Road to Financial Awareness

By: sally on Sunday, June 05, 2011

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I don't know what had gotten into me but this week, I was so engrossed with the idea of having investments and not just savings account. I know I haven't built a good emergency/savings fund these past few years (I've been working for 6 years already), and whenever I think that I have bank accounts with maintaining balance as amount in them, I feel really depressed. So I tried looking for information regarding long term investments such as Mutual Funds,Trust Funds and Stock Market.

The first financial blog that I got hooked was Fitz Villafuerte's blog. I was able to read some of his archived articles regarding stock market. Then he referred his readers for citiseconline, which is also his stock broker. Then I kept on looking for information just to grasp the idea of getting into investing.

As I was doing my online research,  I came across Bo Sanchez' websites. I then read some of the entries from his official site, then the TrulyRichClub.com. I was curious with the books that he has written with regards to financial freedom so I also looked them up online and then I promised myself to check them in National Bookstore or Powerbooks when I had the time. I never owned any financial books before so I am somehow entertaining the idea of purchasing this type of books. I'm just hesitating because I know they cost a lot. But I was wrong. There were many books regarding financial freedom that cost below P500. So what happened is, I bought 3 books that Friday night! I already finished reading 2, those that were written by Bo Sanchez since they were thin. I am currently reading the third book entitled "Rich Dad's Retire Young Retire Rich". I'll try to post my reviews regarding these books when I'm done reading this last one.

For today I decided to create a notebook that will serve as my journal towards road to financial awareness.I wanted to really commit to this path so I wanted to right the things that I plan on doing and the things that I did relating the topic so as to keep track of my actions/decisions. I know by doing this, it will remind me about my financial goals, and that I am trying to change some of my habits that are preventing me to become rich. Here is what I've written as my first entry:

This notebook will serve as journal for my journey regarding financial freedom. I've been looking for resources online regarding investments these past few weeks but it's only at the night of June 3 that I finally did my first step: I bought 3 financial books at Powerbooks Megamall. I was even hesitant at first since I know that I might find free ebooks regarding these topics, or even the actual ebooks of the ones I am planning to buy. But then I thought that buying these kinds of books is a good investment. If I can spend money buying shoes and clothes, why not try these books that would benefit me in the end? So I did. And below are the books that I bought:

1. My Maid Invests in the Stock Market... And Why You Should Too - Bo Sanchez (2010) P175.00
2. 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich - Bo Sanchez (2009) P350
3. Rich Dad's Retire Young Retire Rich - Robert Kiyosaki P335


I finished reading book #1 the night I bought it since the book is thin. I started reading book #2 and finished reading it Saturday night. I even brought it with me when I went to San Juan Arena to watch DLSU - ADMU game.


I've also written my dream plan at the age of 35. Actually, the one I wrote last Friday night was already my second dream plan. The first one I listed is shorter and too conservative with regards to amount. So what I did this time was to expand my target: wrote as many things as I wanted to happen at the age of 35 and noted bigger amounts with regards to financial target. I'm really excited and very hopeful for the following years of my life because of these!


For today, what I did is to find seminars regarding investments. I checked Mr. Francis Colayco's website, the man behind Pera Mo, Palaguhin Mo, and they do offer seminars regarding MFs, UITFs. I am wondering how much the seminar costs so I might call their office tomorrow. Anyway, the last seminar he had last May 21 costs P2000 (got the details from ensogo.com.ph, which offered deal on the seminar at 50% off). 


As of today, I've already listed some of the targets for this month. And that is to inquire about the following investments:
1. EIP of Citiseconline
2. EIP of BDO


Actually, I've already printed the forms for Citiseconline. The minimum investment for their EIP program is P5000 so it's really not heavy on the pocket. BDO is much lower, which is P1000. But you still have to reach P10,000 to be able to acquire certificates as proof. It's like BPI Save Up, but instead of going to savings account, your money is invested on the chosen fund.


I know these goals entail a lot of effort especiall for someone who is a bread winner like me. But I think it's best to start now and be rewarded by the time I retire. I wouldn't want to work my entire life so I have to find other ways. I'm also talking to my family regarding having small business wherein we can sell stuff to have other source of income. I need to set a family meeting for that though.

I am ending this entry with the list of the resources that I checked online. Hope it can enlighten you as what it did to me.

http://bosanchez.ph
http://fitzvillafuerte.com/ 
 http://www.citiseconline.com/
http://www.colaycofoundation1.com/


By the way, citiseconline is also offering seminars, both paid and free of charge. I already signed up for their 2 free seminars. So if you are interested, you might want to check their site and register online, I already did.

Let us all travel the road towards financial awareness!