Rasing Kids with High FQ

It's no secret that I'm a very sentimental person.  I cried buckets while watching A Goofy Movie, I cried the first night i lived away from my parents in our new home, I cried when my dad had to fly to Cebu for a 2-day business trip...yes, i cry a lot. But one thing for sure is that i haven't cried during a financial planning seminar...until last Saturday.

Several weeks ago, the SoMoms were invited by AXA Philippines to a talk on financial planning. I was initially quite hesitant because I didn't want to get trapped into another sales conference with hard-selling agents. But then again, it was going to be held in the newly renovated New World Hotel and I know i was going to be with good company, so i decided to attend. 

The talk was held in a function room called Gallery 1 near the lobby. It is a great venue for small parties or business meetings. I love that it has its own little kitchen inside where the chef actually prepares your meals.

Chef preparing our lunch in the beautiful kitchen showcase inside the function room

Breakfast spread

Muffins overload

Free-flowing TWG tea, no less!

Our dessert for lunch. I miss you creme brulee!

One or our speakers that morning was Rose Fausto. She was truly inspirational! She writes for the Philippine Star and is a mother of 3 boys and wife to a fund manager. She talked about how to raise our children to have high FQ (Financial Quotient).

Rose describes FQ as the ability to make sound decisions in managing one's personal finances.  Now why is it important for kids to have high FQ at such a young age? It is because preparing for the financial future of the family should not be a monopoly of the bread winner. Gone are the days when the Dad is the sole bread winner of the family. We've already entered an era where it is not only acceptable, but appreciated, when a wife contributes to the family income as well.  Rose takes it a step further by teaching her kids how to manage and grow their own finances. I find this concept very new and quite interesting.

When the famous Warren Buffet was asked about when he started investing, he said "My first investment was at age 9. I started quite late!" Rose spared no time and taught her kids how to invest. They started with familiar companies so that it's easier for them to understand. For example, she would ask them if they would like to invest in Jollibee or SM.  These are all pretty stable stocks (blue chips) and are of companies known to the kids.  They would eventually venture into other stocks while still consulting their parents.  Rose would also ask her kids to submit quarterly financial statements to her. I think this is a great idea to still be on top of things.

Here is an example of their balance sheet.

Her children are now in college but i bet their savings are far greater than a lot of income-generating young professionals these days. I did a little bit if research and learned how Rose encourages her kids to start saving enough for them to invest. She didn't even give them the money to jumpstart their investments!

Step 1: Put their savings in their treasure chest/box with a small notebook that records their savings.
Step 2: If the amount in their boxes reaches around P1,000, they deposit it in their ATM accounts (which we call small account for easy understanding)
Step 3:  If the amount in their small account goes way beyond the minimum balance of P5,000, they transfer some to their big account.

And the 'big account' usually means investing in the stock market.

I am very inspired and would like to instill the same financial values to our children. Our kids don't get allowances yet but they have savings from the gifts given to them during birthdays and Christmases. I would really encourage them to start managing their finances while they're young. I am confident that they will reap big rewards in the future.

SoMoms with Rose and the people from AXA Philippines

There were a lot of reflection on our core values and how we want to failproof our family's future during the event (hence, the tears!). I am so excited to learn more about investing in the stock market and teaching my kids the same. Now for those of us who don't have the time to monitor the market, we can always go to a fund manager who can do all the calculations for us. There are a number of really good financial companies these days that we can go to, one of them is our event sponsor for that day, AXA Philippines.

Speaking of AXA, they have an upcoming promo for a trip to LEGOLAND! I will discuss the promo mechanics in a separate post. Watch out for it!