People always asks for my recommendations on many things so here goes…

Self-help finance books

1) Total Money Make Over by Dave Ramsey

2) Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey

3) The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

4) Pwede Na! The Complete Pinoy Guide on Personal Finance by Efren Ll. Cruz

5) Till Debt Do Us Part by Chinkee Tan

Magazine/Publications

1) Moneysense (local)

2) The Economist (International)

3) Business Mirror

Motivational & Inspirational Authors

1) Andy Stanley (on Faith, Motivation & Inspiration)

2) John Maxwell (on Leadership, Inspiration)

3) Francis J. Kong (on Motivation & Inspiration)

4) Joel Osteen (on Motivation and Faith)

Podcasts / Radio Shows

1) Dave Ramsey (on Personal Finance)

2) Joel Osteen (on Motivation, Inspiration and Faith)

3) Suze Orman (on Personal Finance)

4) Ravi Zacharias (on Faith)

5) Francis J. Kong (on Ethics & Values)

Live Seminars

1) Francis J. Kong (Inspiration & Values)

2) John Maxwell (Leadership & Inspiration)

3) Registered Financial Planner Institute (Personal Finance Education)

4) Chinkee Tan (Debt Management, Practical Personal Finance)

5) Efren Ll. Cruz (Advance Personal Finance & Investments)

6) Alvin Tabanag (Practical Personal Finance)

7) Melvin J. Esteban (Quantitative Finance)

7) Go Negosyo (Entrepreneurship)

Websites

1) Income-Tacts — Philippine personal finance community

2) Dave Ramsey — Personal finance

3) Francis Kong — Inspiration

4) New Media — Internet marketing and new media

5) Dennis Sy — Faith, church and being a Real Man!

6) Paolo Punzalan — Church and family

7) Schooltalk — Parenting and education

8. Salve Duplit0 — Family finance

9) Good News Pilipinas — Patriotism

10) Larry Uy — Next generation & family

I wanted also to write a list of stuff I don’t recommend but decided not too — too much drama. Hmmm, maybe next time.

And last but the most imporant recommendation of all: Read the Bible!

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

I often speak, write and teach about money.  I am a personal finance practitioner and all my endeavors lead to the advocacy of financial freedom.

Money is definitely important… to have a financially prosperous life is a goal for people to have. However, the goal does not end in financial prosperity but rather the purpose of such prosperity. Money is a tool and its use dictates its morality.  Having money should not be the end goal… in fact being happy because of the money shouldn’t also be the end goal.

Money is important. Being happy is important. However, I believe life is beyond that. Life has a purpose and finding that purpose is the key in our proverbial quest for true happiness.  Achieving financial freedom is merely a process that we need to go through and should not be the final destination. But achieving financial freedom is very crucial in the achievement of our goals in life, like I said earlier, they are tools.

When we set out our goals, do we know our purpose? When we plan our lives, do we see the end goal? These questions are simplistic and yet many people do not have the answers for such inquisitions– they go through life trying to find an answer to a question and yet they do not know what the question is.

What is the purpose behind our quest for financial freedom? Is it about convenience? Is it about security? Finding out our purpose is the key to the many questions we ask – financial or otherwise.

For me, I found my purpose.

“…who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

(2 Timothy 1:9-10, NIV)

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is probably the most important position in every corporation, next to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). All companies require money and the proper management of money is crucial if a company is to survive and eventually succeed. Yet, the CFO’s  job is one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated  in most organizations. In the human body, blood is extremely important as we all know, hence the term ‘lifeblood’. In any company, money is the ‘lifeblood’ and therefore the one who manages it hold a very important task.

In the family, the function of a CFO is just as important. The household is very much like a business although the applications are different, the principles are the same.

I am thoroughly blessed to have a terrific CFO in my family, my beloved wife Mia. It is ironic that a finance practitioner like me is so poor in money management – I simply do not have the discipline and the knack to do it properly. Mia is a great CFO, without her, our family will be in a total mess. My wife is also a Registered Financial Planner – the difference between us is that I am more theoretical while she is more practical. In other words, she actually practices what she knows!

More than a fantastic CFO, my wife is a great at many things. Between the two of us, she is actually more entrepreneurial than me. She twice put up a company with virtually no capital! Her current business is Quick Plate Food Catering which she established in 2007 with our sister-in-law Lynne. From humble beginnings (canteen operations), their company now caters huge corporations like IBM, Accenture, etc.  She is a multi-awarded sales person also in all the companies she ever represented. What she has accomplished and the things she is to accomplish keep me in awe. She does all of these while being a great mother and a terrific wife to a very demanding husband like me.  This school year, she has even started to home school our two young boys – what a superwoman!

She raises our kids, manages our household, runs her business endeavors, home schools the boys, deals with our teenagers, administers as a CFO – while being a mega supportive wife to such an undeserving husband like me. To say that I will be lost without her is a gross understatement.  She is my best-friend, mother of my children and my life-long loving partner. However, all of these are dwarfed by a fact that amazes me further – her love for Christ. Mia truly has a big love for the Lord, something that makes me love her more. My wife loves God more than anyone else – more than our kids, more than me and definitely more than herself.

To my CFO, my boss, my best friend, my lover, mother of Billie, Gabbie, Riggs and Chino, my life-long partner and my co-laborer in Jesus, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you so much.

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.”

– Proverbs 31:10, NIV