My wife and I had a date a few nights ago and it was spent watching the movie Inception. I was not too keen on watching that movie because I have always remembered Leonardo Di Caprio in his epic role in the movie Titanic — let’s just say I’m not a fan. However, my good friend and soon to be financial engineer Louis Chingcuanco was raving about this movie so my wife and I decided that watching it will be our date.

Movie was good and visually exhilarating although it made me a tad dizzy. The plot was well written and I would say that we thoroughly enjoyed the movie. My friend Louis was correct to say that it was really a ‘must-see’ flick. I like watching movies with my wife because I like to date her as often as I can afford and since movies are not too expensive, we can do this more often.  Being a financial planner made me a cheapskate too, haha! We often advise couples that they should always have dates because it helps the relationship a lot but we also caution others about unnecessary and unplanned spending – watching movies is a good compromise! My wife is happy with a simple fast-food dinner and a movie for a date, I am truly blessed.

While I like the movie, watching it left me pondering about many things. The movie really imitates life today and how many people are so indulged with escapism. The movie was about the power and complexity of dreams and the difficulty of discerning what reality is all about. In the area of personal finance, many are also trapped in the world of escapism and succumb to living a life of fantasy they can hardly afford. It is a common fact the country’s biggest problem is poverty and yet we see facts like these: the average Pinoy changes his cell phone every 8 to 12 months, expensive coffee shops are mushrooming all over the metropolis, malls are sardine packed with people, etc. The facts belie our true state and I concur that the reason for it is because many of us are living in a state of dream and hardly in touch with reality.

… to be continued