It’s summertime! A lot of students heaved a big sigh of relief after taking their final exams. With the stress from waking up early, doing homework, and following rigid schedules taken out, parents and kids now look forward to enjoying the summer. This is also the time when family members can bond in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Family members are now choosing what activities to do together. Arts and crafts may be enjoyed together if you’re all into it. Other activities include swimming, basketball, tennis, taekwondo, cooking, dancing, singing, theater and many more.

Travelling together is one of the top family bonding activities during summer. This may be a trip to your hometown, or your favorite local spots like Baguio, Boracay, Batangas, Tagaytay. If you have enough budget, you go out of the country. Holy Week is Hong Kong week for a lot of Filipinos. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of Filipinos visiting other nearby Asian countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia.  If you have more time and money to spare, you go farther like US, Europe, etc.

These trips allow you to bond with your family members. Spending entire days and weeks together in one room enables you to learn more about each other. You will be surprised that your family members’ interests have already evolved.

Great bonding moments allow you to form stronger family ties.  It is very important to know what each family member desires. This is the only way you can support each other’s dreams. Engaging in meaningful conversation is key. Most of the time parents would ask about their children’s studies and this topic is not always pleasant especially for those whose kids go to very competitive schools.  But you still have to discuss it because you should know what’s happening in each other’s life.

Another topic that’s usually taboo among family members is money. Somehow, we are not very comfortable talking about it for various reasons. Some parents may have grown up not discussing it with their own parents. It may be an emotionally charged topic. Some parents may not want to burden their children with money matters so they just pretend that money is not a problem even if it is. Others just don’t think their children are ready to discuss it.

But the truth is money is an inevitable topic. Everybody needs money and everybody needs it everyday in all stages of life. So why not be the one to teach it to your children? Talk about money as a family.  Financial Literacy is not just a regular skill that can be taught outside of the home. It is a value system. So come and learn how to talk about money as a family. Book your family’s journey to Financial Happiness.

Attend FQ: A WORKSHOP ON FAMILY FINANCE on April 27, 2013 Saturday at the SeameoInnotech, Commonwealth Ave. (near UP Ayala Technohub), 1:00 – 5:30 pm. This could turn out to be one of your most memorable summer bonding moments as you finally open up this personal and essential topic.

This is not your typical Personal Finance talk because you’re going to be with your entire family. You will hear and learn from both the parents and the children of the Fausto Family as they share their experiences on how they discuss money in a happy atmosphere.  You will learn the following skills:

–          set your goals as a family

–          raise your children to have high FQ (Financial Intelligence Quotient)

–          include money talk in your romantic couple time without the stress

–          align your core values with what you do with money

–          make saving a habit

–          invest according to your personality

–          stay within your budget

–          other family finance matters

Marvin, the father, has an extensive experience in the finance industry spanning 30 years. He was the founding president of the Fund Managers’ Association of the Philippines and president of the Trust Association of the Philippines in 2009 – 2010. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer of the country’s largest bank.

Rose, the mother, was an investment banker before she decided to be full time homemaker. A couple of years ago she wrote a book on parenting entitled Raising Pinoy Boys and the favorite chapter among readers turned out to be Chapter 6 Money Matters. Today she writes a column for PhilStar.com entitled Raising Children with High FQ and is a speaker on parenting and financial literacy.

Martin, oldest son, is now a young professional who’s a brand assistant at a manufacturing company. Enrique, second son, is a college sophomore taking up Management Engineering, and Anton, youngest son, is a high school junior, both at the Ateneo de Manila University.

All three sons have been savers and investors since they were very young. They have also been speakers in Financial Literacy workshops for the youth.

To reserve your slot,send email to maryrose_fausto@yahoo.com or text 0917-5395770. Tickets are at P500/head, inclusive of snack.

So before you book that summer vacation, book your family’s journey to Financial Happiness now and form a stronger bond with your family!

Question: How should we do personal financial planning based on our culture? Unlike the west, we heavily support family members. Randi Espera Ongoco (@randieongoco) via Twitter

Answer: I have been a student and a teacher of financial planning for many years, and it is true that we do things very differently here in the Philippines.

It is a common observation that financial literacy is not very high in our beloved nation, which makes it very difficult to do financial planning. To make things worse, the citizens of this nation, and the nation itself have very low savings rates. The Philippines has a savings rate of less than 20 percent while it is estimated that the Filipinos themselves have a savings rate below 10 percent. Reports from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas say that of about 36 million Filipinos with bank accounts (with a total of over P5 trillion), 23 million of us have balances below P5,000.

Filipinos are not much of an investor, which is why our investment market, although performing extremely well, is not as big as it should be. The rate of Filipinos with insurance is likewise low at less than 20 percent of the household heads.

Here’s another disturbing statistic, it is believed that only about 10 percent of Filipinos actually prepare for retirement. Because of all these, a big majority of the population ends up financially dependent on their children during their old age. An SSS (Social Security System) study said that over 70 percent of Filipinos during retirement are living with and are being supported by their children.

