As a mommy blogger and momfluencer, people see me on social media as having an easy life with all the events I go to. But that’s barely scratching the surface. At home, I am a different person—wife, mom, homemaker, and the family’s comptroller. Yes, I handle our family finances, helping out my husband stretch the family budget without sacrificing the quality of our lifestyle. Life has not been very easy, we have stumbled many times, but we do get by and I appreciate learning opportunities like SunTalks because I am encouraged to continue. My ultimate financial goal is to have money for life for my husband and I when we become empty-nesters. Just for my partner for life and myself? Yes, read more about why the kids are not included.
A Freelancer: My Personal Financial Journey
I have been “jobless” for 22 years now, having resigned from my last “real job” in 2001. Ever since, I have been a freelance writer, traveling the country to interview people or handle small events.
As a freelancer, we all know that paid projects do not come by regularly. When it rains, it pours. However, drought can also be long and hard. With that thought in mind, I have wised up in my spending habits without living like a miser. That enabled me to save in order to have money for life.
While not too many will agree with me on that, I do want to see new places, try new things, eat good food, spend time with family, and share with those in need. That makes life more meaningful. So, while I do set aside money for the “future”, I also spend money for the “present.” That’s what I call a “balanced life” and that makes me happy.
But what is helping me prepare for the future?
Life insurance with living benefits.
Ms. Jenny del Mundo, Sun Life Agency Strategy & Digital Transformation Head, advised, “Buy early when talking about insurance because you can lock yourself to a lower premium.”
I totally agree, though I started buying insurance policies at age 30. Still single back then with unreliable income, that was a total leap of faith. But I did not regret that decision because I have already received some financial rewards from them.
Changing Financial Goals
In my previous article, Have the Courage to Restart Your Financial Journey, I included the 4 life stages in relation to financial planning.
In each stage, it seems that without my knowing it, I am restarting my financial journey. But unlike restarting a computer, my finances do not go back to zero. It simply means that we are “refreshing” our financial goals according to what stage in life we are in.
The 4 Stages
- Getting Started
- Moving Up
- Preparing Ahead
- Leaving a Legacy
Like right now, I am already 48 years old and our youngest daughter just turned 10. You can say that hubby and I are already in the Preparing Ahead stage.
We did not have enough to get an insurance policy for our second daughter back then because we didn’t have enough to pay for an additional policy. But now that we have paid off three policies, we already got a quote for our little one. It is the kind of traditional policy with Sun Life where she has the option to withdraw when she reaches 18 or continue paying it so that she will have cashback for life.
The Income Continuation Portfolio
Ms. Jenny said that in her own journey, she bought insurance policies and got herself covered because she thought of her husband and her children. Questions like, “Who is relying on my income?” and “Who will suffer if my income stops?” encouraged her to set aside money for insurance premiums.
The concept of the income continuation portfolio simply means that the cash flow continues to sustain the lifestyle of the family even though the income of the breadwinner has stopped because of disease, disability, or even death.
According to Ms. Jenny, she personally earned, spent, and invested in such a way that her family can continue their lifestyle if something happens to her. The same is true with her husband. Their investment in insurance is to make sure that the physical grief of the bereaved family is not exacerbated by financial burdens, e.g. the children having to stop schooling, losing the family home to bank loans, and such.
Financial Freedom is Having Choices
Going back to my financial goals, one big family goal that we have had for years is to raise money to buy a parcel of land and grow trees for the environment. This is what we will call our Legacy Land.
Our second goal is our retirement fund, as hubby and I are of the same age. We want to be able to have ready funds for our daily needs, some luxuries, and even medical care. Hopefully, we can also go traveling. It will take some budgeting, but we did it with growing kids and we can certainly do it for the two of us.
Ms. Jenny defines financial freedom as having choices. As a writer, I may be able continue to continue with my work so that I could earn even after 60. But financial freedom is being able to choose writing jobs that I like and say no to those that are not worth my time because I can afford to.
