This June, let’s celebrate financial independence with Sun Life Financial Philippines.

Celebrate Financial Independence

Rise PH

To be invited in an event like this is an honor. Sun Life Financial Philippines celebrates financial independence this month of June. The workshop was held at Makati Shangri-La and listening to the speakers was such inspirational. But before entering the hotel for the workshop, you will see this very intriguing bus:

From the speakers, it has been said that Sun Life Financial Philippines aims to have five (5) million clients by 2020. The plan is dubbed “Rise PH”.

This gives rise to Filipinos to have an opportunity of the lifetime to have a chance to gain more financially through investing and availing of insurance. People get scared of investing and availing insurance due to the rampant reason like scams or having to pay for expensive monthly dues.

As a student like me who lives on the minimum, investing money and/or paying for insurance maybe a big question mark. Availing of it maybe a great deduction so it’s really a tough decision to make.

Yet, from what I had learned from the workshop, it’s a never-ending cycle that we, Filipinos, face. We fail to invest at a certain age and start investing on the latter then eventually, our investments are never enough to suffice for the post-retirement stage in life. It’s quite eye-opening since for just an amount of Php 5000, it could go places and be able to grow.

Rise PH champion financial inclusion in the Philippines, where only a small percentage of the whole population utilizes financial products such as insurance and investments.

Despite the bright prospects that the country’s economy has, prosperity still hasn’t trickled down to the more disadvantaged sectors of society. We have to address this.

Riza Mantaring, Sun Life President and CEO

It also aims to educate younger people since they will be the ones to replace us in the future to start investing at the young age. We’ll never know when will we need the money but surely, it will come sooner that we think.

Financial Independence Month

For three (3) years now, it has been celebrated by Sun Life Financial Philippines to highlight and celebrate the importance of being financially prepared among us, Filipinos.

As I’ve mentioned above that the first thing that captivated my eyes during the event was the Money for Life bus. Inside the bus, there’s a virtual reality video that you will be able to watch and see different stages of life; of course, you’ll be able to see it through the VR headset. This will let you see how life is and how will it be if you make the right choices.

What was intriguing was hearing that you will see Piolo Pascual in it and it did not fail! Piolo was there and telling something about investing and saving. On the plus side, there’s a chance to win a trip with Piolo outside the country.

It was pointed out that creating a financial plan will ensure that we will have enough funds for every stage of life. From being a young adult to having to settle with your own family and eventually, retirement. From the vicious cycle that was mentioned previously, some of the retired people are dependent on their children for living since the pension may not be sufficient to support them throughout.

The so-called “Bus to the Future” will be going to malls and various campuses nationwide. Its aim is to orient people about investing and saving.

I really wished the bus was at our school back in college so it also enlightened us who are in the 20s crisis about saving and investing and also purchasing insurance.

You can see the bus at chosen malls:

• Bonifacio Global City – High Street on June 11
• Eastwood on June 19
• SM City Cebu on June 25
• Solenad, Nuvali on July 2

Not only that you will be able to see it in malls, you could catch it at various campuses in the country:

• Mapua Institue of Technology (MIT) — June 2
• Ateneo Graduate School of Business — June 12
• De La Salle University — June 16
• University of the Philippines (Diliman) — June 17
• San Sebastian College — June 20
• University of San Carlos (Cebu) — June 24
• Lyceum of the Philippines University (Manila) — June 29
• University of the Philippines (Los Baños) — June 30

All the bus stops will have financial advisors that will be there to accommodate questions and inquiries.

For those who will not be able to catch the bus at the stops, you could still get a push in your financial journey with the Money for Life e-Planner. Just proceed to this link and you can immediately start financial planning and get suggestions and product recommendations. You could even buy mutual funds from Sun Life Asset Management Co., Inc.

This June marks a new beginning as Sun Life embraces its goal of serving five million clients in five years. We are very much excited about the possibilities, and we look forward to helping our country rise to reach its full potential.

Riza Mantaring, CEO and President

Sun Life Financial

Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies, a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2015, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of $891 billion. For more information, kindly visit their site.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippines (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

So, what will be your decision?

Save or Splurge?