How to Become Rich: 12 Expert Tips on Wealth Creation

Last Updated on – Dec 20, 2022 @ 3:21 pm

Each time the lotto jackpot prize starts a steady climb, it’s automatic prime time news source material.

Why? Because seeing hundreds of millions of pot money continue to pile up excites us.

It gives me a quick rush of thrill just thinking of the stuff I can buy with that load of cash. And I haven’t even bought a ticket.

Imagine the feeling of those who actually clasp a ticket in their hands as they watch the news reporter approach and interview a ticket buyer.

Their excitement is probably ten-fold.

Reporter: “Ano pong gagawin ninyo pag napanalunan ninyo yung jackpot?”
Man: “Bibilan ko po ng malaking bahay at sasakyan ang pamilya ko.”

Even with chances almost close to zero, it’s that draw of instant success which makes lotteries very popular.

The promise of “having it all” in a snap of a finger is what makes it so compelling. And there are others (that we won’t cover in detail in this post):

Some inherit a fortune.
Others marry to a rich family.
Some join game shows
Or become a celebrity.

We can’t really blame ourselves for thinking this way. It’s completely normal to wish for a better life especially when life was not that easy to begin with.

In a 2017 Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse, it revealed that while Filipinos place 2nd in terms of GDP growth rate among Southeast Asian countries, the average wealth of 86.6% of Filipino adults is only $9,773—an average net worth of less than 500,000 pesos. We’re behind Malaysia ($22,804) and Indonesia (11,001), with Brunei ($43,151) and Singapore ($268,776) taking the top 2 spots.

What do these figures tell us?

Well, for one it reveals our country’s highly unequal wealth distribution.

Second is it shows that the majority of adult Filipinos don’t have much in terms of net worth.

But as a country who prides itself in the motto: “Kapag may tiyaga, may nilaga”, we know we have in us the seeds of greatness. It just needs to be nurtured and taken care of the same way a farmer tends to his crops.

He prepares the soil. Plants the seeds, waters them and make sure they get enough sunlight.

He protects it from pests. Gives it the right fertilizer. Soon enough, the crops appear. He harvests them and repeats the same process all over again.

Ask any financially successful person and they will nod in agreement that the money we save are seeds: waiting to be sown, planted, tended and then harvested.

And that’s just number 2 (Investing) below on our list of top tips on wealth creation. If you’re ready to get rich, read on!

Here’s how to get rich in the Philippines:

Master a skill
Save to Invest
Build Assets that Generate Passive Income
Build Connections
Start a Business
Spend Money to Make Money
Understand the Value of Your Time
Live Simple
Give Back
Grit
Save 100K
Educate Yourself

12 Ways to Become Rich in the Philippines

1. Master a skill

“Pursue excellence and success will follow” – Rancho, from the movie, “3 Idiots”

What are you good at? Are you good at numbers? Do you like to teach? Do you find joy in writing? Do you have superb persuasion skills like a salesman?

Or perhaps you love making videos and posting them online? Build websites, make apps, create music—the choices are endless.

Bill Gates become rich by coding and creating software. Michael Dell launched Dell from his college dorm room making custom-built PCs. Warren Buffet loved numbers. He excelled in figuring a company’s value through numbers and made billions in stocks.

What do these guys have in common? They were extremely passionate about something.

This passion is what drove them to want to develop certain skills that will make them the best in their fields. They were masters of their craft.

And mastery attracts success. When you’re highly skilled at something, a lot of opportunities open up, people notice, and you build connections. With the right mindset and goals, this path will lead you to both personal and financial satisfaction.

Recommended Reading: Building Expertise: How to Become an Expert in any Field

2. Save to Invest

I remember skipping the occasional merienda when I was a student if I was saving up for some kind of purchase.

Was it worth it?

Probably—if it was something I really needed. But more often than not, the fleeting feeling that a shiny new gadget or pair of shoes brings is short lived.

Think about it.

The last time you got a new phone, you treated it like a newborn baby in your hands on the first day. I know I did.

Then a few weeks later, the magic is gone and it’s back to being “just” the same old smartphone.

Financially-successful people suggests we save to invest instead. To have our money “work for us”.

How? Through investing. Each peso invested will work to make more of itself through the power of compounding. In the book, the Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clason, the wise man said:

“Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child that can also earn for you.”

So save up to invest, there are a ton of ways to make money work for you, not the other way around. Whether it’s stocks, mutual funds, VUL, or some kind of business, try to look for the best wealth-building option that works for you.

Heck, even Pag-IBIG offers a savings program (MP2) that beats your typical bank’s interest rate.

