Bo Sanchez - Light of Jesus Community

June 2007

Yesterday, I finally met him.
My mentor on the stock market.
Okay, let me backtrack a bit.
When I got married at 32 years old, my life changed. From a single missionary wandering around the country (and the world) without a centavo in my pocket, I now needed to make serious money fast. The Bible doesn’t say, “Man doesn’t live on bread but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” One word is missing. The Bible says, “Man doesn’t live on bread alone but on every Word…”
That means I still need to eat bread even if I have the Word of God!
But I knew next to nothing about money.
And boy, did I need to change my psychology of money in my brain. Because deep inside, I knew I was programmed to be poor.
I had to unlock my brain from a distorted theology of wealth—that money was bad, that rich people were crooks, and that God wanted me to be poor, etc… (To know more about what I’m talking about, read my newest book 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich. To get your copy, go to http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/ now. But people who support our ministry KerygmaFamily get a FREE autographed copy as my big ‘thank you’ gift to them. Join now at http://www.kerygmafamily.com/ and receive a ton of blessing.)
Once my psychological wallet grew (and did this take a long time!), I was ready to earn money. But how?
Immediately, I knew my missing link to success: I had no Financial Mentors.

I Had Mentors For Every Area Of My Life Except…

You see, I had mentors for my spiritual life. I had mentors for my family life. I even had a mentor for my ministry life. And much of my success came from the fact that I had these wonderful people who taught me, inspired me, and showed me the way.
But I had no financial mentors in my life!
So I prayed to God for mentors to lead me in my journey to financial abundance.
First, I searched for successful entrepreneurs among my friends. I made a bee-line towards a few multi-millionaires I knew and invited them for lunch. I picked their brains and took down copious notes. I then put up my small businesses, lost money, tried something else, failed again, until I found my niche. Today, my little businesses are doing well.
It was time to conquer another financial mountain…

Can I Buy Real Estate If I Have No Money?

Second, I read that almost all wealthy people have real estate investments. I had none. So I prayed that God give me a mentor in real estate. But I had a preference: I wanted a specific type of mentor—someone who was doing Robert Kiyosaki’s kind of real estate as outlined in his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, here in the Philippines. He bought foreclosed properties from banks and turned them around for a profit. Reason: I had no money to invest in real estate! But Kiyosaki said that with his system, you don’t need money. You could get the property from the bank for a tiny amount (which you could borrow somewhere else) and start earning from day one—not when it appreciates in value. Was there a guy already in the Philippines doing this thing?
After one year of praying and waiting, all the while reading books on real estate and attending seminars on real estate—boom—I bumped into Larry Gamboa in Powerbooks. He was an old friend that I have not met in years. I asked him, “What are you doing Larry?” and he answered me, “I’m investing in real estate, buying foreclosed properties and turning them around, just like Robert Kiyosaki in his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.”
When he said that, I felt like Heaven opening up and God giving me a wink.
So I asked Larry to mentor me and we did some properties together. Today, we are partners in Think Rich Pinoy Millionaire Network where people can simply get a franchise of the system he uses to earn through real estate. He provides everything—his personal coaching, the entire system, the legal documents, the bank procedures, from A to Z. (You can read Larry’s two great books, Think Rich, Pinoy and Grow Rich, Pinoy. Go to http://www.shepherdsvoice.com.ph/ now.)

Collect Specific Pieces Of Paper—And You’ll Be Rich!

Now that I had businesses and real estate under my belt, I knew I had to conquer a third asset that all wealthy people have: Paper Assets. That usually meant mutual funds and stocks, and I had zero knowledge about them.
Again, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
Because soon, I began to bump into experts in mutual funds and insurance.
I won’t tell you his name, but I met one of my primary mentors on mutual funds and insurance sitting beside me on the plane. Here’s the funny thing: Because there were too many people in Economy, I was bumped up into Business Class. That’s why I ended up sitting beside him. God was winking at me again.
Through my mentors, I ended up becoming a broker for mutual funds and other paper assets—not for one, but for many mutual fund companies.
So I asked questions. I asked for training. I latched onto my mentors like a leech and sucked them dry. As my financial mentors grew, so did my money grow as well.
I began to invest tiny amounts each month into various mutual funds—balanced fund, equity funds, peso funds, dollar funds, euro funds… It was incredible. This guy who, only a few years ago, kept his entire life savings hidden inside his bedroom (third drawer, beneath my briefs and socks), ran now small businesses, sold rent-to-own apartments (so I don’t really own them anymore), and “paper assets” in various currencies and companies. It was a wild journey.

Stock Market—Isn’t That Like Gambling?

Finally, there was this one area that I wasn’t touching with a ten-foot pole: Stocks.
I knew it required financial wisdom that I didn’t have.
Again, I attended seminars on stocks, read books on stocks, and kept asking around. I met countless of investors and brokers, but none of them were real masters in the field. I needed a master. So for three years, I prayed for a mentor, but none was coming. It wasn’t yet time.
Yesterday, I met him. Finally.
After three long years of praying.
I can’t divulge his name because he doesn’t want to be named, but he’s a multi-multi-millionaire (in dollar figures) who made his money through stocks.
He called me. (Which brings me to another core belief that I have: What I need comes to me.) He said he read my book, 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich, loved it, and wanted to have lunch with me.
And as he spoke of his 30 years of investing in stocks (globally), all I could do was listen in rapt awe. Believe me, the wisdom he distilled to me in our three hours conversation can’t be covered by a hundred seminars from other speakers who simply read a book or worked the stocks for a few years. This guy had 30 years of experience behind him.
Basically, he talked about the science of investing in the stock market. It’s not just an art, he said, or he won’t be able to teach it to me. It’s not gambling. It’s a science. He created a method that gets results. He said I could do it too.
And you know what? You can too.
All you need are mentors.
People who’ve done it before and can teach you how.
Mentors. It’s the missing link to your success.