Different Financial Seminars Can Attend Cebu

In an earlier post, I strongly encouraged you to attend a free financial planning seminar. Whenever you’re invited, say yes. Attend and learn as much.

Companies and groups in Cebu, Philippines can easily organize events and invite people to attend them. Using the internet and power of social media, businesses and financial institutions like insurance, stock brokerage and asset management companies can reach out to many people as a way to spread advocacy. They too can market their brand and products along the way.

Here, I’m going to list down some of the events happening in Cebu. This is no means complete, and also does not represent as approval or endorsement. Most of them are free, others have affordable fees.

1. Financial seminar

A financial seminar is a great introduction to financial planning. You will learn ideas such as saving, investing, and compound interest. It is most of the time, if not all the time, free. This is your chance to learn how to improve your skills in taking care of your finances.

2. Cash flow workshop

A cash flow workshop is about taking control of your money. Unlike a typical financial seminar, it is more about making everyone become better money managers by knowing how to keep track of spending and increase ability to save. Exercises, worksheets, and other activities that deal with estimating cost of living and budgeting are usually featured.

Wealth-building seminars

Another must-attend events, these are talks on how to get an income aside from your current job. Quite different from stock-trading and business seminars, they deal about the nature of several types of investments. It is more or less a survey of assets that you can invest with the hope of getting returns at a later time. It is also teaches how to build a strong financial foundation, income protection and risk-return trade-off.

Estate planning seminars

Estate planning is all about how to prepare for the inevitable. Thus, the seminars discuss how to transfer properties and assets to family and heirs upon one’s untimely death. Additionally, they all touch on ways to manage taxes such as either through insurance or through a corporation.

Stock trading seminars

Frequently sponsored by brokerage companies, they discuss how an average Pinoy can start investing and earning in the stock market. Topics include stock index, Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and securities trading. Some other stock trading talks that feature advanced lectures on trading are not free, such as those that discuss technical and quantitative analysis.

Business seminars

These are events that either encourage or fund new start-ups or marketing tried-and-tested business models. They are frequently sponsored by organizations of entrepreneurs (Chamber of Commerce) or by distributors. They can be events where leading and successful business people share their skills and expertise to aspiring business owners. Alternatively, they can also be about introducing people to existing businesses such as franchising, laundry business and travel agency.

A few of them are free of charge. Others would require membership or a product purchase. Still others charge registration fee.

Real estate seminars

Some real estate companies have open-house events and a couple of discussions on their development projects. Their marketing seems to suggest that buying a property is a form of investing.

Other seminars such as Forex and BitCoin

Just like stock trading, Forex and Bitcoin groups are also offering talks. Forex, foreign exchange, deals with earning money by expertly taking advantage of volatility of the value of currencies. Bitcoin on the other hand is about acquisition of and gains from digital currency.

You might also receive invitations for a networking company. Also called multi-level marketing, networking companies have received bad rap recently. Some turn out to be fly-by-night companies, leaving their members unable to recoup their investments when they close down all of a sudden (and sadly, I am speaking from personal experience). Proceed with an open mind and healthy amount of caution.

And then there are study-abroad programs. While they are not strictly about financial seminar, some of the groups sponsoring them market the deal as a form of investing. Pay placement fee for the privilege of getting a slot, and then study/work in another country for the hope of being granted a visa or naturalized citizenship.