A Must Read For Pilipino OFW's

NOTHING IS PERMANENT IN THIS WORLD

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The person in the picture above is a friend and one of my former mentors in the field of life insurance. His name is Joe Ferreria, Joe F to many of his friends and followers, and he is an expert in the field of Finance and Money Matters. He is often invited to be a guest speaker for numerous money talk shows and is quite a well-known personality in his field. He is also famously referred to as the Money Doctor.

Today, I have decided to post an article Mr. Joe F shared in FB after seeking his permission to share it here in Steemit. His article was actually posted last March of this year in a closed FB group with many OFW's (Overseas Filipino Workers). Today, he shared it openly with his friends and I immediately thought of the impact his article can have on our millions of OFW's all around the world. His article can be read on this link: https://www.facebook.com/joe.ferreria?fref=nf&__.

However, since I have his permission to share his post, I will take the opportunity to do so and Cheetah be damned. So, here it is in its entirety.

I posted this message in a closed FB group where there are a lot of OFWs. That was in March of this year, there were a lot of comments, but one stood out and resonated with the rest of the group. I would like to share both the post and her comment here.

As a backgrounder, she spent more than 10 years as a Nurse in Dubai. Her story is a mirror of the experiences of the Filipino OFW. )

Joe F:
Kung OFW ka, rather than buy up all these gadgets, house and car, make sure you have at least one year’s worth of family expenses in cash in the bank.

Napakadali sabihin ng employer mo na ayaw na nila sa iyo at pwede ka na umuwi.

Kung ang attitude ninyong mag pamilya sa pera ay sunog bahay, uuwi ka ng luhaan someday. Tiyak yan.

I have heard these stories over and over again and my heart breaks every time I hear of another one. Wala tayong kadala-dala.

Don't spend all of your money, magtabi kayo kasi pag nawala yang trabaho nyo, nga-nga ang aabutin ninyo. Guaranteed yan.

Ang pinakamahirap sa lahat ay umangat sa kahirapan. Poverty is like quicksand that will constantly pull you down. I should know because once upon a time I was very poor.

I never forgot the lessons of my early married years when I had to go to the market in Nepa Q Mart in Cubao. I only had twenty pesos in my pocket and umi-iyak ako. Puro Kangkong at isda and binili ko. Nakakabusog na rin yung maraming sabaw na ulam kahit simple lang.

From then, I burned it in my memory na “I have a choice in life, its either HIRAP muna bago SARAP or SARAP muna bago HIRAP. “

Make the right choice, its not yet too late.

Good morning everyone.

Denise OFW Nurse from Dubai
So inspiring. Thank you so much Sir Joe. I am an OFW, or rather 'was an OFW' from Dubai. I got terminated in May only. After a month my visa got cancelled and came back home. I was in Dubai (hired here in the Philippines) since 2008, the same company for a decade till my termination this year. I was supposed not to renew my visa next year and had thought of an early retirement (I'm 47 yo) para maka spend ng time with my family before I get too old na to enjoy their company so to speak😊. Anyway, napa aga ang retirement but I was expecting something like this would happen to me or everyone kasi nag cost cutting talaga comp any namin. So ganito, share ko lang that from the first few years ko sa Dubai, I didn't have savings and I would always tell myself I couldn't save because my salary was quite "small". Payments here and there daw. Which is true. Mahirap mag budget especially when you're the sole provider. It's true marami ding temptations like yong latest gadgets (very cheap talaga doon, a month salary you could buy na the latest iPhone😊) plus every day SALE ang mall. Due to my small salary hindi ako pwedeng mag apply ng credit card (Which was good kasi I'm not so sure if maka uwi ako at this moment with my full gratuity with me. To be honest, ang Dami nating kababayan na gusto na mag for good sana at uuwi na but they can't because they're paying still for the credit cards and other loans.... as I was saying I was not saving a dime those years. It took me years when I finally started to set aside a portion of my salary for savings. At first 3%, then 5% and latest was 10%. It was hard at first kasi ang daming ma cut sa mga 'wants's mo na ayaw mo i cut. It took a lot of discipline and will power to stick with your goals. And I would say, it's worth it. Kaya every time I come home for my vacation, may extra dollars pa matira sa pocket money ko. Kaya when I was called by our HR that 'my services are not needed anymore', na shock ako of course. Shock because I never thought it would happen to me. When they gave me an option to find work in Dubai before cancelling my visa, I was like demanding them to cancel it na kasi I don't have any intentions of working na..... So guys, kahit gaano kaliit sahod natin, it shouldn't stop us to save. Kahit 10 pesos or 100 pesos. Bakit? Sino ba magbibigay sa atin ng 10 or 100? Wala ah. Pera pa rin yan. This thought pushed me to save kahit late na but it's all worth it talaga. Nasa pinas na ako ngayon, I did some baking lessons sa Dubai kaya hopefully mag open ako ng bakeshop. Start muna ako online. Sir Jo so sorry haba ng message ko. I just want to share experience ko as an EX OFW po. Thank you po for this page. I learned so much.

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The message is clear and the response of the ex-OFW shows that the message is not only clear but also spot on and accurate. Save, save, save while you still can. It is never too late. In one of my earlier posts I proferred a savings equation for people to consider which is:
Expenses = Income less Savings

Savings should be an independent variable, not a dependent variable. What do I mean? Simply, it means that the amount of Savings should not depend on what's left after Expenses. It should be the other way around. Savings should as much as possible be fixed. Expenses should be the one to be adjusted after setting aside the fixed savings amount. If need be, tighten the belt, give up on the non-essential items and just go with the bare necessities if the circumstances call for it.

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And finally, invest your savings wisely. Joe F mentioned that "you should have at least one year's worth of family expenses in cash in the bank." However, if it is all placed in a Savings Account which earns less than one percent a year, then every year the value of your savings goes down because of inflation or rising prices. You wouldn't like it if after 5 years in a savings account you find out your money can only buy 75% of what you could buy 5 years ago. The real value of money shrinks because of inflation. Make sure to ask the bank what other options you have to ensure that what you earn on interest is at least equal or greater than the inflation rate. Banks have Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF) which can offer better than inflation rates over the long run with minimal increase in risk.

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