Remember—the earlier you start, the better your chances of bigger earnings from interest.

3. Build Assets that Generate Passive Income

One key trait that separates truly wealthy individuals from the rest of the pack is that they have set up some (in most cases, several) form of income streams.

They literally make money even as they sleep. Passive income takes wealth generation to the next level because you’re no longer bound to the concept that X hours of work = X amount of income.

And it’s not only about building wealth. Having multiple sources of income serves as protection should your primary means of earning gets to a sudden halt (e.g, lose your job).

As Robert Allen said in his book, Multiple Streams of Income:

“Ordinary people are much more vulnerable. If they lose one of their [money] streams, it wipes them out. And it takes them years to recover.”

4. Build Connections

You probably heard the term, “It’s not just what you know, it’s who you know”.

Tai Lopez, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur and mentor who helps others reach their business goals, stressed the importance of “having relationships with people who have attributes you lack” and “hiring people who know stuff you can’t teach”.

Why is this important? Because it allows you to learn from people who are already doing what you plan to do and open doors to opportunities that would have been unavailable to you otherwise.

Their wisdom, guidance, and connections can be of tremendous help to get to your goal faster.

Recommended: 10 Business Networking Tips

5. Start a Business

Running a business is not for the faint of heart. So why do a lot of people still get into it? It could be for a bunch of reasons, honestly.

Some do it to pursue their passion, some see it as a means to escape the 9-5 rat race, some are in it for the challenge, and much more.

But perhaps to many of us, the potential to earn multiple times over versus a regular job is what makes the promise of starting a business so enticing.

Even small business owners have the chance to earn more than a high-salary employee.

The possibility to earn three, five, or even ten-fold of your current pay while doing something you love is enough of a reason for some of us to take on the challenge.

Related: See more useful guides on entrepreneurship from our friends at FilipinoWealth.com

6. Spend Money to Make Money

If you think about it, isn’t this what Investing means? Exactly! The phrase literally translates to “the action of investing money for profit or some sort of gain.”

You can’t get dividends from stocks without having the capital to begin with, can you? How can you even operate your rice store without the rice to sell?

Think of it as your capital, money you’re willing to spend so you can make more money.

It could also mean paying for training or courses that will teach you new skills for a promotion or a better-paying job. That’s why you see professionals going back to school to get an MBA.

Or see your friends sign-up for trainings and seminars on wealth-building. Or your neighbor who paid for baking lessons so she can start her cupcake business.

7. Understand the Value of Your Time

Time is our most valuable commodity. It’s an unreplenishable resource.

That’s why we need to put more focus on the things that we use it for. Have you ever heard of the Pareto Principle?

It’s more commonly known as the 80/20 Rule. It states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. It has been used as metric for identifying efficiency across different fields of disciplines.

For example, in business, 80% of your sales might come from 20% of your clients. Or it may be the other way around—20% of your salespeople make 80% of the overall sales.

In the workplace, 20% of the hazards cause 80% of the injuries. The “80/20 Diet” has a lot of fans because it allows them to indulge on foods they love as long as they focus on eating healthy foods 80% of the time.

The bottom line?

Determine which activities and projects will net you the biggest return in impact in terms of growth and money. Once identified, focus your time and effort on them.

Minimize stuff that take a lot of your time but bring you no significant value. Put your time into good use.

8. Live Simple

Too many people spend money they earned..to buy things they don’t want..to impress people they don’t like. –Will Rogers

The great Stoic philosopher Epictetus once said that wealth does not consist of having great possessions, but in having a few wants. In a word?

Contentment.

In today’s social media-driven world, where everyone puts their best feet forward, it’s too easy to feel that slight tinge of envy when looking at a post of someone’s new car, new phone, new gadgets, travel photos, food pics, new house—you name it.

And with that comes a “Keeping up with the Joneses”-kind of lifestyle where your “wants” gets prioritized over your “needs”. You want to have it because they have it. It’s the “cool” thing to do at the moment.

And it’s a never-ending loop, unfortunately. It’s like a mouse in hamster wheel struggling to keep up but ultimately reaching nowhere.

Because if we want to build wealth, we should not live beyond our means.

Getting rich starts with having the right mindset.

Owning less stuff does not mean you’re depriving yourself—it only means you want to spend your hard-earned money on the stuff that really matters and bring you genuine happiness.

In her book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Japanese author Marie Kondo urges us to ask ourselves if an item “sparks joy” in our hearts.

Why? Because not only do we save ourselves from the problem of accumulating stuff we don’t need, it saves us the time, money and effort to acquire those things in the first place.

