Category: Entrepreneurship

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?

When Loan Sharks Attack

I was one of Randell Tiongson’s guests in his Money Talks radio show last night on Energy FM. In our discussion we talked about Filipinos getting buried in debt and eventually resorting to looking for opportunities overseas and leaving their loved ones behind.

I remember falling victim, a willing one at that, to a loan shark about 10 years ago. I couldn’t eat well. I could barely sleep for more than a couple of hours every night. I only worry about what could happen if they come to our house and do something terribly unlikeable. I could have even lost my job.

I recently read a news headline in Ireland that says “Soldier stole money from car park to pay back loan sharks“. AN OUT-of-work soldier came under pressure from loan sharks to repay a debt when he stole nearly €1,000 from a car park office safe, a court heard.

And then just recently (September 1, 2014), “Two teachers and a collector were killed, while four other teachers were injured, after a police officer went on a shooting rampage in the Pangasinan National High School campus in Lingayen town, Pangasinan Monday afternoon.”

Continue reading When Loan Sharks Attack