i dont knwo why anyone would admit 1-3? there’s nothing special about it.

4-6 is what i’m doing.

my dad did 5 & 7.

Did you start a business and became successful? My family and I started a lending business and the profit is good.

Did you do it by saving regularly? I also did it by saving regularly from my salary when I was still in the Philippines.

Did you make your first million by working as a professional overseas? Part of my first million is from me and my husband working abroad.

I did it by the long usual and normal way! After graduating from college, I invested my time and effort for 8 years in a local job which I know that the same job in overseas pays 10times greater or more for which I am currently in.

Now that I have the resources, I would like to do another but hopefully this time by the short way.

OMG, i made mine a couple of months back. I was set back a few months since I spent a big chunk of my savings in my wedding and regular travels (backpacking still costs money though my blog earns money to pay for my trips now)

it’s quite easy if you have the discipline, don’t have kids yet, double income and still practice practicality. much of my salary goes straight to condo payments that’ll be over in a year’s time.

me, just 5,6,7.

Win Lotto… just kidding, this was not mentioned in the considerations.

5&7 for me.

Planning to do 4 in the future.

I made my first million pesos at 24 by diligently saving and then investing in stocks, and my first million dollars 10 years later by studiously continuing to save and invest in stocks. That figure has since then tripled and I’m now 41. I’ve also expanded to real estate and now own homes in different countries — some of which I rent out for income. I didn’t inherit anything but I had the good fortune to also marry a very rich man who is himself a millionaire in dollar terms many times over. But still I manage my own money and work hard every day at my day job. It’s nice to be financially independent from either family or spouse.

I did my first million working as professional overseas in just a matter of 4 months. but unfortunately i was not able to taste cents of my earnings becasue my salary is going and deposited directly to my mothers account in the philippines, i may only be able to enjoy and invest my money if i take my vacation from my work.

Almost there, its a mix of 4 & 5

my 1st million is essentially half from showbiz windfall (the eventful, exciting half ) and half from professional career (d dull n boring half). Not much even then but hey! crossing 7 digits already buys you bragging rights hehehe

I knew this “1-M pesos isn’t enough” thing will come out someway. I remember reading of a millionaires’ club in Shanghai requiring a minimum of 2M yuan ($290k). In which case the best million to aim for these days is more like a million Malaysian ringgit ($310k or P 13.5M).

i did it by saving regularly… made my next million by investing… next one after that, i inherited (property)… and now, i am also able to add some more by being able to work overseas… life is great. i’m blessed : )

im currently busy getting my first million. =)

it’s tough, but i’m doing it the 6 & 7 ways.

http://www.myfirstmillion.info

1 to 4 is a NO.
i got my first million with 5 and 7 PLUS 6 with my mother’s help.

I got my first million by pathway nos. 5&7 (eg. by working abroad and saving my income regularly). Im planning to get a couple more from these pathways (5&7) depending on my “lifespan” working abroad, and later maybe include pathways nos. 4&6 to get me another couple or more of those million$$.
As to pathways 1-3, hmmn…no way, not even in my wildest dreams.lol

I worked hard at #3

My wife and I saw our first million in our bank account as OFWs. That was the easy part. For us, the barrier was our small appetite for making riskier investments other than those offered by banks.

We assessed that investment properties are for us as they carry acceptable risks. We made a breakthrough last year by making our first purchase. Now, we are in process of closing the deal for two more. All paid in cash. The best thing about this is that we are now free from regular monthly remittances as these properties covers our family support expenses.

earned it the old fashion way, saving regularly (5)..

