Filipino News CRazy Rich Asians 2018

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04 MONEY MANAGEMENT ISSUE 117 | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | www.pinoynzlife.nz Facebook: Filipino Migrant News A better life. This is the predominant reason why millions of Filipinos leave their families to work abroad. Yet do some lives really become better? At first they sign a twoyear contract, which becomes 5 years, then 10 years and so on. Others, however, are lucky enough to be adopted permanently in the new country, thus becoming permanent residents or citizens. The intention to work overseas is always good, but more often than not the result of the long sacrifice is not that appealing. Many actually go back to the Philippines with more financial issues and some are more down-and-out than their pre-overseas situation primarily. Don’t get me wrong, there are Filipino migrant workers who have success stories to share and they are proudly saluted for their discipline, hard work and achievements. However, one will stumble upon someone who has anecdotes of financially bruised life every so often. Be that as it may, we know too well that there are things that migrant workers can do to avoid falling into financial traps. If you are a migrant worker, whether you are temporarily or permanently living in a foreign land where you obtain your bread and butter, here are some practical helpful ways to avoid falling into the financial deep end. 1. THINK LONG TERM. Remember the reasons why you left in the first place. The ability to think long-term, however not compromising short-term goals, will help you attain sustainable personal finances. Where do you want your well-earned money to go? Towards building a house? Education for your children? A small business enterprise that may one day bring you back home and lend you and your family extended financial stability. 2. INVEST IN FINAN- CIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATE YOUR OWN FAMILY. Be willing to learn. Know the financial basics. Understand your personal financial situation so you can make sound and smart decisions. Will you send remittances to your family so they can buy trendier shoes and clothes or would you rather send it to them so they can avail themselves of health How to keep Filipino migrant workers from falling into Financial Crisis. OPINION: BY RHODORA PATTAWI-JAMINOLA www.dorasthoughthub.blog insurance or create an emergency fund? Involve your family and help them discern the importance of efficient money management. 3. PAY OFF DEBTS FIRST. Most migrant workers leave the Philippines head over heels in debt. To be able to realize the prospect of working overseas they borrow money from the banks, from other people and oftentimes, from loan sharks. There is no choice; an obscene amount of inevitable placement fee has to be paid … and this has to be paid first! And so do the other debts incurred in your quest as a migrant worker. It is not easy, but it can be done. I met a newcomer here in NZ whose salary is a little bit over the minimum wage as a worker in the building industry. He left the Philippines with Php200k (roughly NZ$5.5 K) in debt to get here. He prioritized taking the debt burden off his shoulder by giving precedence to its advance repayments, thus paying less interest too. Thus, he was able to completely clear off his debt in 6 months only, considering that living expenses are quite pricey here! Incredible, isn’t it? 4. SAVE! SAVE! SAVE! Set aside money from your wages to cushion you and your family from emergencies and other unforeseeable expenses. Even with a low salary abroad you can absolutely save money so you can achieve your goals of having a house or affording your kids’ education. If someone in the family gets sick, you don’t have to go asking other people or swipe your credit card or get a loan to pay the hospital bill. Saving is imperative and essential, especially if you don’t want to keep on extending your contract overseas and be away from your family for longer. 5. PRIORITIZE YOUR SPENDING. Understand your needs versus wants. Forego the wants as much as you possibly can. Be frugal. The common mistake some migrant workers make is they know that it is difficult to stay in the rat race, but they still choose to remain in this exhausting routine. They love shopping and spending their money on unnecessary things so they can show off or compare their purchases with their fellow migrant workers, but most times they end up broke. That is insane! It is obviously self-sabotage! Recently, an acquaintance said that a carpenter friend of his went to the bank and took out a loan for NZ$10k. For what? So he can go home to the Philippines and celebrate his town’s 'fiesta' with his kin and friends. The reason why he was prepared to throw out NZ$10k was the embarrassment of not being able to treat families and friends and ‘extended families and friends’ with gifts and good food and what not. Preceding the crazy aforementioned loan, this same guy scored a debt of a whopping $1.8k for the new release Samsung Galaxy S9, so he had a new smartphone to bring to the Philippines. Not to mention that he already had a perfectly working mobile phone. 6. LIVE SIMPLY. I do not mean to spawn the impression that one should practice self-denial of good things, but I suggest that you establish a healthy relationship with the money that you’re toiling for. Do not get in the red for overspending on imported goods or acquire things with depreciating values like cars and gadgets. Do not trap yourself in the work-and-spend more cycle as you will only put more nails in your coffin, that is if you’ve already laid yourself in a coffin. Live simply. It can make your life a lot easier. 