Adams Myth on the bang-for-buck travel equation.
Question: If it’s not yet a good time to buy property, is it a good time to travel? Do you think the options for budget travellers will become significantly cheaper in 2010 or do you think prices won’t go down drastically in the next 12 to 18 months?
Adams Myth: The cost of travelling will continue to fall with the price of oil. And you will get more bang for your buck if you visit countries whose currencies have depreciated against the Peso (e.g. Britain, Korea). The US Dollar may be strong, but the sales you are seeing there these days are unprecedented. This fire-sale situation will persist for at least a year.
Q. How do we approach buying a house? Do we treat it like an investment, or do we treat it like any other purchase that we use up (like a car, for instance). I always thought it was the latter but I keep hearing of a house being ‘an investment’.
AM. If it is a primary residence which you will never sell, the market value is less important. It is a home, more than an investment . . . until you bequeath it to your heirs. If it is a transitory dwelling or second home, you must treat it as an investment — i.e. you do not wish to get back less than what you paid for when you sell it. Hence, the buying considerations should be less emotional.
Q. Is it more practical/a good time for people with creative jobs (graphic/industrial/interior designers, etc.) to work overseas?
AM. It depends where and what you are looking for. If you are young and unattached, yes, both the money and the experience will make it worthwhile at almost any time. If attached and with kids, there are a host of other factors to consider.
Q. I have shares with a mutual fund which I bought 2 years ago–it’s currently valued at just 70% of the price I bought it for back then. Do you think it’s wise for me to leave it there and wait for the market to pick up? Or should I re-invest and maybe gain more than my poorly-performing mutual fund?
AM. Ideally, I would have to know what kind of mutual fund (fixed income, equities or balanced) and who is the manager. But all things being equal, I would (reluctantly) hold on to it. The financial markets may not look up for another year, but the prohibitive entry and exit costs in these funds makes it unwise to trade in and out of them.
Got a question for our fearless economist? Post it in Comments.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
January 16th, 2009 at 04:03
hi adam / economist entity:
thank you for your advice. however much i wish to agree with all of them, i would now wish to play devil’s advocate and ask – who are you to give us advice and why should we follow you? how do we know that you’re not just one of jz’s multiple personalities (oh how nine years ago!) that pops out when she runs out of writing material / articles to share?
would appreciate the following questions answered to the extent possible. i mean no offense – i’ve just been burned many times by following the advice (after a lot of serious consideration of course) given by people who “claim to be experts”…
1. what is your background? what is your current line of work? if your line of work is not related at all to economics / finance, how did you come to so much edification?
2. are you currently enjoying a level of wealth that is significantly (2.5 to 3 standard deviations) higher than that of the typical middle class pinoy?
3. more importantly, did you attain majority of this level of wealth from means other than any of the following (answer is just a yes or no):
a. “public service” aka politics
b. showbiz / winning in a game show / reality show
c. gambling
d. suing someone for money
e. inheritance
4. any other reasons why we should believe you? (no, not looking for words like PhD, DPhil, MPhil, CFA, FRM, etc)
to jz: no need to post this question, but an answer fr adam would be very much appreciated.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:58
i am an accountancy graduate currently working as a call center agent. while i do have plans to review this coming may and eventually, hurdle the Board to become a CPA, my twenty-something salary for being a tech support agent is giving me second thoughts. what’s even torturing me is the hint from my supervisor that given my current metrics, i could be promoted to a higher position, say as a comms coach. on the other hand, i would also like to pursue the career that i’ve studied in college. so here’s the question: should i resign from my work and trade the probable opportunities to being a full-fledged CPA instead? i’m 21 btw, just in case age might have a bearing.
January 16th, 2009 at 11:03
Mother of pearl! I used to come here for entertainment and now this site has become… educational? What’s the world coming to?
(Seriously, thanks Mr Myth and Ms Zafra.)
January 16th, 2009 at 19:45
Why are movie tickets priced the same? From Hollywood offerings that cost so much more to make (100+million dollar$) to local Indie offerings that seem to always go under budget (1 million+ pesos)? When I go see them at the theaters they are both priced 150 pesos to watch? What happened to double features? and those overpriced popcorns…..
cost more = charge higher
cost less = charge lower
Why are there no refunds at the movies?
January 17th, 2009 at 08:34
i love the babar illustration!