“There is no slavery but ignorance.”

— Dennis Waitley

I gave a radio interview earlier for Tony Cuevas and we had a long chat on some personal finance issues. Our discussions focused on two issues us Pinoys have with regard to personal finance — discipline and ignorance.

We all know that we have a discipline issue with regard to finance… but we also have an ignorance issue as well.

Many of us do not have a good handle of our finances because we are ignorant of the real effects of financial mis-management or at least the timely realization of it’s ill-effects. By the time there is a realization, chances are we are burried in debt or we are in a situation that is similar to a ‘financial quick sand’. It is either we are not aware of things that are to happen or we simply do not face the facts — both are ignorance issues if you ask me.

People go through life events — we graduate, we work, we get married, we have children, we purchase our home (or at least we dream to), our children goes to school, we help our parents, our kids go to college, our parents get sick, we retire, we get sick.. and so on. All of these life events require money — lots of them. Knowing that we will go through this, shouldn’t we be planning our life accordingly?

For those who do have money and invest their money, some of them becomes victims of scams or lose a lot of their hard earned money even in legitimate investments. There’s a rule I often tell people… “never ever ever ever invest in something you don’t understand’. We must be careful before we part with our money… learn, research, investigate. The power of information technology makes if very easy to find out if the investment is legitimate or not or if the investment is suitable for you. If you are not too keen on studying too much, talk to a tursted financial professional — preferably one who has the technical expertise and one who has a good track record.   You may want to check out the Registered Financial Planner Institute for their roster of financial planners at http://www.rfp-philippines.com/. At the end of the day and even when you hire a financial planner, you will still make the decisions, just make sure you made an informed decision.

We can’t let ignorance be a reason for us not to experience a victorious life. Money is not everything, but money is important and it’s proper use can determine the quality of life and even our fullfillment in life.

Let me leave you some good advice from the book that gives the best advice to victorious living — the Bible:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desiresyou had when you lived in ignorance.

— 1 Peter 1:13-14