Let me start with my first article on Financial Literacy. This is the topic I delivered in one business community sometime in November 2021. I will not do the whole piece here all at once. It will be too much even for me. So, what I will do is just cut that old presentation into several pieces and update them into separate articles of at least 1,000 words each hoping that the piece will qualify for the Finance Writer Quest in Zealy Campaign.
My topic at that time was The Way to Financial Freedom. Others might rename it as Financial Security, but I would rather stick to my old title.
Not a Typical Article on Financial Literacy
At the outset, let me warn you, that it is not a typical article on financial literacy that you can read out there. Yes, some content might be familiar to you, but the biblical and theological foundations would be something that many would find surprising.
I have been searching for so long among my colleagues for this type of material, but I might be looking for something that might not be in existence or if somebody is doing it, perhaps, it is still in its infancy stage.
As a theological educator, I hope you pardon me, I cannot go on discussing something in the air as if you and I understand the same thing in the same way without first explaining where I am coming from. That provides the context and somehow facilitates better communication even in written form.
From a broader spectrum, I would say that I am coming from a Judeo-Christian point of view. I believe in God the Creator and I also believe that he did not abandon this world, even though many would find such a belief ridiculous in the face of numerous contradictions we are in today.
Given such a standard, I cannot talk of financial freedom without delineating first my source of information. Yes, I respect our common humanity. We are all the same in the eyes of the Creator whether we believe that He exists or not. That to me is given.
And the Creator I know did not leave us in the dark about the issues we are facing today. Theologians and Bible teachers like me may do, and churches too, but not God. He has given His Words and our task as humans is to examine the claims of God in this matter as revealed in His words. Of course, there are disagreements in dealing with current issues and that should be accepted given the reality of human limitations. They only become a shame on our part when we fail in our duty to make the message clear due to confusing voices from among us who claim to represent Him.
Before I leave my apologetic tone and go straight to my topic, I want to raise another point about the nature of the writing project. I recognize that to some extent my insights are premature and a little bit forced particularly in shifting from biblical history to the contemporary world. I still need to learn a way how to do it. So, if you can forgive me for such an offense, let me now go straight to our topic.
A Hypothetical Situation
In introducing our theme, let me begin with a hypothetical situation, that might be true for someone out there. This situation is about the possibility that a person can be amid vast opportunities that surround him, and yet he could not see them. Big changes are happening right before his nose, but he could not see them simply because he lacks the necessary tools or prerequisites to give him the capacity to appreciate and be grateful for what’s going on around him.
What I mean by tools is the necessary preparation of the mind and of the soul. The mind is prepared by relevant and solid information. This kind of information turns into knowledge once it is utilized to bring change.
The other kind of preparation is more difficult because it is how we respond to the lessons of life, whether as someone would say, we would either be better or bitter. Such a person can only be prepared if he has undergone a painful experience in life that one conference speaker describes as a “mind-blowing, soul-shaking, and seemingly world-ending experience.” I see such emotional preparation as very important for that person to see what’s going on around the world.
What COVID-19 and the lockdown did to us is to provide such kind of preparation. Responses vary to the current challenges that we are facing right now. Some just gave up and gave in to depression. Others just succumbed to fear and got paralyzed not knowing what to do. Others turned hopeless and no longer see a bright future ahead of them. But still, others see a different kind of world, a world filled with threats and at the same time opportunities.
Financial Freedom
In this article, as I share with you our topic about The Way to Financial Freedom, I just want you to keep this hypothetical situation in your mind. In the subsequent articles, we will return to it. For now, let us start by providing first a definition of financial freedom. What do we mean by this vision? What is financial freedom by the way?
I first heard this idea way back in 2009 among attendees of wealth courses conducted by a Filipino Chinese business community. Financial freedom for us is a vision of a future financial condition of a person or a family when his/their passive income exceeds his/their monthly expenses. This is a simple definition that I think many are familiar with.
Passive Income
A follow-up question is appropriate. What is passive income then? Again, this definition is common.
Passive income is different from active income. Active income is either the salary that you earn while working or the profit that you gain while doing small business. Passive income on the other hand is an income or profit that you gain without working for it. It is also called “money or a system working for you” and that’s what I see Hive can do for us if everything works out as I expect. Of course, I recognize that in new technologies like blockchain and cryptocurrency, nothing is certain.
In traditional finance, your money can work for you by way of investing in stocks, bonds, and other related financial products. But you can also lose money investing in these products when the market is in a downtrend. Investing in these vehicles requires understanding the general trend of the market, whether bearish or bullish.
I think that’s it for now. Again, I apologize if you find anything in this article not suitable to your taste, but that’s me, and I can’t deny myself.
In our next article, I will be writing about a biblical history that will somehow provide us with lessons to give us guidance on how to achieve this vision of financial freedom.