Move to the Philippines and Profit There

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Archives for October 2019

You Can Still Make Money From Your Job After You Retire

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You Can Still Make Money From Your Job After You Retire.

(Updated 27 October 2019)

If you’re like most readers who drop by here, you are interested in two primary questions:

How can I earn money to live in the Philippines?

And how can I find something to do in retirement which will be satisfying, rewarding and (maybe) even profitable?

Easy, I’ll Get A Job

If you’ve visited this blog before,  you already know I STRONGLY recommend that foreigners do NOT try to find a job in the Philippines.  In many cases, it may be illegal.  It will also involve very low wages and long tiring hours, and (at least in my personal opinion) it’s morally wrong for a foreigner with a pension income to try to take a job from a Filipino with a family to support.

Read more about why you don’t want a job here: 10 Reasons You Don’t Want A Job In The Philippines

Or, I’ll Start a Philippine Business

Well, in many cases you will run into the same sort of problems you’ll face with a Philippine job.

Many businesses are not legal for a foreigner to own or operate.

Most businesses foreigners think of in the Philippines have low margins/low-profit potential.

And a great many foreigners I have dealt with have a rather arrogant opinion regarding how things are “better” back in their own country and everything with a Filipino business will be alright and things will run smoothly once a foreigner “shows them how”.

I have news for you on that.  Philippine businesses have been running, in some cases for hundreds of years, and a foreigner is often not going to “out-Filipino a Filipino” on his home turf.  It’s better not to try.

OK, So That’s All Pretty Negative … What’s Your Suggestion?

Clearly, if you need to make some money and a local job or business is not a good choice, you need a specific slot or niche where you have experience and where you are expert enough to have earned a living for some years.

Your best niche opportunity may be already staring you in the face.

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Earning an Income in the Philippines — Without a J*O*B

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(Updated 26 October 2019)

Earning an Income in the Philippines.

Dave, You Keep Saying Don’t Get a Job in the Philippines, But I Need an Income to Live

Yes, indeed that’s true unless you have a fat pension you most certainly need to know about earning an income in the Philippines.  But …

So Many Can’t Get Their Head  Around This — You Don’t Need a Job to Earn Income!

How can the average person possibly earn a living without a job?

Well, there are many ways, I’ve written a lot about some of them already, ask me and I’ll be happy to write more.

But I Have a Lot of Education, Dave, Surely That’s Worth Something?

Earning an Income in the Philippines

You Want To Work For These Wages?

Well even though I have little formal education myself, I’m not anti-education.

But there’s a lot more to education than what degrees one holds.

The real key is what you have learned in your educational efforts that makes money, for yourself, or someone else.

Here’s a comment I have received word for word several times.

It seems to be all about this reader’s education and what he feels he’s “owed” because he has that education.

But it doesn’t seem to mean much here in the Philippines.  Reader’s comments in blue:

It’s Just Not Fair!

It does not matter how much education you have, or experience, the jobs in the Philippines do not pay well. You can make more working at Walmart here in the USA than medical doctors and dentists make in the Philippines….

Quite true.

For more than 10 years now I’m been preaching to those who will bother to listen, Don’t Come To The Philippines For a JOB.  You can easily make more at a mundane, lowest common denominator job in the USA.

But I maintain that education, either formal as in college degrees or practical such as years and years of living, earning a living, raising a family, etc. is not ONLY to use for working for someone else in a salaried job.

Maybe you should be putting that education to work to benefit yourself and not some fat=cat who pays you 1/3 or so of what you are worth.

I have six college degrees, including a Masters of Science, and I made about the equivalent of one American dollar per hour teaching the 8th, 9th, and 10th grade of school there.

As my TI at Lackland AFB used to say, many many years ago, “Well, aw no shit, troop”.  What Did You Expect?

I imagine this is totally true.  In fact, the Philippines is replete with college graduates holding teaching degrees.  Many are lucky to be able to drive a tricycle or work midnight shift in a call center.

So how much more should a western college degree “earn” a teacher, just because his nationality and degree are from another country?  I really sense some “white supremacy” going on here.  Sad to say it is a rather common American obstacle to happiness in the Philippines.

