Modern Benefits of Affordable Housings in the Philippines

There are many popular types of residential Philippines properties for sale today that can offer the kinds of benefits that makes a type of housing modern for the fraction of its usual cost. And some of the most popular types of housings that can offer such advantage are condominiums, houses, and apartment buildings.

Benefits of Affordable Types of Housings
According to most Filipinos, modern benefits such as accessibility, luxuries like maintainability, security, and maintainability, as well as the luxury of living in some of the most peaceful locations are usually very expensive.

However, there are a number of new types of residential Philippines properties for sale today that can offer these kinds of modern benefits yet still offers an affordable deal that allows more Filipinos to enjoy these benefits. Here are some of those types of housings:

New Modern Houses in the Philippines
There are a number of new houses in the Philippines today that can offer Filipinos the modern benefits that they are looking for. This is because these new houses can now be found in different exclusive housing communities around the outskirts of Metro Manila.

Because of its location, as well as its exclusivity, these new houses can offer the environment suitable for a growing Filipino family, particularly for their growing children. However, what made these new houses even more popular is because of its collection of amenities, which includes swimming pools, sports complexes, recreational parks, as well as playgrounds.

But what made these new types of houses popular is because of a new term of payment, in which these new houses can now be owned and paid in installment, allowing more Filipinos who lack the hundreds of thousands of Pesos needed to own a house of their own.

Apartment Buildings
Apartments are some of the most popular types of housings in the Philippines today, and part of what made it popular is because of its affordability. This is because apartments are usually leased rather than bought, which made it more affordable compared to condominiums and townhouses. And the best thing about this is that it can also offer the same accessibility that other modern types of housings can offer.

There are also a number of new apartment units available in the market today which can cater to the living space needed by Filipino families. This is with the one/two/three bedroom apartment units, which are far larger, compared to studio type apartments.

Condominiums’ New Terms of Payment
Condominiums are considered as some of the most expensive types of housings in the Philippines. However, there are a number of these types of Philippines properties for sale that can now offer a new term of payment, allowing Filipinos to own a condo unit while paying for it in installment. Because of this, condominiums became even more cost-efficient compared to renting in an apartment unit.

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Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Future Fil-Am retirees worry about Social Security benefits

LOS ANGELES – Fil-Am Lanie Berrei knows this is the time to save money.

At the age of 50, Berrie, who works at an oil and gas company, doesn’t want to just rely on social security when she retires.

“I’m not even sure if there will be any money left in social security by the time I am at that age,” she said with a worry on her face. “There might be nothing.”

Berrei is not alone feeling that way.

Many Fil-Ams retiring today are part of the first generation of US workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire, the Associated Press reported.

And for Berrei and other future retirees, it will only get worse, the AP added.

“For the early generations, it was an incredibly good deal,” said Andrew Biggs, a former deputy Social Security commissioner who is now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “The government gave you free money and getting free money is popular.”

Established in 1935 by President Franklin Roosevelt, Social Security initially was a retirement system that helped the elderly with a source of income. The program has since expanded to retirees, disabled people, and retirees’ spouses and children.

Social Security is best described as a “pay-as-you-go” program in where current workers fund benefits for current retirees and disabled Americans.

There is only one requirement to collect social security and that is workers usually must have 10 years of “covered employment” - 10 years of paying social security taxes (or their employers) - to be eligible for these benefits.

According to CNBC, an estimated 56 million people received Social Security benefits and 158 million workers were paying into the system in 2011.

The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,177 at the beginning of 2011, according to the Social Security Administration.

AP reports that as recently as 1985, workers at every income level could retire and expect to get more in benefits than they paid in Social Security taxes.

But over the years, the fund has dwindled.

AP, using a study conducted by the Urban Institute, reported a married couple retiring last year after both spouses earned average lifetime wages paid about $598,000 in Social Security taxes during their careers. They can expect to collect about $556,000 in benefits, if the man lives up to age 82 and the woman lives to age 85.

Most high-income workers started getting less in benefits than they paid in taxes in the 1990s, according to data from the Social Security Administration.

AP reported the shift among middle-income workers is happening just as millions of baby boomers are reaching retirement, leaving relatively fewer workers behind to pay into the system. It’s coming at a critical time for Social Security, the federal government’s largest program.

Social Security trustees told the AP its funds, which have been built up over the past 30 years with surplus payroll taxes, will run dry in 2033 unless Congress acts. At that point, payroll taxes would provide enough revenue each year to pay about 75 percent of benefits.

To cover the shortfall, future retirees probably will have to pay higher taxes while they are working, accept lower benefits after they retire, or some combination of both.

“Future generations are going to do worse because either they are going to get fewer benefits or they are going to pay higher taxes,” said Eugene Steuerle, a former Treasury official who has studied the issue as a fellow at the Urban Institute.

Saving money

Similar to Berrie, Lyn Rodriguez, a 59-year-old Fil-Am (who did not want to use her real name), was forced into retirement after 30 years at a large healthcare company.

Though she has a hefty severance package, she’s looking for work because like Berrie, she’s not counting on social security to make ends meet.

“The economy is bad right now,” she said. “I’m trying to save as much money as I can even if it means collecting unemployment or looking for a low income job.”

AP said the only way to get a better return on your Social Security taxes is to live longer since most benefit estimates are based on life expectancy.

But the younger generation, those that are barely entering the workforce are the ones most worried about what’s going to happen when they reach that retirement age.

Mackenzie Millan of Los Angeles told the Associated Press, she has even greater doubts about whether Social Security will be a good deal for her.

