Category: Entrepreneurship

The Entrepreneur and Hero: Tado

“Madaming musikero at artista ang nagugutom dahil walang pang-kain.” Ito ang isang nakakapuwing at nakakawindang na reply ni Tado sa akin nung minsang naka-chat ko sya tungkol sa financial literacy ng mga musikero at creative artists.

He was supposed to be part of our second session of Personal Finance Management for Artists and Musicians in partnership with Skarlet Brown’s Heart of Music (HOM) Foundation slated in the next couple of months. He would have joined and gave a pep talk about starting a business based on core gifts and God-given talents had the January schedule pushed through. But my family and I all got sick because of the abrupt weather shifts last month and I had to cancel all my scheduled activities and meetings.

Arvin “Tado” Jimenez and I are both part of Rock Ed Philippines, a volunteer group working to provide venues and events for alternative education. It is this organization that actually inspired me to start a financial literacy movement for the youth, the OFW’s, artists, and musicians called Angat Pilipinas Coalition for Financial Literacy. Continue reading The Entrepreneur and Hero: Tado

Signs That You Are Sending Bad Financial Messages To Your Kids

My wife and I have started homeschooling our 4-year old daughter this school year (Update: She’s already finishing her 4th Grade this summer 2020, amidst the COVID19 pandemic).

I personally know some friends who have been homeschooling their kids and it’s just amazing to see how strong their family bondings are because of this method of teaching and learning.

One more reason why we want to homeschool our daughter is because we believe that personal finance is one of the least taught subjects in the Philippines (and elsewhere). Money is a very important subject for a child to learn and bring the knowledge along until he/she becomes an adult. And since my wife and I are both staunch advocates of financial literacy, we thought why not teach our child about money ourselves.

Through the homeschooling system, parents like us won’t have to spend so much time giving lectures to our children. We just have to show them how we value money in our everyday lives. Continue reading Signs That You Are Sending Bad Financial Messages To Your Kids

Should You ‘Feng Shui’ Your Investments?

Leaving the Philippines on a Chinese New Year’s Eve after a very busy yet happy and abundant Christmas vacation could either mean good or bad luck for the superstitious. Honestly, I was very anxious a week before our flight for no clear reasons other than my fear of flying.

I’ve been telling my wife and friends that I loved traveling by plane when I was still single. Heck, I even loved it when there’s turbulence and air pockets.

But things changed as years go by. Priorities come and new responsibilities arise. You get married and have kids and that could change the course of your actions and your rising levels of fear of flying. One has to leave the country to invest for a better, if not best, future. But that’s just me.

But leaving on the eve of The Year of the Horse, which began last Friday, is very dangerous, according to some feng shui masters. One feng shui master even mentioned that this year is a dangerous one for traveling and investing. Continue reading Should You ‘Feng Shui’ Your Investments?