“more than half expect to be supported by their children in their old age”

this is sad.. we, as parents (ideally), should aim to support not only ourselves but our children during our retirement years.

my lolo and lola supported our family..

as a result, my dad and mom now supports me and my family.

in the future, I will support my anaks and their families.

i hope we all can have this setup…

If we continue to deny the fact that the world is changing in fast and unpredictable ways, we surely have a lot to worry about. If we still place such high values on job security, high positions, and good education we really need to rethink everything.

eicon aviva,

you must be a well off family…

Yes it is true that majority of Filipinos have very low or no Financial IQ. In fact Philippine educational system does not teach at all about financial education. That was, is and will be the reason why most Filipinos remain poor. The worst, even the middle class have the tendency to become poor given the very low financial IQ. The sad state of Filipino value when it comes to financial matter is that the parents rely soley on their children’s support once they are unable to generate income due to old age. The parents at their early marriage must build up their finances for themselves to prepare for their retirement. They must teach their children about financial matters. Accumulating financial wealth can be done if you have ample financial education and leverage. Career, professions or trade skills are not enough to build wealth. One must pursue knowledge on finances through wise investments. If you have knowledge in financial leverage you can build wealth at your own pace eventhough you are not yet rich. I hate to say, that FINANCIAL EDUCATION is not a priority by the government in GENERAL and most of the Filipinos in PARTICULAR.

Sorry to tell you that majority of the Filipinos would still remain poor in the next generation if no FINANCIAL EDUCATION and MATURITY would be obtained.

SOLUTIONS RECOMMENDED:

First:

Filipinos must renew their minds and change their character when it comes to values and ideas on finances.

Second:

The government must initiate and include the teaching of FINANCIAL EDUCATION on our educational system.

That’s all for now

Rule of thumb 10% of your income should be invested in stocks or real estate.

Typically, buy only your family basic needs and dont buy anything beyond your means.

Simplicity and humility in living will hel a lot in your family finance especially when you grow old. I am 55 came from a poor province and and from calss b school.

I followed these guidelines in my life and thank God I can retire fully at 60 and live comfortably by not asking help from the kids.

Filipinos must not pass their responsibilities to their children. A child should be born not for security reasons when they get old but to nurture and love.

Hi Willy,

The issue on retirement is very timely to me. I am an OFW ( a CPA by profession)working in the oil-riched country, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the past 25 years. Now I am seriously considering retirement the fact that two of my four children have graduated from college and gainfully employed. The other two will be graduating in April this year.

During my 25 years of working in Saudi Arabia, I was able to gain a modest savings in real estate ( 2 residential
houses & lots and 7 hectares of agricultutal land). A portion of my agricultural land was planted with 450 mango trees (carabao variety) and are now in their ”commercial fruting stage”. I have not made a serious research yet on the future of mangoes as an agricultural crop except reading few articles about
export markets of our own mangoes.

With the sudden decline of the dollar against the peso (something like 21% based on 2006 exchange rate) I am thinking of quiting my job and rather spend my remaining useful years in tending my own farm.

Am I taking a risky decision?

you are responsible for your own action .children did not ask to be born in this world .

my husband and i are as they say “middle class” I used to be a stay at home mom and just relied on the money my OFW husband sent until one day i decided that it will not be enough for just one family member to shoulder all the expenses so i went back to school and got a nursing degree. Now I’m here in the USA and working real hard taking on 2 jobs as an RN in a hospital and moonlighting as a home health nurse. I opened a forced savings account and every payday they take out post taxed earnings of $300 into a retirement acct that I can only touch when I turn 59 years old. I left 2 of my kids at home but they’re completing their college education and the family’s motto is “we don’t bother you and you don’t bother us” that’s why we support their education all the way and even prepare the avenue for them to get jobs abroad to ensure that they get a fighting chance to survive in the international “rat race”.

We have seen how some parents live, literally under the generosity of their children bereft of any dignity and equally so, children who never left the nest and rely on the meager retirement funds of their parents due to inability of the parents to support their education or the child himself/herself did not make good the opportunity of education given to them. It’s a vicious cycle my family has witnessed and consequently made it clear to my children that this is something that should not be allowed to happen to our own family.

I agree that children are not born into the role of supporting their parents in their old age simply because they did not ask to come into this world but in order for this not to happen, parents must do their best to give their children the necessary tools, skills and most of all values in order for them to succeed in life. I truly believe this is how things should be done in a family and if they all work together for a common goal it will succeed.

My wife and I have been training our kids since they turned 4 on financial planning. We do the 3-box approach. Everyday when I give my son his P100 baon (broken down to four P20 bill, and one P10 coin), the first thing he does is to drop the P10 coin to his TITHE BOX. This is his commitment to God, that he will honor God with the first 10% of whatever money that comes to his hands. Come sunday morning, we open the tithe box, and whatever the amount in there (miniimum of P50 because of five school days), he puts in an envelope, and he excitedly drops it in the offering basket in church. I have been telling him that if he will be faithful with the little things he has, God will make him a steward of bigger things… This thought makes him excited. He recently told me that he cannot wait to receive P1Million from the Lord and he would quickly give back P100k to the church in the form of his tithes… We attend a Christian Church that encourages and teaches Financial Stewardship from a biblical perspective.