At 13, my neighbor washed clothes for PhP5/day to help out her family. Fetched water from the well for 25 cents/pail to earn school allowance. At 16, she worked as a maid for relatives in Manila who promised to send her to college, never happened. At 18, went to HK to work as a maid so she can send her siblings to school. At 22, she met a kindly expat who petitioned her on fiance’ visa to the US. Two months later, they had a lovely hotel wedding with his family and friends. She was by herself. Fast forward 8 years later… She picks me up at the airport in a BMW to bring me over to her $2M Orange County beachfront house that she shares with her businessman husband, 3 children, and a large dog. She is currently acing her college subjects, and still supports her family in the Philippines. She still does the laundry, cooks meals, and cleans the house, but she now holds the pursestrings. She did 7 as a stepping stone albeit as maid, got 3, and 4 by default. I still think there is something pretty special with her story.

i (half-conciously) made my first milliion before the age of 30. i was then a striving OFW.

until now, i am still an OFW and constantly focused on the item no. 5 of your list.

you are right, when you hit your first million, you’ll never be content to have a savings lower than that.

keep saving folks, it’s one of the closest path to having a fat bank account.

john in china

5 and 7

I broke the 1 million barrier by working five years in the Philippines and two years abroad.

I’m partially doing 6 right now.

By saving regularly and investing aggressively. Raised 400k in 1991 to acquire a lot and build a house. I bought the lot cheap since it was a newly developed subdivision and the construction cost was low since I bought the materials myself and no contractor. After 3 yrs. its market value rose to 1.5M. My net worth exceeded 1M. I was 25. Now it’s 40x more.

5, 6 and 7.

I got my first million when I was 29.

Planning to do # 4.

first million came from 5-7.

esp #6: stocks, stocks and stocks!

Passive income coming from cash paying telco companies.

keep texting guys! =D

@DB
wow nice rags to riches story, it really pays to dangle yourself to rich would-be spouse. The story is really special and “hesitantly” inspiring. Kaso lang Parang half-baked. Iba pa rin if you made it on your own.
Nevertheless if ever i win lotto, to heck with 1-7, it all goes down the drain.

saving as much as i could consistently was main method of gaining first million; investing in stocks helped, too.

right now, lying-low in stocks. just saving regularly…slow process, but every peso counts baga…

also wishing like dinarman for a windfall!

mine via 5 and 6
my husband via 3 but he doesnt know it.

My family was not well off but by hard work of my mother our family business which started in a wet market grew to where it is now. I was only 5 years old when I started working for our family business . When teenagers were doing gimmicks I had my own business which was earning me 50k a year

Even before i went to college , our family business awarded me and siblings of breaking that 1M mark.

Now I am a executive working aboard and earning very good salary . I still invest and save infact my phone is only worth $35.

I am able to expand my net value by things I learned from our business and my mom.

Hard work , study hard , pay your credit card in full, invest and living within your means.

5,6 and partly 7 since I had several work assignments abroad (US and Europe). Achieved it several months ago at age 29. Some say that’s a little late but considering I have some friends older than me who are barely surviving paycheck-to-paycheck, I’m quite happy where I am.
Goal is to achieve increase it 15x in the next 4 years.
Key thing: Make sure you work hard for the money at the same time your money is working harder for you.

I just made mine just a few months ago with no. 7. Now I realize that it is still not enough. It’ll be gone the instant I buy a new car. Maybe 10 million is the new 1 million mark.

me? we’ll i won a million dollar case - how about that?!!!

you guys are very inspiring! with hard work and money-smart, i hope to be a millionaire like you

just don’t forget to pay-it-forward to the less fortunate so that we may have a better world.

In a 3rd world nation rife with corruption, greed, extreme inequality…honestly, I don’t think we’re there yet to be asking this question since most surely have utilized questionable means to attain the status further enslaving the nation. Perhaps, more appropriate would be to ask “How did/do you spend the million you’ve earned”…all would benefit from knowing who’s the idiot who’d feed their greed and lust with amassing status symbols and those who would share it with his/her employees and enrich the lives they are responsible for. It may indeed not be so inspiring if all answered honestly but that embarassment in itself should become a source of inspiration to help change our damaged culture and bring our poor bretheren (God’s living angels) to an enlightened and more dignified life.

i make mY millIons by being a nurse overseas and all started when i was 25. i was working here in irelanD as a nurse and that is a dream come true after the hard work and dedication. i made a challenge how to get rich after seing myself to my family in dire needs of money since life is so difficult in the province. after my experience as a nurse in mandaluyong,i applied for a job in ireland and got it. surprisingly, the pay in ireland is soaring high as you could bring home the bacon as big as 20000 clean.that is how big nurses in ireland earning and i would strongly say that ireland is the best in the world for pay scale given to the nurses.US no more.

