You all love Warren Buffett, right? Would you pay $2.1 million to have lunch with the oracle of Omaha like this Chinese investment manager who decided to pick up the tab by taking part in a high-stakes online charity auction?

Zhao Danyang, 36, will have lunch with the US billionaire at a Smith and Wollensky steakhouse restaurant in New York. He can bring seven friends to enjoy Buffett’s company for, oh, maybe two hours. Three hours max… maybe.
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(This piece is written by Bianca, one of the readers of MoneySmarts who has been chosen for the one-year Money Makeover challenge by INQUIRER.net. Bianca’s real identity is confidential, so that MoneySmarts can share her family’s financials and the lessons she has learned with the rest of the world. Read more about Money Makeover here.)

A financial planner (not Joe Ferreria) told us: sell your timeshare. My husband and I communicated silently the way old lovers do – with a look (or a glare, but that is another story) – and made a decision.

We will not.
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*Squirming in my seat*

I have a confession to make. More than 10 years ago, my husband and I won P20,000 when the lotto ticket we bought had five (I think) winning numbers. We received only P19,000 because we didn’t want to go through the whole process of having to claim the winnings, but since then I haven’t seen P19,000 disappear so quickly!

We haven’t bought any ticket since that day, believing that statistical probability will be against another win. But hey, the jackpot has gone up to P158 million! That can fund the retirement and set up a business. Imagine how many kikay shoes I can buy with that kind of money.

Probably, the worst thing that can happen to me is win! How DOES one write about personal finance after buying a lotto ticket? Hehe.

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(Grass always seems to be greener on the other side.)

For years, I have been fairly immune to the most zealous “invitations” to relocate overseas. It started with my mom back in college when I was still single. Now, people are talking about not just living in the US for good, but also in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in other Asian countries.

They tell me I can always go back to the Philippines if it doesn’t work out. But I have to make sure I am not letting the opportunities pass by, they say. If I don’t want it for myself, I should consider it for the kids.

I’m sure you know what I mean when I say the “invitations” can get really insistent. So much so that my sister has already made the jump. She is working on bringing her entire family to Canada to live there for good. Then another sister will leave for the UK this year. Another one is raring to restart her life in New Zealand. They are looking for better jobs, better benefits, more pay. They are professionals who have good education in good universities. Their careers here are promising. But some say that with the endless jockeying in politics, corruption and pollution here, why not go for the “greener” pastures in other countries.
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