On College Tuition, Investment and Financial Responsibility
You have a stockholder’s meeting on June 29 at the Mandarin Hotel. I placed the invitation on my daughter’s tables.
Both girls suddenly got interested. “a whaat?“. I started to explain.
Remember the college funds that you invested a year ago?
We will probably be the youngest in there. They chorused.
Though Marielle’s college tuition at UP is only 5,800 pesos ($109.00) this semester whille Lauren’s tuition in Ateneo is 10 times or 52,227.00 pesos ($1,000), each girl invested equal amounts. Their college tuition funds were placed under their names to make them financially responsible. I remember when I was still the breadwinner during the first year of our marriage. An officemate urged me to purchase a college plan for Lauren who was not even a year old. I just didn’t believe in a college plan at that time. My financial reality focused on making ends meet. Butch was still at Law school and we had two little girls. I figured that my financial status would be similar to my dad. By the time the kids are in college, our financial situation should be much improved. I was very optimistic.
Everything we had dreamed off materialized. My husband predicted that by the time the girls reached high school, he will have his own law office and we will have two homes. Life was good. I was a full time home maker never having to worry about finances. But nothing prepared us for the loss of our son (yes here we go again.) To cut the story short, by year 2004, our financial situation was precarious. Our saving grace was Lauren, an entrepreneur since she was 4 years old. She started a small web hosting reseller account in December 2002 by investing part of the award money given to her by the Cebu Civil court (see here). Only 16 years old, she had a popular online community to support her endeavor. Seeing that it had huge income potential, I offered to help her out. We became business partners. She covered the marketing aspect while I assisted in the management and technical aspect. By the time she was in college, she had significant savings which I invested for her.
Lauren ’s entreprenurial initiative kept us afloat during those bleak months in 2004. I promised to repay her double the loaned amounts once I recouped our financial losses. By God’s grace, I was able to repay Lauren after a year. Since she was busy in college, I took control of her webhosting and expanded the services. I also saw the potential of her old abandoned domains by monetizing it. What a thoughtful daughter. She practically contributed to half of her college tuition including allowance. To provide educational funds is a parental responsibility not the child. I felt that our children shouldn’t have to face that financial burden . But she also worried that if she didn’t help out, she won’t be able to finish in Ateneo, When she travelled to the states on her own last year, she felt so guilty for using up part of her savings. I told her “Treat it as an educational trip. You deserve it”
I love my children for learning to adapt to our family crisis. My second daughter helped out by reluctantly studying in UP Diliman. Her first choice was Ateneo. I felt bad at first that we could not provide the tuition money for her first year in Ateneo. Today, she is full of gratitude that she chose UP over Ateneo. See, there is always a silver lining.
Back at the family room, I lectured them on the advantages of attending this meeting, even at a young age.
“Yes, we will go for the food“, the girls chimed in.
I was too complacent during those grieving years. I left all the financial burden to my husband. Today, taking responsibility for our financial affairs improved my self-esteem and lessened anxiety. Each of us today, has a financial future. There are few future aspects of my life I can control, but one part I can play to assist our family’s future is setting goals. I dont have to obsess about my goals. I don’t have to constantly watch and mark our progress toward them. But it is beneficial to think about my goals and write them down. What do I want to happen in our financial future? What financial problems would I like to solve? What bills would I like to be rid of? What would I like to be earning at the end of this year? The end of next year? Five years froom now? I know I am willing to work for these goals and trust God to guide me.
Taking responsibility for my finances enable me to take focus off money. It frees me to do my work and live the life I want. I deserve to have the self-esteem and peace that accompanies financial responsibility.
Technorati Tags: college tuition, financial responsibility
This is about me ( a 
that’s some daughter you’ve got there, noemi.I’m inspired by your story and what you went through to get to where you are now. Somehow, you’ve given me hope that our financial worries will someday be lessened, if not over.We’re at that stage that we’re just starting out and yet we braved it and got our home already.It’s difficult, but there something exhilarating about getting closer to a goal, inch by inch…
Lemon: I can understand how you feel. The first investment I did after I gave birth to Lauren was to purchase a house too. The amortization was 1/4 of our income but it was all worth it. Today the value has increased 5 times its value. Don’t worry, just hang on and know your priorities. We will always have some financial worries. The goal is not to let it rule your life.
Whatta girl, your Lauren! I get to read her blog once in a while and she’s got her eyes wide open. You must have done something right.
