Reaction - and Agreement to HTTemplo's column last Friday

Click here for HTTemplo's column last Friday, 26 Oct 2012

i agree. as i was discussing in an old post, not all private sector employees are financially savvy and everyone needs help with arranging their retirement.

so high time for some political entity to do something about this.  do you know that some government retirees receive as much as over 100K in pension? and his poor equivalent in the private sector might have a maximum of 10K.  what an inequity!  time for this to stop.

of course, private sector employees have such things as golden parachutes and stock incentives and other lucrative benefits.  i cant detail because my friends will know that i am talking about them....

so, i thought PERA was the government's way of starting to change the inequity. but PERA seems dead.
as a doorknob.  maybe a requiem is now in order?

A Prayer for Today

One Door Closes   ..................................   Another Opens

Revelations  3:8

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! 'The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor If you believe, send it. If you don't believe, dont pray. God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close..


"Lord, I love you and I need you,
Come into my heart, and bless me,
My family, my home, my finances,
And all of my friends,
In Jesus's name. Amen."

Time to lose US dollars?

well, a few friends say it is time to change my dollars into other currencies.
i am waiting for word from one more guy before i divest.........

but if true, our OFWs will automatically get a decrease in pay.
i hope their relatives are aware and tone down Christmas expectations.......

we are heading for tough times, and i hate the fact that the BIR is offering no breaks for anyone
not even those who are sick and are having a tough time meeting their medicine requirements
and those disabled?  what benefits does BIR offer?

i try and try to reach their website but whoever is manning them is doing a not-so-good job
always unavailable. 

Miracles

 do you believe in Miracles?
if you dont, dont read this -

if you do, then there is a place in the Sampaloc area where healing is done

it is along Lardizabal St., near cor Jhocson, very near Arellano University

his home is full of holy objects, there is a life-size copy of the Black Nazarene,  a hand from the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, an image of Mother Mary with Baby Jesus, sitting atop a huge dove.

 

There are many images of God, Mother Mary, the Angels and Saints.Also, there is a nice collection of images of the Archangels

here is a small subset

Reaction to HTT's Friday

HT Templo's no-work-no-pension discussion in his column at the Manila Standard

i will probably harp on still the same thing.  there must be a quick-and-dirty solution for non-financial-savvy private sector workers to increase their pensions for the future.  The SSS pension is just too low, as one of my friend mentioned, one cannot keep body and soul with the SSS pension.

i do understand about the plight of the informal sector.  i have posted elsewhere in this blog that SSS should have fewer restrictions about those "workers" it  is accepting (and not just to return their premiums later!!).  i have mentioned the case of the guy who works for several employers (households) for whatever work. and this is not regular work from each of the household. probably wont even reach 1000 in a single household.

DOLPE - he (HTT) says for DOLE - since the DOLE that he espouses the idea that this institution should also handle pensions.  although i have no objections to it at all, the acronmyn reminds of Dolphy, who passed away just this year.  i digress.  i do agree that everyone should have a pension.  i do worry about whose financial burden it will be though.

it is simply too much for the taxpayers to shoulder. most members of the middle class are no longer in the middle class - they have already slid to poverty levels.  Enough with taxation without thought.

What is a GOOD LEADER - upd 1

Do you know one you can say is a good leader?
Remember a good leader is usually also a good boss

so, what is a good leader

bottom line: he takes care of the bottom line
in the private sector, the bottom line is the accounting bottom line.  money.
the company must make money, and not just money, but good money

what every person should realize, if he hasnt realized it yet
is that the secret of making good money is having good people, PLUS
the ability of recognizing good people - not people who are good at sucking up

so if you are a leader who likes people who fawn over you, well - you arent a good leader
sorry. happens to be the truth.  as a leader, you should not cordon yourself with the suck-up people
they flatter you while they watch you sink. the moment you've sunk. they will abandon you and latch on to the next.  i call them wishy-washies.

a good leader takes care of his people.  all his people. not just the suck-up ones who are almost good for nothing except to flatter you.  if you need flattery, then by golly, you aint a good leader at-all.

