The road to financial freedom isn’t a straight path, especially for OFWs who already have the main task of sending money monthly for their families back home. However, it isn’t impossible either. TFT Lifestyle TV’s latest episode shares the steps and secrets to begin your path to being financially stable.
Pinpointing hindrances to financial freedom
One of the main struggles of Filipinos is to save money. No matter how much their salary is, they always find it hard to manage their finances. Malou Prado, CEO of MPQ tourism attributes this to the lavish lifestyle of OFWs abroad: “Mas malaki yung ginagastos, kaysa sa sahod.” (They spend more than what they earn.)
Innovate Create Events’ Marketing Consultant and Partner Marianne Silloriquez echoed this statement as she said that Filipinos always take advantage of sales that happen frequently in Dubai.. “There’s this Filipino attitude na, pag sweldo, gastos muna,” said Silloriquez. (They spend as soon as they get their salary.)
In addition, Francis Errol Medina, Head of Strategic Marketing and Business Improvement for Hilti Middle East, Turkey, and Africa said that it’s the Filipino’s lack of knowledge and preparedness for their financial future that hinders them from at least being able to save: “Pag dating sa pera, walang plano.” (When it comes to handling finances, they don’t have any plans.”
Seeking the right kind of financial advice
For majority of Filipinos, the most that they do as of the moment is foresee their expenses and live paycheck to paycheck, which is a form of financial discipline. Although those planning to go back to the Philippines sometime soon during their retirement would be best to seek expert advice. Filpera CEO Nathan McFarlane said that this is the main reason why Filpera was set up: “Filpera was set up specifically for Filipinos to take the standpoint of ethics and morals and high quality financial advice that we have in the UK and in Europe and project that into the Filipino community. We look to structure your financial portfolio together with the client to ascertain what they need now, and what they need in 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and soon.”
McFarlane furthered that there’s no such thing as making quick money, it’s all about the plans and the road you pave for yourself to achieve your goal. “If you put things in place little by little, you will achieve financial success. We are here as a Filipino specific financial advisory to help all OFWs in the UAE, no matter what salary or whatever situation you’re in,” explains McFarlane.
TFT Lifestyle TV is a weekly show that tells the life stories and shares the lifestyle of OFWs based in the UAE. A new episode is shown every Friday so be sure to check the Facebook page of The Filipino Times to stay updated with each episode.
In case you missed it on our Facebook page, here’s the video:
