Pending finance bills and how they affect you
The Arroyo government is reviving several bills on the capital markets which were not passed by the previous Congress because the morons were busy with politics.
Here are some you need to know about:
The Pre-need Plan Code of the Philippines. You know what happened to CAP and other pre-need companies. This bill provides protection for pre-need investors and planholders.
The PERA bill. This is like the 401(k) in the US, the main retirement vehicle among Americans. It's a savings and retirement plan for employees, which allows them to invest in bonds and equities in a tax-deferred program.
The Lending Investors bill. This will regulate activities of lending investors, to provide protection to borrowers who can be victimized with very high rates.
The Revised Investment Company Bill. This will help the further development of the local mutual fund industry by lifting certain restrictions on the operations of investment companies. Hopefully, this will spur the creation of more mutual funds to give Filipino investors more options.
These are important to you and me. Right now, we only have few alternatives when it comes to investing our money. We don't have the tax advantages of a 401(k). Many companies still administer costly traditional defined benefit plans. And a more developed mutual fund industry means more competition, which may lead to lower or even zero sales charges and management fees.
Plus, we need protection from financial services companies, including those that sell pre-need plans, loans, credit cards, and insurance.
E-mail or fax your Congressman and our senators.