more later.with actual names of leaders. watch out for updates of this post

The mighty power of the TONGUE

Let’s Pray
Father, I can be so careless with the words I speak. Please forgive me and help me learn how to control my tongue. Create in me a clean heart, God, so that I can speak words filled with grace and love. In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

I thought i would share the prayer i found in my email.  

words have so much power. think Harry Potter.
they have the power to destroy a person, or, to build up a person

if you have nothing good to say, say nothing.
on the other hand, if there is anything good to say, by all means - say it. and say it out loud.


it is the words that hurt, not so much the volume.  imagine that the boss is yelling (what can you do, he has hypertension so he has to release his displeasure somehow ...)

and he says - i do not like the work you submitted.  it lacks analysis in these particular sections (and let us pretend he points to sections of your report)

or this -
and he says - how stupid can you be!  how can you submit a report that lacks substance!  (and points to sections in your report)

there is a great deal of difference between the 2 ways.
one is factual report - he says he does not like the report - and why.
one is an attack, an emotional one

which boss are you? and how careful are you with your words?


 

Portability Law - RA 7699 - joining SSS and GSIS contributions to qualify for a pension

As far as i understood the Law, portability applies only when a person does not qualify for any of the pension systems, and thus, needs the totalization of contributions made in both systems to qualify for 1 or both systems.

examples on how the portability will probably apply.

i say probably because (1) i am not a lawyer; (2) i am not a processor with any of the these pension systems

GABS

take Gabs, he worked for the government sector for 5 years and worked for the private sector for also 5 years or 60 months for each of the systems (GSIS and SSS), then he migrated and did not continue his contributions to SSS as a voluntary member (my friend did).

SSS needs 120 months for him to qualify as a pensioner. With the totalization, he would qualify as a pensioner at SSS.  So, the ratio of 60/120 or 50%, SSS will give him 50% of the pension he would have gotten based on the AMSC in the SSS.  This is like 50% of 40% of his AMSC (Average Monthly Salary Credit).

Gabs does not qualify for the GSIS pension since GSIS requires at least 15 years of government service.  He will only be entitled to a return of premium contributions with interest.

ENY

look at Eny, he has 10 years of government service and 7 years of private sector employment.  Like Gabs, he does not qualify for any of the pension systems. With totalization, he will qualify for both systems.

Thusly,   he will receive a pension from both systems.  This is where the IRR is not strictly clear - and well, i cannot access thru the internet the exact computation.  What the law and the IRR of the law states is that they will share in the pension in the proportionate amount as that of the contributions.

i take it to mean this way, the pension for SSS will be 7/10 or 70% of the pension he would have gotten based on his AMSC.

for GSIS, he will receive 10/15 or 2/3 (or 66.667%) of the pension he would receive.

hope that's clear. ask if you have questions!

UPDATE:

Click here to read the Portability law in the SSS website 

The Sky is Falling

Remember this little ditty that was the refrain of Chicken Little?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, lapis and fountain pens

The Sky is Falling.  Climate Change is upon us - all of us.  Not just people in the USA, or people in Europe, or other far-flung places, but here - on the street where we live.

I am not a calling doom soothsayer.  But doom, as Frodo said to his faithful Sam, is upon us.  The moment of Choice.  Now. This moment.  Not tomorrow.  Choose wisely. Choose correctly.  For Chaos is an unforgiving entity.  Already the ice has receded by 18%.  Dont believe me.  Read about it. Google it. see the pictures for yourself. 

read about animals needlessly dying.

let us each do something, no matter how small. Even if it is just your garbage and recycling.

Sharing this - ASAP

a good friend emailed this to me.

ASAP - Always Say A Prayer.

God, our Father, if it is Your Will, walk through my home and take away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my family in Jesus's Name. Amen.

On today's column of HT Templo- on Public Pension Funds

Click here for HTT's post on public pension funds

i asked him when he would discuss PERA, but he said this would be some time from now.

 This particular paragraph caught me.

More than 4 million senior citizens do not receive any pension. For the account of the tax-paying public, Congress can easily increase the P1.2 billion social pension budget to P12 billion to benefit 2 million senior citizens. Double that to P24 billion and we suddenly have a pension-for-all program, making DSWD the biggest public pension fund administrator in terms of number of beneficiaries.

