I was reading a financial book written by Dr. Francisco Colayco last night. The title of the book is “Wealth Within Your Reach, Pera Mo, Palaguin Mo.” It is an eye opener and very informative book. One of the topics that caught my attention is “Your Obstacles To Financial Freedom”. The author layout the seven fundamental obstacles in achieving financial independence, and he provide solutions too. Let me share what he had written. I will quote him, and at the same time I will give my personal opinion.1. Procastination.
Filipinos are known procastinators. We have this manyana habit of putting off tomorrow what we can accomplish today. Do not procastinate. It will cost you dearly.One example of is saving money in investments like government bonds that offer high yielding interest. If you started saving money while you are still young, then for sure you will not have financial problems when you reach your retirement age.
2. Inflation.
The economic condition of sustained price increases. Money is an asset that continuously loses value. When prices of commodities go up, the value of the money decreases. In order to maintain or improve your personal wealth, you must find a way to beat inflation.When I was a kid, I still remember that I can buy a candy that cost 25 cents. But this time, you cannot find a candy that cost 25 cents. Dr. Colayco estimated that inflation rate is increasing 4% every year. He also suggested the following solutions:
We must make sure that our incomes and our savings and investments must grow by at least 4% or better...It is therefore, not enough to just save. Where you put your savings will determine whether your earnings rate will beat inflation...As a rule, you should target an earnings rate, that is 4% higher than inflation.3. Unreasonable Demands of Family and Friends.
Oftentimes, family and friends expect support to the point of unreasonableness...It is so familiar a picture in barangays all over the country where the family members of OFW spend their time doing nothing while waiting for the remittance of the OFW. Come remittance day, the barangay goes into mode. The money that was sent for education or for investment in a business is diverted to unnecessary recreation, drinking session,gambling and good time.The above example happens to any Filipinos who work abroad. He suggested that there are ways to combat this problem:
- Be honest with your family members. Tell them that your hard earned money is not to be used in unnecessary things.
- If you are sending money for tuition fees, then it is better to send it directly to the school. This is to avoid of spending the money.
- Save money for yourself. Do not send all your money to your family.
Negative values can hinder us from achieving financial independence...Our fear of failure, laziness, negativism, bad spending habits,lack of emotional and financial intelligence can keep us from succeeding in life...Don’t be a loser. Be guided by winners. As they say: Losers criticize. Winners analyze.Last week, one of the hottest news in our country is “investment scam” that happened in Pagadian. For those who were scammed, that experience is very painful. But “painful is a very powerful motivator tool to move you into action.
Walang nagtatagumpay na hindi dumadaan sa pagkabigo.If you experienced of being fooled by investment scammers, or your business went down, do not give up. Learn from your mistakes, and move on.
5. Laziness.
Many of us have developed the habit of too much dependence on others. This has led to indolence and sheer laziness...This war for financial independence is a personal war.It has to be fought individually. We cannot let somebody else fight it for us.His statement is really true. There are many instances that we always depends on someone else like our parents, siblings, relatives, etc. If you have the strength to work and the capability to earn money, then do not depend on others.
6. Poor spending habits.
There are two major reasons for this behavior:
Impulse buying. People, especially those who do “malling” for leisure, almost always end up buying more than what they intended to do.To solve this problem and to control it is to list down all the things you need. Do not waste your money on things that you want. Live within your means.
Spending because of trends. So many of our young employees, agents and professionals spend their hard-earned salaries and commissions on truly unnecessary items.
Your spending habit is the final determinant of your financial success. What really count is not so much what you earn but what you get to keep.
7. Lack of Financial Literacy.
Financial literacy is all about common sense. It is knowing what real wealth means and what money is for...People must realize that this does not require formal college degrees.So how can you become financial literate? There are lots of ways. Below are one of the things we can:
- Attend a seminar on how to be financial independent.
- Read books and magazines. There are lots of books that you can buy in National bookstore. Some of the books that I can recommend are written by our local writers like Dr. Francisco Colayco,Chinky Tan, etc. Magazines like entreprenuer magazines, Pinoy Business magazines, etc.
- Listen to radio program. I highly recommend that you listen to Chinkpositive by Chinky Tan every Sunday (6 am – 8 am) on RadyoBalita News FM.
- etc.
Do not delay. Take appropriate action right away. Be a winner. Be positive in all that you do. Do not be afraid to fail. Failure is an integral part of success._________________________________________________________
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