from then and there, i did save a lot. after being tired of saving, i did enjoy buying expensive high end clothes and mens blah blah blah like paul smith, gucci, kenneth cole and everything i can afford.
before, i am a plain, simple guy wearing cheap clothes with single shoe for the whole year, ngayon, i am fully equipped with expensive blings and the gadgets.

back to story, i make this money by working 7 and with 6, i think i am earning good now as well since my euro account were in the most major bank of europe and ireland.hehehe

to save and to play and to savour life, i made balance of both the work, the financial and my social life. this stage of my life, maginhawa na. easy easy nalang si mader fader pati mga kapatid ko.

sa ibabaw ako noon, sa itaas naman ako ngayon,ganyan ang buhay ka ganda.

sorrY po mali yung figure ko above,it is actually 200000 po.promise.sana nakainspire ako sa mga nurses na nasa pinas ngayon. no matter what happens, huag umasa sa kamag anak. apply lang ng apply para makalabas.thanks

personally, i would love to have 1 and 2….. but life did not give it to me……. i hoped for number 3, but i fell in love with somebody else……. my parent taught me number 4 and 5…… i figured how to make number 6 work…… so no need yet to go number 7

earn my 1st million at age 30, it was slow getting there since had to do it thru#5. and only working locally. but just to share my story, savings do work it might not get you there as fast as other means but it does pay to save. I started saving when i was 15 and manage to save 200k by graduation.

then when i started working, i save about 60% of my monthly income…instead of the other way around i try to live w/in the 30-40% of my income. by age 28 i aggresively bought a lot and after a year decided to build a house although i borrowed money my net worth skyrocketed from 400k to almost 2million right after i finish the house. I was able to pay up the load by age 33. and now working abroad i’m looking forward in earning my 1st hk$ million in 2-3yrs again thru savings… i tried the stocks but i got burned so word of caution to all those thinking of investing in stocks dont just dive in to it…study the market and ask advice 1st before investing. and dont invest too much…just what you can spare or gamble.

good luck to all and final word, save save save…that will earn u ur 1st million.

am proud to say that after 11 years of being employed and at the age of 30.

I will be able to hit 1M this year thru savings only.

kuripot daw ako… pero at least me 1M na ako

nag start na rin me investing..planning to go stock trading soon.

I will get my first million next year!

5, 6, 7 (savings, invest and work abroad). I earned my first million when i was 22 yrs old working while studying at night time in the Philippines, but 7 digits mukhang dipa ako satisfied kaya i tried my luck to work overseas, 3 months of working aborad makes my bank account triple pero nabawasan din dahil sa mga di maiwasang gastusin. But i’m looking forward to make more or save more and invest sa real estate this coming months and years.

Tips? Invest and live simple.

Will Power, Determination and Personal Finance Lesson and some luck are what it takes to arrive at your first million.

@Romeo - di ba pareho lang ang “ibabaw” at “itaas”?

tanong lang..eh kung mamamatay kayo..sino ang mag eenjoy sa pinagpaguran niyo? tama naman si kabayan. Tayong mga Pilipino ay mahilig mag brag samantalang kung anong meron tayo..marami sa populasyon natin eh below povertly line..tsk tsk..sa lahat na mga milyonaryong nag post dito..mag ambagan naman kayo at idonate niyo sa mahihirap para pag interview portion niyo kay San Pedro eh passing score naman..kainis!