All you have to do to test this statement is to look around.  There are so many people living without. 
Alas, the cost bothers me though.  i feel i am already taxed beyond endurance. gross taxation is evil, and if the burden of tax is increased to provide a universal pension.  then i am sure the middle class will disappear into the poverty class.

A friend emailed this to me.  So i am sharing it with people who read my blog - i investigated via the internet and apparently some people think Danny doesnt exist.  i find it doesnt matter.  i like what he wrote.  may we all have this kind of faith.  it will keep us close to our God.

It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to 'explain God.' I wonder if any of us could have done as well? (and he had such an assignment, in California, and someone published it, I guess miracles do happen!)

EXPLANATION OF GOD:

'One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.'

'God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.'

'God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.'

'Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.'

'Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and
God said O.K.'

'His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.'

'You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.'

'You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!

Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.'

'If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.'

'But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And...that's why I believe in God.'

(If you believe in God, please pass this on, and may God bless you too.)
Have an awesome day, and know that someone has thought about you!

newspaper stuff

i saw several pictures on the SSS

yes to pension hike
no to premium hike

not possible.

tomorrow i shall have a longer post on this

People

there are many compassionate people in this world.  i hope there are people like this in your life. i hope you know them, and pray and thank them.

i am blessed with many compassionate persons in my life, whereas  those that hurt me terribly seem so few - even if by rights, they should be those that care because they are kin.

there are friends better than kin.  i hope you treasure your friends.
there are strangers better than kin.  i hope you meet some.

i hope you are able to return good for evil, and if not good, at least pray for those who are evil.
unfortunately evil people abound. but let this fact not blind you to the people who are good.

Solar Power - think SSS should invest?

too bad i dont have any influence over the SSS investment policy.  or in SSS management - what say their fund invest in lending to members or better yet employees, the money to have solar power - what a way to beat escalating power fees and power requirements.  no? no ambitious takers? ah well. guess we just have to read about places like Denmark and Japan (Japan also has a city like that in Denmark)

or maybe i should try and ask my el richo classmates if they want to invest in renewable energy......

it's a way of having your name is the annals of Green things.  what do you think, guys and dolls?

*laughs*

o ano klasmayts,  dami nyong engineer at bangkero (hindi yun row-row-row-your-boat, ha?) at entrepreneurs.  dapat siguro mag-post din ako sa FB.  may-try din ako.

Renewable Energy

Looking at your power bill?  how much does your electricity cost?
As a tropical country, we have a hot sun that could possibly generate a lot of electricity/power.

can we not find entrepreneurs or government agencies willing to make loans for people who want to avail of free power, or at the very least, less power.

solar energy.  it is free. until the sun dies but then a lot of us will be gone by then.


Click here to read the Denmark Solution and Success

On HT Templo's "are you not a pensioner" - Manila Standard

last week, i promised to discuss issues raised by HTT on social security issues.

in this issue, he discusses the original intent behind the SSS Law, the history behind the development of the different, fragmented pension scheme - that is, the SSS, the GSIS, the military, etc.

 i happen to agree that any individual should be able to contribute to the SSS as a voluntary member at the very least.  the methodology by which individuals can begin to contribute should be easy.  As easy as showing an authentic birth certificate and starting to pay.  it shouldnt matter what his job is, or how he is getting the income to pay the where-withall, as long as he pays.

how else can people, with no formal jobs (say plumbers, or carpenters), no formal associations (like CPAs). become members so that they can have pensions in  their retirement?

why SSS? well, by-and-large, people need someone to handle their financial affairs for the future.  So why not SSS?

for the slightly more financial-savvy, there's always the simple PERA (Personal Equity Retirement Account).  although i dont hear/read about its implementation anymore.  i did suggest that SSS be one of the vehicles by which this be implemented (see post with PERA label) because it would be much easier for a large number of Pinoys.

Debate with me.  comment.

Click here for the pension discussion of Horace T. Templo

Hail Mary

in honor of the Virgin Mary of Fatima

please say one (1)  Hail Mary and ask a favor.

