Posting the column I wrote for the January-February issue of Moneysense.

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I am writing this column at the very last day of 2011, truly a blessed year for me and my family. I probably gave the most number of seminars, talks, lectures, TV & Radio appearances, counselling, blogs, columns and articles for 2011. Somehow there has been a great demand for financial literacy more than ever and I am so encouraged that Pinoys are becoming to be more and more aware of personal finance. I found myself in many places, from Baguio to Davao, even in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau – all in the name of financial education. I’ve been through many conferences, campuses, churches… even coffee shops – the invitations keeps on coming and I keep on accepting.  I never tire of teaching, speaking and writing and I hold on to my belief that a more financially educated citizenry will result to a better nation.

While there were events that zeroed in on more technical aspects like investing, mutual funds, insurance and the like, bulk of the topics I tackled were about personal finance basics – money management, debt and getting started or how to get back on the road to a financially peaceful life. I used to belief that knowing the knowledge of finances will answer many of our queries in life but through the years I learned to accept that finance is more of behaviour rather than a skill. In my insolent ignorance, I thought that if we teach people the rudiments of knowledge based finances, they will achieve financial freedom. Yet, I can’t help but look at myself; with all the knowledge that I have acquired through the years, is my financial life getting really better? How come there are so many of us who are so well versed in finance yet our lives do not really mirror what we teach? And then I stumbled on a principle that opened up my eyes and I myself began to change for the better. Having a financially peaceful life is really 80% behaviour and only 20% knowledge. As the saying goes, it’s all in the mind and it’s all in the heart. The answer to many of our financial questions rely on our behaviour and not so much on our skills. Even if you are the best stock broker in the world and yet you do not save enough for you to invest, you will have nothing to show for. I like the old joke that says “ever wondered why they are called stock brokers? Because they are broke”… sorry, pun intended. By contrast, I have seen many prosperous individuals with limited financial know-how but they are well disciplined when it comes to their money.

Don’t get me wrong, financial knowledge is important but will only be useful if the behaviour is firstly ideal. As an advisor, I have listened to many stories of mayhem and mistakes, while some of them are born out of lack of knowledge, most of them are really about wrong behaviour. I have since altered the way I teach and the way that I write, while some say that I ‘dumbed-down’ finance too much, I beg to disagree – I just chose to focus on some essentials first before teaching the ‘nose-bleed’ stuff. Once the mind and heart is in the right frame, knowledge will follow naturally.

I urge the other advocates of financial literacy to re-think their strategies of putting much emphasis on knowledge first before behaviour, doing so will mean they can really make a difference to more people. It is not a move of compromise but a move towards effectiveness.

In 2012, I pray and by God’s will, that I get to teach, speak, guest, counsel and write more than my last 3 years put together and I will continue to sing the same tune, behaviour first then knowledge.

It is only 2 days before 2011 comes to an official end and we usher 2012. As the clock ticks during these times, I can’t help but look back on a year that was truly eventful for me.

By the end of 2011, it will mark a full 3 years since I left my corporate job to go full time on what I love to do, that is to teach  financial literacy to those yearning to learn. Amidst the uncertainties of becoming truly independent, bereft of a stable flow of income and benefits, I took the path of the less travelled unfazed by the risks that are inherent with the new endeavor. Many well-meaning friends and family were concerned at my new direction and for a good reason—I got 4 hungry mouths to feed, 1 of whom was entering the university. I held on to my belief that the Lord wanted me on this path, one that is unclear. Faith and obedience has not been my strongest traits in the past but when I let Christ rule my life, it has been the driving force of my life ever since. Well, all these are now in retrospect.

2009 saw a year of many struggles, ambivalence and yet I had a glimpse of what was to come. It was a year of faith and trusting completely on my creator. As my eldest child enters the University in 2009, my wife and I truly experienced the faithfulness of the Lord and the generosity of many friends and family. 2009 reaffirmed that I was on a path that was the right one for me.

By 2010, many changes transpired; the most eventful was a decision for my wife to home school our 2 young boys which also means that she must stop working – something not easy for her after being used to earning a living for 20 years. With my wife not working due to home school, the burden of providing for the financial needs of my family now solely belongs to me. Since the time we got married, my wife has been a tremendous help in keeping the family finances afloat but it was a decision we had to make. More opportunities opened up for me — more talks, more seminars, and more travels which equated to reaching out to more people. My career was in full swing, my family life was stable and my walk with Jesus was getting better. 2010 was truly a satisfying year and while there were a lot more things to improve on, I felt contented with what was going on. By the year’s end, I had a taste of my first quasi-endorsement as one being featured in UCC’s Beacon of Change 2011 Planner. This was also the year that we started to move in generosity because we knew that such acts pleased the Lord.

But the Lord is a God of plenty and a God of amazement. While I was contented He had bigger plans for me, beyond what I could have imagined. 2011 was truly an eventful year for me and my family. While it was not one without any challenges, the year brought in many pleasant surprises. My career was even productive and many more doors of opportunities are being opened. I found myself speaking all over the country, Hong Kong, Singapore and even in Macao. I’ve collaborated with many great friends whom I share a passion to teach… Cito Beltran, Francis Kong, Chinkee Tan, Paulo Tibig, Jayson Lo, Miriam Quiambao and more. I also found myself writing the stories of Richard Poon, Christian Bautista and others. It was also this year that I had the opportunity to reach out to more youth by being invited to speak in campuses and through our youth finance program, Blue Chip. My former staff and now business partner Jen and his ever supportive husband Luis and I established White Board, a formal entity for all our endeavors. My TV appearances were also on a high, as well as radio. My blogs have been read much more than before and I find myself being asked to write left and right.