@Dinarman. In an informal survey of about a dozen well traveled and educated Filipino bachelors/bachelorettes in their 30s who are self-made multimillionaires (with just a sprinkling of some who could have just relied on inheritance but still made out on their own and some who came from humble backgrounds) mostly by starting their own businesses, there was a general consensus that when it comes to marriage, the ‘intended’ must enhance the wealth and not take away from it so the plan is to look for a close economic and intellectual equal. Prospects can ‘dangle’ all they like, but they need to bring more to the table than just that. I am not sure my neighbor had much to “dangle”, but she has a good heart, is an excellent cook, a good mom, and I cannot really find any fault in her. I still say “kudos” to the “danglee” who could look beyond the alleged “dangler’s” shortcomings if indeed poorness is a shortcoming, and the “dangler’s” perseverance because she still had her work cut out for her. The 12 think it is a shortcoming because they do not want to marry a “dangler’s” entire family responsibility as well, so each to his/her own, I guess. As one of the metrosexuals in the 12 would say, “Cheers!”

hardwork, determination, working abroad, saving and knowing how to manage you money, taking risks, getting involved in real estate is what made me a millionare. naks!

Hi… the topic says making your 1st 1M…

Would working locally (satble job) and getting paid for it regularly counts?
Then I already made my 1st 1M when I was around around 30 already. But minus the taxes and the share for the payment of utilities, things/necessities for decent & healthy living, not much goes to my savings kasi tama lang para mabuhay ng maayos.

1-2 may apply sana, kaso hindi naging masinop ang aking ama sa pag papahalaga at pag-aasikaso ng mga ari-arian due him nung nabubuhay pa sana sya.

btw, great blog, I visit this regularly at times. More power!!

it takes a lot of drive, focus and action on one’s part to reach your first million. in my few years of living/working in singapore, i managed to save this and more…on top of the savings we have here and in manila, my hubby and i managed to buy a flat here paying the first 20% of the purchase amount without taking out any personal loan. this is a milestone for us and indeed we are proud of this achievement.

i don’t know which number will apply to me … saved money since my first year in college (1992) and was able to put together around 150k. Right person, right time is what happened to me. Helped a friend sell his property, he gave me 2M for my effort, that’s how i made my first M.

Invested a sizable amount of my 2M in plenty of things: real estate, the stock market, time deposits. But best investment was start our own business. Got my 2M 3 years ago, getting near 5M last time i checked.

Lucky, huh?!

I made my first million when i reached 30 yrs. old by saving 20 percent of my salary abroad.

Making A Million is Easy, here’s how.

1.0 Save at least 10% of your gross earnings. The higher the better. This seems to be easier said than done but this is the most important of all to become rich. Develop the right attitude and let it grow continuously in you.

2.0 Control your expenditures, for whatever you do to spend, you must limit your expenses to 70% maximum of your gross income.

3.0 Make your savings grow. Invest it wisely!

4.0 Don’t be foolish on your investments, avoid the get rich quick schemes or scams, go for safer investment vehicle if you don’t like high risks. For whatever investments you entered in, make it your utmost objective to protect your money from losses.

5.0 Try to make your house/home an additional source of income. If you are paying mortgages on it, try to come with some home business that will help offset regular monthly bills.

6.0 Insure for a future income. Prepare for a blissfull life when your age turn golden. This is were another 10% of your gross income will come in.

7.0 Increase your potential to earn. Keep on learning. Study investing on other vehicles like stock market, they offer high potential of earnings for those who knows the ins and out of the trade. Invest on your skills and knowledge.

8.0 Give and you shall recieve! Tighting and donating to your favorite charity/ies. As we all know, money has a way of attracting itself to those who valued it best. Remember the parable of talents in the bible??

There you go folks. I am sharing these tips to all who care to make a difference in their life. Towards a blissfully blessed life.

I made my first million 4 years ago, I had just quit my job and was practically broke…I had around 20k or less to live on.
I have been doing the corporate route for 8 years and made the big choice to quit. I was bold move that I believe made an impact in my life…although at that time some people thought I was crazy to go on my own.

I sold my car for 250k (a loan from a relative) and put up my own business. Lucky for me the business picked up, I was able to pay the for the 250k in 6 months.

I still remember going to the ATM machine and seeing the figure pop up, it was exciting hehe.

Now you know how, it’s important to know why. I hope this inspires people to start thinking out of the box, never be afraid to take any risks.

through a global distribution business (NSE)

For me 5,6 & 7. I think its god’s blessing as well and dont forget to give to those who are in need especially our families.

