10 months ago, Freelance Blend was just an idea inside my head. The blog, the podcast and the community. All of the concepts and dreams just hovering in my mind while in the shower or before going to sleep.

Then, the idea started slowly to take shape in the next few weeks. 9 months ago, I invited Fitz Villafuerte to be my first interviewee for the Freelance Blend Podcast, not knowing if a person of his stature and influence in the digital space will agree to come to a show that has not even been broadcast on air. To my surprise, he did agree to guest on the show (Episode 1) and the rest is history.

Fast forward to today and Freelance Blend – the blog, community and podcast – has grown substantially, thanks to the help of mentors like Fitz Villafuerte, who give newbies like me the break that we need.

That’s why I am happy to bring back Fitz on the show to talk about his new baby, The Ready To Be Rich Guide to Investing. This is our second consecutive episode that tackles the topic of money and investing because I really believe that Filipinos should seriously consider taking care of their financial well-being. (Last week, we had Jenny del Mundo of Sun Life Financial who talked about The 7 Bright Choices for freelancers.)

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Takeaways

What triggered Fitz to write the book.
His plans for his second book.
How to save and invest for minor things like a gadget or a trip.
Filipinos’ misconception when it comes to investing.
The 3 steps to financial freedom: Save > Protect > Grow
The importance of health insurance for freelancers.
How to break your fear of investing.
The ROI of the crappiest stock in the Philippine Stock Market.
How to save for a house.
Defining how you want to retire.
What to do with your extra money (for example, bonuses).
The 3 types of investment goals.
Fitz’s favorite software and apps for budgeting and investing.

Links and Resources

Office 365
Notes (iOS)
EZ Financial Calculators
TVM (Time Value of Money) Calculator
Google Drive
Google Sheets – to edit Excel spreadsheets from a mobile phone.
Dropbox
Random.org
Central Books
www.guidetoinvestingbook.com

Quotes:

“When it comes to investing, it’s not about growing your money. It’s about being able to afford your goals.”

“The higher the risk, the higher the potential gain.”

“Personal finance is personal.”

“Once you are able to design your life, that’s the time you seek investments, instruments and tools that will help you achieve your financial goals. It all starts from you.”

“The right question to ask is: What’s the best investment that will help me achieve my goals.”

Do you want to become a freelancer but don’t know how to start?

Then please attend our “Freelancing for Beginners 1.0” Workshop.

Date: Saturday, August 16, 2014
Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Venue: Go Hotels Mandaluyong, 5F Edsa corner Pioneer St, Mandaluyong City (beside Robinsons Pioneer)

To register, please go to www.freelanceblend.com/beginners1.

Special Discount for Freelance Blend members!

Just use the Promo Code: “Blend” to avail of the special rate of P1,000.00 (originally P1,800,00).

Want to win Fitz Villafuerte’s new book, “The Ready To Be Rich Guide to Investing”?

Listen to this podcast episode for the mechanics and input your entry inside the Comment Box below.

Deadline for submission of entries is on August 31, 2014.

Charles Michael Tolosa

Sir Fitz Villafuertes’ first book “The Ready to be Rich Guide to Investing” will be a very huge help for me financially because I am a 23-year-old online freelancer with already three types of investments, and I heard in the podcast that starting the investment is just the first thing, I eventually have to manage all my investments after that. I believe that the book can help me with that, which would then help me achieve my goal of financial freedom and stability.
- Marv de Leon
  
  Hi Charles. More power to you, good luck and I hope you reach your goal of financial freedom very soon. Thanks for commenting.
  - Charles Michael Tolosa
    
    Thank you. 🙂 I appreciate your response. More power to your blog and podcast. 🙂
    - Charles Michael Tolosa
      
      Meron na po bang winner? 😀
      - Marv de Leon
        
        Yes, si PJ.
Jun largo

Hi there,

I am from Mimdanao and also a freelancer. I really find this episode quite unique. We work hard to earn money, I think on spending side we should also work hard to keep that money we earned through investing.

I love this espisode, I hope Sir Marvin and Fritz will continue to advocate financial literacy.

Thanks,

JUN
- Marv de Leon
  
  Thanks, Jun. We hope you learned a thing or two from us. More power to you.
pj

RE: Mr. Fitz Villafuerte’s first book “The Ready to be Rich Guide to Investing” I believe this book will help me a lot! First I have no knowledge about investing at all and this book will be a great source for starters like me. Second, I want to be successful in terms of financial aspect of my life, and to help my family that is depending on me. I’ve heard the podcast and the podcast itself taught me a lot! This and the previous Podcast with Ms Jenny Del Mundo, perfect combination I would say. Anyways I hope I win the first book raffle! 😛 More power to Mr. Marvs and Mr. Fitz!
- Marv de Leon
  
  Hi PJ,
  
  I am glad that you like this episode and the previous episode. Good luck to you.
  
  Cheers,
  Marv
  - pj
    
    Hi Marvs,
    
    Looking forward to your next episodes! I shared this site to my friends! More Power to you sir 😀
    - Marv de Leon
      
      Hi pj,
      
      Congrats. You won Fitz’s book, Ready To Be Rich Guide to Investing, based on the Random.org draw. Please wait for my email for details.
      
      Thanks
      Marv
      - pj
        
        yehey!!!! 😀
Lovely

Yay! First of all I just wanted to say that I finally finished listening to all your 29 podcast episodes today Sir Marvs. (:

I am really interested to have a copy of Sir Fritz’ book since I am a newbie in freelancing (actually a fresh grad) and would totally love to learn about investing. It will help me to learn how I would handle or budget my income soon.

Looking forward for more episodes. It really helps me a lot. Ang dami ko na pong natutunan dahil sa podcast niyo.
- Marv de Leon
  
  Lovely,
  
  Your so lovely :). All 29 episodes! Wow, bigyan ng jacket!
  
  Seriously, thanks a lot for listening to all the episodes. I really appreciate it.
  
  Good luck to you and hope you win the book.
  
  Cheers!
  Marv
  - Lovely
    
    Thanks Sir Marv! I’ll start reading the blog and check the different sites/resources mentioned on your podcast. (:
    
    More power & God bless!
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FBP 028: The 3 Steps to Financial Freedom with Fitz Villafuerte