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How do you feel today?
September 19, 2009by: Jun Avendaño
Once, I was asked,
“What is the strongest feeling in this world?”
And without any hesitation I replied…LOVE
WRONG!
The answer is FEAR
Fear of rejection, fear of what people will say,
Fear of failure, fear of uncertainty and the list is endless.
Why is it very dangerous? Because it has many faces, it is very subtle, it is like a deadly virus creeping in one’s mind, body and soul….results….
Paralysis!!!
It can enter through our five senses and will come out in our face, in our eyes, in our mouth, in our hands, in our feet, in our pee, in our sweat, and in our own eyes.
WE BECOME small.
There are 365 days in a year, and its amazing that the BIG BOOK recorded “365 FEAR NOT”, ONE FEAR NOT EACH DAY.
KEEP YOUR EYES IN GOD, FOCUS ON YOUR GOAL, FOCUS ON YOUR FULL POTENTIALS AND ACT, AND SURELY, FEAR WILL DIE NATURALLY.
Average Filipino has Financial IQ of 48
Average Filipino has financial IQ of 48, says American bank
400 respondents polled
By Doris Dumlao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:09:00 01/18/2008
MANILA, Philippines — Lacking confidence that their savings can cover emergency needs or support a comfortable retirement, the average Filipino has a “financial intelligence quotient” of only 47.8, less than half the maximum score of 100, according to Citibank.
The score was derived from the American banking giant’s Fin-Q survey, a study across the Asia-Pacific designed to measure the financial quotient or financial intelligence of consumers aged 18 to 40, who have at least a bank account or a credit card.
The survey, whose main findings were released at a press briefing Thursday, showed that 62 percent of Filipino respondents belonging to the middle-income working class had a score of less than 50.
No retirement planning
The survey, administered online and conducted in the last quarter of 2007, polled 400 Filipino respondents across the country earning an average of P30,000 per month.
About 30 percent of the respondents were earning under P100,000 a year, while 34 percent belonged to the P100,000-P300,000 income bracket.
About 28 percent were earning more than P300,000 while 8 percent refused to reveal their income bracket.
“Based on the Fin-Q results, only 1 out of 10 Filipino respondents is consciously saving up for retirement. The rest have some savings but don’t know if it will be enough. Others have no idea at all how much they need or have not started planning,” said Agustin Davalos, Citibank Philippines’ retail bank director.
“If they lost their jobs tomorrow, or suddenly fall ill and cannot work, their savings would last only for nine weeks (about two months) before they run out of money,” Davalos said.
The benchmark for a comfortable buffer in case of a sudden sickness or loss of job is to maintain liquid savings equal to three to six months worth of current earnings.
The survey also showed that almost 7 out of 10 Filipino respondents own insurance but only half of this number felt that the coverage was enough to protect them and their families.
Other key findings
Majority of the Filipino respondents attempt to come up with a monthly budget but only 33 percent stick to self-imposed expenditure ceilings.
More than half of the respondents save “when they can” but only 36 percent make it a discipline to set aside money each payday.
About 40 percent pay their full credit card balance monthly while a greater proportion are “revolvers” — 38 percent pay more than the minimum and 22 percent pay only the minimum required.
About a quarter of the respondents either own or rent a house.
Those who believe they have sufficient insurance coverage account for only 32 percent. About 36 percent have life insurance plans while 32 percent do not have any insurance plan at all.
On knowledge on investing in case of a sudden windfall, 53 percent know exactly what to do with their savings. However, a lot of Filipinos have not done much in terms of long-term financial planning as only 13 percent said they know exactly what to do before retirement and are on track with its plans.
More than two out of five have no idea how much they need for retirement or have not started planning.
Only 16 percent of the working middle-class have financial planning developed with financial professionals while 96 percent do not have a will to legally transfer assets and liabilities in case of death.
Eleven questions
Conducted by Australia-based CxC Consulting, the survey scored respondents on 11 different questions closely related to financial well-being, with a maximum possible score of 100 each –much like grading a student based on performance on individual subjects like Math, Science or English.
The questions ranged from their optimism about their financial future to approaches to budgeting and saving to whether they have a formal financial plan and an up-to-date will.
The study also incorporated separate attitudinal and lifestyle questions. The better the financial position is in one particular area, the higher the points garnered.
Credit card payment
In credit card payment patterns, for instance, a respondent who wipes out the entire credit card monthly debt (and thus avoids costly financial charges) gets the full 10 points while one who pays only a slightly higher amount than the required minimum payment gets 5 points. If he pays only the bare minimum, he doesn’t get any point.
“If you look at the areas where we need to improve on, that would be the state of our financial savings, having a formal financial plan and having an up-to-date will, which in turn should also ultimately improve our satisfaction with our quality of life and our confidence in financial future,” said Citibank research specialist Abby Chan.
“While the Fin-Q score may be disappointing, the good news is that more than half of the surveyed population believes in the importance of saving.
The problem lies in having the discipline to do so, which could be due to lack of resources or financial know-how,” Davalos said.
Sunny outlook
The survey also reflected Filipinos’ sunny outlook, as 64 percent said they were satisfied with their current quality of life and 77 percent were optimistic about their future.
“But it’s telling to see that you have 36 percent who said that they are not satisfied [with quality of life] and these are probably the people who sort of dragged down the Philippine score in this area,” Chan said.
“When we grilled down the people who are not satisfied, the saying that ‘money can buy happiness’ seems to work because those not satisfied are those who are significantly lower in terms of income, those who have not yet prepared for their retirement savings, and those who are not that secure about their current jobs,” Chan said.
As expected, younger respondents are more optimistic than their older counterparts because they have less financial responsibilities.
Citigroup loss: $18B
“Based on this survey, [we] learned that Filipinos have the willingness to save but not the discipline to make it a regular habit,” Chan said.