Got my first million last year at the age of 32. after working overseas. bought a condo and by next year planning to buy a house and lot.

i did it with No. 5 for more than 8 years now as OFW, when i build my house my bank account went to zero. Few years back i started again with No. 5 @ 44 i reach a million mark again. but a million is just a million

I achieved my first million and more by working in Japan and living smartly, buying only the things that i need, thinking twice before each purchase whether I really need it or if there’s a cheaper alternative to the the thing that i want.

For me, earning millions by working abroad is not very sustainable though especially if you plan to go back to the Philippines. It earns you that first million easily but it’s what you do with it that will sustain your wealth.

I hope to be able to just do that.

It’s true, one million is not much at all these days.

Free Photo Stories here
FREE Personal Finance Advice
Free Online Marketing Tips here
Real Life Secrets of SunJun

My answer is 4,5,6 & 7.

I earned my 1st million (exactly 1.9M) from working in Globe Telecom way back 2004. Unfortunately 35% of it were taxes. Resigned early 2005 and fortunately worked in Europe for a salary of $75,000/annum.

On the same year I had a gross income of P7.5M. 2006 - 15M; 2007 - 24M; projected gross income of P28M by 2008.

My sources of income in Europe - 1small systems integration company with 2 permanent employees (me & my Arab partner), rental of 25 rooms, reselling of prepaid mobile loads, and soon to open VAS company.

In the Philippines, I have 2 small IT companies, 7 door apartment for rent, 5 rental vans for a prestigious hotel, and 1 holding company which finance small start ups & ventures.

My assets value including cash is at P32M as of July 2008 with several bank loans of less than P7M including A/R from suppliers.

Earned P720K from playing stocks last year but liquidated all investment as early as December. Never got back to the PSE market since then. I’m still waiting for the rock bottom before I start buying massively.

2008 is a real challenge but not totally a disaster. Food supply is at an all high so we started a program in the province wherein we started a venture with a local town. We started with 100 heads of pigs with no piggery & with only 1 permanent employee (my cousin). We selected 100 families as recipient to the project with the help of the town mayor & 10 barangay captains & officers. We made arangement with another cousin who sells feeds and provided discounted rates to the 100 candidates. We then sourced out a wholesaler of our pigs & negotiated fairly on the price of live meat. Both recipient and our venture earned and now we are proceeding with 200 heads of pigs & venturing to poulty with one family getting at least 20 chick heads.

Perhaps late this year or Q1 2009 we will do the same system but this time with our valuable staple food - rice along with the guidance of the Phil. Rice Authority & some great professors & scientists from IRRI.

I guess my success is attributed to continuously increasing my financial quotient, creativity, innovation, communication, education, consistency & faith with our Maker.

my wife and i did it by saving regularly…
we bought our own house after 5 years of marriage. made our first million after 2 years because of savings, savings… we now have over 2 Million with 2 kids. NOTE: WE’RE BOTH A RANK-AND-FILE EMPLOYEE. WE BUY ONLY WHAT IS NECESSARY.

im on my way there.

im now doing #4, 5, and 6.
hardwork, discipline and living a simple life helps. i dont have a car.

will do #7 next year.

Good luck to all of us.
God Bless!

I’m doing 5, 8 and starting on 6. I haven’t reached my goal yet but I’m slowly going there. I limit myself travelling abroad once a year and put the rest in the bank. I have life insurance already so my family is set already in case anything happens to me. Maybe when my wandering feet is satisfied, I’ll be able to start and earn more.

I have life insurance coverage worth $500,000 with annual premium of $2,400+. Its only term insurance not the very expensive ones.

medical insurance worth $100,000 with $2,700 premium for 5 years.

Net worth $500,000 with $125,000 liquid cash, the rest assets.

I’m still not a millionaire in the terms of US dollars. Perhaps 2 more years.

Asking favor from William

William,

I can see you have a lot of wisdom to share sir.

