Financial Literacy: Not in DepEd’s Agenda

Most children in the Philippines are financially-spoiled.

And most parents in the Philippines don’t teach their children the real value of money. When kids want to have something, most of the time, the parents will just give in and will do everything they can to look for money. Never mind if the money is credit card money. Or money borrowed from neighbor or officemates.

Most children are not taught to save money and to work hard to get what they want. However small or big that thing is.

What makes it sadder is that most Philippine schools do not even teach basic personal finance subjects to their young students. And saddest, most teachers are financially- illiterate as well. Continue reading Financial Literacy: Not in DepEd’s Agenda

My semi-automatic S/I 1000

No, it’s not the latest gun model from UDMC or Armscor (Armscor and UDMC are local gun manufacturers, just to let you know). While we continue to support a gunless society, I still believe that guns are “necessary” to protect the people and secure the nation while moving forward to prosperity. Guns should only be possessed by responsible and authorized persons like policemen and soldiers.

Going back to Semi-Automatic S/I 1000, I’m actually referring to a semi-automatic habit of Saving and Investing. Thus the symbol or acronym S/I. And 1000, well, refers to the minimum amount that I’m actually “loading” in to that S/I program on a monthly basis which is Php1,000. Through money-cost averaging, your money will reap higher returns in the long run. With these programs, your hard-earned money will grow more than just leaving them in your drawers, vaults, or savings accounts.

Continue reading My semi-automatic S/I 1000

What Hurts You Can Make You Move (OFW Stories)

Every end of the month I send money back home for our tithes, to fund my investment portfolio, and a few more bucks for my mother’s monthly needs. Call it routine for many Filipinos like me who’s based and working abroad.

It’s common to see kababayans lining up the banks and remittance centers during the last week and first days of the month.  As you know, salaries abroad are given mostly on a monthly basis unlike in the Philippines where many companies pay their employees twice a month.

In fact, there are lots of heartbreaking stories you will hear from fellow Filipinos while waiting in line to send money. These are a few of them:

Continue reading What Hurts You Can Make You Move (OFW Stories)