Hail Mary,  Full of Grace
The Lord is with you
Blessed are you among Women
And blessed is the Fruit of your women, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners
Now. And the hour of our death. Amen.

May all those who pray receive their favor
and enjoy peace, love, health, and prosperity. Amen.

Banned Books

 Click here for banned or frequently challenged 21st century books

sometimes i wonder why books are banned.  why?

a book encourages thinking, promotes knowledge

did you know that JKR's Harry Potter books - have been challenged and banned?

and for what -supposed Satanism, dealing with magic, and what have you...

and well, i did argue with a former priest about it

see, i dont remember if any fairy tale books have been banned but i dont think it will matter to me

my readings have never been censored, not even by my parents.  i read Playboy at a young age.  My Dad's only stipulation was that i read it somewhere else, not in his face.

i have read many books.  i continue to do so. my taste ranges from the classics to the modern graphic novels, Neil Gaiman's work is one of them.  As for classics, i have Voltaire, Socrates, St. Augustine and the "modern" classics like Huxley's "A Brave New World" - in the list of banned books, or Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird".  i love these 2 stories, in different ways and i cannot believe that these books have been banned repeatedly - particularly in this day and age.

To those of you who like movie tie-ins, Gregory Peck played the lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1960s classic film "To Kill a Mockingbird".  the story was about a black man accused of raping a white woman, Ella May (was her name i think). Atticus had 2 kids, a girl Scout and a boy Jem.  They had a black housekeeper named Calpurnia and a "weird" neighbor the kids called Boo Radley.  If you havent read it, you have to read it. now. go-and-buy a copy.  a digital copy is cheaper. but read it.  it focuses on brave and weak people and how people react in the face of shame.   it is about bias and prejudice and truths.  a good book never loses its shine, so yes, read it.

did you know that there is a very naughty book with the same title as Francis Hodgson Burnett's "My Secret Garden". i just googled the title, and i got another naughty book.  the book i was meant was written by a British bloke - whose name i dont remember anymore but the books were about his forays into his secret garden.

Even "Catcher in the Rye" by JD Salinger has been banned.  I really dont get it.

i give you the list, and hey, maybe it will spur you to read and find out if you agree with the people who challenge these books ......

i DO NOT LIKE censorship in any form.  i believe that censorship is the refuge of the weak.

Rainy Day Today .... again

Classes were suspended once again.  Tough rains although there really isnt any signal of note.
there really is CLIMATE CHANGE, and people had better start thinking the effects of climate change.

i am reminded of calamities - and in this times of rains, and filing of candidacies
i hope voters remember who actually helped them in times of difficulties

also, i wish to remind readers of this blog - who dont want to comment at all -
to remember there are 3 agencies offering calamity assistance  by way of loans

SSS -   up to 24,000 and offers early renewal if with existing loans
GSIS - 20,000 loan with easier payment terms
Pag-ibig - amount depends on total deposits with Pag-ibig, lower interest rates

but your area must be declared a calamity area.


how about BIR giving citizens a tax break for all calamities we have ALL endured?
what do you think?

Parang yung calamity areas lang ang nahirapan nung nag-uulan.  Kung nasira ang bubong mo at hindi calamity area ang lugar mo, eh tiis, walang maitutulong sa iyo. Medyo unfair, ano?

Morato-Timog Spots - David's Tea House

My barkada - we, the Sakonits (Saks for short),  love to eat - some love to drink too, but the ladies - not as much.

i like trying out new places - with or without the rest of the Saks.  this resto i tried on my own one rainy day.  i had a voucher to force myself to try out new places.  it is mainly a Chinese resto, and i ordered the usual Chinese dishes.

===  seafood spinach soup - or its equivalent.
===  fried noodles with mixed toppings
===  yang chow fried rice
===  beef with some side dishes - i forgot its name

twas good

the second time i was there, again alone

i had combination soup in their hot pot offerings and then i chose the stuff for the hot pot
i had Kobe beef, veggies, garlic (i love garlic).  it was all too much so i had the rest packed up

twas good.

rec - good Chinese food.

my only objection - because of an injury, i am currently using a cane, it is on the 2nd floor.  in the rain, there is a difficulty going up, and the stairs are wet.  So, be careful if you are with a senior or a disabled person.

