Kontento ka na ba sa KaPERAhan mo?
Unleash the Highest Potential of your Money Part 1

A gift from a friend cum my insurance agent and fellow investor Richard Macalintal which comes in a small package but with enlightening contents that are simple to read and grasp even for the zero financially literate Juan or Maria.

To be honest, I never considered buying this book to read as I thought it was in pure Filipino and I am not really very good in pure Filipino.  I am scared that combined with Financial Literacy topic it can prove to be lethal for my mental health.  Good thing Richard is giving it as a gift to his clients so I was able to have the chance to get a copy of the book.

To my delight, the book is written in Taglish and the authors did a good job in the way it is written that it didn’t come across as trying hard Taglish or “colegiala” Taglish effect but more of a conversational Taglish.

I remember my blog mentor asked me before to consider writing my blog in either pure Filipino or Taglish as my target audience are Filipinos but to be honest I am more comfortable in English.

Now, going back to the book.  I loved the book because of the different perspective or insight the authors provided when it comes to handling personal finance.  Below are some of the key insights that I gathered from the book:

Reasons Why We Have Money Problems:

1. Lack of Knowledge – We are lucky because there are so many seminars and FB groups now focusing on spreading financial literacy or how to handle your personal finance.
2. Lack of Action – Some people keep on studying but never apply so in the end they are still poor.
3. Lack of Discipline or Consistency – Discipline and Consistency are key to saving and investing.

4 Kinds of Money Managers or “Moneygers”:

1. Survivor – A person who completely or fully spends what he earns. He always end up with zero balance and the pay day just comes in time for him to survive.  The issue arises when an emergency happens that we don’t have spare money to cover the emergency and at that point in time because there is no savings poor Survivor will have to borrow money.

2. Pretender – A person who believes his income is enough to cover his lavish lifestyle and overspending habits. He has a nice house, car, complete set of gadgets that he cannot afford.  He pretends he can afford them.

3. Seeker – A person who has excess money but doesn’t know where to invest his money. In the end, he will use the excess money to buy things that he thinks are investments.

4. Unleasher – The book definition “A person whose mission is to UNLEASH the highest potential of his money thereby paving the way for a life of success, happiness and significance!” In a nutshell, this person saves and invests before spending his income.

Story of 2 Kinds of Old Age:

Poor Old Father – children are fighting with each other because the Father is being passed from child to child due to the cost of expenses to support the father and the child’s own family.

Rich Old Father – children are fighting with each other to have the Father stay with them because they will be pampered and showered with gifts by the Father.  The children don’t need to worry about the Father’s expenses.  The Father is rich enough to pay for his own needs and lavish gifts and food to people in the house he will stay at.

Which Old Father do you want to be?  The poor or the rich?

Story of Pinoy vs Chinoy Bizman:

Pinoy → Earnings from Business will be used to buy gadgets, house, car, and upgrade lifestyle.

Chinoy → Re-invest earnings from the business.

In the end Pinoy Bizman gets bankrupt and needs to sell his gadgets, house, car and business.  Who do you think will buy?  Of course, it will be the Chinoy Bizman and he will get it with a huge discount.

Vic Garcia Self-Control Technique:

Before buying something ask yourself the following questions:
Question 1: Do I want this?
Question 2: Do I need this?
Question 3: Can I afford this?
Question 4: Does God want you to buy this?

If you answer yes to all questions then you can go ahead and make that purchase.  This is a tough pill to take especially the last question.  It will take some getting used to.

I encourage you dear readers to grab a copy of the book.  You will have a lot of Aha moments because of the new learnings and insights you will gather from the book.  It’s also a very easy book that you can read around 1-2 hours but will make you think hard and evaluate your life in 1-2 days.