1/28/2018 Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons everyone can learn from Dr.

Jose Rizal | Entrepreneur Ph

Business Ideas Start-up Tips Run & Grow Directory Subscribe to Newsletter
MENU
LOG IN REGISTER SEARCH

Franchising Forum Promos Biztools        

BUSINESS IDEAS RUN & GROW NEWS AND EVENTS NEWS AND EVENTS
With Just Php35k, You Can Turn Financial Adviser: 5 Investing SM, Robinsons or Puregold: Who’s PH GDP Growth Falls Slightly in
Your Store, Shop or Home into a Lessons Everyone Can Learn From the Biggest Supermarket Chain of 2017 But is Still Second Fastest in
Payment Center and Earn the "Warren Buffett of PH" Wilson Them All? Southeast Asia
Thousands from Transaction Fees Sy

Business Ideas

Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons

everyone can learn from Dr. Jose Rizal
He was a doctor, a writer, an artist, and yes, also a businessman
By Henry Ong | Aug 31, 2016

18.4K Shares Share Tweet Share

Photo from Presidential Museum and Library PH (2010-2016) via Flickr

MOST READ ARTICLES
  NEWS AND EVENTS
  What Cars Do Senators Own,
And How Will TRAIN Law
Nationalism seems to be at an all-time high among us. People seem to have Affect Their Vehicles’ Retail
grown a newfound interest in our heroes – just look at the resurgence of Prices?

historical movies and television series.

NEWS AND EVENTS
  SM, Robinsons or Puregold:
But it is also interesting to remember how our national heroes, who fought Who’s the Biggest
Supermarket Chain of Them
hard for our independence, have also struggled with their nances. It would be All?
bene cial to examine how they managed to survive and work their way
towards nancial freedom. RUN AND GROW
Appleto
We use cookies Is ensure
Hiring, and
youYou
get
  Can Work From Home
the best experience on
One of the most documented national heroes we have is Dr. Jose Rizal. He grew Entrepreneur.com.ph. By
up in a privileged life, being born to one of the wealthiest families in Calamba, continuing to browseIDEAS
BUSINESS our site, you
and yet he was never careless with money. Rizal was always conscious about are agreeingWith Justuse
to our Php35k, You Can
of cookies.
Turn
Find out more Your Store, Shop or
here.
his spending even though he knew that his parents can back him up for any Home into a Payment
Center and Earn Thousands
nancial need. GOT
from IT!
Transaction Fees
 
What was Rizal’s attitude towards money? How did Rizal manage his limited
nances while he was living overseas? What are the personal nance lessons

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/business-ideas/financial-adviser-5-money-lessons-everyone-can-learn-from-dr-jose-rizal-a23-20160831-lfrm 1/6
1/28/2018 Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons everyone can learn from Dr. Jose Rizal | Entrepreneur Ph

we can learn from Rizal’s experience? Here are the ve practical money skills RUN AND GROW

of Jose Rizal that everyone should master to become nancially independent: Financial Adviser: 5
Investing Lessons Everyone
  Can Learn From the "Warren
  Buffett of PH" Wilson Sy

1.  Learn how to budget your expenses. NEWS AND EVENTS

In 1884, when Rizal was living in Madrid, he kept a diary where he listed all his How Much Did Isabelle
expenses. The diary, which is currently preserved at the Newberry Library in Duterte's Dream Debut Party
Cost?
Chicago, shows that Rizal was very detailed in recording his daily expenses. He
would record every peseta spent from postage stamps and books, to lottery and RUN AND GROW

theater tickets. This Japanese Secret Will

Teach You How to Be Better
  at Saving More Money in
One way to save money for the future is to budget your expenses. There are two 2018

types of expenses that you need to monitor. One is xed expenses, which you
NEWS AND EVENTS
can hardly lower because they are necessary living expenses such as rental, You Can Prevent Bank
loan amortization or insurance. The other is variable expenses which vary Fraud and Data Theft by
Shifting to EMV Cards.
every month depending on your consumption. These are electricity, food or Here's What You Need To
gasoline. Know

 
RUN AND GROW
The opportunity for saving as a result of monitoring your expense budget 12 Expenses Successful
comes with the lowering of your discretionary expenses. Expenses on movies, People Don't Waste Time or
Money on
books, dining out and other leisure can be minimized to generate savings.
  RUN AND GROW

Although Rizal knew how to budget properly, according to historian Ambeth Ayala and Eton Team Up to
Build Bridge Linking QC and
Ocampo, a signi cant part of Rizal’s recurring and most consistent expense Pasig
was for books and reading materials, while food was not given the same
attention. To save for books, Rizal would scrimp on bathing that he even once
bragged to his sisters that he had not taken a bath in weeks!
NEWSLETTER
Subscribe to our email newsletter for
  useful tips and valuable resources.

email address Subscribe

2. Learn how to constantly look for opportunities to
save.
During his travels in Europe, Rizal would often complain that the daily rate of
his hotel or apartment was too high and he would always transfer to a cheaper

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
location after every few days to save on costs.
 
