Paper for Now, Food for Later

Life Insurance in the Philippines always has had a bad image. Its image is more of an expense, rather than a benefit. When annual bill comes, the policy owner frowns instead of smile, would rather feel like buying gadgets than to pay insurance. Why can’t people see the importance of Life insurance?

When Life Insurance policy owner reaches 5 years or more of paying, they would suddenly feel like it has been a liability to them because they haven’t received anything yet. They will forget the reason why they bought it in the first place – to protect their family or prepare for a major expense to come or plan for retirement.

There are reasons why Life Insurance has a bad image here in the Philippines. First of all, most Filipinos have very short patience when it comes to money. They want big returns in just a short amount of time with very low or no risk at all. So after 5 years or so of putting their money in insurance, they feel that it’s a bad investment because they aren’t receiving anything yet.

Another reason is that people think that pre-need companies like CAP are the same with Life insurance companies like AXA Philippines, SunLife Financials, Manulife, etc. Yes they both have products that provide solution for future needs, but they belong to different governing bodies - Insurance Commission for Life Insurance and Securities and Exchange Commission for Pre-Need. The recent crash of CAP frightened investors to place their money in Life insurance companies.

Lastly, insurance agents usually don’t explain everything about the policy they are selling to their clients or sometimes misrepresenting the company by promising things that the company doesn’t provide. Add to that, after making a sale, these agents disappear immediately. Agents play a major role in this business because after-sales-service is a must. Unfortunately, only a few genuine hearted agents do this. They are responsible of reminding their clients the importance of life insurance to them and to their family and to remind them to pay so as not to experience lapse (policy would not be in-force once one payment is missed).

Filipinos should understand the importance of a Life Insurance Policy not only to them but also to their family. It may be tiring to pay these plans for years but if you understood fully the importance of it, it wouldn’t be much of a load on your shoulders. If something happens to you, your family would be guaranteed to receive the amount of money that your salary would have brought, should be enough of a reason for you to love insurance.

If you lived too long, you’ll feel like paying insurance is too heavy of a load on your back. Well you should be glad that you’re not claiming it yet because you’re still alive. Be thankful for that. And, this would be fund that would let you live the lifestyle you have when you grow old.

If you feel that you don’t need Life Insurance, just think about your family. If something happens to you, would you want them to die with you? Do you love yourself and your money more that you love your family? Don’t be selfish. Start thinking and plan a better future for you and for them. Don’t hide from financial advisors; they might the answers to problems you haven’t even thought of. For now it’s just a paper, but someday it would be food for your family.- DE