You are NOT “superior to Filipinos.  Learn to recognize that.

Even the American Embassy pays Philippine wages.

This is true in one sense and totally wrong in another.

Career Department of State employees of the US Embassy are in the competitive civil service, just as I was (with the DoD) for more than 28 years.

Their pay is the same as any other federal foreign service employee of equivalent grade and experience step.  In fact, being stationed in Manila each US employee makes substantially MORE than he or she would make if stationed, say, in Washington DC.

In Manila, regular competitive civil service makes about 20% above their regular pay scale and a tax-exempt housing allowance of about $34,00a year.  Not bad work if you can get it. (and with 6 college degrees, why couldn’t you?)

For sure, these jobs are not hired off the street.

They are competitive foreign service positions and one starts competing for one of them by starting at the beginning with the Foreign Service Exam.  One little detail for those in a big rush to apply … you don’t start at the top.

Now what I believe this reader is referring to are what are known as “Local Hire” jobs at the Embassy.

Local Hire Positions

Most branches of the US government who have installations overseas are authorized these type positions.

They are what are known as “non-competitive” civil service positions.  They have:

  • No guaranteed career progression path,
  • No tenure (may be terminated at will),
  • No Federal retirement programs, etc.

They are generally technical, non-professional administrative support type positions, designed to be filled by qualified local nationals (Filipinos in most cases).

Why on earth would the Embassy pay anything except Filipino-level wages for these jobs?  Do you think Filipinos can’t operate a copy machine or type a letter?

Isn’t the government supposed to operate as economically and efficiently as possible?  And why on earth would they want to hire someone with six college degrees to answer phones or file papers?

Commercial Sector US Citizen Jobs

You might be lucky enough to hook up with some American company to do work there otherwise you will have to have some kind of livable income before you go there.

You can live on $1,500 per month there but you often can’t make that much working there.

Well I have a number of readers either working now for American companies here in the Philippines (or other foreign nation corporations) or those who have worked such jobs in the past, and I can assure you “luck” had literally little or nothing to do with them getting those jobs.

Preparation is the key and in virtually no cases would an American company with operations here in the Philippines be hiring Americans “off the street” to fill “American” jobs here.

Think about it for a minute with the logical side of your brain, rather than the emotional.

If you wanted to hire Filipinos to fill jobs you felt were the “best fit” for Filipinos, where would you recruit them?  Kansas City or Omaha?

You’d be looking in Manila, right?

Why on earth would you be looking to hire Americans here in the Philippines?  As my hero, Mr. Spock was heard to often say, “Does Not Compute, Jim.”

In the vast majority of cases, these highly prized “American” jobs are filled by Americans already working for the company in the USA who want to transfer to the Philippines.

Coming here to the Philippines to find one is totally illogical to me.  But I do give you sources to search here from time to time, just in case you insist.

In Conclusion — Think More of Yourself

I get really disappointed when I get a message from readers saying, “I’ll take any job, I don’t care how much it pays.”

I get lots of messages like that.  This article sets out a lot of my thoughts on this:

Business Advice For Anyone: Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger

If (for just one example) you wanted to set yourself up teaching English in the Philippines, that’s great, go for it, I’ve written a lot about just that very subject.

But set up a business (online) for yourself where you target Chinese and Japanese students, perhaps.

Avoid like the plague these ads you see online from Philippine companies (often illegal, by the way) who offer “as much as” the equivalent of $4 USD per hour.

If you offer conversational English tutoring and coaching to Japanese students, for example, you should be easily able to command $20 or $25 an hour .. which is what the fly by night “language schools” will charge the student and then pay you $4 an hour if you are lucky.

For goodness sakes you could tutor US students on-line in almost any subject and command more than $4 an hour … and “tutoring” does not require a degree, unlike professional teaching positions.

Parents these days hire tutors for children in grades all the way from elementary level to college.

Seldom does the tutor have to have a degree … s/he just has to know the subject better than the (failing) student and have patience and an interest in helping.

Bottom Line

Think more of yourself, don’t rant about the abysmal wages in the Philippines.

(I tried to tell you about that you don’t want a job here before you ever came),

but make yourself a better situation by thinking bigger.