COLUMNS
When Rizal rst arrived in Heidelberg in 1886, he stayed in a pension house. He
FirstDibs in Marketing for Entrepreneurs
later went to look for a cheaper alternative, and he wrote in his diary, Amor's checklist on marketing local delicacies
"Tomorrow I am going to change my residence and move to No.12 Ludwigsplatz,
near the University. The room alone with service, light, and heating costs me Amor Maclang

eight pesos a month or 32 marks. I shall eat at the restaurant during the day Weeffective
Here are use cookies to ensure
tips to help you
make your get
local
thebusiness
delicacy best experience
successful. on
and at night take supper in my room in German style, that is, a cup of tea, Entrepreneur.com.ph. By
bread, and butter. I believe that in this way I can live on 25 pesos a month with continuing to browse our site, you
board and lodging.” are agreeing to our use of cookies.
#InTheLoop
Find out more here.
 
  How Did
GOT IT! the
Philippines Fare as
3. Learn how to have the discipline to repay your Chair of ASEAN 2017?
borrowings and become debt-free.
Rizal had dif culty publishing his rst novel, Noli Me Tangere, due to nancial
constraints. He had to borrow Php 300 from his good friend Maximo Viola to

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/business-ideas/financial-adviser-5-money-lessons-everyone-can-learn-from-dr-jose-rizal-a23-20160831-lfrm 2/6
1/28/2018 Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons everyone can learn from Dr. Jose Rizal | Entrepreneur Ph

print the rst 2,000 copies of Noli. Rizal was thankful for Viola’s help that when
he received his funds from his brother Paciano several months after, he did not
delay any minute to pay off his loan immediately.
 
When you are in debt, there is always the anxiety of owing money and you nd
yourself in the debt trap. By paying down your debt, you will feel the feeling of
freedom and security because you don’t have to worry about paying your debt
when your income becomes limited.
 

4. Learn how to invest and grow your savings.

While living in exile in Dapitan in 1892, Rizal won a lottery ticket worth Php
20,000. The ticket, however, was jointly owned with two other holders, so he got
his share at Php 6,200, which is roughly Php 3 million in today’s value.
 
What Rizal did after taking his windfall gain was to invest bulk of the money
into agricultural lands. He bought a 16-hectare farm in Talisay, Dapitan where
he also built his house. Later, he also bought more lands in other barrios of
Dapitan that increased his total land holdings to 70 hectares. His farms
contained abaca plants, coconut palms, coffee, cacao plants and different kinds
of fruit trees.
 
Sudden wealth can leave you broke when you don’t plan it properly. Windfall
income makes you suddenly adjust your spending lifestyle thinking there are
no more limits in spending without realizing that there is still limit. When
there is excess income, nd ways to invest in assets that will appreciate rather
than depreciate.
 

5. Learn how to venture into entrepreneurship.

When Rizal returned to Calamba in 1887 after staying many years in Europe, he
established a medical clinic where his rst patient was his mother, Teodora
Alonzo. His reputation as doctor from Germany was great that it attracted
many patients from Manila to visit his clinic in Calamba. Rizal’s fee was
reasonable and he was able to earn Php 900 within the month.
 
When Rizal was staying in Hong Kong in 1891, he also put up a medical clinic in
No. 5 Aguilar Street in Central district. Rizal was able to build a large clientele
and was known as an excellent eye surgeon among the locals and Filipino
community. We use cookies to ensure you get
the best experience on
  Entrepreneur.com.ph. By
Entrepreneurship is all about risk management. There is no assurance that you continuing to browse our site, you
will always succeed. Preparing for risk and challenges in starting up a are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Find out more here.
business is one of the key factors of success. If you know how to manage your
risk, you will be able to handle your investment and pro ts too. Our heroes, like GOT IT!
Rizal, are some of the greatest risk takers we know. May we apply their wisdom
in our entrepreneurial endeavors.
 
