source: http://globaltrendtraders.com
Finally we have the last part of this series. This is a series of blog posts about Suze Orman’s interview by Karen Davila on her second visit to the Philippines. If you haven’t read the previous post below are links for you to check out:
- Suze Orman says: It is not that Pinoys can’t save, they don’t want to save
- Suze Orman Says: The First Law of Money
- Suze Orman Says: Check Your Latte Expenses
- Suze Orman Says: 8 Months of Emergency Fund
- Suze Orman Says: Insurance is insurance; Investment is investment
- Suze Orman Says: Financial Education A Must for Pinoys
THINGS DON’T DEFINE WHO YOU ARE
With the Philippine economy booming amidst all the recent scandals, the new generation is again facing the same illness that the past generation is plague with: Materialism
Materialism is defined as:
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A tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
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The doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its movements and modifications.
The booming economy gives each a chance of a good employment or if enterprising good profit and the young seem to enjoy it by buying and buying stuff for them to enjoy. There is nothing wrong in rewarding one’s self for a job well done or a profitable sale or month but what Suze points out that Pinoys are becoming impulsive and tend to show off thus making unwise buying decisions. in her own words “people wear their money” because they want others to see how much they earn.
With that we already know the over use words that “we buy things to impress people we don’t even know and don’t even care about you”. This attitude is actually rooted to one’s low self-esteem and insecurity. In our language “ayaw magpalamang” or “bida”. Pinoys think that buying things to show off will make them the center of attention but in reality the more one becomes empty and the more you are empty the more you will surround yourself with things you don’t even really need in the first place. As Suze said “when we feel less than we spend more than” and when such piles up one gets buried in debt.
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF MONEY?
This question is very important.
Every Pinoy should have a clear idea what money is for and the bad thing is money is just something to buy things. We even have a bad image for money which is “money is the root of all evils” but the exact verse in the Bible is actually “the love of money is the root of all evils”.
Let me list down the goal of money as mentioned by Suze in the interview:
- To address needs
- Able to live a decent life
- Save for retirement
- Have means for emergencies
The very reason why one goes to work is to address basic needs like food, roof for our heads, clothing etc. We go to work in order to have the finances to answer these needs and not to buy the latest rubber shoes so that you can add to your collection of rubber shoes.You can buy another rubber shoes if you have fully covered the basic needs but it would be wiser to not spend your hard-earned money to another rubber shoes when you already have one.
It is funny to hear when a co-worker or friends complain about their life. They say that they have bills to pay here and there, emergencies, unexpected fees for child’s tuition, etc. but they have in their hand the latest phones or the latest gadget or maybe they have the latest branded high heels or jeans. They complain that they don’t even live a decent life but they spend most of their money to things that they can live without.
It is also a sad story that most of the senior citizens in the Philippines have no money for retirement. Most of them will be dependent to their children who themselves are struggling to make ends meet. The reason for such is that back then retirement was viewed either as an additional expense or something that they shouldn’t be thinking of since they are still young. And they were wrong. We hope that current generation will not have the same mistake of thinking of retirement as an additional expense or something that they shouldn’t worry about now while they are still young.
As already address in a previous post, we got to allocate money for emergencies. We never know what windfall we will face tomorrow, next week or next month but surely something might happen and it will surely hurt when we are never prepared for it.
About the blogger
Louis Delos Angeles is a Certified Public Accountant, blogger behind Investing in Philippines, and author of Investing in Stocks: Preparing for the future small amount at a time. Learn more about Louis and his financial freedom advocacy here.
To change the minds of the great majority of our people it will take a century to become financially literate. Our minds or culture are not different from all countries of Latin Americas which I witnessed with Mexican and Venezuelan people. I said it will take a century old for our people to be financially educated, To lessen that century financial illiteracy/ies our Dept of Education and Culture, “financial education” must be included in the school curriculum, like what the Australian government is doing now for their elementary kids. England has too. Also I suggest along financial teachings, we must also inlcude/subjects that teaches how to be politically literate and environmentally conscious.
Very true Ruperto