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

What Will Make You Poor This Year

We just said goodbye to just one of the most emotional, heartbreaking, yet hopeful year of the century. Resilience was the overused and over-abused but truthful word last year that came out from the mouths of foreign media men, politicians, and Hollywood celebrities alike.

In my opinion, being resilient is good but not enough. If we never learn from previous mistakes in making financial decisions, calamities or no calamities, we will still remain poor.

These and the following bad financial decisions will bury you further in brokenness and anxiety. Although they may not always be applicable to you but I’m pretty sure you definitely know someone who will, in one way or another, become a (willing) victim of these circumstances. Continue reading What Will Make You Poor This Year

Are You Really Ready For Christmas?

First morning back in the Philippines after about 400 days of being away on a mission for my family and fellowmen. It felt so good having to pray, reflect, and attend a solemn Christmas worship service/Mass at the Greenbelt Chapel before working on a project related to my financial literacy advocacy.

Many of us have taken the first steps to achieving financial freedom in the past year. Some have improved their financial conditions after realizing the importance of frugality. Others have finally harvested the fruits of their labor through their investments.

When new investors and interested individuals ask, “Are we ready to invest?”, financial planners and advisors would always mention about proper spending habits, debt elimination, insuring one’s self, building emergency funds, among others. Continue reading Are You Really Ready For Christmas?