Rich Alvarez: PBA Player / Stock Market Investor | Marvin Germo

Rich Alvarez: PBA Player / Stock Market Investor

By: Marvin Germo | July 11, 2014

For the past 2 years of running this website I’ve had the honor to feature different finance and business people who shared their own stories on how they made it and have succeeded in their own spheres of finance and business.  This time I am mixing it up and will be  introducing a new series called: “Smart Stories”  Where I feature Real People.  With Real Jobs.  With Real Finance and Investment Stories.  The heart  of why I am starting this series is because I want to feature different people who have jobs or businesses totally far from economics, finance, and accounting but in spite of that have shrugged off those hindrances and embarked on the journey to be financially free by saving and investing.  I want their stories to inspire you.  That if they can do it, guess what so can you!  If they can prosper in the field of saving and investing so can you!  I want you to grab a hold of the principles that have worked in their lives and it would be my greatest joy that someday you would have your own “Smart Story” story to tell!

I hope you enjoy this pilot article!

Rich Alvarez PBA

People know Rich Alvarez as one of the core players who brought Ateneo championships in the early 2000s.  People also know him as the young standout who won the Rookie of the Year Award in his first year as a pro and a PBA veteran who has played over 10 years in the league.  People also know him as a good husband to the very talented Kyla and a good father to his son.

But what most people do not know about him is that, he is a responsible investor who sees the value of making his money work hard for him.

I had the chance to have a chat with him over coffee and I just love conversing with people who also have the same passion for basketball and investing!  Time just literally flew by!  I hope his story on how he started investing in the stock market would be an encouragement to you that you can make it too.  I really believe that we should not let our background prevent us from investing.  It is now about how we start but rather how we play the game when the ball is in our hands.  Below is Rich Alvarez’s stock market story .  Enjoy!

Rich Alvarez

Why did you start to invest?

“I knew that basketball wasn’t forever and there would be a time that I would grow old.  I wanted to invest so my money can work hard for me and so that I can park my money where it can grow, before I can eventually figure out a business that I eventually would like to run.  I really don’t like that my money is just sleeping in the bank”

“My goal is that it comes to a point where my investments can provide for both my needs and wants and that I can be living off interest.”

“I first got hooked in investing when I tried investing in PLDT (TEL) shares.”  

Rich also told me that after TEL, that’s when he started out trying other growth stocks and have bought and sold.

Who encouraged you to invest?

“My teammate Larry (Fonacier) encouraged me to start investing.  It came to a point that I got so interested where we would occasionally talk about how our stocks moved after our practices.

Trader or Investor?

“I am a long term investor.  But I set aside a very small portion of my portfolio to play around with and trade.”

When you started investing in stocks, what did you learn?

“That the stock market is not as hard as what other people think it is.”  

He also added that he is a very conservative person when it comes to investing but the stock market is something he can tolerate.

What gives you the confidence to invest?

“Because I know I am diversified and because I did not put all my investments in the stock market”

How long do you see yourself invested in stocks?

“Very long, I think even after my kid goes to college.”

Words of encouragement for newbie investors?



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