Category: Community

Why is The Church Not Teaching Its Flock to Invest in Stocks?

Tirades against the Church, the Catholic Church to be precise, are nothing new. Whether they are about political or societal issues, entities from both sides of the fence will never stop questioning the actions of the Church. In effect, people will either mock or love the Church even more.

Even in the area of finance and investing, the Church has always been questioned and challenged. One of the issues being discussed over and over again by groups of investors and finance advocates is the billions worth of investments by the Catholic Church (although these are investments by a few dioceses only and not the whole Philippine Catholic Church) in the stock market. Continue reading Why is The Church Not Teaching Its Flock to Invest in Stocks?

Dad, I Wish You Had A Life Insurance

I lived in Batangas for the most part of my life since he time my father chose to retire as a government legal officer early back in the 80s. I believe it was after the EDSA revolution and I was just around 9 years old.

The first year in that sleepy town and that beautiful province was relatively easy and comfortable than when we were in Manila. We built our own house out of bamboo poles, a few kilos of cement, and patches of plywood behind our ancestor’s old house. But the land where our small house stood was not my father’s. It was my uncle’s.

My parents ran a small restaurant called “Chow Nook” in that small hometown of Alitagtag, several years before Chowking was invented. The food was great, the prices were cheap, but our profits were small.

In short, we always run out of cash whenever my brother and I got sick. ‘Good thing’ we were living just around our relatives. Continue reading Dad, I Wish You Had A Life Insurance

Transforming OFW’s into OFI’s (Overseas Filipino Investors)

“From OFW’s to OFI’s” was coined by our good friend, OFW UsapangPiso co-founder, and fellow financial literacy volunteer Hansen Sy and the phrase has inspired our group to ignite the flame of volunteerism by spreading the advocacy and accomplishing our mission.

How many OFW’s have considered investing back in the Philippines either through business or paper assets? Based on our independent surveys, not even close to 3%. We considered real estate as investment regardless if it’s to be used for generating income or plainly for ownership.

Spreading financial literacy to OFW’s never came handy for the group in the past 3 years. Never been easy. But as one of our volunteers in Manila quipped, “Lets make small ripples of change for the country!” Continue reading Transforming OFW’s into OFI’s (Overseas Filipino Investors)