David's Tea House is on the second floor of the building located near the rotonda at Timog, or simply the building on the near left corner of Timog and T..Morato when traversing Timog from EDSA.

Birthday Greetings to the Following

Efren
Minda MM
Sandy S
Nelia OP

Yeyet OD
Maribel R
Kamy 

wasnt able to FB.. so hope you get the greetings

Taxed out of Existence

The middle class is fast disappearing under the onus of calamities, the poor economy (no matter what they say in the papers), the lack of jobs, and poor health conditions, and taxes.

Take a single person who earns 50,000/month. Since employees are taxed based on gross income,  his 50,000 is immediately reduced to only 34,000, based on a 32% tax rate.  take this simplistic example of a single person who had a kidney transplant.  i can have a family as an example but i chose to make a simple one.  i am a kidney transplant so i took this example.  kidney transplant individuals normally have an underlying cause - which is either diabetes or hypertension.  this is not live data.

this does not even take into account the real estate tax if the individual decided to invest in a house.  the housing entry.

the person in this example practices extreme frugality.  the 9K leftover income is not real.  it does not even take into account a person's recreational activities.  this person goes to work and goes home everyday, day-in-day-out.  this person does not even buy a book, any book, which to me is almost impossible.

bottom line:  consider the difference between a person who is not ill at all vs. this person.  therefore, gross income taxation is an injustice.

Gross Pay			$50,000.00
tax	32.5	$16,250.00
			$33,750.00
philhealth		$375.00
			$33,375.00
sss	3.4666666667	$173.33
			$33,201.67
transportation	30/day	$660.00
food	75/day	$2,250.00
water		$100.00
current		$2,000.00
cellphone	250/month	$250.00
housing		$6,000.00
		$11,260.00	$27,201.67
if he is a kidney transplant
prograf at Mercury	237	$7,110.00
tagray (made in India)	189	$5,670.00	$21,531.67
it twice a day		$5,670.00	$15,861.67
laboratory tests		$1,000.00	$14,861.67
doctor's fees		$500.00	$14,361.67
diabetes/hypertension		$5,000.00	$9,361.67
	NET		$9,361.67

Funeral Benefits

To paraphrase Agatha Christie, "Death comes to all"

in recognition of that fact, SSS and GSIS have funeral benefits.

The
the SSS funeral benefit is a cash amount that used to be 12,000 at the time RA 8282 was promulgated.  It was increased to 20,000 effective 2000.

Requirements for SSS:
See checklist in the form links below.

Click here to download editable funeral checklist
Click here to download the normal printed funeral checklist

Click here for the editable Funeral claim application form
Click here for the regular printed Funeral claim application form


The GSIS funeral benefit is also the same amount as the SSS Benefit.


Requirements for GSIS:  (FROM THE GSIS WEBSITE)

If claimant is the legal spouse:

• Original copy of Death Certificate of the member from NSO.
• Original copy of Marriage Contract from NSO
• Two valid ID (original to be shown, photocopy to be submitted)
• Original copy of NSO certified Birth Certificate of the claimant (if there will be claims for death and survivorship benefits). If not registered, may apply for late registration.

If the claimant is other than the legal spouse (Application will be accepted only if the legal spouse is already deceased.  In this case,  priority is given to legitimate children)

1. Original copy of Death Certificate of the member from NSO.
2. GSIS Affidavit of Funeral Expense Form
3. Original & Xerox copy of Official Receipt under the claimant’s name or if a Funeral Plan was used, a Certification from the memorial service provider that the plan was availed of.
4. Two valid ID’s (original to be shown, photocopy to be submitted)
5. Birth certificate of the claimant   or valid ID (issued by the government) indicating his/her date of birth.

Click here to visit the GSIS burial benefit details

Prescriptive period for SSS Benefits

Prescriptive Period for Filing Retirement, Death and Funeral Claims There is a prescriptive period of  10 years in the filing of adjustments for the following SSS benefits: Disability Retirement Death Funeral sa madaling salita, hindi na maaaring mag-apply o magpa-adjust para sa mga ganitong benepisyo pagnakaraan ng 10 taon.