When it comes to investing, or even financial planning in general, people want to be told exactly what to do. We ask where to invest our money and how much, which bank to approach for advice, which stock to buy and which book to read.
At INQUIRER.net, I get an average of 50 questions every week from Filipinos in Hawaii to Ireland, Qatar to Singapore asking for advice regarding their personal finances. I consider it a great privilege to be trusted with the information they give.
At the end of the day, however, I am hoping that our panel of experts are teaching the broad strokes and sound principles that would help readers make their own decisions in the future, not just the specific tips and strategies our readers crave.
As Generali executive vice-president Augustus J.V. Ferreria keeps on telling me: a real financial professional would teach his client the principles so the client can continue practicing good financial planning even if their working relationship is over.
In his column this week, Ask Dr. Noet’s Johnny Noet Ravalo tells Erick he can get his feet wet in investing through time deposits and Treasury bills, and other conservative investment instruments to give him a feel of what investing is like. He even went as far back as addressing the need for advice on how to save in the first place: save with an end goal in mind.
However, as Noet says the heart of it all is financial literacy. The article says:
At the heart of the issue is financial literacy and what drives that is information. The great majority of our investors — existing and would-be ones like Erick — do not have access to information on all the options available. Since money is comparatively tight and the complexities of the financial market can be intimidating, liquidity will be a primary concern. But in this situation, keeping tabs on market changes is important. Unfortunately, access to these information remain very uneven.
I would like to think forums and blogs on personal finance, wealth management, investing, help in making information more accessible to the public. There are new ones coming up everyday. They should not be the only source, of course. But there’s nothing wrong with grabbing every opportunity to inspire someone to be more responsible with his finances.
Just recently, Income-Tacts made its debut. I also recently discovered Absolute Traders, which aims to help people on personal finance and investing. Those who have websites and would like to be reviewed, drop me a line at lightdream (at) gmail (dot) com.
I like the way Noet ended his column.
The fact that you are asking is a very good sign. But for the question to have any real value, you will have to act on it.
Let me end by tempting your imagination. Can you imagine what the cumulative value would be if you invest P10,000 a month regularly for 1-month placements and continuously rolling over at a modest 3.0 percent per year for 30 years? It is P5,841,937.27. Not bad, don’t you think?
Some of the steps we may be able to make at certain points in our lives may seem small and insignificant. But every little achievement can go a long way!
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Thanks for mentioning income-tacts.com
April 8th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Louie, thanks for your note. That was heartwarming :-). Money Makeover 2007 has one more month to go before it ends. You may want to look at the updates in the Money Makeover category here.
http://blogs.inquirer.net/moneysmarts/category/money-makeover/
Second to last update to be uploaded this week, and NEW Money Makeover sessions will begin in May so watch out for our call for a new set of volunteers!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Hi Ms. Duplito. Just recently i read your latest article in MoneySense , and once again got inspired by your money wiz. Im not a regular reader of your articles (print or blog) but i do remember a point or two of whatever i read from your writings. After reading that article in MoneySense i remember writing you sometime in 2006 or 2007 , can’t place the exact date, I think it was around the time you were starting your blog in the Inquirer. I wrote responding to your pet project something like a money makeover?. . .you were soliciting for volunteers. Unfortunately I was not able to follow that through as im working and living in a province far from Manila.Anyway, I’m just curious what came out of it. Or maybe I’m just completely out of the loop that I’ve missed it! I have moved to a better paying job in an american-owned companybased in makati, i felt a bit of ease in my finances, but still im concerned with my finances. Now that i feel i earn enough to pay for my own needs, my family obligations and still save a little for my future, all the more that i need some money sense as i plan for my future (re: retirement. :). Thank you for what you are sharing to us your readers. They may not be much to others, but for ordinary professionals like me trying to make sense of the value of our material existence, i am forever grateful.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
hachiko, welcome back! i thought you’ve been recruited into the Japanese mafia! or become a samurai. Geisha? hahaha. The TV guesting was not a paying event hehe. So I’m absolutely sure you grossed more.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Salve I’m back online!!! My internet connection got “lost in translation” here in Japan hehehe… I’ll catch up with all the chismis here in a few days… so u were on TV, ne? So who netted more, you or me? hehehe…