You are so much more.

And that’s the end of today’s installment on Earning an Income in the Philippines.

Business Advice For Anyone: Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger

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Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger.

(Updated 25 October 2019)

I’m currently working with a couple of Americans who plan to move to the Philippines “someday”, and try to earn a living with their own business.

They have a depressingly mundane small set of ideas that come up constantly … over and over again.

  • An Internet café  with expensive equipment, extremely low profit margins and constantly being made antique by ever-cheaper tablets and iPhones.
  • Or sari-sari stores, where you can compete with the other 25 sari sari stores on the same block to see who will sell a cigarette (yes they are typically sold by just one “stick” at a time) for less.  Maybe you can cut the stick in half and sell it even cheaper for people who want a “quick smoke”.  *sigh*.
  • And of course whatever you sell you’ll be stuck selling on credit and no one will pay their bill voluntarily and you’ll wind up having to pay “5-6” rates (20% weekly interest) just to be able to put stock back in the store, or pay your electric bill.

Life can be very hard here for small businessmen and women, trust me on that … or find it out for yourself, your choice.

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Philippine Marriage and the Am I Considered Married Question

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Philippine Marriage and the Am I Considered Married Question

(Updated 24 October 2019)

Recently I received another comment with questions on this surprisingly common issue.  Is there any way a Filipino, who was legally married as recognized by the Philippines, be considered legally “un-married” by the Philippines and.or the US government.

(As always, remember that these are my layman’s opinions, offered for information and discussion purposes.  They are NOT legal advice and they should not be construed as legal advice in the Philippines or in any other country)

Of course, we all know (or if you didn’t, you will learn now), that there is no divorce in the Philippines.  The common legal “remedies” to being married include:

  1. A Philippine court-ordered annulment under Philippine law.
  2. A foreign divorce, if the divorce was initiated by the foreigner partner in a Filipino-Foreigner marriage.
  3. The death of a spouse under normal circumstances.
  4. The “presumptive death” of a spouse, as determined by a court of the Republic of the Philippines.

Today’s comments, (from reader Leonor, thanks, Leonor)  (in blue) and my responses deal with that fourth alternative, dissolution of marriage by the presumptive death of a spouse:

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Still Married After All These Years

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Still Married After All These Years.

(Updated 23 October 2019)

One of the saddest categories of articles I write and comments I answer here on PhilFAQS are those regarding Divorce in the Philippines.

The sad truth is, the is no divorce in the Philippics (for Christian folks at least).

And although the laws involved are not openly discriminatory to the women of the Philippines, in actual practice they disenfranchise women here to the utmost and essentially ruin many Philippine women’s lives forever.

Where Does the Divorce Problem Start?

For some background I recommend those who haven’t yet done so read this Marriage, Nationality and Divorce   Go ahead, I’ll wait.
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Marriage, Nationality and Divorce

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Marriage, Nationality and Divorce

(Updated 22 October 2019)
Here’s an article I republished many years ago and just recently updated.
And updated yet again because of some activity in the area of divorce law, and statements made by the Pope on a visit to the Philippines.

Things Are Different in the Philippines

Here’s an excellent article that will serve as a primer on the way divorce, annulment and citizenship work in the Philippines.
It describes the strange and often cruel way the laws about marriage, divorce, annulment and citizenship are applied to citizens of the Philippines (especially, female citizens).
Those of you considering marriage with a citizen of the Philippines really need to do some studying and “thinking through”.  Virtually everything regarding marriage and divorce here is different than what you know from the USA,

By Atty. Rita Linda V. Jimeno

The story of Rosanne in my column last week triggered numerous reactions from readers that merit discussion. As a jump-off point, we shall encapsulate Rosanne’s case.  Her Filipino husband who used to be loving and conscious of his familial obligations, abandoned all his duties toward her and their children when, as a result of his prolonged employment abroad, he found a new love.  He then divorced her and married his lover with whom he now has two children.

We said that there is a gap in our family law because while her husband is no longer married to her, she remains married to him, an incongruous situation which our family law offers no solution to… Read Full Article Here

Logically You Can Not Be Married and Unmarried (Divorced) At The Same Time

But you have to take into account that here in the Philippines, logic does not always apply.

