Last Monday on FQMom.com we saw Randell Tiongson read Chapter 7 of The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon. Today I invite you to join me as I interview him about his childhood money memory, his entrepreneurial family, his stint in producing concerts, which included popular names like Dingdong Avancado, Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez. He also talks about his interior design business with then girlfriend and now wife, Mia, and how he went back to finance, and now one of the most popular personal finance speakers always travelling and talking to Juans all over the world to put their financial affairs in order. (You may read an earlier article I wrote in this column entitled Randell Tiongson: Life Stories of Personal Finance Advocates Series.)
Watch the interview I did at his home one weekday morning by clicking this link: Rose Fres Fausto interviews Randell Tiongson.
Randell continues to joyfully spread the word of personal finance in his jolly manner. Even if this is his main earning profession, he doesn’t hesitate to give pro-bono talks to some organizations. We are both happy about the increased awareness of this subject matter and hope that this goes on until every Juan learns how to handle his finances well.
Are we inching our way towards the tipping point of high FQ for every Juan? I really hope so. No matter how slow and how daunting the task of educating our kababayans about financial literacy, I remain optimistic. I am happy to announce that my humble project to bring the basic laws of money to as many individuals as possible, and to start them as early as possible is gaining traction. I will forever be grateful to the key finance people who generously contributed their time for the video of this book. (See Book Trailer).
Donations of this book have also been made to different groups. Among them was the Aklat: Gabay sa Kinabukasan ng Kabataan tungo sa Mapayapang Pamayanan, a project of the Philippine National Police providing books for the children of Muslim Mindanao as part of the reintegration and immersion activities. This is part of the Community Intervention and Information Initiatives Training at PRO ARMM aimed at establishing peoples’ organizations to help promote lasting peace in conflict-affected barangays.
Moreover, the book has reached several schools in the Visayas via book donations to school libraries with the help of Pol Espanola, a retired Filipino OFW who came back to his hometown and is now passionately teaching financial literacy by sharing his own experiences of being prudent with one’s earnings in order to retire comfortably and happily. He has represented me (and has also given his own donation) to the following schools: University of Antique, SPED - Integrated School for Exceptional Children, Central Philippine University, West Visayas State University, Hwa Siong College of Iloilo, University of Iloilo, Sibalom National High School and St. Paul University Iloilo.
Talks with DepEd on how to make the book available in public schools are also underway. And most of all, I also get the help in spreading the lessons on the basic laws of money from ordinary citizens who order dozens, some 50, 100 and more to give away to the people in their circle of influence so they too can learn the basic laws of money. Even those who just get one or two and tell a friend or two about it are a big help.
Last Saturday after my talk on The Emo Side of Money wherein I shared that because we're irrational beings, it's always important to go back to the basic laws of money, my co-speaker Roy Reyes said something that struck me, "Rose, look, I was taking down notes from your talk. You know what? You will see the great impact of what you're doing after a decade or two, when the children raised with high FQ are grown up and making their own decisions." This thought made me more excited about this project. I look forward to coming up with its Tagalog translation early next year, to be followed by Ilocano and Visaya.
To all those who have helped me spread the basic laws of money, maraming salamat po. Let’s all work together towards the tipping point of High FQ for EveryJuan!
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(Rose Fres Fausto is the author of bestselling books Raising Pinoy Boys (download free book sample) and The Retelling of The Richest Man in Babylon (a story and activity book for kids from 1 to 92). Click this link to watch the new and exciting Book Trailer.
To read her other articles go to Author Archive of PhilStar.com, FQMom.com and RaisingPinoyBoys.com. Send your questions and comments via email to FQMomm@gmail.com. To watch other interviews go to FQ Mom you tube channel.)
This article is also published in RaisingPinoyBoys.com and FQMom.com.