Believe me, you need a Financial Advisor

Planning for the future is exciting, but because nothing ever stays the same, you need to think big when you sit down with a financial/insurance advisor. Your finances change as your life changes, be it marriage, a new job or a baby. So you need to revisit your goals on a regular basis.

 

To help you get started, here are five major milestones an advisor can help you prepare for:

1. Buying your first home
Getting the keys to your first condo or house may be your dream, but unless you carefully prepare for the additional financial commitment involved, you could end up overwhelmed. An advisor can help you set realistic financial goals.

2. Merging your finances
When you decide to settle down with the love of your life, you won’t just be merging your households. You need to think about how best to merge your finances as well. Whether it’s planning for the costs of a wedding or just figuring out how your different financial goals and savings fit together, an advisor can help you create a long-term plan that works for both of you.

3. Starting a family
Kids change everything, including your financial plan. As you start your family, you need to consider the added costs of raising kids, from schooling to extra-curricular activities. An advisor can help you plan for those costs and provide you with information on the advantages of savings vehicles.

4. Setbacks
Not all milestones are planned for or welcome. The loss of a job, illness or a death in the family are all major life events that can set you back financially. An advisor can help you prepare to handle some of life’s major challenges by recommending appropriate insurance products and/or helping you build an emergency fund. That way you will have a safety net in place if and when you need it.

5. Retirement
It’s important to review your retirement savings plan with an advisor regularly to make sure your savings and investments stay on track to support your retirement goals. You need to revisit your plan on a regular basis to make sure it continues to support your age, life circumstances and fluctuations in the financial markets.

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Things that keep you from being broke (and solution, of course)

Relaxing vacations in Boracay or outside the country, huge donations to favorite charity and an early retirement. These are the kinds of things people think of when they hear the word “millionaire.”

It’s unlikely you’ll ever experience that. Sorry.

 

 

 

Unless, of course, you can overcome the following four roadblocks stopping you from achieving millionaire status. Each roadblock below also offers an“immediate action step” to help you overcome the things holding you back. Let’s get started.

1. You don’t understand how money works.
Money is not a complicated topic, but still, few seem to really understand how it works. Do you? Millionaires understand that money is not something that is discovered, won, or created by chance. Well, wealth is not an accident, but an action. Building wealth is the world’s largest game, and if you want to win, you need to learn the rules. So start studying. Personal finance can be learned, and by mastering it, you might discover that wealth is much easier to build you previously thought.

2. You don’t value your education.
You might be busy. You have 25 hours of work to do every day and there simply isn’t enough time to get it all done. That’s life! So something needs to be sacrificed. Wealthy people never stop learning, despite the business/work in their life.

When is the last time you scheduled “learning time”? Do you just try to “fit it in” when everything else is caught up? Piece of advice: never stop learning, no matter how busy you are.

3. You live to your means.
What are you doing with your extra money each month?
I know, you probably don’t have any left over. Your boss doesn’t pay you enough. Your company hasn’t taken off yet. Or maybe your business is not a hit.

Let’s face it: you are spending too much money. "I don’t care how much you make -- it doesn’t matter" attitude. Everyone lives to their means. You could make P20,000 per month or P150,000 per month and you’ll still be broke.

True millionaires have made a conscience decision to live on less than they make. Instead of upgrading their life every time they make more money, they choose to put that extra cash to work for them through various investments, such as their business, stocks, mutual fund investments, other assets like an insurance policy that's investment bundled.

4. You don’t collect assets.
Few jobs will make you rich. More so if will try to save all your cash in a coffee can. So how can you build that wealth?

Start collecting assets. Millionaires collect assets. It’s as simple as that. Do you?

An asset could be a profitable business, a growing stock portfolio or investing in the right place.

Your car is not an asset. Your new iPhone model is not an asset. Your home might not even be an asset. These are all liabilities that are robbing you of future wealth.

Stop collecting these, and start collecting things that will make you money in the long term.

Becoming a millionaire is not impossible. In fact, it’s relatively easy when you have time on your side and the knowledge to do so.

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Restaurant Shockers?

Is "Eating Out" the main reason why you cannot save money? No need to panic because you're not alone. Probably the most common piece of personal finance advice out there is to save money by avoiding restaurants. It sounds so simple: just don’t eat out and cook at home. Here are some suggestions that can help you if you find it difficult to avoid the temptation to eat out.

1. Think about why you like to go out to eat. Is the food more delicious than you can make at home? Do you enjoy the convenience? Are you too tired at the end of the day? Do you find it difficult to cook at home because of a lack of organization and planning? Is it peer pressure? If you know more about why you like to eat out, it will be easier to find a solution that meets your needs.

2. Try thinking about the little negatives that come with going out to eat the next time you are tempted to stop in and grab a bite. Perhaps you don’t like the noise in restaurants or having to wait for the server to get you another glass of water when you’re thirsty. It can be a hassle to find parking and by the time you’re done half the night is gone. Maybe you always get heartburn or feel stressed about getting back to the office in time.

Take note of the obvious too: restaurants cost a lot of money, the food is often less healthy than homemade and the portions are too large. 

3. Be creative in finding a way to eat home cooked food that works with your schedule, preferences and habits, not against it. Restaurant food is delicious but remember that they generally use much more fat, salt and sugar than we do at home. The more you get used to the more subtle flavors of home cooking, the less you’ll crave your favorite restaurant dishes.

4. Take care of yourself. If you’re not getting enough sleep and working too hard, then it’s going to be difficult for you to find the willpower to resist the temptation to eat out and to have the energy to make smart food choices. Many times we look at eating in a restaurant as a small treat for ourselves or a respite from our responsibilities. We don’t have to cook, serve or clean up or do much else besides say our order and pay the bill.

5. Remember that it’s still okay to go to restaurants. Just in a way that fits into your goals for spending and healthy eating. Knowing that it’s not completely off limits can make it easier to delay gratification.

You’ll get more satisfaction if you choose places that are memorable and offer you a new experience. Don’t settle for eating over-priced reheated food at mediocre restaurants for an inflated price. 

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Productive during Lunchbreak?

Don't know how to make your 'lunch break" more productive? We have listed some activities and hobby a successful person do during the break time:

 1. Going outside the office - To refresh yourself from a very busy environment inside the office, you may need to go for walk outside your office building. Unless you want to do extra task given by your manager during a lunch break, get a breather by eating our outside.

2. Reviewing what you've done so far - You may want to check emals by your cellphone of tab if you are already eating out outside. Check your calendar if you think you've missed an appointment or check emails from last week.

3. Exercise - It doesn't need to be a heavy work out while you are in your corporate attire. A simple bend, stretch or jump will release tension that has been building up while you are working in the morning.

4. Choosing to eat healthy - Energy bars, energy drink or chocolate may seem an easy source of fuel during work, but during lunch break, always choose to eat healthy foods like rice, a source of protein and vegetable.

5. Napping for 20 minutes - Putting in a 20-30 minute nap does a great deal to increase your productivity and mental clarity. Specifically, napping has been shown to improve heart health and improve productivity.

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Which path for Financial Greatness would you choose?

Which path would you choose to have a more financial security, to invest or to insure yourself for the benefit of your loved ones? You see, there are insurance products nowadays that doesn't just focus on insurance, but has an investment bundled to make your funds grow overtime. If you choose to have a pure investment, a Mutual Fund investment might suit you as well if you are aiming for fund growth better than the bank does. Luckily for you, Sun Life Financial offer these two options.

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