 

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/business-ideas/financial-adviser-5-money-lessons-everyone-can-learn-from-dr-jose-rizal-a23-20160831-lfrm 3/6
1/28/2018 Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons everyone can learn from Dr. Jose Rizal | Entrepreneur Ph

*****

 
Henry Ong, CMC, is president of Business Sense Financial Advisors. Email
Henry for business advice hong@businesssense.com.ph or follow him on
Twitter, @henryong888

18.4K Shares Share Tweet Share

VIEW OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT

personal nance personal savings nancing for your business

Financial Management

WE RECOMMEND
FROM THE SUMMIT MEDIA NETWORK
SPONSORED CONTENT

PREVIOUS   NEXT
 
How Isabela farmers are Bayani Brew: Sold away from
becoming social home
entrepreneurs

Latest Articles

NEWS AND EVENTS

Is Uber Justi ed in Asking for Up

to 110% Fare Hike Due to TRAIN
Law? Check Out This Table on the
Impact of Fuel Prices on Major
Goods and Services
The PSA’s input-output tables give a good
idea how higher petroleum prices affect
other...

by Lorenzo Kyle Subido | January 28, 2018 09:00:00

We use cookies to ensure you get

NEWS AND EVENTS
the best experience on
Entrepreneur.com.ph. By
Travis Kalanick's Downfall Shows continuing to browse our site, you
How Necessary Accountability Is are agreeing to our use of cookies.
to Strong Leadership Find out more here.
Here's a new look behind the scenes at the
GOT IT!
ousting of the former Uber CEO

by Nina Zipkin | January 28, 2018 08:00:00

NEWS AND EVENTS

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/business-ideas/financial-adviser-5-money-lessons-everyone-can-learn-from-dr-jose-rizal-a23-20160831-lfrm 4/6
1/28/2018 Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons everyone can learn from Dr. Jose Rizal | Entrepreneur Ph

The Internet Sucks Up a Full Day

of Our Time Each Week
That's a big contrast from 17 years ago when
Americans on average spent only 9.4 hours
online each...

by Michael Kan | January 28, 2018 06:00:00

RUN & GROW

6 Strategies That Drive Business

Growth
Women often lead their companies to
success in a way that's very different from
male leaders

by Dr. Patti Fletcher | January 28, 2018 02:00:00

RUN & GROW

Use Slumps to Your Advantage

Take the viewpoint that your struggles are a
source of strength

by David Meltzer | January 28, 2018 00:00:00

STARTUP TIPS

How PH Startups Can Attract

More Funding: Insights from a
Singapore-Based Venture
Capitalist
Master your business and industry, and
make sure it’s a good t with prospective
funders’...

by Elyssa Christine Lopez | January 27, 2018 09:00:00

RUN & GROW

5 Ways to Be More Productive

This Year
How are your New Year's resolutions coming
along so far?

by Kimberly De Silva | January 27, 2018 08:00:00

We use cookies to ensure you get

the best experience on
Entrepreneur.com.ph. By
NEWS AND EVENTS continuing to browse our site, you
are agreeing to our use of cookies.
How Much Did Isabelle Duterte's Find out more here.
Dream Debut Party Cost?
Here are eye-popping details about Isabelle GOT IT!
Duterte's 18th birthday party.

by Nikko Tuazon for Pep.ph | January 27, 2018

02:00:00

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/business-ideas/financial-adviser-5-money-lessons-everyone-can-learn-from-dr-jose-rizal-a23-20160831-lfrm 5/6
1/28/2018 Financial Adviser: 5 money lessons everyone can learn from Dr. Jose Rizal | Entrepreneur Ph
NEWS AND EVENTS

Here's Kia's updated PH price list

for 2018
Good news for potential Picanto buyers

by Drei Laurel for TopGear.com.ph | January 27, 2018

00:00:00

NEWS AND EVENTS

What Cars Do Senators Own, And

How Will TRAIN Law Affect Their
Vehicles’ Retail Prices?
The Senate gets credit (or blame) for easing
excise taxes on luxury vehicles. What will it
cost...

by Pauline Macaraeg | January 26, 2018 10:00:00

BUSINESS IDEAS

Revolt of the Brewers: Katipunan

Craft Ales Perks Up PH Craft Beer
Industry
The pioneering local craft beer brewery is
making plans to open its own pub

by Pauline Macaraeg | January 26, 2018 10:00:00

RUN & GROW

12 Expenses Successful People

Don't Waste Time or Money on
Want to get rich? Adopt the habits of
successful people

by Charlene Oldham | January 26, 2018 08:00:00

SECTIONS TOPICS ENTREPRENEUR.COM.PH SUBCRIBE TO ENTREPRENEUR

Business Ideas Biztools Advertise PHILIPPINES' NEWSLETTER

Start-up Tips Marketing Contact Us

Enter your email address
Run & Grow Money About Us
Success Stories Management Privacy Policy
Subscribe
Rewards Leadership Terms of Use
News & Events Sales We use cookies to ensure you get
Forum Technology the best experience on
Directory Corporate Social Entrepreneur.com.ph. By
Promos Responsibility continuing to browse our site, you
are agreeing to our use of cookies.
Find out more here.
Copyright © 2018 Entrepreneur Philippines , Inc. All rights reserved.      
GOT IT!

https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/business-ideas/financial-adviser-5-money-lessons-everyone-can-learn-from-dr-jose-rizal-a23-20160831-lfrm 6/6