04/05/2020
Q&A with Chinkee Tan
(Zoom webinar on Term insurance vs Variable insurance, April 29, 2020, 4pm-5pm):
Q: I’m 40yo with 2 kids. Anong suggestion mo na bilin ko for my kids, term or VUL?
A: If u have excess money, you can buy policies for your kids. BUT if limited ang funds, protect yourself first. Insure yourself first. You always cover the breadwinner muna.
Sa airplane, ang adult ang mas pinoprotektahan dahil kapag ang nag-pass-out yung adult, hindi mapoprotektahan ang anak. Same thing with insurance.
Q: What are the disciplines I need to build my emergency fund?
A: Believe me, automation is the key. Make a formula, a percentage formula. Ito yung ginagawa ko ever since I started earning:
50% of my monthly income goes to my basic expenses
25% of my monthly income goes to savings and investments and business
25% I spend kung saan ko gusto
Yan sinusunod ko, regardless of the amount of my income.
Q: Is it wise to have both term and VUL?
A: Complicated discussion ito ah. To make it simple, I have both. I have VUL para sa long term. But I also have term para lumaki pa coverage ko habang nag aaral mga anak ko ngayon. Lahat ng mortgages ko (car and home), nakacover yon through term insurance. Pero pag natapos na ang payment years ng mortgages ko, di ko na kailangan ng term non. And tapos na din mga anak ko mag aral non. So by that time, I can let go of my term insurances. At ang mahal na ng premiums ko non. Pero in terms of my retirement fund, ang pangcover ko don ay VUL.
(In short, ang purpose ng term ko ay: higher insurance coverage for the meantime (habang may car/home loans ako and habang nag aaral mga anak ko.
Ang purpose ng VUL ko: retirement fund and permanent life insurance).
Q: I availed of VUL 3 yrs ago. Now the market is down. So my Fund Value is down by almost 30%. I’m worried.
A: Ano ba ang time horizon ng investment mo? Did you invest for just 3 years? Or for 10 years? It’s just the 3rd year. You won’t lose money until you sell. You’re not selling naman. So wag ka mabahala. You’re not losing any money now. Paper loss lang yan. Nasa 3rd year ka pa lang. Eh 10 years to pay yang plan mo diba, or even longer. In fact, this is the best time to add more premiums. Sabi ni Warren Buffet: when everyone is afraid, be greedy. When everyone is greedy, be afraid. When the market is down and there’s no business, be greedy; dun ka mag invest, dun ka bumili ng mga bahay na low-priced at bagsakan sa presyo. When the market is up and everybody’s happy, be afraid. That’s not a good time to invest.
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How to compute for your peace of mind (life insurance):
1. Multiply monthly expenses x 12
2. Add 0.
Sample:
P20k ang monthly expenses mo.
Multiply it by 12 (months).
It becomes P240,000.
Add 0.
It becomes P2,400,000.
Yan ang ideal life insurance coverage mo (worth 10 years of expenses mo, para magsurvive ang family mo for the next 10 years kahit wala ka na.)
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Final message
We’ve been through worse times: Pinatubo, Yolanda, earthquakes.
Keep the faith. We’re a resilient race.
What this covid made us realize is we can live on basic things.
For more than 40 days, all of us haven’t eaten in fancy restaurants or bought frappucino.
We now realize ano yung mga mas mahalagang bagay like health and family.
This is the time to adjust. How can I adapt? How can I adjust? How can I adjust my finances to this kind of lifestyle? How can I adjust my business?
Don’t refuse to change. If you do not change, you will die.
Don’t be afraid to re-invent.
This is the best time to think, to be creative. Ask God for guidance.
There are opportunities. Kailangan lang natin mag isip and be creative and be willing to experiment, to adjust, to change.
