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

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If You Don't Need It, Don't Buy It

I grew up in a family that loves to save. From as early as 7 years old, my dad taught me how to manage my money. Yes, I already have money by that time. But it wasn’t easy, I have to earn it. For every perfect quiz I make, I get money as a reward. Not bad eh? I get motivated to study as hard as I could, I also receive rewards. Even if one perfect quiz is only worth P20, I rack up at least P200 per month!

Though I was trained to work hard to earn, that wasn’t the only reason why they let me do it. Later on I found out that it was training for me to manage my money. I keep every peso in my piggy bank and would count it every weekend with my family. I only use a portion of my savings to buy things that bring little joy to any kid – candies, DEC shakes (much like Quickly), potato corner French fries and sometimes toys.

Studying hard to learn and to earn made me love studying even more. As I grew older, the rewards faded away and my wants changed. I wanted to buy many things, from mobile phones, to gadgets, to clothes, game consoles.

Since I don’t earn anymore from quizzes, I always go to my father whenever I want to buy something. The answer I usually get is “If you don’t need it, even if it is cheap, we won’t buy it. If you need it, even if it is expensive, we will buy it.”

I usually get pissed when I hear this because I actually don’t understand it because at that time. A bubble always pops out of my mind saying “We have the money, why don’t you just buy me the damn thing?” This continuously went on throughout college.

Until one day, I received my very first paycheck from work that made me realize that the principle my dad taught me was very simple to understand. Money is hard earned, but you can easily lose it if you don’t know how to control yourself. You should only spend it on things that you need. Unable to buy what you want won’t kill you anyway.

From that day forward, I am doing what I was doing as a kid. Whenever and wherever I get money, I save it not to a piggy bank anymore but in a bank account. I just withdraw and spend a specific amount for my needs. And sometimes I reward myself by buying some things I like. Bottom line is learn to save up, spend only what’s needed. You’ll be surprised that this will slowly shape up your financial future. -DE

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