AMBITION, are you prepared to make it REAL?

A few days ago as I was eating my meal inside Mcdo, a family sat in a table beside me. 

I did not have the intention to eavesdrop but I heard their son say, "Pa, I want to become a doctor!"

The dad replied, "Of course anak, you can become a doctor!"

It made me smile and think of the future that I want to give to my son/daughter once I already have my own family.

Have you ever thought about it too?

I remembered one of my business mentor's story about how he and his wife would always tell their son that he can be anything he wanted to become simply because his college education is already secured. Isn't that amazing? I actually felt a bit envious about it because I did not come from a rich family who can afford to let me study abroad or even in the top universities here in the Philippines for it was a time where we underwent financial crisis and I had no choice but to go into a state university and even had to work part-time and earn a scholarship just to get myself through college. 

Nothing against my parents who had little savings but there had been a time in my life where I wished I was taking up business in Harvard and even studying in an Art School abroad but we cannot afford it during that time. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for what we went through for it made me into the person that I am today. 

The point I want to drive here is that, five to ten years from now, I am certain that education will become even more expensive due to the rising interest rates caused by inflation. The question here is not about the school where they will study, the question is, if that time comes in your life that your child will ask you that kind of question, will you be able to AFFORD IT? If you want your child to get the BEST education, how do you plan to prepare?

If the cost of education remains the same, perhaps your current income can support quality education for your children as they grow.

But the challenge for most parents is not having enough savings to keep up with the rising cost of quality education, like what happened in my case. 

Consider the cost of college education by taking a look at some schools in the country today with 12.25% yearly increase based on CHED:

Aside from the regular tuition fee hikes, we must also consider the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) Program which is now in effect.

As you can see, your child now enters college at age 18, instead of 16.  These extra years equate to higher and additional education costs, which requires us to set aside more funds in order to ensure the best future for our children. 

I had a client who said that it's too early to plan for his daughter's college education because she is still in Nursery pre-school. I told him that it is best to start as early as now while he is still capable of preparing for her educational fund. 

The secret to building funds for the future rests on 3 factors: TIME, MONEY and INTEREST. When it comes to TIME – we must start saving as early as we can.  When it comes to MONEY, we must save as much as we can, as regularly as possible.  And when it comes to INTEREST, we should find interest rates that better-than-inflation. 

Maximize your time, money and interest, and you can build that education fund for your son/ daughter.

To give you an idea about educational planning, in this example, the client's child is at age 1 and has 17 years to go before college. The parents estimate the current annual tuition fee to be 100k in their chosen university.  And we also followed CHED’s annual rate of increase of 12.25%. This is what we will use to project the future value of college tuition. 

Client: Emmanuel Espiritu 

Age: 35 

Child: Anton Espiritu

Age: 1 

Assumed Annual Tuition Fee: 100,000 

Projected Target Education Fund: 3,400,000

Production Solution: Sun MaxiLink Prime providing life insurance coverage plus fund accumulation for education 

Life Insurance Coverage: 1,000,000

Annual Premium: 151,440 for 10 years** 

So, how much are you willing to set aside to allocate for your son's/daughter's educational fund?

Make a BRIGHT Choice today by: 

1. Meet up with me for educational planning so we can develop a financial plan.

2. Change your spending and saving habits to achieve a Brighter Financial Goal. 

3. Commit to the plan. 

Let's make it happen! 

Cheers to a brighter life! 

Are you a Good Money Manager?



I really like this biblical story about the bags of gold that were entrusted by the master to his servants. Watch this video:

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

¹⁴ “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants^[a] and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents,^[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.^[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

What have you learned after watching the video? :)

Have you ever experienced a point in your life where you've lost a huge amount of money, say, getting bankrupt? Being in a bad debt? Losing all your savings? Being robbed? Failed in business? Scammed? Do you like to spend too much on unnecessary things?

During that time that you've lost your money from any of those circumstances, what did you feel? Angry? Lost? Regretful? Did you blame anyone for the money you've lost?

Was there also a time in your life that you've had so much money and you felt like you never wanted to lose it? What did you do with it?

