# Where do wealthy Filipinos keep money



## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

I know this has been discussed before but how do the wealthier Filipinos handle their money? Since the government only insures about $10,000 then what do thy do with the rest of their money to make sure it is insured? They just gamble and hope nobody steals it from their account?

art


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

greenstreak1946 said:


> I know this has been discussed before but how do the wealthier Filipinos handle their money? Since the government only insures about $10,000 then what do thy do with the rest of their money to make sure it is insured? They just gamble and hope nobody steals it from their account?
> 
> art


Put it in a US bank.


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## Tukaram (Dec 18, 2014)

Yeah I bet they can make more investing and banking overseas. I would never keep money here.


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## Hey_Joe (Sep 13, 2016)

greenstreak1946 said:


> I know this has been discussed before but how do the wealthier Filipinos handle their money? Since the government only insures about $10,000 then what do thy do with the rest of their money to make sure it is insured? They just gamble and hope nobody steals it from their account?
> 
> art


Switzerland

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/news-and-events/how-many-filipinos-have-a-million-dollars-a-swiss-bank-tries-to-count-a1672-20170105


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## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

I would like to answer but I don't know any. Most just live day to day and don't worry about savings. Spend it like the end of he world is bukas.


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey guys,

I do have my money in a US bank, but I would rather have it with me. I worry about something happening and I am in another country. I have talked to my bank and they told me if my accounts got hacked I would have to come back to the states to handle the situation. I know most filipinos live from day to day, but there are a lot of wealthier filipinos that do have money. so, I was wondering how they handled it. 

art


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

greenstreak1946 said:


> hey guys,
> 
> I do have my money in a US bank, but I would rather have it with me. I worry about something happening and I am in another country. I have talked to my bank and they told me if my accounts got hacked I would have to come back to the states to handle the situation. I know most filipinos live from day to day, but there are a lot of wealthier filipinos that do have money. so, I was wondering how they handled it.
> 
> art


I think if I were a wealthy local or expat I would spread my money around into several {good} local banks and open several accounts in each. Depositing in each just enough to still be covered by the PDIC in the event something happened.
Sometimes I'm glad on just a low pension and don't have to worry about such things-Hahaha..


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey asian spirit,

you know i never thought about opening accounts in 3 or 4 banks. i don't know how i would open more then 1 account with each bank. I am not rich but I do have more then the government will insure. I just hate having it in the US bank. If my account got hacked into I would have to fly back to the states to handle it. The bank manager said unless I had a local person as a signer on the account then I would have to come back to file a claim to get my money back through FDIC. That is why I wish I had it at local banks in the Philippines but also it being safe. 

art


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## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

greenstreak1946 said:


> hey asian spirit,
> 
> you know i never thought about opening accounts in 3 or 4 banks. i don't know how i would open more then 1 account with each bank. I am not rich but I do have more then the government will insure. I just hate having it in the US bank. If my account got hacked into I would have to fly back to the states to handle it. The bank manager said unless I had a local person as a signer on the account then I would have to come back to file a claim to get my money back through FDIC. That is why I wish I had it at local banks in the Philippines but also it being safe.
> 
> art


Yea, I agree 100%. Most people like to keep the bulk of their funds in their home country but I deposit all of ours here. Another advantage to having the funds here only is that if an ATM/Credit Card from home is lost, stolen, or stops working while here it can be near impossible to get it replaced without returning home. And even if they can replace it by mail, there is the concern of it being lost or stolen when in transit on it's way to you.


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## Simon1983 (Jun 6, 2016)

I can't answer the OP's question but if I had any savings I would only put a small amount of it into the banks, and that amount I would spread over a few different banks.

The rest of it I would invest in stocks & shares, businesses and real estate.

The fact is if your money is in the bank you are losing money. Why? Because you get an interest rate of 1 or 2% but inflation is maybe 5%. If you spread your money over different investments you might make an average of 8-10% per year, so your money is making you money.

I know a few wealthy Filipinos but not well enough to know where they keep their wealth. Most of the middles classes will 'invest' in a brand new car and a house and lot, but I wouldn't call these investments as they wont be worth anything in 10 or 20 years time.


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey simon

I totally agree with you about the houses there will be worth nothing in about 20 years since the Filipinos don't keep them up. The brand new subdivisions are destroyed in about 10 years, so that is not a good investment to put money. I agree, probably stocks and bonds are the best way to go. I never thought about that avenue.

art


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Asian Spirit said:


> I think if I were a wealthy local or expat I would spread my money around into several {good} local banks and open several accounts in each. Depositing in each just enough to still be covered by the PDIC in the event something happened.
> Sometimes I'm glad on just a low pension and don't have to worry about such things-Hahaha..


The deposit insurance is for a bank going under. It is not for fraud on your accounts.

I don't know about here but in Canada and the US the deposit insurance is per bank not per account so you would need to open accounts an a great number of different banks. This is not as much of a problem in the US where there are literally thousands of small individual banks but in Canada and in the Philippines there are less (but bigger) banks and so as many to make deposits in.

Personally I keep the bulk of my cash in my Canadian account back home and transfer about 6 months of expenses at a time to here. It goes over the local insurance limit for a while but since I am dealing with the local affiliate of my Canadian bank the convenience of making fewer transfers is more than the slight risk of losing it.

Wealthy people in any country will diversify their wealth. They will have funds and investments in multiple countries not for reasons of bank failures but for reasons of risk avoidance through diversification.

Also truly wealthy people do not keep a lot of money in ready cash. They have it invested in something that produces more money for them not in idle cash except when they are moving money around for additional investment purposes.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

When the big bank failed a few years ago it turned out that it was a group of about 10 banks so you only got covered for one failure if you were unlucky to have money in more than one of them. If you have multiple accounts make sure they are not connected in any way. Also for a joint account you get 500k each.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Gary D said:


> When the big bank failed a few years ago it turned out that it was a group of about 10 banks so you only got covered for one failure if you were unlucky to have money in more than one of them. If you have multiple accounts make sure they are not connected in any way. Also for a joint account you get 500k each.


Never knew or thought about that Gary, thanks for sharing.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Tiz (Jan 23, 2016)

Most of the Filipinos I work with are invested in the PSE, a few have also bought condos that they rent out.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

The other thing it is only cash and chequing or savings accounts that are covered. Investment accounts are not covered. Wealthy people are at much greater risk in fluctuations in the value of their investments than the risk of cash loss due to bank failure.


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## Rebaqshratz (May 15, 2016)

I have 2 banks in the PI. Metro and BDO. BDO is strictly a savings bank but I use the ATM for cash operating expenses. Metro is for a dollar account and a peso account. I operate out of my long time bank back in the states. I xoom USD to the Metro dollar account and convert it to my peso account when the rate is up. Usually initiated by bank personal who give a call to my wife when the rate is at or above our threshold. My wife knows the "system" and has a Christmas list that pays dividends many times during the calender year. For example there are more than one conversion rates when changing USD to Pesos. We only have significant monies in the PI accounts when we are working on a project and that usually means a quick turnover. I am very vocal about not keeping lots of cash on hand. My wife was a 19 year old widow when her mother-in-law was murdered by the help for her cash and jewelry. The in-laws were very wealthy and that was a well known fact about cash on hand. Nasty dogs and CCTV at the house are a proactive attempt by me for security because regardless of your actual status, it is assumed that being an expat you are rich and therefore a target.


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