A very wise man wrote that money is more about the mind, more than the math. I tend to agree, considering the results of recent Money Makeover sessions with volunteers Diego and Bianca, and Sheldon.

As I recounted in this post, financial planner Augustus J.V. Ferreria began his Money Makeover sessions by asking our three volunteers about their childhood, parents, siblings and major milestones in their lives. During that meeting, several initial analyses came out.

Diego was deprived as a child, having grown up in poverty as the eldest among his siblings. His father’s sudden business success during his teen years flipped the situation over and allowed him to enjoy the comforts of financial security – a generous allowance, a good car, and an expensive course (Fine Arts in UP Diliman).

The initial analysis: Diego may have difficulty curbing his spending appetite because of his past. A history of deprivation raises the risk of splurging and uncontrolled spending to feed unresolved longings.

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Augustus “Joe” Ferreria (Joe F. in this article) has all the trappings of a high-profile job. A big corner office in the Makati financial district, a nationwide sales team, and the solid name of the SM Group of Companies and Generali Pilipinas behind him.

As senior executive vice-president of Generali Pilipinas, Joe F. is the revenue guy. In the first five months of 2007 alone, sales clocked in a 75% growth compared with the same period a year ago to P974 million.

That amount may seem tiny compared with Philamlife’s P14.5 billion in 2006, but not if you realize that Generali began operations in the Philippines only in 2000. Joe grew the company from a P400 million company to P2 billion in one year after he joined the firm in 2004. As an upstart in the insurance industry, Generali is playing a quick catch-up game.

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For someone who helps others build wealth for a living, Efren Ll. Cruz has developed a curious detachment from the glitter of money. The author of the best-selling book “Pwede Na: Pinoy Guide to Personal Finance” believes money is only a tool — although a powerful one — that handled well, should help more Filipinos inch closer to their dreams of financial independence.

Easier said than done. Cruz, however, has mastered the “done” part very well. He shares advice freely to members of his huge yahoogroup on personal finance, he designed a personal finance calculator that helps people manage their finances and made this available as a companion software for his book. He writes regularly for INQUIRER.net without remuneration.

That’s not to say that Cruz is “easy”. People consult with Cruz professionally for investment advice, trains the growing group of Registered Financial Planners in the country, being one of the pioneers in the financial planning industry in the Philippines. He set up Personal Finance Advisers Phils. Corp. in February 2006 to develop tailor-made personal finance solutions for Filipinos.

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Life for Sheldon, 26 and single, has never been this exciting. After a job as community educator for a property company, a few years as a marketing consultant, then a stint in several publications, he was hired by two Internet publishing companies to handle some of their projects. His income quadrupled almost overnight to P60,000 net of taxes. What would a 26-year old do with all that cash?

“I went crazy. I bought a P93,000 laptop and other techie gadgets. I bought a 350D camera and two lenses. I went out many times a week. I started traveling. Then I read MoneySmarts and I got very scared. I realize I was spending too much and I needed to be sober,” Sheldon said.

Sheldon doesn’t know it, but he is a financial planner’s dream client. He’s young and can therefore take advantage of the power of compounding, where interest on his money can earn more interest. He’s not lusting after designer clothes, fast cars and a condo of his own. He even bought a variable universal life insurance (VUL) for himself with a P1 million face amount – and that was before he started getting concerned about his finances.

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Life is good for thirty-something couple Diego and Bianca: she just passed the bar, he has promising business plans, they both have stable jobs, good health, and a few modest properties in their names. They are what you call “upwardly mobile young professionals.”

The couple, who have one child and are planning to have another soon, didn’t really feel like they were on shaky ground financially. Diego, 35, a graphic designer and professor in one of the top universities in the country, is nurturing a small business that has allowed him to earn an additional P15,000 a month. Bianca, 33, is expecting a raise in her income after she is promoted on passing the bar. Together, they made P78,000 gross in March.

Diego and Bianca lived in the US for four years to be closer to Bianca’s family who has migrated for good. When they came home in 2004, they had P1 million in savings, which they used to buy their own home with the help of another P1.4 million they received from their parents. They also bought two cars and now send their daughter to a school very near their home.

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