WHAT IF.... You Volunteered or You were Volunteered?

This question came into my mind when I was invited by Dr. Larry Gamboa Author of Think Rich Pinoy Book to give a Testimony on Real Estate and Stock Market last Monday May 14,2012 to the Retirees of La Salle - College of Saint Benilde. The Seminar is entitled " Life After CSB" which has four parts:


Part 1: Monday morning "Managing Change and its Challenges on Time and Life.”
Part 2: Monday afternoon “Managing Financial Opportunities for a Better Life”
Part 3: Tuesday morning “Exploring Business Opportunities and Employment in the Corporate World”
Part 4: Tuesday afternoon is specifically only for the retirees.



I was honored and blessed to be able to meet these great people. Actually, I was thinking that our audience would be of the retiring age of 65 years old but there were also young faces in the group. I learned that "VERO" or Voluntary Early Retirement Offer was offered to the CSB employees and the attendees were those who availed.  They will be receiving a good package. I also remembered that such thing was also offered by my previous employer when they needed to do some cost cutting measures but they named it differently - RIF or Reduction in Force.

But what is supposed to be the meaning of Retirement?
As per Wikipedia, Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours. Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to work any more (by illness or accident) or as a result of legislation concerning their position.


Whatever the purpose of the retirees in availing the VERO it is good to know that CSB made an effort to prepare them for the "Life After CSB". The speaker of the first part of the seminar was the CSB HRD Manager. He discussed the "Who Moved my Cheese" Book and it was so relevant to the theme of the seminar.

The speakers for the 2nd part of the seminar was Aya Laraya of Pesos and Sense. He talked about the advantage of Investing in the Stock Market. I have heard Aya talked for many times already but there is always something that I learn whenever I got to listen to him. It was also a blessing to be able to discuss stock market with him and get tips on his preferred companies - MPI, MWC and the three major Banks.

My testimony was after Aya. I shared about the advantage of investing in both Real Estate and Stock Market. My sharing focused on my two Real Estate deals and Stock Market Performance from the Year I started investing in the Stock Market to present.

Sir Larry spoke after me and he discussed How to be become a MAVEN. He inspired the group to find their passion and monetize it. They can use it to generate income after CSB.

The response of the audience was overwhelming. They appreciated our sharings.

It was also a blessing to meet Dean Pax Lapid of GoNegosyo and be able to discuss Stock Trading with him. He recommends to have two Citisec Account. One intended for Long Term Investment and one for Trading. He advised me to only invest less than 1/3 of the amount I have in my account intended for long term. He mentioned that he preferred Holding companies specifically DMCI.

It was truly an overwhelming and a different experience especially thinking that you were able to share my experience to these people. I am greatly honored and thankful to Sir Larry for inviting me to give a testimony to the people of CSB. Thank you also CSB for the tokens below :)