I am particularly “switched on” by your pig project. I can entertain in my mind some scenarious but I think it would be best for me to ask your favor to let me know the total concept. If you wont mind, I would like to copy your idea. This way I can be of help to other people also.

God bless and best regards!

Ave

Walid, you can probably get better rates for your term insurance, considering term rates continue to go down. Last week, my friends just received approval for 30 year term, $500K each from ING (Super Preferred Rates), no riders. The 38 yo female healthy non-smoker will pay less than $500/year, the 48 yo male non-smoker will pay less $1260/year. I am curious about your medical insurance as I have been looking for one – can you tell me who is the company so I can mention them to my insurance broker?

sir i haven’t earn my first million but on my way there. May be sir WILLIAM can help me to get there. May be i could join his company there in Europe.

I made my first million
when I was in the direct selling industry.
I also in the process helped over 50 people who also made their millions.
My philosophy in life is “Just help enough
other people to get what they want and you will also get what you want in life.”

independence not inheritance…

Learning to live within 70% of what ever I earn and leaving the 30% to savings. Within the 70% breaking it down further to Utilities, Needs, Wants, Tithes. Making sure that there is room for personal enjoyment in the budget. Treat it like a diet of some sort wherein if you scrimp too much there is a tendency to “binge shop.” Avoid the urge to join the bandwagon of new things or the lemming concept of what the other has you should too. And live on cash not on credit, if you cant pay for it in cold cash then you can’t afford it and learn to accept and realize that… If you plan to buy something make sure its for the right reason we have this saying “passion over fashion” if your reasons are right then sky’s the limit and you would still have money in the bank (30%).
My two cents.

How I specifically made my first million, quit my management level corporate job developed a business development company sold my car as capital had a staff of one, ate under the MRT station for a year and worked thru literally blood sweat and tears including cleaning the office on sundays. 3 years later, still establishing the company but with a staff of 60 believing in the same vision and not having to sell any of my cars anymore.

way back 2003, me and my wife were nearly millionaires- in debt! it was an ironic situation because while we have some savings but we were practically buried in debt.

our journey started in April of that year, we attended a seminar on financial planning and from then on everything was accounted for and 2 years later we were out of debt and with a net worth of >P2.5M. Pwede na di ba.

our first step was to really get out of debt and we did this in less than 6 months. we had to empty our savings account so we can just pay off our debt. after that everything was monitored and we decided to have reasonable spending habits and save, save, save!

our next plan is to speed up the accumulation by investing in business. we have placements in mutual funds, we are adequately covered by insurance, we dabble in stock market every now and then but the rate of accumulation is not enough for our goal.

in short we did this be educating ourselves and having a plan. also a PC based application (Quicken) helped a lot in allowing us to monitor everything.

My husband and I were not born rich, so we did it with #5.

halfway there. i do #4,5,6. basically, i entered insurance, realty, marketing while currently employed to earn more. buy and sell. i have a long term investment at a bank. im planning to buy more shares of stock. my husband and i spend below our means, and we dont do groceries in bags. we just buy what we need in 2-3 days. we both have debit cards, not credit cards.right now we are going to put up a grocery store and food business hoping we will hit it. soon. good luck to all!

68 comments here as of 8/13. which means there’s at least P 68M in net worth among bloggers posting here i guess

I did No. 5 and 6. Although I was not that aggressive in investing but did some.

I salute Mr. William in one of his comments. I hope to be like him in the future. Mr. William, we can be business partners in the future?

For me, as of now, at age 25 I set my goal to become a millionaire before the age of 27. And I think I will reach my goal next year at the age of 26.

I shared my story on my blog. I was lucky in my first employment but I really did a lot of sacrifices with the way my boss treated me.

You can also read the article entitled “My Hard Earned Savings” to see how I really did a lot of sacrifices and patience to stay in the company for the benefit of achieving my goals.

Hi DB,

Sorry for the late reply. My life insurance is AIG but we got it from the US and AIG has a worldwide coverage.

My mom also has medical insurance from AIG. She has stage 4 cancer which we found out lately & now is undergoing chemo at John Hopkins. She recently also had an extreme case of fluid in the lungs & undergone an operation and we only spent $200 for the coffee & food while we vigiled in the hospital.