“The money that I put aside now, it’s not like that money is going to be waiting for me. That money is going toward someone else,” the 22-year-old recent college graduate said to the AP. “If I wanted Social Security 50 years from now, when I wanted to retire, I would have to hope that someone else is still working and putting money aside in their paychecks to pay for my Social Security at that point.”

source: asianjournal.com

EU gives P192 million for Sendong victims' projects

MANILA, Philippines -- The European Union approved an additional P192 million for projects to support survivors of storm “Sendong” (international codename: Washi) in northern Mindanao as they rebuild their homes and livelihoods.

The projects will be implemented in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities and affected rural communities in Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur (Region X & ARMM) and Negros Oriental (Region VII).

Ambassador Guy Ledoux, head of the EU Delegation, explained the importance of these projects: “While the floods in Mindanao were over very quickly the humanitarian needs have not gone away as quickly.”

“Although the cameras have left and the headlines have changed, we are not leaving the victims behind but trying to ensure that he communities can get back on their feet,” he added.

The additional funding is the second commitment by the European Commission through its Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, following an initial decision in December 2011 to provide P162 million in emergency aid for debris cleanup, emergency rehabilitation, food assistance, non-food items, shelter support, coordination and management of evacuation centers/camps, health and hygiene promotion, water and sanitation, psychological support and protection.

More than 154,000 individuals will benefit from this assistance.

Partners in these new projects in Mindanao include the International Organization for Migration, the German Red Cross and a consortium of non-governmental relief organizations led by Acción Contra el Hambre, including Save the Children, Plan International and Care Netherlands.

The focus continues to be on water/sanitation, hygiene promotion, IDP camp management/temporary shelter, food security/ livelihood, humanitarian aid coordination and protection.

EU humanitarian aid experts visited the affected regions between 5 and 14 March 2012 and witnessed the good use of the EU assistance in the immediate aftermath of the typhoon.

Their assessment was that many people were still displaced and in need of basic assistance like shelter, food, water and sanitation, six months after the disaster. This led to the decision to provide additional support.

The additional aid brings the European Union’s assistance for Sendong survivors to P566 million for the victims of Sendong, sourced from contributions from the European Commission and several EU member-states.

On January 4 this year, Ledoux led a group of EU diplomats on a visit to northern Mindanao to express solidarity and support for the Sendong survivors as well as to assess the progress and effectiveness of the EU assistance.

The EU was one of the first to provide immediate aid to the typhoon victims.

Within 48 hours of the disaster, three ECHO experts were deployed to Mindanao to assess the humanitarian situation, leading to the swift release of the P162 million in emergency aid.

source: interaksyon.com

Kin of Pinays who died in Qatar blaze may not get benefits; jobs of 400 others hang

Because the three Filipina teachers who died in a fire that struck a shopping mall in Doha, Qatar did not have valid working documents, their families may not be able to receive any benefits. However, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said they will try to appeal to the victims’ employers to provide them with death benefits.

Besides the three Filipino workers counted among 19 fatalities in the Tuesday fire of a mall in Doha, Qatar, an estimated 400 other Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) were said to be employed there also, and now fear losing their jobs, a migrant labor support group said.

The Filipinos who reported for work inside the Villagio Mall now don’t know where to go next, according to Migrante-Middle East.

On Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed and identified the three OFWs killed in that tragic fire that gutted the Villagio Mall. Two other OFWs have been reported hurt and are now being treated in a hospital in Doha.

Teachers tried in vain to save children

Meanwhile, DFA's Raul Hernandez told Radyo Singko’s Aksyon Solusyon that the Filipino teachers attempted to bring out the children from the burning building. Unfortunately, the fire exit of the mall was too small, causing them to die from inhaling too much smoke.

The Filipina teachers were working at the Gympanzee nursery school.

OFWs Maribel Orosco, Margie Yecyec, and Julie Ann Soco, together with 13 children were confirmed to have died of asphyxiation.

The DFA gave assurances that Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Crescencio Relacion is making arrangements for the immediate repatriation of their remains. Negotiations with the owner of the school and management of the mall for possible death benefits are also being done.

The three Filipinas had no valid working documents and went as tourists to Qatar, where they chanced upon the teaching jobs.

Qatar’s attorney general, meanwhile, already ordered the arrest of five people, including the Villagio mall owner as well as the owner of the Gympanzee nursery school, said a report on dohanews.co (http://dohanews.co/post/24021333892/report-qatars-attorney-general-orders-arrest-of?fca38978)

Limbo for 400 others

“As to our initial estimate, there are around 400 OFWs reporting for work or working inside the Villagio Mall. Obviously, the mall has been closed due to that fire that broke out the other day,” said Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.

Monterona added that 60 percent of the estimated 400 OFWs working inside the Villagio Mall are women performing sales-related jobs as sales ladies and cashiers. Some of the male OFWs work as store merchandisers.

Bobby, not his real name, who works as store merchandiser, told Migrante Middle east’s John Leonard Monterona, “We don’t know yet what will happen. We would be lucky if we will be transferred to another store.”

Monterona, who is based in Doha, urged the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Doha to check out the matter and help those who will be displaced by the fire.

He urged the Aquino government through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to immediately provide burial and other forms of assistance to the families of the three OFWs killed.

Under the law, only overseas Filipino workers who are enrolled with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration are entitled to medical and healthcare, death and disability benefits.

OWWA guidelines say: "A member is entitled to a benefit of Php 100,000.00 for the duration of his employment contract for death due to natural cause, and Php 200,000.00 for death due to accident." (Source: http://www.ofwguide.com/article_item-1516/Benefits-and-Services-of-OWWA-for-OFW-Members.html#ixzz1wOOAsqgR)

A P20,000 burial benefit is also provided. The DFA said it might take more than a week to repatriate the remains of the Filipinas.

source: interaksyon.com