INSURANCE leader Philam Life will continue with its aggressive financial literacy program in the Davao area and elsewhere in the country, according to its company officials.
Using traditional and digital media platforms, the company, through its mostly young articulate financial advisers, has been meeting with print and broadcast business reporters as well as bloggers and online commentators during the last four months to explain the importance of young Dabawenyos starting financial planning early in life .
Chet Ganade, Philam financial adviser covering Davao City, told community business editors that recent studies indicated how ill-prepaid most Filipinos are in providing for their needs and those of their loved ones due to lack of financial planning.
Future needs refer to the college education of their children, sudden medical expenses, house and motror vehicle amortization, and a healthy and enjoyable retirement life, Ms Ganade said.
One study found that 80 percent of working Pinoys dream of retiring at age 50 and enjoying the amenities of retirement. Sadly however, only a few are prepared to quit working at that age, as majority of them still have to wrestle with a lot of problems at that stage of life, like outstanding loans for housing, college education of their children and other needs like amortization for a family car. Worse, if one or more family members are afflicted with a life-threatening disease needing a lot of money for hospitalization.
Ganade said that another study also indicated that 96 percent of Filipinos are really health-conscious but that a measly 14 percent can afford to pay the cost of a major medical problem, especially an accident that disables the family’s breadwinner.
Basically, Philam’s massive financial literacy campaign involved teaching workers and entrepreneurs to learn to save at least 20 percent of the monthly income for short, medium-term and long-term goals in individual and family life.
Saving a portion of one’s income should take priority over other concerns specially of young earners, and only spend the remaining 80 percent for the usual expenses.
Ganade said that spending one’s income first and then saving what is left is a wrong and discredited concept of managing one’s financial resources. If one does this, what usually happens is that nothing will be left to save.
Philam Life has a lineup of offerings to help future clients manage their financial wellbeing. These include investment schemes designed to answer their specific financial needs in the future like preparing for the college education of their children, amortization of a house or a car, family vacations and other amenities of retirement, and even funds for unexpected contingencies like death in the family and affliction of life-threatening disease.
All these plan offerings yield interests much higher than ordinary bank deposit, Ms Ganade said.
Filipino earners especially those who just started work as employees and entrepreneurs ought to start saving and investing early, she said.
Philam Life, which is the country’s top insurance company in terms of assets, revenue and other aspects, has fielded hundreds of financial advisers to advise young Filipinos how to do their financial planning properly, Ganade said.
