There’s more to personal finance than technical know-how. You see, managing our money has a lot to do with our attitudes and behavior. Financial freedom is more than having a net worth and cash flow that allows you to make working optional. It’s also about being freed from the bondage of materialism. Let me...
What do many couples fight about when it comes to money? Most of the time, they have different money personalities, like when one is a saver while the other is a spender, or one is a budget control freak while the other is blissfully indifferent (or, worse, is also a control freak!). Another major...
One of the funniest scenes from the comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery goes this way: Dr. Evil: Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that a breakaway Russian Republic called Kreplachistan will be transferring a nuclear warhead to the United Nations in a few days. Here’s the plan. We get the warhead...
Allow me to recommend 20 titles that have made an impact on my life over the 20 years that I’ve been building a library of personal finance, business, and career development. Personal Finance for Dummies by Eric Tyson. This is the first personal finance book I ever read, back in 1996, and it just...
We are (at least partly) a product of our upbringing. Our attitudes towards money often can be traced back to our childhood. It might sound psycho-babble to blame everything on how our parents brought us up, but there is certainly a little truth in that. For me, some of my values about money have...
If you’re a Filipino, chances are, you have at least one relative working overseas, as a contract worker, an expat, or an immigrant. I have a brother, maybe a dozen cousins, and several uncles and aunts in the US. If I count distant relatives, friends, and former classmates and colleagues, I probably personally know...
I have been a cardholder for two decades and, like many others, I have a love/hate relationship with plastic. A credit card is like a friend with extreme personalities: when it’s good, it’s really good, but when it’s bad, take cover. Here are reasons why I love credit cards: It’s a free loan for...
Money magazine conducted a survey on money and marriage and found out that 84% of respondents noted that money causes tension in their marriage, and 15% fight about money several times a month. I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar proportion of Filipino couples would say the same thing. So I consider myself blessed...
I just lost over 10 pounds in a couple of months. If I don’t make some real, long-term lifestyle changes, I’ll probably gain them all back in the next couple of years. Is this something you can relate to? I’ve realized that getting your finances in control is a lot like losing weight. To...
Keeping money secrets from your spouse is more common than we think. In a widespread survey by TODAY.com and SELF magazine on Financial Infidelity, it turns out that 37 percent of men and 56 percent women have lied to their money about money. Why? More than a third said it’s because they disagree about where...