I’ve had a number of online conversations lately about folks in the same or similar situations as the lady described in Attorney Jimeno’s article.

There is always a lot of discussion when a foreigner and a Filipino marry, often centering around where the marriage should take place and where, or when (if ever) they could divorce.

Now to most people’s logic, “marriage” and “divorce” (or “annulment”) are binary options.  You can’t be in both situations at the same time.

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Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — Without PayPal

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Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines. Without PayPal,
(Updated 21 October 2019)

The title of this article never ceases to amaze me.  When I check the keywords and terms that people use to find this site online, that exact sentence turns up often.  I already rank at the top of Google for searches like:

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — Without Typing

and

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required

But why the heck is the phrase “without PayPal” showing up so often?
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Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines

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Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines

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Another article on how to Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines, Dave?

Yep.  I just published one a day or two ago, and although there have been no comments so far, I can see a LOT of people have already been there and read it.

If you missed it, go take a look, Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required  I’ll be happy to wait.

The gist of that article was to use your writing skills .. even common ordinary business and personal English skills, to earn a living in the Philippines as a freelance researcher/ writer.  There is certainly a huge demand out there.

But I Hate Writing

Yeah, I hear a few of you saying that already.  No problem at all.  If you hate writing, but still want to earn a steady, reliable passive income from “the Internet”, here’s an idea I have not written about really often here … why not invest in a proven online business that has:

  • Proven income
  • Will stand up to due diligence scrutiny
  • Will continue earning as long as you want to earn from it
  • Can be sold in the future (even at a profit if you want to make improvements)
  • And, like the apartment houses, I was talking about here, this is something you can leave to your children, or to your widow if you’re worried about her income after you pass.

Don’t Build a Business, Buy It

Here’s a teaser to what I am talking about.  Yaro Starak, the fellow who wrote this article, is one of my oldest online colleagues.  he’s been earning a six-figure or more income for years now, and he is not a fly by night or “fast-talking” Internet marketing guru (I hate those sort of guys as much as you do).

A warning.  Yaro  _IS_ selling something but here’s why I am including his article:

  • You don’t have to buy a thing in order to learn
  • I recommend you do not buy anything until you have a clear concept of where buying something might help you.
  • If you do decide to buy, there are no hidden “upsells” or gotcha’s”, it’s 100% risk-free.
  • And, if you do buy, full disclosure< I will earn a commission which does not come out of your pocket.

Philly recommends, you leave your credit card in your wallet for now and read and learn something.  Trust me it is more valuable than yet another hour wasted on FaceBook.

Fears That Make You Fail before You Even Start

by Yaro Starak, http://www.ejinsider.com/buyandsell/

FEAR NUMBER ONE:
“I don’t have that kind of money!”

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines

The great thing about buying a blog is you can decide how “big” a start you want to make.

There are blogs that sell for $20K, $50K or even six or seven figures, but you don’t have to start there.

You can get started with just a couple of hundred dollars.

Buy a blog, grow it and then sell it and buy a bigger blog, or keep it and save up the cash flow to buy another blog.

When I bought a blog it cost me $2,000, which was about 10% of the entire income I earned in the previous year. It was not an easy decision, but it was important because it gave me the confidence to make bigger purchases in the future.

Later I bought sites for $12,000, and after that made a bid of $50,000 for a blog network.

I climbed the success ladder, starting small, learning, then increasing my threshold for how much I was willing to risk as my knowledge and confidence increased.

The truth is, like any investment you have to be prepared to lose your money. That’s why if you are completely new, you should start with a blog that costs only a few hundred dollars.

Consider this: Is there any other type of investment that you can start with such a small amount initially, earn a steady cash-flow from it, and potentially make as much as 1,000% ROI when you sell the asset two years later?

To get these kinds of returns in real estate or in the stock market requires you exposé yourself to a lot more debt.

If you buy a blog, the likely “worse case scenario” is selling the blog for the same price you paid, losing nothing and gaining a heck of a lot of experience.

Or, you might have a winner on your hands, like I did, selling the blog I bought for $2,000 for $25,000 just two years later. Plus I was making $1,000 per monththe entire time I owned the blog.

