A Cyclist’s Investing Tale: From P2,500 to P400,000

My father-in-law was a veteran cyclist. He was an active racer in various competitions such as the Marlboro Tour in the 80’s. An and although he did not win any of those races, he’s always won the love of his family. 🙂

There was just one problem when my wife and I decided to invest our income in the stock market. He was not that supportive with the idea and our decision to invest. The reason was because he has heard a lot of stories of people losing money in the stock market.

Why My In-Laws Finally Supported Our Decision to Invest

After our several attempts to make my father-in-law believe in the power of compounded interest have failed, a miracle happened one morning. My wife called him up about a month ago to tell him that we’re also trying to convince my brother-in-law to start investing the stock market.

It was a surprise to us when he said that that he’s finally believing.

I was imagining a Benny Hinn show that day when I heard that from him. There he was years ago rejecting the idea of investing in stocks but now he’s even pushing us to invest more for our future.

What made him change his view about it? No, it wasn’t those forums or blogs. He’s not using the internet. It wasn’t those money TV shows. It wasn’t even our portfolio.  He finally believed in the power of compounding interest in stock market investing through a fellow cyclist.

This guy, his weekend Marikina-Antipolo cycling buddy, was said to have invested P2,500 through a pooled investing program for Globe Telecom shares back in the late 90’s. And that was all he invested in.

He was not even educated about investing in stocks. All he knew was that a lot of his colleagues back then also invested a portion of their salaries. It was more of a “pakikisama” that he was able to agree to join the investing program.

How Much Did His Cycling Buddy Earn in the Stock Market?

Fast forward 2013, this cycling buddy told my father-in-law that the money he invested in 90’s amounting to P2,500 has grown and appreciated to P400,000 in 2010. Upon learning how much his investment has grown, he decided to sell all his Globe shares and withdrew the proceeds.

But despite the advise of his stockbroker to just hold on to it for a bit longer, Tatay’s cycling buddy couldn’t wait. From his proceeds we heard he was able to use it to buy some stuff. Probably his new bicycle.

True enough, his Globe shares would have grown even more in 2013 if he just kept them in his portfolio.

But nevertheless, this cycling buddy’s tale (true or not) has finally convinced my father-in-law to believe in us and in our decision to invest for our future. He realized its importance for our retirement years and for the education of his granddaughter. I know he misses her so much.

And maybe, just maybe, my father-in-law will soon follow the footsteps of my mother who have decided to invest in the stock market this year. It’s never too late.

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P.S. 1. The OFW UsapangPiso Forum will be presenting the web preview of iCON2013 The No Non-Sense Investments Conference on May 10, Friday, 8pm (Philippine time) featuring personal finance guru Randell Tiongson and Mr. Stock Smarts Marvin Germo. Join the OFW UsapangPiso Forum for updates of this event.

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Photo credit: U.S. National Archives