Filipinos have low Financial IQ - 2008 Study

"Based on the Fin-Q results, only one out of 10 Filipino respondents is consciously saving up for this retirement. The rest have some savings but don't know if it will be enough. Others have no idea at all how much they need or have not started planning," said Agustin Davalos, Citibank Philippines' retail bank director.
"If they lost their jobs tomorrow, or suddenly fall ill and cannot work, their savings would last only for nine weeks (about two months) before they run out of money," Davalos said.

 Article: Filipinos have low financial IQ, says bank - Philippine Daily Inquirer

Step 2. Establish Goals:

Establish S.M.A.R.T Goals for your Dreams and Ambitions.
Refer to this link for the discussion on Goal Setting.

"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." - Harvey Mackay
"The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score." - Bill Copeland

Step 1. Invest in Financial Education: (Cont.)

Ingredients for a Successful Personal Finance Management

To be successful in managing your finances, your Cashflow (Income and Expenses) should be managed with Discipline so you can build up Savings that will utilize Time and Compound Interest so that these Savings will generate additional income for you without your Active Effort.
Therefore, it is important to have a good understanding of financial planning basics and the right information about the different financial products available so you can let your money work for you.

Step 1. Invest in Financial Education:

"Spend" time and effort to research and study on the following important financial planning basics:
 
   > Goal Setting and Budgeting
   > Difference between Active Income and Passive Income
   > Difference between Good Debt and Bad Debt
   > Time, Compound Interest and Inflation
   > Going from Saving to Investing
   > Risk / Reward Trade-off
   > Different Financial Instruments available in the market - (Insurance, Mutual Funds, Stocks, Bonds, etc.)

This "investment" in knowledge will help you make sound financial decisions in the future and will help you avoid making costly mistakes in money management decisions. This is the first and most important "investment" you need to make before you venture out into actually investing (and risking) big sums of your hard earned cash in the business or financial world.

Important Advice: Do not invest in anything which you do not understand.