This is perhaps a question for those who have money to spare - unfortunately, for many Filipinos, the money that’s coming in every month is either just enough or simply not enough the money needed to spend. Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop some people who wanted to save some cash for the future. By cutting spending on unnecessary things, some money can be saved.

Filipinos normally save money for 3 main reasons: children education, buying a house, and birthday parties. Of course saving cash for starting a business, vacation and travel, buying car and appliances comes secondary. Very few are actually saving money for retirement.

In ensuring education for children, many parents purchased Education Plans because of the promise of guaranteed tuition and allowance payments when the children are in schools. But not long ago, several companies selling Education Plans went bankrupt and were unable to pay as promised. You could imagine how hard it was for parents who made sacrifices just to be able to buy that education plan but will never receive a single centavo from their investments.

Then many put their money in banks hoping money can be kept there despite the very low interest rates - but in recent years, several banks went bankrupt and declared perpetual bank holidays. I know some friends who until now have not recovered their money from those banks.

Then there are mutual funds, and investment securities. Once I was so tempted to invest in an AIG investment offering - with the promise of higher yields, plus of course its AIG - the most trusted investment company in the Philippines for more than 60 years. However, recently, AIG is selling its profitable non-life and investment units in the Philippines to help its mother company pay-off its debt to the US Federal Reserves. This left many investors worried and wonder if they should withdraw their investments or not.

If you are familiar with the Stock Market, this could be a good place to put your money and earn a bit higher than what banks offer. Of course, the higher yield you want, the higher is the risk. The stock market isn’t a place for people with a faint heart who cannot afford to lose money. There are blue chips stocks to rely on for those who want it safe - but then again, a simple rule of thumb - there is no such thing as 100% safe these days.

Not everyone has the skills to run a business, or play in the stock market, or make online or offline investments - this leaves few options to people who just simply want to keep money for the future. So to whom we could trust our money? If its just about keeping your money safe and not to be concerned of whether it will grow - the big banks are probably more safe than keeping it under your pillow. However, its still not a guarantee that your money will be 100% safe - at least you’ll have peace of mind than keeping them at home. Just be choosy which bank to deposit your money, and be aware of the deposit insurance limit of Php250,000.00. Although not verified - rumors have circulated that several Philippine banks will undergo major buyout or merger soon.

Before you get your piggy bank, one might consider perhaps one of the safer options: buying Gold - bars, coins, notes, jewelries. Of course keeping them in a safe place would be a challenge - but Gold is proven to be resilient to economic fall-out and recession. Gold has steadily increased its value over the years. It might be good for humanity to adopt Gold as the standard currency (as in the old times). But as to its viability as a standard currency - lets leave it to the experts to debate and decide.

How will you save money for the future? Your comments are welcome and share your thoughts.

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