Most importantly, it allows us to focus these resources on stuff and activities that truly matter.

9. Give Back

I first heard of TOMS almost a decade ago when I saw an officemate wear a pair one Friday. It reminded me of those karate-shoes worn in movies by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan—which are essentially slip-ons in plain color.

The TOMS, however, were more cute. When I learned of its price, however, I was a bit skeptical. How can these simple-looking pair of slip-ons command such a price? And yet they were getting more popular by the minute!

Later I learned that for each pair of TOMS shoes bought, the company donates a pair of shoes to less-fortunate children. TOMS, which is short for “Tomorrow Shoes” was able to build a brand with a reputation of doing social good, while still being able to make a lot in revenue.

Proof that giving back not only wins us good karma, but can also lead to a lot of opportunities for building wealth since it builds your influence and reach.

10. Grit

What word do you get when you combine Passion and Perseverance? Grit. Some define it as the courage and resolve that shows the strength of your character.

It’s what Henry Sy had as a young man when he only had 10 centavos in his pocket and sold surplus G.I boots while learning English and Tagalog, attending school and facing difficult circumstances as a Chinese immigrant in a foreign country.

Angela Duckworth sees Grit in her book, of the same name, as valuable as talent.

For without it, we lose the discipline required to cultivate our talent—which is essential in developing skills for improving our personal and financial health.

Grit is one of the secrets for becoming and staying rich.

Worth checking out: 20 Important Technical & Soft Skills to Earn 6 Figures per month

Bonus Tips:

Save 100k

Can you save up to 100k pesos? I ask because reaching Php100k shows you have the ability and capacity right now to make, save and invest money.

If you can’t, worry not. It only means you first should focus on increasing your earning capacity so you can increase your saving capacity. Makes sense, right?

Reaching this feat will also make you realize how capable you are in making money, which is a good mindset to have in case you have to start all over.

Although, you should prioritize your financial needs first before you can begin comfortably investing a significant portion to saving and investments.

Also Read: 10 Ways to Make Your First Million

Educate yourself

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin

Getting rich is one thing, taking care of your wealth is another. One may easily accumulate money but without the proper mindset and know-how, they can lose it all as quickly as they got it.

As once president of Harvard University, Derek Bok said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”.

His point? We should always strive to improve ourselves, whether its for health, personal, career, or financial reasons. Because not knowing how to manage these aspects in our lives will ultimately cost us a lot more in the end.

Learn More: 100+ Free Online Courses for Filipinos

Wealth Creation Tips Straight from the Experts:

We’ve also reached out to some of the most respected thought-leaders in the personal finance space in the country, to share their best tip on how to create wealth (and be truly financially free). Here’s what they had to say:

Randell Tiongson

“Spend less than what you earn and invest the difference.”

Randell Tiongson, RFP is a director of the Registered Financial Planner Institute Philippines and the author of No Nonsense Personal Finance and Money Manifest: Lessons in Personal Finance.

Edric Mendoza

“My tip is to create a “Financial Finish Line” (FFL), a concept I learned from Harvard Business School graduates who wrote a book called “God and Money”. An FFL is essentially an amount of money you set that is sufficient for you and your family’s needs and wants. Any money you receive on top of that, you give away!

This allows people the chance to give purpose to their money, and create a life that is not just about themselves but is about helping others as well. It is radical, but I believe if more and more people adopt this, it will change the world! They key is to establish the amount of money needed to cover your needs and a bit for your wants. And, even more challenging is being honest and objective about what your needs and wants are. But once you do, you can have clarity on how much more you need to earn to achieve your FFL, or if you already have enough, then resolve that that is your FFL –it’s time to give!”

Edric Mendoza is an international keynote speaker and an edu-preneur (education entrepreneur). He’s also the President of Homeschool Global and the lead anchor and TV host of the ANC show On the Money.

Bo Sanchez

“Building wealth requires radical patience. I know that’s not a sexy word today. We like our money to skyrocket to the moon in a snap. But that’s why there’s a new scam every month that wipes out millions. And that’s why I’ve seen a lot of people earn a huge amount in the short-term only to lose it all in the long-term.

To actually build passive income, you need radical patience. My two maids are millionaires today. People are awed by that, but it took them more than 8 long years of slow, steady investing. I repeat: Radical patience. That’s the key to building passive income.”

Bo Sanchez is a best-selling book author of nine books on personal finance, a radio show commentator, TV host, a Catholic lay preacher, and an entrepreneur.

Let me end with this quote: