Raising money smart kids

By Randell Tiongson on March 7th, 2012

About 2 years ago, I invited 3 teenagers who are expert investors for my Blue Chip program. Those boys have since been known as the Fausto Brothers, teenage investors! While these boys are awesome, they are who they are because they were raised as such by their wonderful parents, Marvin and Rose Fausto.

People are always asking me how to raise financially savvy kids so I’m posting this event. Here’s your chance to learn from no less than the mother of those financially savvy boys, Rose Fausto herself.

The Registered Financial Planner Philippines is so proud to partner with Rose Fausto for Raising Money Smark Kids!

Share

Personal Finance Champions: BDO’s EIP

By Randell Tiongson on October 20th, 2011

How can an investment make it to my list of personal finance champions? Here’s why.

As a personal finance advocate, I and many other advocates have been teaching people on the power of regularly saving and investing. Many of us will use charts and illustrations showing the power of compounding especially if we are doing it on monthly basis. However, there is hardly any vehicle for us to do such investment on a monthly or semi-monthly basis; if there is, the minimum amounts required will marginalize many of us.

I have been writing and speaking about the advantages of pooled funds, especially for long term investing (please check my other blogs on pooled funds). Mutual Funds and UITFs are good investment vehicles for the average Pinoy and one can expect better capital growth in the long term for such instruments. However, Mutual Funds and UITFs have minimum amounts and although they are relatively low, many Pinoys still find it difficult to cough up the initial placement that ranges from P5,000 to P10,000. Further, many of us will start on investing on said pooled funds but will stop making additional placements because we find it inconvenient and we lack the discipline for force savings. To learn more about Pooled Funds visit my previously posted articles: Pooled Funds 1Pooled Funds 2

When I received a call from BDO’s Chief Investment Officer Marvin Fausto to have lunch, he said that he has something that he wants to show me that I will definitely find interesting. Since Marvin is a dear friend and one I respect and admire a lot, I agreed to meet him provided he pays for lunch (always a cheapskate I am). Mr. Fausto told me about a new product BDO will be launching, a UITF program that can be deducted from one’s savings account on a monthly or semi-monthly regimen. It was interesting but I didn’t think it was really anything new… besides, there are very few Pinoys who can afford a monthly debit of P10,000. What Marvin said after really caught my attention – he smiled and told me that the monthly deduction can be as low as P1,000 a month and the investor can chose among 3 funds BDO is offering: Bond, Balanced and Equities. My jaw dropped and asked him “really, you guys are willing to let people buy into your funds for P1,000? Wow!” Further, the convenience of auto deduction will be good for many of us who are not necessarily well disciplined in savings.  What I also like is that an investor just needs to go through the initial paperwork one time, no further documents, signatures, Know Your Client (KYC) questionnaires after.

Here’s the beauty of the EIP. If I am a conservative investor, I can opt to go for their Bond funds which are generally low risk investments. If I am aggressive and still have a lot of time before I need my funds, I can opt to be a risk taker and invest in their Equity funds. If I want to be in the middle of the ground when it comes to taking risks, I can opt for Balanced funds. While other banks can offer you UITF funds, I don’t think there is anyone that will let you invest for a small amount of P1,000 per month. Finally, there is a real product that is consistent with what we finance coaches teach, regular savings and investing over a long period of time and this time, even those with challenged incomes can now participate.

Truly, the BDO EIP is a Personal Finance Champion in my view. Pinoys should take advantage of investing through the EIP and other financial institutions should take queue from BDO. To Marvin Fausto, Ador Abrogena, Marily de Vera and the rest of the BDO Trust Department, mabuhay kayo!

Check out BDO’s EIP on their website

Share

Personal Finance Champions: Efren Ll. Cruz, RFP

By Randell Tiongson on October 4th, 2011

Efren is one of the country’s most notable champions of financial literacy. He is a best-selling author, columnist and one of the most sought after speaker/trainer in the arena of personal finance. You will find Efren giving lectures all over the country educating hundreds of participants each time. There are also thousands of people who have benefited much from reading his two books. More than being notable, I am proud to say that Mr. Efren Ll. Cruz is perhaps one of the most respected individuals in the financial services industry.

I first met Efren after in 2006 after a class in Registered Financial Planner (RFP). Henry Ong, RFP President invited me to join their lunch Efren and his friend Atty. Caloy Ocampo. My initial impression on Efren was that he was a tad timid and very unassuming. He mentioned that he just wrote a book entitled Pwede Na! The Complete Pinoy Guide to Personal Finance which I ended up buying from him that day. As I read his book, I was enamored at the wisdom of Efren and I can discern his passion to help ordinary Filipinos get financially literate and achieve financial freedom. That fateful lunch was the beginning of my admiration for Efren, in fact I am proud to say that I am one of his earliest fans and I continue to be a fan!

Efren has an impressive pedigree in his area of expertise. He holds an MBA from the University of the Philippines and has been in the financial services industry for over 25 years, 18 years of which is in fund management. Efren is no stranger to managing wealth, working for institutions like Far East Bank, Grepalife Asset Management, Standard Chartered Bank and others. He is also one of the driving forces behind the mutual fund industry, serving at the Investment Company Association of the Philippines (ICAP) twice as President and once as Chairman. He also co-founded the Fund Managers Association of the Philippines. Efren has definitely earned the respect of his peers because of his hard work and dedication.

Efren is a favorite of many publications; as a contributor or columnists for Business Mirror, Moneysense and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He is also a frequent resource person for many Radio and TV shows, too many to enumerate. He is one of the directors of the Registered Financial Planner Institute and a regular moderator of the program where he teaches on personal finance and investments.

One of Efren’s main advocacies is financial education for the workforce. Efren and his company, the Personal Finance Advisers Philippines Corp. has been in the forefront of providing financial literacy to many employees. He makes employers understand that it is in their best interest that employees are financially literate to ensure competitiveness and minimize work conflicts that will have a severe impact on bottom line. Efren Cruz has been actively seeking corporations to allow him and his company to teach their employees despite the great odds they face.

Another area where I admire Efren the most is that despite handling and teaching money all these years, he remains to be God fearing and always remind his listeners, participants and readers about the real purpose of wealth and money – to honor God, first and foremost.

I am so proud to say that Efren is one my esteemed mentors, an ally, a colleague and a most cherished friend. Efren, is on the top of my list as Personal Finance Champion. My prayer is that the country will have more Efren Cruz. Mabuhay ka Kuya Efren!

Check out his company website.

Share