I can’t think of any better opportunity available to us right now. Don’t let this pass you by… (read more at http://www.ejinsider.com/buyandsell/ or you can just

Make Money At Your Keyboard

There are Many Active Market Places To Buy Proven Web-based Businesses.

Here are just a few:

Flippa

This business grew out of a great internet discussion forum some years ago.  They now sell thousands of web sites and other online businesses per year.

The sites sold her are always among the cheapest.  Although the management team has done a lot over the years to eliminate fraud and scams, this is still very much a “buyer beware” marketplace.

But if you do your own due diligence it is possible to get some great bargains on Flippa.

Empire Flippers

I know (online and in-person) the founders of this business.  They are from the US and came to the Philippines to start a business here.

Originally they built and sold small “niche” sites, but then decided that there was more money to be made and that they could provide more value by brokering web site sales.

Recognized by many as the top of the line in web site brokering, they have a very thorough vetting program.  You will not make a bad buy here if you follow their guidelines.

Recommended

There’s a lot more to this story

But I thought I’d throw this out there and hope to get some discussion.  It’s really not that hard to find ecommerce websites and blogs that earn a few hundred to a few thousand per month for sale at attractive prices.  Easier than say building an apartment building and keeping it rented.

But maybe you guys hate this idea for how to Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines.

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required

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Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines.

(updated 19 October 2019)

I’m reposting this article by popular demand.

A lot of people I talk to make comments like, ”The people making money online are so clannish, they won’t tell anyone their “secrets” unless they pay them money for something”.

Well, I’m making money online and you certainly haven’t paid me anything … and I don’t want you to pay me anything, either.

But I am asking you to do me (and you) one simple favor ….

</Rant Mode On>

READ THE FRICKIN ARTICLE

Don’t add on a comment or send me a personal email that asks me to “teach me how to do this”.  Anyone with normal English reading skills can read these words, follow the links I have provided, TAKE ACTION, and earn money online … with zero investment and without even having their own website.

BUT IT WILL NOT WORK if you don’t follow my suggestions and most importantly, DO SOMETHING

</Rant Mode Off>

What Got Me Started On This

A long-time friend of mine from a North American country recently retired from her “real job” here in the Philippines.  You know how famous I am for saying foreigners can’t find work in the Philippines.

(and mostly, I’m right … but there are exceptions to every rule).

My dear wife and I went to a very enjoyable lunch with this reader (at one of my fav places on Subic, the Casablanca).

One of the things my friend discussed was a desire to earn a bit of extra money … without entering back into the quagmire of a real J*O*B, and without the (perceived) hassles of becoming an actual “Online Entrepreneur”.

In other words, she didn’t want a blog or website.

Let me add something important here .. everything I am writing about in this article applies 100% to my valued Filipino readers too … this is absolutely not some “just for Foreigners” secret I am sharing here.

She Asked If I Had Any Ideas?

Make Money At Your Keyboard in the PhilippinesYep, you bet I did, and it occurred to me also that I have been quite remiss in sharing some of them with the rest of my readers.  I’ll correct that error right now.

Online Freelance Writing

One of the almost certain things I know about every one of you reading these words is that you have:

  • A working knowledge of English
  • Access to a computer and the Internet
  • Ability to follow simple menus and click on links
  • An interest in making honest money online (or you would have clicked away by now)

Can Anyone Actually Make Money With Freelance Writing?

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3900 Marbles and Health Insurance — 2019

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3900 Marbles and Health Insurance.

(Updated 18 October 2019)

Let me ask you folks a question.  I just had a conversation with a lady who wanted to bounce some ideas off me about business.  It was a pleasant conversation, but there was one “take away” from it that still kind of rings in my ear and rattles around in my brain, even an hour or more after our conversation ended.

The main thrust we were talking about involved health care and health services and she made a statement right along in the regular flow of the conversation that I have probably heard a thousand times before … but it just jumped right out at me this time, and I have been thinking about it ever since.

The statement went something like this …”after all, if we are talking to retirees, their absolute number one concern is health insurance.”

Retiree’s Absolute Number One Concern is Health Insurance?

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