“With an open mind and a listening ear, the world revolving around us could turn out very differently.”

Since young, I grew up in a single-parent family and it was only in my 20s, did I start to recognize and acknowledge the harsh realities of life, that both you and I face.

I was lucky.

Growing up, I didn’t have to be concerned about footing the utility bills due each month.

Putting the meal on the table for the family wasn’t part of my responsibility.

All I had to be concerned about was school and that pretty much summarized the first 16 years of my life.

However, it was only when I stepped into Junior College, that I observed before me, the huge disparity in the standards of living amongst my peers.

On one end, I had friends who, on a daily basis, received hundreds of dollars for their pocket money and get chauffeured to and fro school. On the other hand, some of my peers had to get by the day with a meagre sum of $2-$3 simply because their family could not afford to give them more.

This phenomenon made me question the reason why some families continue to prosper and thrive financially for many generations while the rest can only draw a not-too-amazing monthly income, just so that they can get by and survive within their financial means.

“Life is so unfair”, I told myself.

Over the subsequent years, through observations and introspection, I learned that in this race we call the Game of Life where the winner enjoys a life free of “money problems” thereafter, all of us are bound by a unique set of rules.

These rules represent the environment and mindset that accompanies us and they in turn govern how we play this game.

With this knowledge on hand, I lived my life following these 3 philosophies thereafter:

1: Never allow financial gains to become the sole driver of any of my commitments

2: Always derive a deeper sense of purpose instead of going through the motion, following what the majority of people are doing

3: Lastly and most importantly, be happy in whatever I do

Having experienced life in the Singapore’s education system, many, if not all of us would agree that personal finance is not a topic that is taught in schools, as surprising as that sounds.

What if I told you that in the long run, how much you earn right now wouldn’t matter most but instead, what’s crucial is how you make every dollar of yours work for you.

More often than not, many people go through their lives working for money and saving the bulk of their earnings in the bank.

Using this approach, most of them end up with a few hundred thousand in their bank by their retirement but come to realize quickly that they simply have not planned their finances to sustain their expenses and emergency funds adequately.

What if I told you that this need not be us?

As a Financial Services Consultant and more importantly as a fellow friend, to say that my career is life-changing is by no means an overstatement.

With an open mind and a listening ear, we can all better our lives in many ways, and improving how we manage our finances is of paramount importance.

Are you ready to take a step forward to planning for your finances?

I’m Javier, and I look forward to walking this lifelong journey with you.