7. SET GOALS AND STICK TO THEM. Filipinos work abroad to target personal economic improvement and stability. Determining your goals will give you focus and motivation. It is critical that you stick to your intentions and do this with your family so you keep yourselves on track. If you set clear objectives (in this case financial objectives) with your family then you are working as a team and it will be easy for them to be realistic and understanding of your situation. 8. SOMETIMES, SAY NO. The fact of the matter is that you cannot always give favour to everyone’s requests. While it is good to help, you have to validate the legitimacy of the need. Sadly, some migrant workers give in to constant requests for money by some relatives to fund their wasteful spending, despite seeing as clear as the day where the money is going. Then the former usually ends up complaining to their friends that they are taking a beating for sending the last cent in their pocket. I think that it is okay to say NO in this kind of scenario, otherwise you are and that is NOT helping at all. Saying NO sometimes does not belie your kindness and humaneness. 9. KICK OUT VICES AND BAD HABITS. If you smoke and drink, consider quitting. If you gamble, give it up. If you are saddled with over-consumerism, work hard to overcome it. A new migrant I met here in NZ has already borrowed money from several new acquaintances. The reason? “Mother is crying over the phone because she needs this for such and such. My wife wants to buy this and that for our kids.” He skips meals variably, but smokes quite heavily. He also has a drink or two of beer most nights. Really? He doesn’t have the money to buy food, but he pays an arm and leg for smokes and drinks. It surely doesn’t make any sense. 10. STUDY YOUR INVESTMENT OP- TIONS. Certainly, one cannot be an overnight investor or entrepreneur. Not everyone has business acumen. But if you study and explore some investment schemes or small business enterprises that suit you then you can have alternative sources of income. Pound the pavement for them. Opportunities are everywhere. Learn how to recognize them and seize them when they come your way. It can be your safety net once your contract abroad is over and cannot be extended. It is also a great back up, so you can retire at the time that you wish to. I think that it is time to be cognizant of our behaviour towards money and to bank on developing the skills and improving the knowledge that gives us the necessary opportunities to make competent and useful choices with black ink items. There are countless lessons to learn from the failures committed by many migrant workers. I think that it is sensible enough not to repeat those failures.
BUSINESS NEWS: 027 495 8477 ISSUE 117 | www.filipinonews.nz | email: filipinonews@xtra.co.nz | www.pinoynzlife.nz 05 BUHAY NZ SOCIAL MAGNATE Jam Mayer is a Filipina to be proud of. Having rocketed from agent to director of one of the Philippines’ biggest global call centres, worked in radio and on stage, been a successful blogger and created web design and virtual event/ webinar businesses, Jam took the leap into a new life and new challenges here in New Zealand in 2012. Like many new migrants she started over almost from the bottom, but in just a few short years entrepreneur Jam has created her own Social Media agency, Conversologie, which is highly regarded in professional circles here and is New Zealand’s only partner company to global brand Hootsuite. In addition to providing marketing solutions to a range of companies, Jam is in high demand from universities and training institutes, social media groups and business associations as a speaker and expert tutor and has guested at major global conferences. Text and photo by: REW SHEARER Jam’s website is : www.conversologie.com. MAGANDANG BALITA: A regular feature on entreprenuerial Filipinas in New Zealand. NEGOSYO New online tool for health and safety policy WELLINGTON - A new online resource will enable small businesses to create health and wellbeing policies quickly and easily through the business.govt. nz website. “The online Workplace Policy Builder makes it easy for small businesses to tailor policies to the individual circumstances of their workplaces,” says Small Business Minister Stuart Nash. “Small businesses who lack in-house expertise can avoid the hassle of drawing up a policy from scratch by using this new online tool. It offers them the assurance that their policies will comply with current law. “We created the Health and Wellbeing policy to help small businesses create a healthy, safe and positive working environment for their staff. “A good working environment is good for business. Workplaces are more likely to have higher productivity and sales, more creativity and improved customer satisfaction. “ The new policy was developed in association with the Health Promotion Agency and adds to the existing policies in the Workplace Policy Builder. These include policies for flexible work practices, IT and social media, annual leave and holidays. More policies are in development. Workplace Policy Builder is part of a suite of free online tools from business.govt.nz that help making running a small business easier for business owners and managers. Other tools include the recently launched Choose Business Structure tool and Employment Agreement Builder. An estimated half a million employment agreements have been created based on the Employment Agreement Builder since it launched in April 2016.
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