If it’s any measure of its own financial IQ, Citigroup, Citibank’s mother company, announced on Wednesday a huge quarterly loss of $9.83 billion stemming from its exposure in subprime mortgage investments amid the worst US housing slump in decades.
Citigroup has so far written down $18 billion for losses tied to subprime home loans and other risky debt.
What I Believe In
by: Jaime Lorenzo
Finding your Purpose in Life may be the most important discovery you could ever make. I was blessed to discover it three years ago. Today, at age 28, I have made it as my personal mission to educate people about financial literacy.
This is what I believe: Financial ignorance is a major cause of poverty. To put an end to poverty, we have to put an end to ignorance.
In the past three years, I have talked people from almost all walks of life—high income earners, low income earners, managers, employees, teachers, lawyers, doctors, OFW’s, seafarers, businessmen—and realized that no matter how big (or small) our income is, if we don’t (or don’t know how to) manage our money well, we will eventually lose whatever we have.
We need to learn how to handle our hard-earned money, regardless of the job, profession or business we’re in. We need to set goals for our money because others are setting their goals on how to get it. Learning the ropes about how money works is simple. Coming from a medical field, I can attest to that. I repeat. Becoming financial literate is easy…as long as we devote time and effort to learn. Most people want financial success, but it’s also interesting to find that most of them are unwilling to invest time for their financial education.
I have many friends working for big companies, here and abroad. They make good income, nonetheless. I often advise them to look beyond where they are right now. Making money is good (and fun too). But making money without saving part of it, making that saved money grow and work for you, is useless.
Realize this:
You could have a good, secure career in Singapore. Life in Singapore is, of course, important. But Life After Singapore is more important.
You could have a high-paying job in Dubai. Life in Dubai is important. But Life After Dubai is more important.
You could be an executive for a top company like San Miguel Corp. Your career there is important. But what’s there after your career that’s more important.
I BELIEVE in the importance of having a Financial Plan—a roadmap that will take us from where we are to where we want to be. Without it, we will never reach our goals.
I BELIEVE in the need for Financial Literacy. Without it, we will end up working hard for money for the rest of our lives.
I BELIEVE in the need to develop Discipline. Without it, success in any area is not possible.
Finally, I BELIEVE in Entrepreneurship. We need to sharpen our Entrepreneur mindset. Without it, our chance for financial freedom is far-off.
I found the things that I believe in and I’m putting my life to fight for it.
"Dead or Alive"
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RESURRECTED BECAUSE MY DREAMS CAME ALIVE!!!
How Financially Healthy are you?
by: Noel Arandilla
People want to know how money works & how they can make money work for them.
But how do you gain this knowledge? Schools rarely teach it. Families hardly talk about it.
Unfortunately, unless you understand the power of money, you can’t put it to work for you.
But navigating the maze of things about financial can be a confusing journey. People simply don’t know where & how to begin … and they are scared to seek financial advice as some group may take advantage of them.
Realizing that the need exists for widespread FINANCIAL EDUCATION, IMG established the Wealth Academy, a training series in the areas of Financial Planning & Management, Entrepreneurship, Investment Strategies, Investment Vehicles, Winning Principles, etc.
Wealth Academy Schedule: MORNING (Mon to Fri – 9am), AFTERNOON (Mon to Sat-2pm) EVENING (Wed & Fri – 7pm)
For details: Send your e-mail to wealth.icon@img-wealthacademy.com
Do you know people with no degree but wealthy?
Do you know well-educated people but financially struggling?
Do you know people with a lot of degree but working for people with no degree?
College degree is not enough to become financially successful, you need Financial Education.
You need to set goals for your money because others are setting their goals on how to get your money.
If you think FINANCIAL EDUCATION is a waste of time & money, TRY IGNORANCE!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This will serve as ENTRY PASS to Wealth Academy Series 1-3:
TOPICS (Series 1-3)
Series 1: Financial/Wealth Management: How to Increase Cash Flow, The Law of Building Wealth, The Rule of Money, The Wealth Formula, Fundamental of Investments, Putting the Allies of Wealth to work on Your Side, Overcoming the Enemies of Wealth, How Money Works? How to Get the Highest Potential of your Money? etch
Series 3: Creating Multiple Income Streams: Breakthroughs and Innovations in Financial Solutions, Creating Multiple Passive Income Streams, Be your Own Financial Expert, Investment Vehicles, New Concepts of Making Good Money, etch.
Series 3: Financial Planning & Management Workshop: Goal-setting, Financial Check up & Need Analysis, Coaching & Mentoring, The “Investible” Fund, Fortune from Small Change, Statement of Income & Expenses, Statement of Assets & Liabilities, Estate Preservation. Etch.
Name:________________________________________
Sponsor: ______________________________________
3 TESTS OF SUCCESS
“It doesn’t matter how you started, what matters is how you are going to end”
2 Timothy 4:6 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”
James 1:2-4 “Dear brother, is your heart full of difficulties and tempatations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, you patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.
TEST #1: FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
- Not afraid of trouble
- When problem comes you don’t quit, you push harder
- If it’s easy too succeed, everybody would do it
- Deal with the opposition, deal with your problems
TEST #2: FINISH THE RACE
- This is where the energy comes for the next challenge
- It is in finishing you find strength to next challenge
- 99% of the people would never finish what they had started
TEST #3 REMAIN FAITHFUL
- Continue to be a “goto person”
- Dependable
- Reliable
Where performance is measured, performance is improved
Winners don’t do different things, They do things differently
Success doesn’t means the absence of failure, it means attainment of ultimate objective. It means winning the war, not every battle.
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.
IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO WIN!!!!! JUST KEEP ON FIGHTING!!!!!