For many, the path to financial freedom begins with a budget spreadsheet or a high-paying job. But for Registered Financial Planner Jesse James Cooley Llamado, the real transformation started elsewhere—with a deep understanding of behavior and mindset.
“It’s easy to study other people’s finances,” Llamado told Financial Adviser PH. “But when it’s your own money, emotions get in the way. You have to fix the behavior first.”
Raised in a household where words like “kulang” (not enough) and “utang” (debt) echoed daily, Llamado’s earliest memories of money were rooted in scarcity. That early exposure to financial hardship planted a belief: that money was hard to earn, and wealth was out of reach. It wasn’t until he encountered financial literacy books in college—particularly Rich Dad, Poor Dad—that his mindset began to shift.
Breaking Limiting Beliefs
The pivotal lesson from those books wasn’t just about earning more—it was about reprogramming the way he thought about money. As Llamado puts it, “Money is just a byproduct of your mindset. If you believe it’s always going to be hard to earn, it will be.”
This insight led him to focus on breaking what he calls “limiting beliefs”—the subconscious ideas carried from childhood that often sabotage adult financial behavior. That shift didn’t come easy, and it didn’t happen overnight.
“People underestimate how hard it is to unlearn,” he says. “But until you change what you believe about money, you’ll repeat the same financial patterns no matter how much you earn.”
Why Self-Knowledge Beats Strategy
For Llamado, understanding personal patterns was more important than any investment strategy. Early in his career, even with a degree in accounting and finance, he struggled to manage his own money. The problem wasn’t lack of technical knowledge—it was emotional spending and the absence of a clear purpose.
He began tracking everything—his spending, habits, and triggers. “I literally asked myself, ‘Why did I spend on this? What was I feeling at the time?’” he explains. That practice evolved into creating his own personal income statement and balance sheet. Through this, he uncovered the unconscious drivers behind his choices.
The result: better control, clearer decisions, and a more strategic approach to money.
Structure Before Strategy
The turning point came when he enrolled in the Registered Financial Planner (RFP) program. “I was broke when I took it,” Llamado admits. “But I saw it as an investment in structure, not just knowledge.”
The RFP framework gave him a disciplined approach—weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual planning that aligned his finances with long-term goals. The program helped him turn abstract ideas into actionable plans. Eventually, that structure became second nature, forming the basis for the advice he now gives clients.
But even with certifications and a successful practice, he insists the most powerful tool isn’t a spreadsheet or a stock tip—it’s self-awareness.
The Real Foundation of Wealth
Llamado believes many aspiring investors and professionals skip the most important first step: looking inward. “The first step to real wealth is knowing yourself,” he says. “If you don’t understand your own patterns, no financial plan will save you.”
His advice to others starting their journey is simple but powerful: Before opening a brokerage account or taking on a side hustle, do the internal work. Understand your values. Question your beliefs. Track your behavior. Then build a system that supports—not sabotages—your goals.
In a world that glorifies hustle and high returns, Llamado offers a quiet, contrarian reminder: long-term wealth doesn’t start with a higher income. It starts with deeper insight.
