My family moved from Manila, Philippines to New Jersey right after my high school graduation in 2006. It was a pretty abrupt move, where we had to pack and sell most of our belongings in two months.
Needless to say, it was pretty hectic and rough since it seemingly came out of nowhere, but we survived. I remember my dad telling me to read the book, "Who Moved My Cheese?", and it helped me out a lot in learning to adjust and in dealing with adversity. I was a very angsty teenager back then, and all I wanted was to just hang out with my friends back home.
A year later we moved to NYC, and that’s when I started to feel like I could belong here. It felt like Manila, and it helped that there was a vibrant Filipino community in Queens as well.
😲 Can you share a moment from your early days in the US when a cultural difference surprised you?
One funny thing that happened a few weeks after settling down in New Jersey, I was walking down the street and I crossed paths with a guy, he smiled at me and said, “Hey, how are ya?” and just kept walking.
I stopped and asked myself, “Who the hell was that? Do I know that guy?”
No one ever did that back home.
When I told the story to my uncle, he laughed at me and said, “That’s just how they are over here! Next time just say, ‘Good, how are you?’ and keep walking.”
“Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?”
🧗 Were there any challenges that you had to overcome?
I remember going to class in college and while talking to people, I would unconsciously mix in Filipino words, and they’d look at me like, “Huh?”. It was hard because, back home, that’s just how we spoke. We would mix Filipino and English words in a sentence and it just made sense.
So after that kept happening, at least once a day, I would read a book out loud and try my best to say all the words in an American accent. I would also consciously try to think in straight English to minimize the microseconds of translating what I wanted to say.
For years, I was very self-conscious of how I spoke.
I’m a natural introvert with a healthy dose of social anxiety, but I was able to develop my extroverted self in high school. Moving to the US, though, made me regress.
When I saw that scene in Modern Family when Sofia Vergara said the line, “Do you even know how smart I am in Spanish?”, ooohhh I felt that.
But I was able to overcome it over time and I was even able to get a tech sales job as a Sales Development Representative cold calling and qualifying people all day just so I could develop that skill even more!
🏦 Were there any hurdles you encountered when setting up the basics, like opening bank accounts, credit cards, or retirement accounts?
I remember not having a Social Security number and I wasn’t even sure if I was eligible for it.
My dad had to get me an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) just so I could open up a bank account. We went to the closest Citibank near our apartment in Queens and opened up a checking account, and I ended up keeping this account for close to a decade.
💳 How did you apply for your first credit card here?
Capital One sent me an offer in the mail for a secured credit card. I believe I had to put down either $250 or $500 and that was my limit. It taught me that I had to pay it off every month so I could use it. It helped me not only build good habits but also build my credit so I could apply for other cards in the future.
Eventually, I was able to upgrade that card to a rewards credit card which I still use to this day!
"The fees I paid just to buy Nvidia stock would be worth tens of thousands of dollars in NVDA shares today."
💸 When did you first start investing and which brokers or apps did you use?
I began investing in 2012 when my employer set us up with SIMPLE IRAs. We used Merrill Lynch as our brokerage, but the trading commissions were exorbitant.
This was before the era of Robinhood and commission-free trading, and I believe the fees were a certain percentage of the amount you wanted to trade. As a result, I kept all my funds in cash and waited until the value reached around $5k before transferring everything to a Rollover IRA account with Vanguard. Once there, I invested everything in VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund).
This became my routine: wait for a few months until the account value built up, then transfer it all to Vanguard.
In retrospect, it was a crazy process.
After a year or two of following this pattern, I became impatient and wanted to invest in specific tech stocks like Nvidia, AMD, Netflix, and others that caught my attention. I purchased these stocks in my Merrill Lynch account and paid ginormous fees. The fees I paid just to buy Nvidia stock would be worth tens of thousands of dollars in NVDA shares today.
That’s how painful it was.
Then came Robinhood.
I think I first heard about them in 2014 or 2015 and immediately signed up. Although I had some reservations about using a commission-free trading app, I decided to test it out with $500. That's when I first discovered the excitement of active trading, which got me hooked and opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for me as an investor.
While the majority of my portfolio remains with Vanguard, I have since used Thinkorswim, Ally Invest, and currently Tastytrade, which suits my trading strategies the best.
It's fascinating to look back at how investing has changed over the years.
From hefty trading commissions and traditional brokerages to the rise of commission-free trading apps like Robinhood, the options available to investors have multiplied exponentially. Thanks to these advancements, regular folks like me can get in on the action and manage our investment portfolios like a pro.
"I use a combination of Vanguard (for my boring index funds) and Tastytrade (for my risky plays)."
📰 Can you share any go-to resources that you've discovered and found particularly helpful for managing your finances as an immigrant?
I’m a big believer in using Mint so you can have an overall picture of your finances.
I like Credit Karma so you can always keep track of your credit score and see ways you can improve it. And I’m a big proponent of starting an IRA (Traditional, ROTH, or both).
I use a combination of Vanguard (for my boring index funds) and Tastytrade (for my risky plays).
📜 What's the ultimate advice you'd pass on to other immigrants as they navigate their journey?
Stay strong when things change, learn from new cultures, manage money wisely, and keep adapting.
In my experience, success comes from handling cultural shifts and financial challenges with an open mind and determination. Practice paying yourself first and keep it simple by investing in index funds.
And always remember, life is all about constantly learning and growing.
🎙️ What's your current focus now that you've settled?
Right now, I’m focused on restarting my e-commerce website, Corner Nook, which specializes in home office furniture. I started that during the pandemic when I was running a small business with my parents but had to pause it in mid-2021.
Aside from that, I’m continuing my financial blogging journey here at Growing Tendies, hoping to educate other folks out there in the same situation as myself.
Quick Answers
Budget Hack:
Get a rewards card as soon as you can and save up those points to pay for vacations! Don’t redeem it for cash as that’s usually less valuable than using it for flights and hotels.
Financial App Star:
Tastytrade – because it gave me access to trading futures and futures options through my Traditional and Roth IRAs
Banking Secret:
Open up a checking account and a high-yield savings account as soon as you can and start building your credit right away.
Budget Victory:
My wife and I have finally reached that level where we can buy a Dyson vacuum. Millennial dreams!
