So You Want to Be Rich

The first lesson we had to do in the financial group TUBIG was to write our obituary.

It was very hard for me because I wanted all these things in my life. I wanted the Nobel prize. I wanted to be rich, filthy rich. I wanted to be a dirty old man. I wanted to be able to buy anything and anyone. I wanted happiness. I wanted children. I wanted everything that the world had to offer.

Finally, I settled for 10 million dollars in net worth. I should have ten or more homes / apartment complexes. Three kids. Retirement at 55 years old.

For some people, these are pipe dreams. From what I have learned in life, your mind is the one thing that sets barriers in your existence. If you think your life sucks, it will. If you think you can not make 10 million dollars, you won't.

But you are out there asking me, "How do I start?"

Start by how I started. Becoming rich requires that you save a certain percentage of your income. A good number is 15 to 20%. You say though that this is too much. Well, I didn't say that being rich was going to be easy. If it were, then everyone would be doing it.

It helps to delay your gratification. It helps not to be too extravagant in your ways.

I don't recommend dieting or putting yourself in a budget. You always end up losing as Tuhan says. Get another job if you don't make enough money. Then, you can save more. That is how most people do it.

I Have to Kill You

Have you ever heard of that joke… "I can tell you the secret to life…but I have to kill you"? In one of the more livelier seminars by Tuhan, he said exactly that.

The plain truth is that the secrets to life are simple and easy. The difficulty. The challenge. The secret of all secret is that YOU have to be willing to change your life. So you see, in changing your life, you are in essence killing the old you.

This is actually not as morbid as it sounds. Every day, we change. Sometimes we change for the better, sometimes for the worse. If we make sure that day by day, we change for the better more than the worse, we come out ahead.

So in this blog, I expect readers to be critical and questioning. The only proof I have is that I am not homeless. I married the woman of my dreams. My life is happy. My wife is fun. We have plans to be successful.

Seven years ago, I was afraid of being homeless. I could not find a job. I was ready to let go of my then girlfriend. I was miserable.

Note that what happened to me is that I was in so much PAIN that I was ready to kill the old me. I was ready to change. Unless a person is ready to change, they will fall to the same old habits over and over again.

Money Matters

Money Matters

I am nearing forty. I still remember when I was thirteen and I had just come from the Philippines. I was just a high school graduate about to enter Berkeley. I was a college senior applying to med school and graduate school. I was the future of America. Now, I am the present of America.

Time flies. Five years flew by. A year ago, I was not married. Now, I am.

In all these moments, I have been fortunate enough to have had a teacher. His name is Tuhan Joe Arriola. From his experiences, he decided to teach a community. I am lucky enough to be taught by him.

But it was not all beds of roses. I am intelligent, and very often I collided with Tuhan about his advice and his thoughts. In the end, I had to follow my wife and trust that she did things for the best.

Years later, I understand the things that Tuhan said. I understand that sometimes, to make money, you have to let go of the emotion, the prejudices and the ego.

This is my story…

Beginnings

Five years ago, I began taking classes in money matters. It took me a while to figure things out. Some things I am still figuring out. This is my way of reminding myself of the things I need to know and remember.