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Get your financial priorities right

Elma has been working here as a housemaid for the past 23 years. At 47, she is the only one among her eight siblings who remained unmarried.

Without a husband and children of her own, she became the breadwinner for the entire family — sending all her siblings and their children to school and building a house for them.

Filpino expatriates attend the Pinoy WISE seminar on Financial Literacy and Family Issues at their embassy in Abu Dhabi recently. — KT photos by Shoaib Anwer

Elma started working for an Emirati family in 1990, earning a paltry Dh950. She has moved on to different employers since then and is now earning Dh5,400 every month. But her “responsibilities” have left her almost with nothing from her wage.

“Since I don’t have to pay for my boarding and lodging, I am sending all my salary to them. I am also paying for me and my older sister’s security fund,” said the Filipina.

Two years ago, she finally had a breather. Her house in Nueva Ecija in the Philippines was finished and she now has Dh2,000 in her pocket every month. With encouragement from her employer, she has started to save and has also invested in a farm, planting rice and onions.

Gilbert Narvaja is the eldest of eight siblings from parents whose sole source of income is selling fruits and vegetables from their farm in Bicol, the Philippines. Narvaja has dreams, so he self-supported himself to vocational school.

Narvaja has been working as a welder in Abu Dhabi for over five years now, and at 27, he is still single. He sets his goal in phases. With a salary of Dh4,600, he is now able to support his parents and send his siblings to school.

“At my 30 years, this would be the time for me, to finally take care of my personal life. By then, half of my siblings has finished college, it’s their turn to take over from me,” he said.

Larry Guarnes is 36 and also works as a welder. He is married with two kids in elementary school. He sends Dh2,000 in remittance every month and after paying off his security fund and other expenses here, he is left with only Dh500 as savings every month.

“I hope to be able to save for my sons’ education,” he said.

According to a study carried out by Atikha, a non-governmental organisation in the Philippines, only 30 per cent of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are able to save and invest while 70 per cent are still going home without savings.

“The root is over-independence of the family,” explained Baltazar Junio, business development officer of Pinoy WISE (Pinoy Worldwide Initiative on Savings Investment and Entrepreneurship) UAE.

“When a family member goes abroad, the tendency is for everyone in the family to rely on that person. Those who used to work on the farm or operate the tricylce eventually stops working and starts asking from the OFW. They don’t know that the salary here is given once a month and the OFW has no recourse but to borrow,” he said.

“In our culture, we can never say no to a relative,” he pointed out.

According to him, lack of savings is the main reason why OFWs cannot go home.

“If you’re not saving 10 per cent of your salary, you’re not saving enough,” stressed Junio, adding that savings in the bank are not sufficient, “you have to make your money grow by investing it properly”.

In the Financial Literary programme, which is being held regularly in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Northern Emirates, Filipinos are taught how to become financially able in order to eventually return home and reintegrate. Attendees at the whole-day session get to learn how to save and invest, identify their family goals, as well as, their family issues that drain their financial resources and how they can get out of it.

The OFWs are also taught how to maximise the benefits of migration through financial planning and budgeting.

According to Racquel Eder, one of the trainers at the programme, another reason why many Filipinos cannot save is due to lifestyle. As salary increases, personal lifestyle expenses also increase.

She cited impulse buying, “one-day millionaire” attitude and uncontrolled generosity when in the Philippines, having credit cards and getting into debt are factors that trap many Filipinos.

“We cannot differentiate our needs and wants,” she pointed out.

Ernesto Refugio, chairman of Bayanihan Council, the umbrella of different Filipino organisations in the emirate, said that the easy accessibility of credit cards and bank loans here and their attractive offers entice many of his compatriots into debt.

“I know that most of them at least have three credit cards each,” he said.

“I recommend having only one and cancel the other cards, and use this only for emergency. If you have three or more, begin payment through snowball method — pay the least amount in full. If you only pay the minimum, you end up paying this for 30 years,” he said.

Another option would be to secure a personal loan, where the interest is fixed, to pay off the entire credit card debts. However, he warned against taking a loan for no reason just because the offer is good.

“We have many compatriots languishing in Al Wathba prison because of credit card debts, so refrain from getting credit cards,” he advised.

To learn more about the Financial Literacy programme, call Baltazar Junio at 050-4468121 or email PWMUAE@yahoo.com. For seminar schedules, check facebook: Pinoy WISE Movement UAE.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com