By Johannes Pan
When I started working, I was excited to apply what I learned from the financial planning talks I attended. I made a budget journal to track my expenses and savings and then invest in a variable universal life (VUL) insurance fund. I did the same for my parents, who at first looked at me as if I was taking away a bulk of their hard-earned money that they were supposed to enjoy in their few years before retirement.
“But how do you intend to live through your retirement years?” I asked them.
My father replied, “We’ll just work in another church that accepts people who are over 65 years old.” (My parents are pastors.) “We’ve always planned on working the rest of our lives like your grandparents did.” (My grandparents were also pastors.)
“That’s great. And what happens when you get into a serious accident?”
Brief silence. “Well, we’ll just ask from the Lord,” my father said. “He’ll provide for us.”
“Or we could ask from you,” my mother added.
While I could not debate with my father on the matter of God’s provision or say no to giving back to my mother, I told them, “Financial independence sounds like something only the rich people can achieve. But if we diligently manage our finances to leave something for ourselves, we can do it too.
“VUL is both insurance and investment. If something happens to you, the rest of the family will be able to live through the crisis. If nothing happens to you, you get your money back with abundant interest.
“Besides, how hard can it be to set aside monthly? Pa, you give me an allowance of 500 pesos every week and Ma, you do the same for my sister. So instead of giving each of us 2,000 pesos every month, you can give yourselves that amount per person.”