You’re lucky with your choice of educational plans. Ours panned out (Pacific) although we were able to dump them through a buy-back scheme before the company really went under. So we’re still in the process of saving up (again) for the girls’ college education.
Connie: I sometimes feel I exploited her. I don’t know how she got the idea to venture into business. Maybe because I was active in entrepreneurship consultancy when I was pregnant with her? Hehe. We as parents were poor risk takers when it came to business. But Lauren inspired us to get out of our comfort zone.
I didn’t get an educational fund. I invested Lauren’s savings and part of our income in one of those high yielding but conservative investment funds from the most liquid bank in the Philippines (BPI). You have enough time to save up. Am sure you can attain your financial goals.
If only I could turn back time. I’d probably do what your daughter did during her younger years. Now, I believe that lovable and thoughtful parents deserve to have lovable and thoughtful children too. Whew! I wish I’m at the right age now to get married..
Anyway, thanks for giving me the Destiny number on pinoytech Ma’m Noemi. It will help me a lot..
Your story is very inspiring. I continuously read your blogs every now and then. I was just wondering how you were able to host your own site. Can you please point me in the right direction? Thanks a lot!
@conquer: Don’t rush into marriage if you’re not prepared. Those destiny support numbers can come in handy.
@mar: you mean how one enters into webhosting? One starts off with a reseller account with a reputable webhosting provider. Then you lease off the space. One has to be proficient in technical support because you will also give support to your customers.
Your daughters are very fascinating young ladies. Brilliant too. Pardon me but I’m lost here. How can I find Lauren’s blog? thanks!
Hi Noemi,
Inspiring entry you got here. Wow Lauren is some kind of a daughter! She travelled to the US on her own? Alone? Wow
Olga: it’s under the links “my family sites”
Thea: she ’s travelled before with me twice. so her third trip was a breeze even if she was alone.
I am neither a parent or a married person … It is just that I stumbled upon your blog and all the articles that you wrote enlightened me in a way. Unexplainable.
This is a great site and do keep it up!
(:
Cheerios!
lam mo Noemi, mura pa nga tuition sa pinas my two sons in Univ of toronto and one in Ryerson Univ also here toronto, they are paying almost 6000 cdn per sem, just for the tuition.
Kyels: glad you got enlightened.
Techguy: Yes cheap but still a lot of parents can’t afford. in the USA or Canada, one can get financial aid , scholarship or bank loans. Here in the Philippines, it’s not readily available.
hi noemi! what an inspiring story!
could you tell me more about the investment funds (kahit private email na lang), or at least where can I get more information online. i was thinking kasi of getting an educational plan for my son (even though school is free here in germany, there’s no telling where he’ll pursue his studies, eh), but am scared of what connie mentioned.
Ruth: I emailed you some details
Hi Noemi! financial responsibiity is tough especially if people has many bills to pay and their income is just enough to meet those obligations. My sister and I are helping our parents pay for the mortgage of the house so we can at least help them in any way we can. i guess it’s our way of showing them how thankful we are for all their sacrifices they did for the two of us. ng drama pa.
mike: sharing the mortgage payment is alright since it’s an investment anyway. THat’s really thoughtful of you.
Jezuz Christ! The tuition of the schools these days!!
Honestly though, what is the value of a College Education? Does a College Education guarantee a good future for children?
Although I graduated from Ateneo myself, I find myself questioning why people pay so much. I tend to believe now that going to Ateneo just gives students a Good School to post on a resume, and an amazing network of powerful and wealthy people. I doub’t they really apply the skills they get there in the real world.
If you are your child is looking for a college tuition opportunity, this is a great one. If you are trying to get money for college, there’s a new “ethics essay” contest that Junior Achievement is doing for a $5K scholarship. Here’s more info if you are interested http://studentcenter.ja.org/aspx/LearnEthics/ethics_essay_rules.aspx.
heLLo nOemi..!! i have read yOur sTorY.. it’s nice.. i hOpe i caN heLp mY mOm too.. I want to kNow hOw cOuLd I heLp her,,..?? cAn u give mE soMe advIce..??? tHanks iN adviCe.. u can send me an e-maiL..
hOpe u can bear wiTh it.. tc!!!
Nice to finally meet you! I don\’t mean to be diadect or phsesious or in any way inpune your veracity (LOL), I ran across your blog when quite innocenty searcing one of the major search engines (who shall remain nameless) for Stage of pregnancy photo