Making 2016 different
‘CHEERS to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”—Oprah Winfrey
Taking it easy on your holiday shopping
IT’S the holiday season! It’s the time of giving. It’s the time we are most generous as we shower our loved ones with gifts and blessings. It’s definitely the most wonderful time of the year!
Learning the hard way
THROUGHOUT my 34 years of existence, I never really had formal education about managing money. There were no courses about personal finance. So most of what I know comes from experience or from reading blogs by financial-freedom advocates, like Randell Tiongson or Dave Ramsey, and going through courses like the Registered Financial Planners program. Reading and formalizing my knowledge through studying gave me a better understanding of the different aspects and tools in personal finance. But it was the experiences that really taught me lessons that stick. These are lessons I had to learn the hard way.
Purpose-driven insurance
I got my first insurance when I was 28 (I’m 34 now). I was still single back then and the only reason I got insurance was because I knew the agent and I thought it’d be a good investment. I never really understood the value of insurance and why I needed one until I took the RFP course and eventually got married. Many of us probably had the same reasons for getting insurance—they knew the agent and didn’t want to reject them because they’re good friends or it was sold as an investment that would give high returns. In personal-finance planning, understanding why you’re getting insurance is a key step in knowing what type of insurance you’d have to get.
When business becomes personal
THEY say that running a household is very much like running a business. Once you become an expert in running your personal finances, it would be easy to manage your business finances. Sometimes, though, it can get complicated and it wouldn’t seem as simple as it should be. A lot of times individuals who are just starting their own businesses have to deal with a messy cash flow, thus eventually costing them the opportunity of making their business profitable. So here are some tips from personal experiences and conversations with some start-up business owners that could hopefully keep you from losing and get you closer to profiting.