Life & medical insurance premiums are really becoming more affordable. But please, better consult a lawyer to check the T&C to be on the safe side.

Cheers & more power to INQ7!

Thank you for the nice comment Aspiring Entrepreneur.

Actually I just used what I have learned from working in a corporate environment such as Globe Telecom but I really did implement it. So my suggestion is, get the experience first. Work hard as if you own the business. Fold your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Dont limit yourself with your job description but go on and dig deeply in how the business run and you might end up putting a similar business or at least related to it in the future.

One major thing is to budget expenses on a monthly basis then project your income versus expenses on a yearly basis and from there set target how much net income on a monthly or yearly basis you wish to have. A great example of this is right here in the finance section of Inquirer.

Reducing your expenses is great but is not answer in achieving millions. Somehow expenses will increase gradually when money comes in and somehow we should be able to control it and spend within set budget. I set a value or percentage of my annual income for leisure - recently we had a family trip for 5 to HK, Singapore & Malaysia for a month at a cost of P250K (hotel & flights) + P150K for shopping & dining. 4% of our net income in a year.

Good thing is, I even tied up with some business contacts at Malaysia & HK. Now we are in deep talks for joint ventures for some projects in our country.

The most important in the projection is how much growth would you like to have. In my case I target 20% growth on a yearly basis. For the past 3 years, we achieved at least 30% growth.

2008 is a tough year and is challenging but we are still on track as far as our targets are concerned.

Hi William:

Nice model you have there with the pig project. You avoided the cost of facility and passed to other people bulk of the task of running your piggery.

I remember a similar idea called: SWINE DISPERSAL where the capital and industrial partner shares 50/50 the profit after recovering capital. Is it the same as your model?

BTW, nice blog. It’s encouraging to read that most of millionares here earned their money in a low-profiled way than I thought.

The first million? In pesos or US dollars?

I did it through my job. I work in the US (as a physician). My first million pesos was attained at age 28. That was 12 years ago. My first million in US dollars was attained 2 years ago. I did it by saving what I could from my salary, plowing about 30% of gross income into stock and bond mutual funds. I also bought an office building here in Illinois which houses my practice (I’m a partner of a group practice). Living below my means definitely helped. I’m not into fancy cars. My last car (a Ford Taurus) lasted 10 years before I replaced it.

It was a combination of having a relatively high income and the discipline to save and invest in different asset classes that did it for me. Thanks for listening.

Hi Surebull,

Yes ur precisely correct. it is 50-50 b/w us and the industrial partner. WE partnered with 100 heads of families and now we are doing it with 200 families.

The funny thing about it is, I earned 18% from the 1st roll out with a 5 month time frame which is not bad. The earnings were based from discounted cost of the piglets, feeds & higher resale value of live & direct sale of meat.

We intend to get bigger discounts over our 2nd roll out along with enhancing our direct sale of meat instead of going thru middle men.

In this way, both us the operator & the families tend to earn higher.

Walid, thanks for the information.

I signed up for long term care insurance last week for $25/mo. It will pay $150/day for any sickness lasting three years — I could probably find a home caregiver willing to be paid that little for 24-hour care or an RN/LPN for an 8-hour shift except in California. Current average cost of care is actually $200/day now but with the inflation rider, it should be able to catch up.

I used 4-7 and still doing it.

William, thank you for all the informations you had shared, you inspired me a lot.
I would like to ask if I can email you about the project that you did in your province about the piglets. I would like to know more and would like to use it in our province to help my kabarangay. I’m into palay farming and trading din in Nueva Ecija and at the same time OFW.

Thanks again.

I used 4-7.

William, thank you for all the informations you had shared with us.

If possible, I would like to know more about the project you did in your province about the piglets. Can I ask your e-mail so I can ask some more question?
I would like to help my kabarangay in nueva ecija to have some livelihood projects and I think the system that you did is great and can be a great help to start. I will appreciate if you can give me you email so I can ask you some questions about it.
thanks again.

