When one talks about being “truly rich” one can’t help touch on the financial aspect of one’s life. After all, the reality is we need money in this world — not because we are “greedy” but because it is what we use to make transactions, etc. And over the years, one thing I’ve learned is that money is simply a “tool” that can help us achieve our goals and dreams.
Of course, if we don’t save and invest our money, it won’t be a useful tool, because we won’t have much of it to use in the first place. (Right?)
But where do we invest our money? How do we get started?
So as not to “reinvent the wheel,” I suggest you read this article on Smart Parenting, which I wrote last year. It’s a basic guide to investments.
Before you do so though, let me share that my husband and I have been investing in mutual funds for a while now, and are very happy with the returns. My parents have been doing so, too, and my dad — who is — shares three basic reasons to invest in mutual funds:
1. “Professionalized.”
Professional managers manage the funds so investors (that’s you and me) don’t need to do their own research and monitoring of stocks or government securities before investing. We can just focus on regular investing until our financial goal/s is/are achieved.
2. Diversification.
Mutual funds are invested in different stocks across different industries and the same is true with investments on securities and commercial papers. They’re of different maturity dates with corresponding fixed returns. So your investment portfolio ends up being diverse. (In other words, you’re not putting all your eggs in the same basket.)
3. Affordability.
There are mutual funds wherein investors can now invest with a minimum initial amount of P5,000 and they can also put additional investments after their initial investment for just P1,000. So, if you have P5,000 stashed somewhere, you can already invest in a mutual fund.
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If you want to learn more about investments, particularly mutual funds, please feel free to contact my dad, Mon Santiago, via his Facebook page () or via email: . You can also attend this FREE event organized by the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA):
This is happening tomorrow, April 9, with a session in the morning (9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.) and a session in the afternoon (2.00-5.00 p.m.). It will be held at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Conference Center Manila, 3rd Floor SGV Hall, J.V. del Rosario Building, Benavidez cor. Trasierra Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati City.
Everyone is invited. For more details, please visit ManilaWorkshops.com.
Whether or not you will be able to attend, I highly encourage you to think about where you’re putting your money, and to learn as much as you can about investments and the like.
More importantly though, I encourage you to increase your financial literacy. There are seminars that you can attend that will help you do this — if you’re interested in attending one (for free!), please leave a comment below or contact me here. Here’s to a better, brighter, truly-rich-and-blessed-even-in-the-financial-aspect future for all of us!