As her personal testimony, Ms. Jenny related during that SunTalks session that she was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years back. Her physicians presented many options regarding her treatment and after-care. Since she had health insurance policies with a critical illness rider that covers cancer, she was able to receive the full financial benefits of her policies. Moreover, she was able to choose and receive the best treatment and after-care because she was able to afford it, with some extra money to spare, thanks to her insurance benefits.
As a freelancer (not even a regular online worker), I have to be careful with spending in order to make room in our family budget for savings and also insurance. However, my husband and I agreed that we should not neglect our present lives as we prepare for the future.
Our policies may not be as many and as large as Ms. Jenny’s but I am glad that we are in sync with this concept. We are on a good track towards having money for life.
Some Ways We Balance Our Spending
My husband and I are not financial experts. Nor do we have a big business or earn high salaries. However, we do manage to save and enjoy, thanks to some diskarte in life. Here are some examples in order to have money for life.
- 1. Homecooking. I cook fresh meals every day for the family. While it takes some effort on my part, it is quite therapeutic for me to handle the kitchen. Plus, we get to save big on food, instead of eating out or having food delivered every meal.
- 2. Buying in bulk. Filipinos are used to tingi-tingi purchases as a lifestyle, like buying at the local sari-sari store. While this allows money to go around in the local economy, it doesn’t really help the family budget in the long run. Going to the grocery twice a month only helps us control the use of our supplies and also our spending. Plus, it saves us time and gas (transportation).
- 3. Homeschooling. Our daughters have been homeschooled since Grade 1. This gives us flexibility in our schedule plus it allows us to discipline and disciple our children in God’s ways. Moreover, it is very economical for us. The cost of each student for us is approximately 30% of what we would be paying in a private school. That’s 70% off, and they are free from uniforms, school projects, and daily expenses like transportation, food allowance, and even donations.
- 4. Staying healthy. We try to eat balanced meals, get some physical activity, rest, and travel to keep us fit in mind, body, and spirit. Moreover, we do spend on food supplements and superfoods like chia seeds to boost our immunity. For us, getting sick not only eats up our financial resources, it will also add to our family stress.
- 5. Avoiding the Debt Trap. In this day and age of social media, it is easy to see other people’s lives. Where they go, their shopping sprees, the food they ate, their travels, and even the gifts their husbands give them are all posted online. These things can affect people differently. Keeping up with the Joneses is a total debt trap. Some people even keep on taking out loans just to keep up. To avoid this, appreciate the good things but live within your means.
While we pray and trust God every day for our provision, protection, and good health, it doesn’t mean that we just sit idly by. We also do our part to have money for life.
Why Our Retirement Preparations Do Not Include Our Children
I grew up in the sandwich generation where adult Filipino children are expected by societal norms to take care of aging parents and the rest of the household. Meanwhile, when I got married, I was also introduced to the concept of preparing for my retirement so that I won’t become a burden to my children. This is especially true when they will have families of their own.
Of course, I will not reject gifts from my kids, but I don’t want to pressure them into sending me allowances every payday. They won’t be my retirement plan because I will have my own.
We have saved up for their college fund and taught them to take care of themselves. They can cook and clean, are trained to earn money, to save and invest, and know how to get good value. They have insurance policies and savings in place, so naturally, we also taught them to value money and to spend wisely.
With all these training and preparations, we expect them to become independent women who can fend for themselves and not have to rely on us. Whatever we will share with each other is out of abundance and the kindness in our hearts—not because we are all pressured to do so.
In Conclusion: Plan to Have Money for Life
Our home and family lives are different from yours. But having money for life should be everyone’s goal. There are many ways to accomplish it, such as having a sideline to have more income streams in the family and getting the best value for your money.
Another way is to get insurance coverage, whether life or health insurance, because these policies are protections against risks.
Talk to a financial advisor who can clarify, quantify, and satisfy your financial goals. A trusted and stable company like Sun Life will then do its part to make sure that you will have money for life.