This is a very interesting subject-glad to know that a lot of filipinos knows how to handle their hard earned income.
I don’t have highly academic qualifications,worked as a waiter in the Philippines in 1977,left for KSA in 1981 & worked as a house boy & endured the bad treatment for their “Royal Highness” moved to Malaysia in 1983 & did a string of jobs such as salesman,waiter,room boy,office boy,labourer,negotiating with muslim cigarette smmuglers to buy & promote a brand of cigarette from China,
name any manual labour & I did it. sad to say that I did not even have a technical skill but in 1998 met an american woman in Brunei ,maried & moved to the USA.
First job in the land of credit card & insurance -waiter . Made my first million (in pesos of course) in 12 months. Now I own my own transportation company.
I was lucky my wife is an executive for a 500 fortune company. When I moved to the USA ,My wife owns her own house,she bought me a 2nd hand car.
I did save good amount of money because I don’t share my income with any bills or even payment for the house or even the groceries. Why?How?
Well, I made a deal with her- I do anything that ends in ING-
Cleaning,Vacuuming,Ironing,Cooking,Driving,Washing the Car,Fill the car with Gas,Mowing the Lawn,feed the Dog(he’s dead now) shopping & of course you know that!
In return I keep my income. The good thing what she owns physically is also mind,like 401K,pension ,& she bought me an IRA , I’m practically covered by medical,dental & optical insurance.
I worked hard to what I am now but I wish I could have continued my education which is something that no one can take from you.

can you help me??? i just wanted to read the blog of aspiring entreprenuer ’s “My Hard Earned Savings”.. can you kindly help me??? thanks alot in advance… hope to hear from you soon

Nice that you have a wonderful wife RPF. Unfortunately, it still is the guy who should be the captain of the ship besides handling the ING of life. I’ve been to the US and I decided to buy at least 2 houses there by next year. Investing in the US will definitely be included for my 2009 Fiscal year along with expansion of business in the Philippines and IT business in the Middle East.

Marvin, I’m deeply sorry for the late reply but I’m in the Middle East for the next 3 months and will be back by December in Manila. Give me your email & I’ll have my business development manager contact you re the Livestock Business.

I did no. 5 first , then no.4 but failed many times in business during the early days of franchising. After those failures, I tried no. 7, worked in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. From there I got my first million in pesos when I was 24. Then tried no. 6, invested on MMG’s high yield schemes which was actually a big SCAM, I lost my first P1 million. That was a lesson for me but I still had some hard-earned money and was still being productive working overseas. Year 2003 me and my college buddies made our own company, a training center for domestic helpers mostly for Singapore, Hongkong and Taiwan and its our 5th year anniversary this month. Now I’m still working as a senior engineer in one of the semicon firms here in Singapore. I experienced lots of failures but I gained lots of lessons too along the way.

Ahisha ( preety cute ) my first baby was born a year ago, my wife and i were very happy and blessed and forever thankful…im 32 started with nothing, been an employee since college work here and there in 11 years, got employed to 8 companies within that period…tried business and failed and broke… tears flowing huhuhu…. but life is wonderful! i got my own house and lot now, a piggery of 150 heads ( managed by my parents ) and earning $30/hr by just checking pressure gauges and thermomters overseas… The secret is in the philosophy, determination and faith.

Cheers!
chillerman
http://www.hvacphilippines.com

My first million came to me when I was 29 via savings from my job and extra income from my sidelines. But the million didn’t last long in my hands because I use that money to build my house.

Hi, I earned my first million when I was in Qatar. I never really got serious until lately, when I started accounting for everything ! hehehe ; ) I have now two kids and my wife to take care of so I’m pretty busy these days making a living for my family.

I would probably made about 2 million now, but I have a lot of expenses sending my kids to school. And The house I bought in Antipolo is I would say half-paid. So, half way to go.

So for the list above, mine is no. 7, I earned my first million when I started working here in Qatar in October 16, 2006. That would be more than 2 years now. I would tentatively be coming home around Mar-Apr 09 to finish my house and get it all together.

Thanks for reading my short story.