March 22, 2017
Struggle is Real
The Struggle is Real.
This article should've seen the light of publication last year, I just hadn't had the time to write it down. Thanks to the 4-day break of New Year 2017, I found time in between family get-togethers to put this article through.
You see, it's about the 2 items in my bucket list as I turned 4 decades old in January of 2016.
Life begins @ 40 so they say; hence, I wanted to have a different kind of celebration, apart from trying out new restos or feasting on my husband's cooking. Google-ing 5 star hotel offers, I didn't find any I could afford (there were 22 pax in my list) so I settled for the salad buffet plus ala carte menu of Discovery Primea. It was a new hotel and none of us had tried it yet so I thought it was good enough to make my 40th birthday something to remember. Bucket list #1-- check.
Now, on to bucket list #2— starting on my retirement savings. Gosh! The struggle to start is REAL. Even if I've been promoting financial products for a secured future for more than a decade already, I find myself putting off starting on my retirement plan for later. Providing various excuses as to why I should keep my money with me first, and not tie it up with a long-term savings obligation, seems to be more convenient.
Excuse #1 – I still have 2 policies I'm paying for (health and life insurance).
Excuse #2 – The stock market is going down. It might go lower and make me lose money if I put it now.
Excuse #3 – If I'm to retire at 65, I still have 25 years of work to benefit from. If I take the median, I can actually start saving at 42, max 43.
So the year went by with these 3 excuses placed at the very back of my consciousness. We launched a couple of products, the most popular of which was the First Million Fund.
Hmmm…the First Million Fund got me into real, serious thinking. My kids are far from being young adults but I realized I could use the First Million Fund to start my retirement plan. A windfall came which could be my lump sum— X excuse #1. I could avail of the cost averaging strategy that would negate volatility— X excuse #2. The offer is now here, all points are beneficial to me so why wait for later. —X excuse #3.
There was one hurdle still though. The P3,000 a month premium to build my First Million was easy, but I didn't have P500,000 as an initial down to have my Million in about 8 years. I only had half. But then again, this was my retirement plan. I don't need the money in 8 years; I need it in 25 years still. So Yeah! I did it. Before Christmas, I signed up on a new product that was going to be my retirement plan. Thanks to this AHA moment, I got to fulfill the 2 items in my bucket list before 2016 ended.
It made me start 2017 knowing I've got my base policies in place. I just need to keep saving in it to build up funds for my and my family's financial future.
