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Sometimes, I had the chance to do a financial wellness presentation to companies. Before the presentation, we would have a simple workshop and in most cases, the participants would share their own financial knowledge and experience on how to set aside funds for their future as well as list their issues on not being able to save.

Savings. Credits: UNHHealth Health Services, University of New Hampshire

The most common statement that came out from the workshop is that no matter how hard one tries, it is hard to save money because of the cost of living, recurring payables and/or immediate needs/wants.

To help answer the issue on not being able to save, some basic laws from Beth Kobliner's "Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties" can help prioritize the checklist on the financial plan.

1. Get health insurance – A single medical problem could bankrupt you. Therefore, health insurance must become your highest priority. If your employer doesn’t offer it, get one for yourself. This is the first step in financial planning.
2. Reduce your debt – The best way to start saving is to reduce your high-interest debt. Or better, write off your debt. The interest rates on some loans / credit cards are higher than the return you’d receive from investing the money.
3. Start saving for retirement – The best time to start saving is when you’re young. Interest rates will really start working for you as you get older and accumulate principal.
4. Reduce your banking costs – Most Saving accounts, Checking accounts, etc have maintaining balances. If you are not careful and go below the minimum balance, fees can take a big bite out of your bank balance.
5. Build up a nest egg for emergencies – What would you do if you were suddenly laid off? Save enough to cover your living expenses for at least six months. Some banks have facility to automatically shift funds from your checking account into a savings or mutual fund account.
6. Become an investor – Join a mutual fund pool to reduce your risk. Invest in mutual funds, which reduce your risk and keep you even with inflation.
   
7. Reduce your taxes – Look for ways to lower your annual taxes. Sometimes there are discounts if you pay your taxes early.

Start paying attention to your finances today. Apply the 7 rules and develop the habits that will help you for the rest of your financial life.

Success happens here. Credits: lee.fly

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Google has provided us a lot of powerful online tools and one of these tools help us "compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties."

Today, I wanted to understand what are the most common search keywords done in the Philippines in the last 12 months and with just a few clicks on Google Insight; I am able to generate the web search interest by region and keywords.

Guess which one is the winner? "Credit Card" comes up as number one, and interestingly, investment is at the bottom 4.

Google Insight Web Search Interest. Credits: Google

I did the same search terms but filtered by countries to see how each countries folks do their searches for these 4 keywords.

United States and UK has the same ranking as the Philippines.





China, on the other hand, has "investment" as their number one keyword search.

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Hong Kong and Japan have "investment" as the top keyword search.





Observation & Interpretation:
Base on the above trends, Filipinos are more interested in credit cards and loans. We have the same behavior and mindset with those of US and UK. This could be because we are highly influenced by Western behavior and the use of credit card enables instant gratification especially in keeping up with the lifestyle trends.

Although many knew about the benefits of investment and savings, it still shows that we are still lagging behind our Asian neighbors in terms of investment research and knowledge acquisition.

Now, what's your observation & interpretation?