To be or not to be RICH?

A priest once told me that in the near future, there wouldn't be any more middle class. Either one would be rich or poor. Middle class is shrinking and it would soon become nothing. “Where do you want to be?” he asked me.



Of course, I did not completely take his word seriously until I read NSCB’s (National Statistical Coordination Board) article on “How rich is rich?.” Using the Family Income and Expenditure Surveys (FIES) and other indicators, NSCB statistics showed that, as of 2010, a family would be classified as rich if it is earning at least P199,927 a month or P2,393,126 per year. The amount is higher than the 2006 threshold of at least P166,673 a month or P2 million annually. Dr. Virola, the author, said that as of 2006, the rich comprised just 0.1%, or 19,738 families of the estimated 17,403,483 households nationwide. Their ranks, he added, have been dwindling "from 0.3% in 2000 (51,160 families) and 0.2% in 2003 (25,849 families)." According to Dr. Virola, this decline "would not have been so bad" if it had led to more middle-income families -- defined as earning from P294,296 to P2,393,125 annually. Instead, those in the low-income class -- earning less than P294,296 per year -- consistently expanded.

So, on which side do you want to be – rich or poor? Let’s admit that nobody wants to be poor. The question is how do we get rich? One of my financial (and spiritual) mentors told me, “You have to know what you want to be truly rich.” As for me, it pays to know what you do not want in order to achieve your goal.

As I write this blog, I am at the hospital looking after my sick mom. Sadly, she and my father, are one of the many families who failed to plan for what is ahead – no pension, no protection, no savings. I look at her and think that when I grow older, I do not want to pass on to my children the worries of paying for my health needs. I do not want to let my children neglect to put some savings aside for their future and their family needs, just to be able to shoulder mine. I do
not want to NOT be able to give gifts to my grandchildren when it is their birthday or when I feel like giving them a reward for a job well done. Besides, it is greater to give than to receive!

A few days ago, we watched the Philippine President Inauguration Day, one of the most memorable events in our nation's history. Many expect the new government under the leadership of President Noynoy Aquino to give hope to every Filipino. But does our hope really lie on his leadership? Will he change our lives and make us rich?

The only person that you know who can make a change is you. You cannot control our country’s economy BUT you can control your own. You cannot control our country’s financial future, BUT you can control yours. You cannot control the money market fluctuations, BUT you can profit on these fluctuations.

Choose to be rich! CLICK HERE to know where and how to begin.