​I immigrated here to the United States when I was only 20 years old from the Philippines, along with my mom and 2 younger brothers. 

My dad passed away when I was only 16 years old.

I am a second-generation Chinese born and raised in the Philippines.

We all moved in with my single aunt. I got kicked out a few months later due to not following a 10 pm curfew, which will be another story to write for another day.

I have been on my own mostly since then and had to work full time to support myself. 

My first job was doing data entry making about $10 an hour.

I worked between 20 to 40 hours of overtime every week so I could start saving money.

Tuition for an immigrant before I became a California resident was $100 per unit at the time. And here was a 20-year-old who got kicked out from her home with almost no money in her bank account that definitely couldn't afford that.

So, I worked those long hours and put my education on hold for a year. The data entry job probably made me almost a thousand US dollars net a week. This was a lot for a 20-year-old with no money.

Working those long hours was also how I became a speed typer. I did this until I became a California resident and became qualified for the $20 per unit fee to continue my college education.

Moving forward, I kept working full time and going to school at night part-time or sometimes even full time. 

I did this for many years until I finally graduated five years later with my bachelor in Computer Science. It took me longer because I was also working at the same time.

I didn’t really have a life all those years. It was a lonely, depressed life filled with just working, going to school at night and doing homework and studying in between.

My hard work did pay off because eventually, I got a good job in the Data Analytics field when I graduated.

I stayed in the Analytics field for 12 years before I made the switch to Corporate Finance when I was at Visa and realized Analytics wasn’t my passion. 

Finance or money has always been my love for a long time, and I was also just naturally good at it. I didn’t decide to pursue doing financial coaching until I started working with a life coach who encouraged me to do so. 

That’s when I started my coaching business part-time in 2016. Since I wasn’t quite ready to quit my corporate job, I decided I also wanted to move internally to the finance department and see how it went working in the finance field.

But after working for corporate finance for a year, I realized my passion is really working with a person's individual finance, not at the corporate level. 

So I decided to take the leap and pursue my dreams of being an entrepreneur in May of this year.
It definitely was one of the best decisions of my life.

I even wrote a blog about how my first month being on my own went.

And that, my friends, is my story.

I didn’t come from a background where I suffered financially and had a lot of debt. 

I have always been interested in money and how it works, and I just find myself naturally good at it.

I also get such a high after each coaching session that I just know this is what I am meant to do.

I really love learning new things related to money and just helping my clients navigate their financial life.

I get a lot of questions about taxes as well, which is why I am currently pursuing the IRS Enrolled Agent designation.

I don't necessarily love tax but I do enjoy learning about it.

I also follow the philosophy, if you can't run away from it, why not make them your friends? 😉

I hope you find what you love to do as well. I think life is just too short to not be happy to continue in a career you don't love.



About the author: Christine Teh is a personal finance money coach who helps people attain financial freedom and transform their relationship with money to create lasting changes. You can learn more about her by checking her About page and how to work with her. She is currently accepting new clients. If you are interested in a chat, you can schedule a complimentary call.

​Someone asked me this recently. This is what I would advise my clients or anyone who come to me with this concern.
First of all, there is no such thing as job security. You can get laid off anytime. Companies always make business decisions like this that you have no control over. 
I’d say focus on what you can control.
Have a strong financial foundation and a strong financial plan to ride through whatever life throws at you.
Be it the market crash or being laid off, you won’t be afraid of them.

What does having a strong foundation mean?
It means you have a strong budget, enough emergency fund, a strong financial portfolio and a strong financial plan for different situations that happen in your life.

What consists of a strong budget?
It means you are always on positive cash flow and you have a handle of your month-to-month expenses and don’t carry any debt like credit cards and personal loans, among other debts except for a mortgage.

How much is enough money to put aside in your emergency fund?
My answer to this is quite unconventional.
I would ask you, how confident are you in your skills that you will get a job and how long will it take you to get another job?
If you say it will only take you a month and if you’re comfortable with having one or two months' worth of living expenses at a MINIMUM in your savings account, then I’d say that’s your answer.
Why is that?
I think savings is not the best place to park your money if your intention is for growth. Having a lot of money in savings is good if you are currently saving for a house or something big in the near future. But in terms of growth, you’re better off figuring out other places to invest your money on.
Part of having a strong financial plan is also having strong retirement models based on different scenarios.
Before I quit my corporate job, I made sure that it didn’t affect my retirement plan drastically. That gave me the confidence to take the leap while I continue to grow my business. I also help my clients build different retirement models based on their goals and how they envision their retirement to be. 
Bottom line is, don’t be afraid of uncontrollable events like being laid off.
Take control of your finances and you won’t be. This concept applies to the fear of the market crash as well.

What common fears do you have regarding being laid off? I’ll be glad to give some tips if you have any questions in the comments below.👇

Do you remember the housing bubble?

My biggest financial mistake was when I short-sold my condo here in the Bay Area when housing prices were at their lowest in 2012. 
​
I bought the condo at the peak of the bubble in 2006. When the housing market tanked, a lot of people were walking away from their homes. And this freaked me out into thinking that was the smartest thing to do as well. 

But I wanted to do it the “right” way, so I short-sold my property instead of just walking away like a lot of people did. 

I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about my financial situation at that time. The realtor who was helping me was mostly interested in selling the property because he was representing me and the buyer as well. 

I remember that I had some friends who told me not to do it, but scared and stubborn young me back then decided to proceed with it anyway. 

I really wished I had a financial coach who could have guided and coached me through the pros and cons of short selling the property. 

If I were to coach my younger self now, I would definitely be telling her to hang in there. 

I’d first tell her, she wouldn’t lose any money unless she actually sells the property, and secondly, it’s Silicon Valley. If there is anywhere you would want to own real estate, this is one of the best locations to own one. 

Whoever bought my condo ended up doing really well. Not only are they making good money from the rental from paying down the house in cash, but the value of the property is already back up to the original high price I paid for it.

This definitely served as one of the main inspirations that got me into financial coaching so I can also help people in this type of situation.

So what was the biggest financial mistake you have made and what would your present self tell your younger self now?


Share with me in the comments below
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