In my previous blog about my financial journey, I've shared that I've lost almost half a million of hard earned money when I started a business and failed. I've always been "kuripot" especially to myself, I rarely buy stuffs because I like borrowing from my sister (hehehe :D) so I thought I was a good money steward for being thrifty. But it was also a time when I badly wanted to become financially free, I spent so much time doing business. To succeed in my career and finances had been my priority so when that happened, I came to a point in my life asking God, "WHY? "Why did I have to lose that hard earned money?" 

I felt so down, I felt like a complete failure, I felt ashamed for taking too much control of my life that I forgot about the one who had given me all the blessings in life. 

But you know, during those times, this is one of the most important lesson that God taught me, He told me, "Feona, I have to strip you away of everything so that you'll know what it feels like to have nothing. So that when you have nothing, you will have me."

God stripped me of the sense of "Entitlement."


Because every thing we have belongs to God. And our God is a JEALOUS God. :) 

When we worked hard for something, we feel the sense of "OWNERSHIP" over it, be it for a paycheck, a commission, whatever result of hard work, we always think"THIS IS MINE because I worked hard for it!" But the truth is, we don't own anything in this world. Everything belongs to God -- even our material possessions, you car, your house, and even your life insurance! 

See what Jesus did in Matthew 25? He tells us the story of a master who gave money to the three servants. One servant did a bad job in managing the money that he has been given so God took away his money and gave it to the other servant who has been diligent in taking care of his finances.

Whatever we own in this earth is God's blessing, therefore, what we do with it is important to Him. Our money belongs to God and he trusts us to manage what we are given because we are stewards of His blessings. We can prove ourselves to be trustworthy when we properly manage our finances, and when we do, He will trust us with more.

If God were to take a look at your finances today, would He see you as a faithful money manager? :)

1945 - a short film by Sun Life

Sharing with you another beautiful film by SUN LIFE FINANCIAL
 
They say that an advisor's job fulfillment happens when they have handed the proceeds of the life insurance to the beneficiaries. In this film, I was deeply touched by the ending message, "In 1945, Sun Life personnel traced and searched for the beneficiaries of those who perished in the war. A time of chaos became a time of honoring commitments and making lives brighter under the Sun."

Some careers are brighter than the others and that's what being a financial advisor in Sun Life is all about. It is more than selling an insurance. It is a commitment with a purpose. It is all about building a lasting relationship with your client and their families and friends. :)

Interested in becoming a Sun Life Financial Advisor? Contact me.

 

A Life in a Day - a short film by Sun Life

Last night I was able to finally visit the wake of a former colleague who suffered from stroke and passed away at a young age of 30.

I can still clearly recall way back 2011, I had the opportunity to talk to him about his personal dreams and plans in the future during our one-on-one Personnel Improvement Plan (P.I.P) Sessions. He had so many plans to improve his life and help his family, even wanting to work abroad just to earn more and starting his own business. He was a silent worker, someone who prefer not to be recognized and was one of the most hardworking salesman in our operations group.

His death not only reminded me that life is short and death is just around the corner. He reminded me of how important and noble my job as an insurance advisor is and how important it is to reach out to as many people as possible in order for them to realize how important it is to prepare and ensure that your dreams for your family don't die with you.

So today, I would like to share with you this beautiful short film by Sun Life entitled "Life In A Day" which captures the life cycle seen through a young boy inside the hospital and finding hope amidst a difficult situation.

Just a little warning though, before you watch this video, make sure to grab some tissues as it might make you end up a bit teary-eyed like how it did to me. :P It made me reminisce my childhood days and made me look back on how my parents and even our relatives worked hard to take care of us. It also made me look forward to the future -- fulfilling my dreams, marriage and raising a beautiful family.

I hope you enjoyed the video! :)

Life is short, go follow your heart, chase your dreams, cherish every moment you spend with your family and of course, PLAN for your future and for your family's Financial Security. We only live once. :)



 

BREAK THE CYCLE

Too much dependence on anyone can be a burden.
 

When should it end to let "freedom"' begin? 

Watch this typical Filipino
situation and see how YOU can be part of the solution.