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Floi Wycoco started the Global Filipino Investors in 2013. As a Facebook group, it has grown to around 32,000 members from around the world. I chat with Floi and 2 of the officers of TGFI: Marc Mancilla and Ace Gapuz about putting their financial lives in order, on turning points, and discovering what they really want out of life in this episode of the Happy Yuppie Podcast. This is the first of 2 parts.

TGFI is composed of yuppies–mainly in their twenties. You’ve probably heard Ace Gapuz in episode #004 of the podcast where she felt lost and trying to discover her path. She seems to have discovered it when she became part of TGFI.

Marc Mancilla has several businesses, and right after graduation, he has built several businesses already.

Ace Gapuz met a lot of people since episode #004. She just tried one thing after another. She found a group of people who shared the same passion and wanted to do the same things she wants.

She still feels lost but now feeling a bit better and things are clearer now.

[You can also listen to #023 - Interview with Heinz Bulos where he talked about his exploration stage in his twenties.]

The One Track Career is no longer applicable to most professionals these days.

Marc Mancilla’s parents trained him to be entrepreneurial at an early age. His parents gave him their own version of the Marshmallow Test. Together with his sibling, their parents gave him a box of chips and asked him that he can either eat the chips or sell it and buy toys or candies.

Interested with the Marshmallow Test? Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ

Even when he was in High School, he was selling billiard ball keychains. The business even expanded and had several branches. Interestingly, Marc’s parents were not entrepreneurs, they were employees. But they groomed him for business.

It was founded by Floi Wycoco, a former OFW in Singapore. He wanted to go to Singapore to earn and save more money. When Floi started earning a lot of money, his expenses also increased so much that he bought an expensive watch worth PhP 70,000.

Eventually, Floi got his act together and then started a Facebook group in 2013, which now has almost 32,000 members. TGFI conducts seminars all over the world.

TGFI is possibly the only group online that caters to all areas of personal finance: personal finance, stock market, real estate investing, foreign exchange trading.

Listen to the episode with Randell Tiongson: Episode #012

Marc started investing in the stock market when he was still in High School, thanks to a board game called Cash Flow. He joined TGFI and posted the results of his investing and his percentage gains.

He wanted to share his passion with other people but his peers weren’t interested in those things yet. That’s how he stumbled onto TGFI on Facebook.

Floi Wycoco joins us at around the 17:00 mark

Floi’s story had been featured on ABS-CBN News website: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/01/12/14/how-bankrupt-ofw-finally-achieved-financial-goals

Even back in College, Floi wasn’t sure of what he really wanted to do. He went to worked for different companies. He worked for six companies in 5 years. Then he decided to go to Singapore to work as an OFW.

Floi also had the mentality that “Work hard. Party harder.” He also spent impulsively because of his credit card. He considered the OFW option as the key to becoming wealthy. But it’s not an easy path. He experienced racism.

His income increased but so did his expenses: watch, smartphones, laptops, and other gadgets. But he was still in debt. His relationship with family and even his girlfriend was affected because of his spending habits.

Floi’s life was turned around when a friend gave him Bo Sanchez’s book: “How to Lead a Life Full of Miracles.”

The next week, he attended a personal finance literacy seminar. That very week, he decided to turn his life around–to become more of a saver and investor instead of a spender. So he did it for one year and 6 months.

By the end of 2 years, he decided to go back to the Philippines because his finances was enough for his wedding and his investing goals.

During this time, TGFI was already registered. So the road back home was ready. By this time, Floi also wanted to share his story to the world and help other Filipinos become wealthier and more financially savvy.

Dr. Khristian Santos is the co-founder of TGFI.

TGFI helps bridge the gap between the experts and the “common people” who felt intimidated to ask the experts. The financial experts then joined the fray and provided good answers.

It has since become a very robust community.

Floi is getting married very soon.

Find people who share your passion.

Entrepreneurship training starts in the family.

Start early to pursue your business career.

Age is not a barrier to investing. You can start as young as you want.

If your income increases, don’t increase your expenses, too.