Then, he drops a P20 bill in the second box which is his SAVINGS BOX. This is automatic for him everyday… our deal is whatever is the amount he saves in a quarter, Papa will double that amount, and then we deposit it in his bank account. At the rate he is going, by God’s grace, he will be a millionaire before he turns 20… just by sheer savings alone. What does this do to him? It makes him aware of the importance of savings… and investment. Something that most filipinos are not aware of… or consciously practicing..

He therefore survives in the remaining P70 as baon for school which he puts in his wallet (the third box)… He knows now “how to live within his means… or better, to live below his means”, because by so doing, he gets to have precious savings for his future.

At the end of the year, whatever is the amount he has saved, we allow him to allot 10 -20% of that as CHARITY FUND. Meaning he can use that amount to donate to a foundation, buy food for marginalized kids, or add support to the kid whom he has been supporting for schooling through the WORLD VISION PROGRAM. What does this teach him? To have the heart for the poor.. and be a sharing person.

Values on financial management are best taught at home… DAILY. And if I may add, MODELLED BY US, PARENTS.

There is much wisdom in the proverb that says: train up a child in the way he should go, and when gets old, he will not depart from it.

PS. my son is only 10 years old. He’s been doing the three box approach since he was 4…

God bless the Philippines!

I was Born in the Year of the Rat -1948 .and Found that my Father and Mother and are Not Passing There Responsibilities to there Chidren. I followed these Guidlines in My Life and Thank God I can Retire Fully at 60 and Live Comfortably by not Asking Help from my Chidren.the Secret is to plan for Your Future.Retirement Age.I’m Still Working in Saudi Arabia and with Gods Help I ‘m Still Helping and Sending Money To My Chidren and Apos. I ‘ m Building a Duplex Apartment to Be Rented and Planning to buy a Brand New Car to be use as Taxi.
I been Working Abroad for Almost 30 Years and Secret in Life is to Plan for your Old Age .and Live a Simple Life.

original ba yung photo na ginamit ninyo or you just sourced it from an image bank? it looks like it was just sourced from an image bank…

@jojo

Ang ganda ng system mo sir! It really is. I will surely have this kind of training for my daughter as well.

What jojo did was very good. I should have done that too with my kid. But she is now 20 and she might not be “trainable” anymore.

The book “The Millionaire Next Door” is an interesting read. I admire parents teaching children the value of saving rather than spending.

random, i believe we are in the lower middle class category..

we have an annual savings of 150-200K; this is expected to grow along with my pay increase.

my longevity bonus is always earmarked for charity..

i’m also in a SIWK scenario — Single Income With Kid. My wife takes care of our child.

Can we survive without my parents support? I hope so.. but it won’t be easy, that’s for sure. It will surely affect our annual savings.

With their help, we will be able to save up for supporting our retirement and our child/children.

If you are in a situation wherein you are supporting your parents.. then support them. Try your best to avoid passing that responsibility to your children. I know my grand dad did! thanks lolo!!!

ako ay isang pilipina na nakapagasawa ng puti dito sa netherland.tapos ako ng BSECE sa pilipinas.kaya kaming buhayin ng asawa ko at dalawa kong anak pero i prefer to work kasi if i work i can build my pension and save for retirement,sayang din naman ang aking investment sa aking sarili na nasa bahay lang soi prefer to use ang aking pinag-aralan.kahit ako ay kumikita i use to it na i use my hard earned money wisely by buying things that i only need,pay only in cash and dont use credit,saving 10% of my salary and investing some.money management must be taught in early age and the important of it to have a financial freedom.

retirement should start as early as you can and able.

if you have money and on a salaried position,make sure u have insurance to protect you and ur family.If u are GSIS (me pera pa ba?),PAG-IBIG members…that’s a bonus with ur savings+insurance.

save ,save and save.Investmnets are great but can be risky.know ur investments and be ready to win or LOSE.If u have no savings yet,don’t invest muna.save first….alwyas have fallback!

If you have savings,put it in time deposits or online accounts that earn high interests!its worth it.no hassle of thinking the high and lows of business or investments.But look for a better bank that offers secure and great interest rates on savings.

family support during retirement is essential but it doesn’t mean the pressure is on the kids to financially help us every single day.we have to get ready for retirement and be responsible as much as we can.

well in the belief of my mental capacity and experience in life, savings is not a way to life proponent to a kind of unexpectable life daily needs. i spend my financial stability to my siblings educational need that to prefer putting in a bank/hiding behind a bottles that you don’t know what happen next. the creator gives us money to spend not ot hide behind… that’s it is

This is the sad story of our life. We work hard and spend our hard earned money like there is no tomorrow. I always believe in making money grow even how small it is. I think part of the issue is the belief that somebody will take care of us when we grow old, usually we believe our children will take care of us…the reason why we give everything they need, send them to best schools, etc. This does not usually lead to expected results so to avoid frustration…word hard and save hard while still young and enjoy old age.

[...] Middle-class, working Filipinos worried about bleak retirement [...]

That was an interested reading, I have forwarded the link to my Filipinos friends living here in Italy. I am an Italian citizen, financial consultant