How Sun Life Financial Make Me See Money Differently?

I never have issues with money as long as I work hard and be busy making it. That’s what I thought when I was a kid. I learned to work at the age of 10, doing errands from neighbors and from manning the store of my family. From having 20 pesos income to 300 pesos way back high school, I learned that I can earn more if I work more. So at the age of 17, I worked at a fast food chain to provide for my college allowances and projects (tuition fee is never an issue since I was a scholar for 4 years). Now I’m 27 years old and still working after graduation, the mindset of “not having an issue with money unless I work hard” gets tricky with all the expenses I have. It’s true, isn’t it? The more you get older, the more responsibilities take a toll on you.

Many things in this world want to entice us and make us believe that the more we have money, the more we can buy whatever we have, even happiness. At a younger age, I learned that money is something you earn when you work and use to avail things you like. But is that all the purpose of the money is for? A paper that we can use to buy things and live happily with our lives? These things actually change bit by bit when I seek help from people who knew best about these things. And at the age of 24, Sun Life Financial is one of the best tools that helped me get away from my wrong “self-made money mindset” to “financial freedom lifestyle.”

When we hear Sun Life Financial, what comes to our mind? Personally, I can only think of Sun Life as one of Piolo Pascual’s never-ending endorsement. But the moment I personally experience how they serve clients like me and see how they put customer needs first above all, that’s where I see more than just an insurance company. This people-oriented insurance company has been in the industry for more than 124 years! That’s the longest age an insurance company can ever exist here in the Philippines. And it’s been the number 1 insurance company for 7 straight years. It’s hard to be no.1 in an industry like them. But with the excellent service and their heart to promote financial literacy to all without partiality, there’s no doubt that they deserve to be no.1. And as for me, I chose to be with the best insurance company.

With all that’s said and done, how did Sun Life made me see money differently in general?

1. Life is so UNCERTAIN, might as well PLAN

A Farmer usually plants for one “major” reason: TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR NEEDS. Us millennials don’t need to learn what our physiological needs. It’s already in-born in our DNA that we have needs to fulfill in our daily lives (food, shelter, clothes, and for us Millenials, a WiFi connection). And all those needs, whether we like it or not, requires money. How do we earn money? For starters, we were taught by our parents to work in a company or build our own business. After we earn that income, what do we do with it? We usually start spending it with our needs. When our income gets bigger, so does our spending, and the cycle goes on and on.

Only fewer people in our population in the Philippines are taught to save and invest their money. That’s why many families from the old to today are being poor because of unwise handling of money. No wonder why many of our senior citizens today are living dependent on their kids without enough money to live their last golden ages. When the breadwinner of the family dies or calamities strikes in, the income or cash flow stops.

To be really honest, money for me is easy to ignore without purpose. Unless someone will actually help me do the right thing. Good thing that I have a friend in Dads Valencia, a financial advisor (now excellently serve as a Unit Manager) in Sun Life who helped me see money differently and taught me to strategize on making long-term financial plans for me and my family. So yes! This life is so uncertain, might as well find someone who will help you ease the financial anxiety out of you.

2. There’s More to Life than “WORKING” for your Money

For ants, there’s no bigger reason for them to work hard for their food during summer time. They just know that when the rainy days start, they have food in store for them. In the Bible, Ants are considered are one of the “exceedingly wise creatures” God created because of their wise response in dealing with disaster. For us young people, we don’t usually teach by our parents to work for our make our dreams come true. In most cases, we were wired to work and be employed to earn an income. It’s all about provisions. So think about it, if we work to earn a living, then disaster strikes in our lives, what it would be its effect on our income? Most likely our cash flow will diminish the same way as our employees.

So the reality is this, employment alone while working the same routine and getting the same salary will not take us further. If we want to make we make a big breakthrough for ourselves and our family, we have to start doing great things too. But sadly, most of us are expecting great things out of small routine, again and again, that’s what you called INSANITY. Just like planting a tomato seed, expecting it to be a mango tree. Let’s stop this deception and start making the most out of your money. Start knowing what your big goals is and create a discipline for you to prioritize saving and investing. Because at the end of the day when we have our own family and get old, we want our hard-earned money to work “for us,” not the other way around.

With my experience in Sun Life, Dads was able to helped me see many options on what to do with my extra earnings while establishing a professional and sincere friendship with me (that’s still thriving even today). He taught me biblically financial principles that change the way I spend every coin in my pocket. And how amazing it is to see how to keep on learning more and more as I continue to seek more learnings from different experts and accountable people around me. Made me realize that there’s indeed more to life than being a corporate slave, working like slave for money.

3. PLANTING MONEY will teach us GOOD CHARACTER

A rich and poor man can be differentiated not based on their possessions, but what inside of their hearts. I saw rich people who are kind and poor people who are arrogant. So regardless of what we have in our bank account, everything will boil down to our character. The character is who we are when no one is watching. The way we handle our money will determine our character as an individual. Growing up in a family with unstable income teaches me to handle my money wisely. I learned to save most of my allowances to pay for my school projects, field trips and so on. In a young age, I learned to do errands to other people so I can earn more money. And that is something you cannot just teach to young people today with all the technology and social media.

When you start saving and investing, there’s a lot of discipline and character that will develop in you like patience, perseverance, and self-control. It will not come easy at first because of the temptations and testings you will face, but it will be all worth it once you see the growth of your money. Your perspective will change and you will see money differently when you start saving and investing.

As an adult, I learned many things I should have done in my money when I was starting working. And it should not happen to you as well. So before a disaster happens, better start digging (work), sow those seeds (save and invest) and reap more than what your income can give. Don’t waste your time and make the most out of your money by making brighter choices for you and your family. Because if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And let Sun Life help you build a wise financial house for you and your family to live by. If you want to plan now, start search for your perfect financial advisor at www.sunlife.com.ph and see how Sun Life can help you see money in a very meaningful and effective way towards financial freedom.