I came across this photo illustration on Facebook, depicting the Top 10 Real Life Statistics why most of Pinoys (Pilipinos) are poor.
Source
The first thing that immediately came into my mind is an article I read which has been lying in my Yahoo Mail Inbox for the longest of time. In fact I had to go over my mail to look for it and I DID!! It was in my 2005 mail, dated July 17. It's a forwarded email from my good friend Sammy, from a certain Nathaniel von Einsiedel, a Filipino architect and town planner, entitled "Difference Between Poor Countries and Rich Countries." A very interesting article. You can check the link here. A similar link exists from a Dr. James R. Kanagwa but it is timelined June, 2015 so this link could not be the original one.
In summary, these are the findings of the author:
On analyzing the behavior of the people in the rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:
- Ethics, as a basic principle.
- Integrity.
- Responsibility.
- Respect to the laws & rules.
- Respect to the rights of other citizens.
- Work loving.
- Strive for Saving & Investment.
- Will of super action.
- Punctuality.
Von Einsiedel goes on to say that most people in poor and developing countries do not follow these principles.
In the case of the Philippines we do not lack for natural resources. In fact we are so blessed with so much resources in both land and sea compared to rich countries such as Japan, Switzerland and Singapore. Neither do we lack for intellectual capabilities compared to other developed countries. We have a distinct advantage over countries such as South Korea and Japan because we speak English and consider it to be our second language. We have a young and abundant source of manpower. But why do we remain a poor country?
The answer to this is - "ATTITUDE."
One may be tempted to point out the first item in the statistical illustration above - "74.7% belongs to the LOWER CLASS families earning below P328,000/year." This is interesting. P328,000/year earnings actually translates to a monthly family income of about P25,200 (including 13th month pay). Did you know that this income is twice that of the minimum wage rate in the National Capital Region which is about P12,000 per month? I did not realize that earning this much a month places someone in the Lower Class bracket.
Item 10 in the statistical illustration - "P90 Billion Estimated amount Scammed Money . . ." Sadly, this is an indication of a flawed attitude about savings so common to Pilipinos. A lot of Pinoys fall for "get rich quick" or "double your money investment schemes" that they throw all caution to the wind and invest their life savings on these only to find out that these were all scams. There is a need to instill an attitude of prudence and patience in our savings efforts.
Remember, it only takes one candle to light up a room full of candles. Be that candle and start lighting up your part of the country by inspiring others with your attitude and be the change that you want to be.
(All images courtesy of Pixabay unless otherwise indicated)
That was a good read.
The one that I think could be a game changer is that most of us learn how to handle money from our parents. Knowing that is important, I think it is ashame that schools don't provide a basic course on the real life handling of money.
We started teaching my son early. He received an allowance, he had to save some and set goals to buy things he wanted. He also had to set some aside to buy presents for grandparents for Christmas. Then he would go to the school Christmas bazaar and by presents. He picked them out and paid for them with his own money,
Now that he has graduated from college and working as an Mechanical Engineer, he is saving for his retirement, has an emergence accout, savings account, life insurance policy, and is doubling down on his student loans. A
Granted he lives at home, he still contributes to the household. I am slowly increasing that amount every few months when we sit down to review how he is doing. The goal is to give him a solid financial start and system to handle his money. Eventually, he will be pay the actual cost of his living expenses, that I am subsidizing.
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I agree with you 100%. In my country where 70% are considered lower class or poor, parents do not have much to teach their kids about handling money. With the little that is earned, there is practically nothing left to handle. Sadly, kids often see their parents borrowing money to tide them up till the next payday and then the cycle is repeated. I think schools can do a lot to educate students about handling money much more than their parents can.
DJ is fortunate that he has parents from New England with old money attitude and practices : ) He has learned the value of money and more importantly the value of wisely using it. And this will be passed on down the line. Just wish people can learn from this just as I did.
Thanks for the contribution. Invaluable and inestimable.
Your welcome, I and my husband learned it from our parents. It funny that we don't always realize that not everyone is taught the same stuff from their families. My best friens lost evrything in an apartment fire, thankful she and her family got safely. I told her I would help her file a claim with her insurance. She said what insurance, I said your tenant's insurance. She said she didn't know there was such a thing and asked why I diidn't tell her to get. I replied, I though everyone knew about tenant insurance.
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In my line of business I meet so many people who do not have insurance and are not aware of the importance of having one. Most of my clients come from middle to low income families because to my mind these are the ones who need insurance the most. And I keep impressing on them the need to start while they are young and healthy because premium charges are still inexpensive and excess premiums go to increasing their fund values. I have had a few claims in the past due to death and the gratitude expressed by the surviving families just makes me realize how important and indispensible my profession is.
Great minds think a like, the lower premiums and ability to of the vallue of the policy to grow are the reasons I stated when I explained why he should get one when he was younger. Unfortunately, he came to realize the value of insurance at an earlry age. It waz my husbands life insurance that paid for his college education.
You are providing a valuable service to people who need.
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I would like to think so too that I am doing something valuable for those who really need it. When I began to understand insurance I was already 43 years old and my premium payments were already expensive. In 2006 I made a major career decision which went south and for the longest of time my finances just went from bad to worse to worst. Eventually I had to sacrifice my insurance because the premiums were a big drain to my finances. When I was able to recover I couldn't get insurance anymore for health reasons. That's why my passion to educate people about the benefits of insurance is so strong because I do not want them to suffer the same plight as mine.
Hopefully, people are listening and learning from your experience.
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