Watching Suze Orman’s financial planning tips at Google made
me realize that managing your money through proper financial planning is not
just about saving, it’s about making smart choices to prepare yourself for any
situation that can happen. Suze has pointed out doing what’s right vs. doing
what easy. She also mentioned that even though we are earning well, we also
need to do something for ourselves to prepare for the future and possibly
unpleasant surprises. Although some of her tips applies only to US citizens
like investing in 401K, most of them are truly practical and applicable to all
of us.
I have listened, read, and researched about financial
planning since 2012, as soon as I got employed in P&G. What I fear the most is not being able to
manage my revenue streams properly and could end up full of debt. My family is
not really the wisest when it comes to financial management, and I have learned
a lot from their experiences. Honestly, I have learned more on what NOT to do
vs. what to do. This is why I have this frustration to learn more about money,
business, entrepreneurship, and financial management to make sure I won’t
commit those same mistakes.
Even after gaining financial literacy, it’s still a shame
that I don’t have at least a 3 months’ worth of emergency fund. I had been so
aggressive yet careless on where I can invest my hard-earned money. My
practical learning from this session is to set-aside a portion of my salary by
auto-deducting it from my payslip and put in a cooperative fund. Next is having
security against possible serious mishaps. Well-known financial advisors always
highlight insurance being a necessity and not a luxury. Even though I already
have a Variable Universal Life insurance
policy with a face value of P1M, I still have plans to get another policy to
prepare for my retirement even as early as now. After securing the basic financial needs, then
I can start expanding it through investments in mutual funds, UITFs, and other
investment vehicles.
It always saddens me every time I talk to a friend, a family
member, or a loved one that does not even entertain the thought of getting an
emergency fund and insurance. And it gets worse if they can afford a Louise
Vuitton bag, a Macbook, an iPhone, but cannot afford an insurance. And every
time it happens, I have this urge to explain to them the importance of
financial planning and how other investment vehicles can help them achieve
their goals in the future. Maybe this is the reason why I decided to become a
financial planner of Sunlife. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have
made this decision not to make extra money, but because I’m truly sincere about
people being financially literate. Perhaps soon I could commit my advocacy to
teach people how to attain financial freedom. Could this be my calling? Could
this be my purpose? Could this help me achieve self-actualization? I don’t know
the answer right now but I know that making people happy to help them attain
financial freedom also makes me happy; even when I put the money and the commissions
out of the equation.
No comments:
Post a Comment