There are many issues abound with context to your question. We can’t argue the fact that income opportunities in this nation are really a big problem, but I believe that our financial woes go beyond just income. I have personally been a witness to many individuals who had relatively good income and yet failed miserably with regard to being financially secure. For instance, the increase in the average of income employed by the BPOs and our dear OFWs was not a guarantee to see many of them with a financially secure future.

While the results or the symptoms may seem economic in nature, I believe that our problems are largely behavioral and cultural. It is said that personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent skill, a notion that I agree with. In our case, we have big issues with both the 80 percent as well as the 20 percent.

A big behavior issue is that we spend much more than we should and we save far less than what we are supposed to. Don’t you even wonder why our nation now has the record number of malls and it seems that many malls are being built monthly, maybe even weekly? The stark increase in the number of shopping malls through the last 10 years only shows that the income of Filipinos is improving; and yet the increase in savings among us is grossly disproportional.

To make things worse, a big cultural issue that you pointed out is that Filipino parents expect their children to support them financially. While supporting parents financially is very noble, the impact of such actions to many Filipinos results in not being able to save enough for their old years and making themselves dependent on their children in the future; a vicious cycle indeed. A skill issue among many of us is we do not really know how to properly invest and we borrow too much.

Here are my tips for you:

Increase your cash flow. You can do this by earning more money and spending less money. Your biggest asset is yourself. If you constantly invest in your competence and abilities, your income will surely grow. Be disciplined in spending, reduce unnecessary expenses, avoid too much “wants” and evade buying too many “stuff.” Having budgets and sticking to it is your best strategy in better handling your finances. As your cash flow improves, you will begin to generate more savings.

Reduce or eliminate debt. Borrowings, especially unnecessary borrowing such as consumer debt (credit card debt, personal loan, hulugan, etc.) is very costly because of the interest you pay. Also, it is difficult to have a good level of savings when you owe too much as you end up paying debt against saving money.

Take baby steps in savings and investing. Often, we think we always think too big when it comes to saving and investing. In reality, big savings is really just small savings done very regularly. The same goes for investing. You may want to enroll in an auto-debit program of your bank so you will have forced savings. Some banks like BDO and BPI offer auto debit arrangements that go into an investment account like a mutual fund or a unit investment trust fund.

Review your finances periodically. It is prudent that you inspect what you expect. Regularly check your progress vis-à-vis your goals. Always check your spending, ideally on a daily or weekly basis. Review your savings level also, maybe twice a month or once a month. Look at your investment progress and performance at least on a quarterly basis so you can make changes if need be. Regular reviews not only keep you informed, it also motivates you when you actually see progress.

Communicate with family. This is perhaps the most difficult task of all. Respectfully discuss financial matters with affected members of the family. Let them know that while you really want to help members of the family, you are also limited by your resources and your personal obligation to prepare for your own future. Limits or budgets are a good way to objectively set expectations. Other members should also be given the obligation to provide assistance. It is unfortunate that many families rely on just one member (the one who earns the most), but that shouldn’t be the case. Reliance on just one or two members of the family results in a scrounging dependence by other family members. Communication done with utmost respect and a lot of love will solve many issues of family members. Remember, you need to do this so that you will not be a burden to your children in the future.

Financial planning “Pinoy style” is a bit tricky, but it is not rocket science. The only way for this country to really move towards a financially peaceful future is to start planning today.

Are you based in Dubai or Oman? Do you need to learn about personal finance and investing? Do you need some coaching? Would you want me to give you advise on your finances? Here’s your chance to participate!

Investment Seminar c/o Ayala Land

March 1, 2013 | Friday, 4:00 pm to 7:00pm

Venue: Boracay Club, Asiana Hotel, Salahuddin Street, Dubai

Open to all OFWs interested in investment planning

Register by e-mail to lim.sherwin@ayalaland-intl.com

Personal Finance Coaching 

March 1, 2013 | Friday, 8:00 pm

Venue: Ramada Hotel Deira, Coffee Shop area, Dubai

Open to all OFWs interested in personal finance coaching

Registration required via email to burndvinyard@yahoo.com

Personal Finance Coaching 

March 2, 2013 | Saturday, 4:00 pm

Venue: Starbucks (Level LG), Dubai Mall, Dubai

Open to all OFWs interested in personal finance coaching

Registration required via email to burndvinyard@yahoo.com (Burn Gutierrez)

Life Coaching: Biblical Finance

March 3, 2013 | Sunday, 7:30 pm

Venue: Pistahan Restaurant, Landmark Grand Hotel, Al Rigga, Dubai

Open to all OFW’s

Register by email to zinniaebautista@yahoo.com (Zinnia Bautista-Deang)

Talk on Financial Planning Career

March 4, 2013 | Monday, 7:00pm

Landmark Hotel, Rigga, Deira

Open to OFWs considering a career in financial planning and services

Registration required via e-mail allanmm13@gmail.com or call 055-7235749 (Allan Miranda)

Investment Seminar c/o Ayala Land

March 7, 2013 | Friday, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Venue: Palayok Restaurant, Al Khuwair, Muscat, Oman

Open to all OFWs interested in investment planning