During this time of volatile economic climate, the need to be financially smart is even greater than it was before. But the financial literacy level of your average Filipino is still alarmingly low. Filipino adults can only answer 3 out of 7 basic financial literacy-related questions, according to Central Bank of the Philippines.
In Sysgen, we want to change this situation one employee at a time. We aim to make our employees capable of making responsible financial decisions in all areas of their lives.
Hence, we conducted a series of financial literacy seminars to educate all our employees on basic financial concepts like salary loan, to develop their confidence in planning their financial future, and to give them the ability to respond to unexpected life events such as economic disruptions, death in the family and loss of jobs.
On September 14, we invited Patrick Jerome Ngo of Sunlife to discuss the current economic situation of the Philippines and on how to beat the rising inflation rate. He touched on topics such as the importance of having a life insurance and where we should be investing our money aside from investing it in a bank.
The activity was highly successful and our team members went home with a lot of takeaways from the activity. “I had learned from the seminar that It is very essential to invest our money to the right place. It made absolute sense to me how to manage our money wisely and that through this, I would not be the only one who will get the benefits but also my family.,” Judy Ann Valencia, one of Sysgen’s recruiters says.
Seeing as how educational the seminars are for the employees, we invited another representative from a life insurance company on September 20.
Jobert Martin, assistant manager and Jester Prudence of PruLife UK, discussed the importance of having a life insurance, its benefits and how it can help your family in the future. Just like the representative from Sunlife, Jober Martin also gave tips on how to beat the current inflation rate and its effect on the people.
Lastly, we invited Shani Angeles and Sarah Cabalida of Asia United Bank to talk about salary loan. The two representatives defined what a salary loan is, how it is different from other kinds of loans, when to get it and how to use it properly. They also introduced the Asia United Bank credit card to Sysgen employees.
At the end of the seminar, Marvin Mandal, a Sysgen recruiter, says that, “as an individual, it is not enough to have saving accounts to secure yourself. Make the most of your money and not let them sleep in the bank.” He found the speakers to be very informative and targeted.
While Judy Ann Valencia, a Sysgen recruiter says that, “Overall, the seminar did a great job of providing actionable concepts and practicality in life especially to those who are interested in improving their finances. Anyone and everyone can benefit from the seminars and have given everyone the tools to help grow our finances.”
Financial literacy is not an individual affair. By financially educating our employees, they can pass on their knowledge to their family members. They can plan when to retire, how much income they have to make to continue with the kind of lifestyle they are leading, and what steps they are supposed to be taking to make their ideal financial goals possible.
Sources
Lucas, D. (2018). Many Filipinos seen still ‘financially illiterate’. [online] Business.inquirer.net. Available at: https://business.inquirer.net/251498/many-filipinos-seen-still-financially-illiterate [Accessed 18 Oct. 2018].
