hospitals, fitness centers, beauty clinics, and spas, will give you ideas on how to choose one that suits your needs and finances as well.
3. Entrepreneurial tips from Figaro’s president and CEO Pacita “Chit” Juan and Binalot Fiesta Foods president Rommel Juan.
4. Yehey! president and CEO Donald Patrick Lim gives advise on how to save a little and spend a lot.

MoneySense is available in over 200 outlets nationwide. To learn more about the magazine, visit www.moneysense.com.ph. For subscriptions, contact 339-3361, 728-1073 or email info@moneysense.com.ph.

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