The Philippines ranked 115th in Standard & Poor’s Global Financial Literacy Survey last 2015.
As a licensed teacher and someone who is practicing a profession in the finance industry, I see the importance of linking these two, education and finance.
Teaching Filipinos about money starting in school will give us the discipline on how to value every peso that is coming in our pocket. There’s a lot of talented and skilled Filipinos but they choose to work abroad because they think there are more opportunities outside and they will be paid well. These individuals can even create their own business based on their skills with proper education and money management.
These are the reasons why money should be taught in school.
We need to know the difference between legal investment and scam. We have recently heard news about people being scammed because of a high return on investment (ROI) which entices them. As a result, people are afraid to invest even in legal investment because they think it is also a scam.
We choose to loan money than to invest. Most of us think that loan is free money but that truth is we are just delaying the payment. We also have to pay it with interest. It is a practice of delayed burden rather than delayed gratification.
Even professionals get broke. It’s not about our income, it’s about how much we save from our income. We were taught that if you study hard and get a good job, you will be financially successful. It’s not always true. Poor spending habit, lack of savings and lack of financial knowledge might cause a financial headache.
Some teachers don’t know how to manage their finances. Government employees are given a lot of privilege to apply for a loan. As a result, most of them take advantage of it but it eats up their monthly income. Teachers should be financially educated so they can be a role model for their students.
We are unaware of government benefits. It should be a part of the curriculum especially for graduating college student to be taught about SSS/GSIS, taxation, PAGIBIG and Philhealth. In that way, people will not only see it as a tool to file a salary loan but a tool that can supplement their daily needs.
We became materialistic. We are wired to acquire and spend on things. All the advertisement online and on television, encourage us to spend our money on them in return for an item or services. It became worst when social media came in, OOTD’s and selfies encourage us to spend so we can post something online and never miss out on anything.
We think rich people are greedy. Having a lot of money doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I know a lot of rich people who spend most of their money on charities. When we have a certain mindset that rich people are bad and greedy, it prevents us from reaching a wealthy and comfortable life as well. Remember, money is not the root of all evil, it is the love of money.
Our country needs a lot of future business owners. The main contributors of Philippines GDP are coming from BPO sectors and remittances abroad. All of these jobs are created by people outside our country. If we can nurture our next generation to start a business, there will be more jobs. More Filipinos will live a happy life spending most of their time with their love once.
Recently, a senator proposes to include financial literacy in school but there’s still a lot of things to do. Other countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark topped the Standard & Poor’s Global Financial Literacy Survey last 2015 and Philippines only rank 115 out of 144 countries with 25% of adults who are financially free.
