Updated: February 20, 2023
If you were to choose, what should be your priority – buy a house, get a car, start a business, or build your stock investments?
This was the concern of a young woman, who posted this question on a Facebook group a few days ago.
When I saw this on my timeline, I decided to check how other members of the group answered, and I was glad to read that most of the advice was smart and practical.
Some said that building an emergency fund should be the priority; others suggested getting protection through life and health insurance is a must.
Meanwhile, a few shared that learning about money management should come first. A few said that acquiring financial discipline should be her priority because these will help her get all those other stuff she wants.
Since a lot of the replies were already helpful, I chose to give a different and unconventional point of view on the matter.
I answered that her priority should be achieving self-fulfillment, finding her purpose, and pursuing happiness.
Because a house, a car, a business, and even stock investments are but tools or stepping stones that will help her to attain the things that really matter.
For example, if she finds happiness and fulfillment in traveling, then giving priority to buying a house won’t really help her achieve that.
Instead, she should learn to save and invest so she can grow a travel fund.
And with that realization, then perhaps getting a car should be her priority. Simply because it’s a logical purchase that will allow her to travel more.
Alternatively, let’s say that her passion is cooking, then maybe putting up a restaurant business should be her priority.
And if so, I boldly advise that she forget about the house and the car. She can just focus all her efforts on starting and building that business.
You are your life’s architect
Too often, we let others define who we should be.
We let our family, friends, and society dictate how we should live our life.
And in this process of trying to meet the expectations of other people, we slowly lose ourselves and forget about that unique and extraordinary person within.
So ask yourself the hard questions.
What gives you self-fulfillment? What do you believe is your purpose? What makes you truly happy?
When you’ve answered these questions, then your priorities in life will achieve clarity.
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Photo credits: baker and booleansplit
nice insight sir Fitz!
ang galing.. ndi ako aware dito until sinabe nyo.. thank you po Sir Fitz…
Great post. Our little family is just starting out and we are giving priority to getting a house first (we do have a still-need-a-lot-of-growth emergency fund, life and health insurances and stocks and MF investments already). I guess it was also the perfect timing since there are some changes in our current neighborhood (we live with my parents) and there may be a need to move out of the place soon. I am hoping we made the right decision and I hope we could get our finances straightened out to the way they should very soon.
Oh and I love your book, by the way. I just shared it to my older brother.
I first went into stocks even without any savings because I used to attend a religious gathering where I always felt pressured to get rich. I felt like napagiiwanan na ako because of how they preach it. Anyway, I stopped attending there altogether and just went back to the usual Sunday mass. I also stopped investing in stocks and pulled out all my money because it did not felt right at that time, probably because I knew I was not ready, financially and personally (experience wise). The money was then used to start a business, and it’s the greatest thing that happened to me and my family. I know one day I have to start investing in stocks again, but at least when the time comes I know I am ready for it.
You hit this one on the spot. that’s why I always admire your way of teaching financial independence, and listen to your advise. Maybe some financial advisers have the best intentions, but they just don’t know how they could affect other people if done in a wrong way.
More power. God bless.
Great Fitz. At first i thought that your advise would sound like other general advises. Like follow ur heart. Follow ur passion. Follow the bertud. but Then you’ve given it a different perspective when you linked it back to the real question. 😉
Sir Fitz,
I totally agree with you and it helps me to decide on what i should i do and my wife because we are also in the process of prioritizing on what to buy first, house, car or investment or altogether. More power and blessings to you!
Hello sir Fitz! Thats also what I want to ask from you. I’ve made a lot of financial mistakes because I let others define me and decide for me. Is it not too late to start all over again ? I want to focus on myself more because I always help my family.
If I would list mine in order, it would look like this:
1 Business
2 Stock
3 Investments
4 House
5 Car
I’ve also seen the question in the Filipino Financial Freedom Forum and I agree with your answer Sir Fitz. It’s the pursuit of happiness. 🙂
yes i agree…wat would make you happy would make you wealthy..mentally and emotionally..and the rest will follow..
Agree. All the material things don’t mean anything if you can’t use them for a purpose. Even money is worthless if you don’t know where you would like to spend it on.
makes sense…oo nga noh….ðŸ‘
Ang galing mo talaga. Right…
Recently, I found out that I really enjoy traveling. It’s something that I would love to do every once in a while. Now, I make sure to allot some of my earnings for travel.
I do not like group travels unless I’m trying to cut back expenses. Having a companion would do. Traveling alone could also work
very insightful.
pursuit of happiness is not equal to financial freedom
this suggestion is not for the long term.
“Too often, we let others define who we should be.
We let our family, friends and society dictate how we should live our life.
And in this process of trying to meet the expectations of other people, we slowly lose ourselves and forget about that unique and extraordinary person within.”
Very well said fitz! everyone should see this specific blog of yours.
I agree with Honey. These are two different concerns. When I went to Saudi, in two years I saved and buy a house and lot. Now 25 years later I still have it and have kept my self worrying about rents. But thanks Fitz for keeping us informed. Cheers!
Happiness then start what you have now for the future.
What is financial freedom if you have not been living your life happily the way you want it? balance it. I can’t bring my investment to my grave…i want to enjoy it and build memories with my family and save just enough so my children can start on something.
This is a good article Sir Fitz. It’s very important for us to have a goal before going into any kind of investment.
You hit the nail right on the head with this article, Sir Fritz! I, too, am confused (and a bit overwhelmed) at so many financial concerns right now… building emergency fund, saving for house, thinking if we need a car, looking at HMO options… But at the end of the day, it comes right down to what makes us happy, and what will give us peace of mind 🙂
Worth reading!
Working to improve known deficiencies would be a priority for our family. I never worried much about keeping a local emergency fund as I like my cash to be earning. If not invested, I still earn a little because of the sweep feature where cash is parked, earning a little interest until I use it to cover a CSP (Cash Secured Put) option or to purchase stock or ETFs. It is not difficult to transfer money into the account with attached VISA card and visit an ATM, they are everywhere here in the Philippines. No problem until the first COVID related lockdown. I have no idea what the thinking really was was but foreign debit and credit cards were blocked for a time from accessing money at local Philippine ATMs. The “excuse” I was given, “it is to prevent foreigners from hording cash.” Say what? Tourists went home if they could. Those tourists who were stuck here for a while certainly needed to eat and pay for services they used. Married guys, especially with children did not (I hope) bail out. We had families to support.
Now we were OK for many months, Beautiful Bride had a steady flow of academic writing work that lasted way beyond her normal busy season before incoming assignments slowed. It was sufficient for our immediate family. The problems for us started when I needed cash to help out my Brother-in-laws. One has a government job but his paycheck was delayed a long time. The other had financial issues going into the COVID scare. Mother-in-law also need some assistance at that time.
I am thankful we had the foresight to put long term storage food away for such emergencies. We ate and so did our extended family until they were able to get out to make purchases. The only reason we were able to access some of my free cash, a bank manager (God Bless her) worked a magic trick, I think an over-ride of the ATMs programming, that allowed me access to my cash. We had to do this on several occasions. All of my “hoarding” went straight into what was left of our local Philippine economy. Once is enough. My new plan is to “hoard” some cash (both Pesos and US Dollars) at home for emergency use should there ever be a repeat of these events!!!!