2011 was turning out to be an unbelievable year but the Lord was not about to stop the surprises. After all, His gloriousness allows Him to bless those who are undeserving, of which I was one of the worse. After writing a column for the Business Mirror (an awesome newspaper) for about 3 and half years, my good friend and RFP big boss Henry Ong called me to ask me if I would be willing to start a column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer – it took me about half a second to say yes.  Money Matters is a weekly column which I alternate with my good friend Efren Cruz and has taken quite an interesting format, a Q&A one. My new column got me even more attention and opened even more doors. A short while after, I was surprised to see my name listed as one of the top 12 Most Influential People in Personal Finance by Moneysense Magazine. To be included amongst a roster of people I look up to is so surreal and overwhelming. Just when all the buzz of being part of the 12 people was about to die down, I got a call from a former professor of mine (Rose Dinio) and she seems so happy to let me know that I am included as one of the Most Outstanding Alumni of my school, the University of Santo Tomas.

2011 also so the actualization of a dream of mine, to run a full day seminar that will teach people on the process of financial security… not a 1 hour talk, not even a half day training but rather a full day program that will bring those attending into the a process that will answer many of their questions in achieving the much coveted goal of financial freedom. Since my program is a step by step instructional one, we decided to call it Steps to Financial Peace. It’s launching was a successful one and I am so privileged that many corporate sponsors lead by BDO and Cole Haan supported it. The same program was also brought to Davao through the industriousness of a dear friend, Joseph Doce and the generosity of our presenters, Sun Life and AirPhil Express.

I continue to help the Registered Financial Planner Philippines in its aim to professionalize the country’s financial planners. Go Negosyo was also an organization that I am proud to be a part of and we aim to teach as many Pinoys as we can. The Blas F. Ople Policy Center was also one of the groups that I co-labor with, reaching to our heroes – the OFWs. And of course, I am steadfast in my commitment to my church, Victory Green Hills – my spiritual family where we fellowship in honoring God and making disciples.

Many other events escaped me right now, trying to recall made me feel overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed because by my own, none of these would have even been remotely possible; and yet such blessings are bestowed upon me and my family. Why do I get such unmerited favors? Is it because of my faith, my obedience? Not really. We get all these blessings for one reason only, God is a faithful God, glorious and magnificent in all His splendor. The reason why all these are happening is because of Him. When I surrendered my life to Jesus 4 years ago, I did not only become a better me, I became a new me. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV

What does 2012 hold for me? I don’t know but I am steadfast because I know Jesus is the captain of my life. I need only to be faithful in my purpose in life, that is to worship Him.

Happy New Year to all and God bless all of you!

The day after Christmas. We see a lot of wrappers, boxes and loads and loads of toys. Then we notice that our kids have more and more toys — so much more than what they can play with. This is an opportune time for us to teach our kids about generosity and what we should put value on.

Prior to Christmas, we have taught our kids that Christmas is not about receiving or even giving presents, its about a testament of God’s love by sending Jesus into our lives. Christmas is really about Christ and as parents we felt we needed to constantly remind them.

Jesus is the Lord of generosity too and I believe that whenever we are generous, it is an act of worship. We can teach kids to start being truly generous at an early age and after Christmas is a great way to do it. Usually, we teach our kids to give away old toys, stuff they don’t like to play with and after sometime of doing it, our kids find joy in giving away their old toys. Sometime ago, we slowly tried to teach them about sacrificial giving… generosity is not just about giving away things you don’t want anymore. We encouraged them start giving even new and unopened toys to bless others.

This morning, I got an sms from my mentor and dear friend Cito Beltran who is currently in Cagayan de Oro helping with relief operations. Cito asked me to create awareness in the viral world on sending toys and crafts to help relieve the affected children from a lot of stress. With a few text messages, posts in Facebook and Twitter, it was a joy to see people already responding. A short text message to my good buddy Paulo Tibig of V Cargo resulted to them agreeing to pick up and bring the toys and crafts to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan for Free!

Here’s what me and my kids got busy with earlier. We sorted out their new toys, mostly unopened still and I asked them the pray and seek what the Lord is telling them — if they want to give new toys and which of their new toys. My wife and I was overwhelmed when they wanted to give more than half of their new gifts. We also asked them to check their toys and start deciding which to give away. Again, we were delighted that our kids decided to give even toys they like to play with. At ages 9 and 6, it is such a blessing for parents like us to see how Jesus has touched their hearts and move in the spirit of generosity.

My boys story was picked up by Gerald Dela Pena of TV 5 and you can catch their short feature tomorrow (tuesday) at TV 5, 11:30am.

If you would like to move in generosity along with your children, please do so and send toys and crafts to the children of CDO and Iligan. Again, may we reiterate to send toys that are in good condition, not those that demean the dignity of our brothers and sisters. We suggest that you consolidate toys and crafts from your friends and family and V Cargo will pick them up for delivery to CDO and Iligan, free of charge. To arrange for pick up, please call or sms Nerz of V Cargo at 0927-7008059.

God bless you.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” – Matthew 19:14, NIV