Jay Adrian Tolentino

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A client wrote this after we finished her roadmap. She never mentioned returns.

She named three things. Getting clear on what she wants, the tools to plan it, and a way to check if she’s moving.

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ABOUT ME

I’m a financial coach and educator, founder of Free Before Sixty Coaching FZE LLC and an SCA Registered Financial Influencer ( #79) in the UAE.

I’m not a licensed financial advisor, planner, or broker, and nothing I post is regulated financial advice.

WHAT I DO

I teach how money, investing, insurance, and retirement planning work.

I help you get clear on what you want, put numbers to it, and build a plan you understand and can run yourself.

WHAT I DON’T DO

I don’t tell you which fund, policy, or platform to buy.

I don’t manage your money, place trades, or touch your accounts.

I don’t sell financial products and I never take a commission. My coaching fee is the only money that moves between us.

Every financial decision, and the outcome of it, is yours.

OUTSIDE THE UAE

I’m not licensed or regulated anywhere else. Speak to a licensed professional in your own country before you act.

I don’t advise on tax, legal, or estate matters at all.

NO GUARANTEES

All investing carries risk, including the risk of losing money. Past performance doesn’t predict future returns.

Any figures or projections I show are illustrations built from assumptions, not forecasts of what will happen to you.

ON CLIENT COMMENTS

A testimonial describes one person’s own experience. It isn’t a promise that anyone else will get the same, and it isn’t a claim about investment performance.

I tried the worth it or not worth it trend, OFW edition.

Sending ₱100,000 home every month, worth it or not worth it?

Building a ₱5 million house in the Philippines, worth it or not worth it?

Buying a condo in Manila as your retirement plan, not worth it if that’s your only retirement asset.

Buying a car in the Philippines while you’re working abroad, not worth it if you’re not using it or generating income from it.

Keeping all your savings in a Philippine bank account, not worth it if you’re earning and spending in a stronger currency abroad.

Kaya before sending or spending everything back home, segment your money based on the timeline of your goals.

Emergency fund, credit card debts, short term goals, medium term goals, and lastly your long term goals.

Which one would you add to the worth it or not worth it list?

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

Skipping your coffee will not get you to retirement.

These tiny sacrifices to save money barely move the needle, while bigger recurring costs can make a bigger difference.

Skipping a daily coffee might save you a small few thousand dollars or dirhams per year, okay siya, pero maliit lang yun.

Look at your rent, the car you’re paying for, and subscriptions you are not even using.

Dito nandun yung bigger recurring costs, and that’s where the savings can be.

Kaya cutting small treats just makes you miserable and barely richer than yesterday.

Enjoy your coffee, but list your 3 biggest recurring costs and ayusin mo yun this month.

Kahit isa lang dun can beat skipping your coffee for the entire year.

Follow for more if you’re an overseas Filipino who earns well, enjoys his coffee, pero wala pa ring real plan to retire before 60.

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

More investments do not automatically mean more diversification.

You can own 5 stocks, a condo, Pag IBIG MP2, and cash, but if all of them are in the Philippine market, your future is still heavily tied to 1 economy.

Kaya diversification is not about how many products or accounts you own.

It is about how many economies your investments are exposed to.

The same thing applies if you invest globally but everything is in the US market.

We cannot predict the future, so check whether your investments are exposed to many countries, hindi lang sa

Pinas, and not just 1 or 2 countries.

Follow for more if you’re an overseas Filipino who earns well pero wala pa ring clear plan to early retirement.

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

Having cash feels responsible, but cash alone does not tell you if you can retire.

Saving money is good, kaya lang cash sitting in the bank can lose to inflation, and I call that dead money.

A big pile of cash with no target cannot tell you if you’re on pace to retire comfortably.

A quick check is to get your annual expenses and multiply them by 25.

If your savings are enough based on that rough target, that gives you a starting point for your freedom number.

Pero your real freedom number also factors in inflation and the future currency of wherever you plan to retire.

So don’t just ask how much cash you have, know what that cash needs to do for your retirement.

Follow for more if you’re an overseas Filipino who earns well but still doesn’t have a clear plan to retire before 60.

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

You can love your kids without becoming your retirement plan.

There’s a difference between loving them and leaning on them, and many Filipino parents grew up thinking that their children will eventually take care of them.

I heard this firsthand during one of my speaking engagements when a parent said, “Yung mga anak ko,” when

I asked about investments.

There’s nothing wrong with helping your parents if you genuinely want to help them.

Pero if we pass the same mindset to our children, they may carry the same burden we experienced.

Now that you’re working abroad, you’ve probably seen how other cultures approach this differently.

Kaya you’re working hard so you won’t become a financial burden to your children.

Having a real plan helps you find your retirement number and the specific date when you can retire.

Start by knowing your target retirement date and the annual expenses your retirement portfolio needs to provide.

Follow for more if you’re an overseas Filipino who earns well and doesn’t want to depend on your kids in retirement.

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

Your condo can pay you in retirement, but it can also leave your whole plan riding on one market.

Hindi naman dahil masama ang real estate, it’s what happens when it’s your only plan.

Your condo is in 1 building, 1 city, and 1 market.

Kahit marami kang rental properties, if they’re all sitting in 1 geography, like the Philippines, your retirement income is still exposed to what happens in that market.

And when the market goes down, your rent and your property value can go down with it.

Kaya the core of your retirement portfolio should be spread across many markets, hindi sa isang location lang.

Your condo can be part of the picture, but it should not carry the whole retirement plan.

Follow for more if you’re an overseas Filipino who earns well, has a few condo investments, but still doesn’t have a real plan to retire before 60.

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

You can earn well your whole life and still never retire early.

Making money and growing it are 2 different skills, and most never learn the second, so they hand it off.

After each receipt, same line, no skill built.

A fund sold by a salesperson, 10 years later, fees ate the growth.

A business you only funded, it grew, then they pushed you out.

Others trade it for you through stocks, forex, or crypto, and one lost 2M.

There is a saying, a man with money meets a man with experience, and the one with experience walks away with the money, while the one with money walks away with experience.

It was never about income, it was the one skill they never built, growing their own money.

Build that, and retiring early becomes a plan, not a hope.

Follow for more.

This is financial education, not financial advice. For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.

A big salary can still leave you with nothing.

A nanny earning 3,000 dirhams can be wealthier than an OFW making 10 times more.

Kasi wealth was never about what you earn, it’s what you keep.

She spends almost nothing, so almost everything stays.

The one earning 10 times that spends like he earns, so nothing does.

The trap is when your income gets good, you feel you deserve to spend it all.

New iPhone, new everything, quietly funded by loans.

The OFWs who hit 60 to 70 million by their mid-40s did the opposite.

Their income climbed, but their lifestyle didn’t.

That’s what made the difference.

What makes you wealthy isn’t how much you earn, it’s how much you keep.

And that’s what lets you retire early.

Be honest in the comments, when your last raise came in, did your savings grow, or just your spending?

This is financial education, not financial advice.

For decisions specific to your situation, consult a licensed professional.