For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

– Luke 2:11, ESV

The true essence of Christmas is Jesus Christ. With the fervor and festive mood of the season, it is easy to forget the real reason for the season. The greatest gift we can ever receive has already been given to us through grace.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here’s a wonderful Christmas song from my friend Acel Van Ommen

If anyone claims that being a parent is easy, that person is either not a parent or is in denial.

Don’t get me wrong, being a parent is one of the most fulfilling things that can ever happen to us.

The joys of parenthood can’t be explained by words, one must experience it to be able to understand how parents like me can feel blessed. Still, parenthood is no walk in the park. Sometime ago, my friends and I were discussing our fears as parents and it was one energetic discussion, if I may say. There were many parenting issues we discussed, from letting our kids date, allowances, teachers, books and even canteen food. When we parents start talking about our kids, we can get to be very passionate.

We can also get clueless when it comes to raising our kids, unfortunately.

So what are the top concerns of parents? My friends and I had a long discussion and we had many concerns but we all agreed on our top three—academic excellence, formation of values and education funding.

One aspect directly deals with personal finance (education funding), the other deals with proper parenting (formation of values) and the other one can be deemed as a combination of both personal finance and parenting (academic excellence).

When discussing about academic excellence, we wondered how well our kids fare at school. Among some of the questions: Is the school teaching them enough? Are they being taught too much? Is what they are learning going to prepare them in the real world? Is today’s education good? Is home schooling a viable option?

Parents with schoolchildren are so concerned about the education of their kids because they feel that how they perform in school will determine their success in life. Is it really? Well, the answer to that is definitely a relative one.

An equally big concern my friends and I talked about were about values. We often wonder if our kids will have good values so they can live a morally upright life. Parents often fear issues relating to values such as teen pregnancy, rebellion, drugs, alcohol, smoking and so on. I often hear many parents complain about how wild the new generation is and how they have become “out of control.” Well, the older generation thought that our generation was wild back then, so I suppose this is a natural thing. Still, the issues on values of our kids are giving many parents sleepless nights.

Lastly, another big concern is paying for the schooling of our kids. It seems that now, more than ever, the educational budget of most families are ballooning with the ever-increasing cost of tuition and other education-related expenses. It is not only the tuition and other fees that are a concern for many parents. A big issue with parents is also the cost of tutors. Some kids have tutoring costs that are even greater than tuition costs! If the educational costs will eat up bulk of the family’s budget, quality of life will definitely be affected.

There are no magic solutions for these concerns, no tried-and-tested formula. However, we can learn from the experiences of others who went through similar concerns. In the end, we must take comfort that if we do our best to raise our children and with the Lord in the center of our family lives, we can be assured that we will be raising kids who will bring us immeasurable joy and vice-versa.

“Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children” (Proverbs 17:6, NIV).

When I was asked if I would be interested to attend a special meeting with Suze Orman, I almost dropped my phone out of excitement. This lady is a prime mover in the personal-finance arena and probably the most popular and perhaps the most influential itself. I would be crazy not to drop anything and rush into this appointment.

When given the opportunity, I asked her how finance media people like me can help in the financial education of the Filipinos.  I mentioned that personal finance material is not a popular thing Pinoys care for as much as they should.

Here’s what the famous personal-finance icon told me: “stop writing about money that people don’t have.” Wow! She encouraged me to write about stories of people, how they deal with their issues. People don’t like to be lectured at, they want to find hope. Too many times, writers & speakers like me get embroiled on all those technical things, too much on the nose bleed stuff. Suze was dead on and was a good reminder that I should always think about the readers are concerned about. She encouraged me to get the people to first care about their financial future, open their minds and challenge their set behaviours. When they get their acts right, they will naturally yearn to learn more, understand the rudiments of investing and be ready for heavier stuff.

She also encouraged me to continue with what I am doing and that she has so much faith in the spirit of the Filipinos. It was nice to know that she also likes the work of Dave Ramsey, someone who has such an influence on me. There are many finance coaches out there and many of them Suze Orman doesn’t really like but “Dave Ramsey is one of the few guys I like” she muses.

In a short period of time, I learned much from Ms. Suze Orman but what I didn’t expect was that she will also motivate me. In the next blogs, I will write more of the stuff I learned from her or cross-post articles that I am writing for other sites, publications.

Thank you Bank of the Philippine Islands for inviting me, it sure was an honor and a blessing to finally meet an icon.