The list has hardly changed over the years.
Asked to list down their priorities as overseas Filipino workers, a group of 17 participants in a financial education program conducted by Enrich on Sept. 4 replied in no particular order: family support, children’s education, house purchase, and preparation for retirement. An unusual addition was “to escape from an abusive husband”.
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| The seminar participants. |
In this particular gathering held at the UBS offices in IFC, the workers were guided through the course by Enrich program manager Tynna Mendoza.
Lecturer Ethel del Fierro taught them the “Money Wise Migrants” part of the session, which is meant to teach participants how to budget and spend money wisely.
The first thing that migrants must understand, said del Fierro, is that they have a choice, meaning they could choose between giving what their family wants, and how much.
The second part involves taking control, meaning, reining in a desire to spend everything that has been earned. The participants were told that they must take control of their finances or end up with nothing to their names, despite working for many years abroad.
The third direction is to “track your expenses”. It is important for one to have a list of expenses, so they know how much money they would be spending within a particular period, and how much would be left.
The fourth instruction is to prioritise, meaning to know which expense is very important, and which is the least importance. This will help them to set aside unnecessary expenses to avoid debt.
Finally, an OFW must learn to say “No” to family members asking for money, unless it’s for an emergency.
The participants were given the acronym SMART to remember the reasons why setting a goal is important. The letters stand for:
S- pecific - (have an exact goal ).
M- easurable- ( you need to have a target time for your goal ).
A- chievable- ( aim for a goal that you can reach ).
R- ealistic- ( must be real, not impossible to attain ).
T- ime bound - ( make sure you can reach your goal on your target time ).
The participants were told that knowing all of these lessons would help them change their attitude towards life, especially those that help them reach their goal, how to spend money wisely, and budget their resources.
The migrants left the event happy and enlightened.
"It is helpful, useful and challenging - challenging dahil ma cha-challenge kang mag-ipon, at mag-ipon sa ibat ibang paraan”, participant Sherlyn Gamata told The SUN in an online interview.
"For me, the study was helpful and encouraging. For us to fulfill our goals in life, that’s so aspiring, said Chielo Sale, another participant.
Aside from the fin-ed sessions, Enrich also offers one-on-one lectures about Mentoring, Business, Investment, Money and Family , Speak Up, FHD ( Financial Health Disk ), Outreach, Return and Reintegration
For inquiries visit their website at www.enrichhk.org.
