This fact is true and i’m very sorry that I’m one of them.After more than 30 years working abroad still sad to say, I don’t have any savings.My cchildren finished their studies but they just stay at home and wait for my remittances every month.Sooner they will be over age but still young to be pensioners.Idont really know when i could stop working abroad.

This fact is true and i’m very sorry that I’m one of them.After more than 30 years working abroad still sad to say, I don’t have any savings.My children finished their studies but they just stay at home and wait for my remittances every month.Sooner they will be over age to work but still young to be pensioners.Idont really know when i could stop working abroad.

what i see is almost always the same cycle (from where I live): an ofw comes home with waddles of cash, burns them in unnecessary spending, live like a king then after a few months will return to his ship broke or deep in debt. wife will sell/pawn belongings, ofw husband sends money until his next homecoming…

such waste. money like sand in their hands and such myopic outlook in life

kudos to you Steph. I hope you’ll (eventually) be able to provide choices to your daughter.

When I was a first time OFw way back in 2002 and was still single, I didnt know much about investing and my 1-year hard earned money was just put into waste.

Year 2005 when I got another job abroad and still in contract until today, the difference this time is that I already have a family with 2 small kids. With an eagerness to have enough savings and be with my family without leaving them behind anymore, I try to practice saving money and invest later-on as preached by those that I read in your blog and other economist blog.

This blog of yours is a great help in giving infomations about savings and investing.
May you continue to help and guide us in investing.

I’ve been working abroad for four years now and my first two years savings went to traveling to different places. That’s my major expense as it’s been my dream to see the world. Last year, I started saving part of my salary which I invested in mutual funds. This year, I’m saving more but don’t know yet where to put it. I know that it’s best to put your eggs in different basket and I’ll be doing that. Oh yeah.. I already have life insurance with endowment benefits even though I’m still single. Halfway paid one of them and added another 2 years ago.

I really enjoy reading your blogs and the tips you provide. I just hope it’s easier to remit money from Beijing.

During their initial OFW years, my seafarer relatives were also like fish out of the water when it came to managing their finances. After spending 12-18 long lonely months in cargo/tanker ships, they felt they were entitled to spend their hard-earned $. Eventually, they learned that their friends and loved ones’ affections also became seemingly reflective of the ebb and flow of their money — an unintended consequence. So they whittled down the monthly “pension” their families received and automatically redirected the balance in savings/investment accounts (any overtime pay/salary increase they get goes to a separate account — this they keep as emergency savings). Eventually, their entire monthly remittances became savings/investments/capital after their families were able to secure trades/businesses that enabled them to cover their daily expenses without having to rely on the OFW income. These are some of their practices 1) avoid going home to the Philippines right on or before Christmas and if they really can’t help but be home on Christmas, they do not spend unnecessarily or advertise their presence. 2) have the family live on a consistent monthly budget, allocating an exact portion for “fun” money when they get home 3) live simply 4) while abroad, use VOIP/Skype/phone cards/internet to communicate with the family as frequently as possible to establish presence instead of buying things they do not need.

Sadly this is so true to this day. The sadder part is they are enabling their families to stay lazy and just wait for money to drop on their hands.

what is happiness?

Yes it’s true our OFWs have poured in billions of dollars in RP yet our poverty number/incidence in fact worsened even with record high remittances. Economically $$$$ helps but the unintended social consequences are immeasurable. I was not an OFW but had been a student abroad before and it’s true, you get to see how “loved” and popular you are by your relatives and friends, and did I mention, more relatives now that you have foreign money in your hand?They say that our labor market has worsened as well: there are more educated unemployed-probably because of reservation wages, meaning waiting to work abroad than here, or probably just lazy because remittances are coming monthly anyway. Sad to say most OFW families are still into conspicuous and ostentatious consumption up to now. As they say, there’s no place like home, so am staying put here, be with my family and help this country, than someone else’s country w/c is already developed anyway. Unless you already gave up on RP and changed your nationality-it’s an international human right to do so…

my first time abroad as a contract worker was in Saudi. In 4 years i worked there, the only investment i had was a 2000 sqm lot which at that time (1987) cost me only ~ P100K. I was young then but my mother was the one who insists on buying the said lot..as a souvenir of my hard work. Since then, i started buying lands (again with my mother’s keen eye on real estate investments), stock investments, contribute the maximum amount in my company’s pension fund, etc. Now the first lot i had is worth P5k/sqm. Not bad isn’t it? The important thing in buying land is location, location location.

There’s hope for OFW’s. All they need is guidance in making sure their money works for them instead of them simply earn money.
I am trying in my own little way to help by putting a website where their needs are met. Where they can get the information they need in making investments that will help them retire early in life and help them adjust to life abroad. I hope that we all help our OFW’s because they are our modern day heroes.

[...] Salve. “Are OFW-supported families starting to save and invest?“. 17 June, [...]

I am an OFW working in KSA, Filipinos in Saudi fond to spend more, a jewelry shop attendant learned the pinoy language by interacting pinoy customers on a daily basis. I can say perhaps spending money this is one way coping up loneliness and homesickness.

Pinoy should learn the art of investing rather than spending on unnecessary things.