Made It Through Mum

Plan B is more than just a backup plan—it's a lasting promise that your family’s future stays protected even when life takes an unexpected turn. Life Insurance: A Necessary Shield Against Life's Uncertainties  In a recent market survey, only half of breadwinners in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao City prioritize life insurance.  Even more concerning is the post-pandemic decline in urgency.  While 83% considered protection crucial in 2022, that number plummeted to 54% by 2024. Why this gap?  Budget constraints are frequently cited.  Many prioritize immediate needs over long-term security. Yet, across demographics, respondents recognize life insurance's value in safeguarding families against unforeseen health issues, death, accidents, or disability. A Plan B isn't optional ; it's a selfless act of prioritizing loved ones' financial well-being.  BDO Life makes life insurance more accessible through its nationwide BDO branch network. While online resources provid...

Alden Richards, award-winning actor and BDO brand ambassador, shares a deeply personal story.  "It happened when I was in high school. Mama got sick. Just like that, she was gone," he sadly recalls. "My world suddenly stopped. Our savings were quickly depleted. I had to quit school to help my family earn a living."  This experience, following his mother's passing from pneumonia in 2008, forced him to confront the harsh realities of life, leaving him determined to secure his family's future.  This experience underscored the importance of financial planning and prompted him to create a "Plan B." Finding Security with BDO Life Alden chose BDO Life insurance as his Plan B.  He found the process surprisingly easy, thanks to BDO Life's advisors conveniently located within BDO branches.  "I'm now worry-free because I know my loved ones will be okay even if something happens to me," he says. "With life insurance, your plans will cont...

Arsenio was living the dream of many Filipinos: he was a successful professional in the Middle East. But, like many other Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), he missed his wife and children frequently. So, as his income allowed, he relocated his family so that they could be together. For nearly two decades, Arsenio and his family lived comfortably abroad. Arsenio was actually living his Plan A, with his dream job, a rich lifestyle, and a family. As long as everything remained the same, maintaining the lifestyle he had acclimated his family to was not an issue. Arsenio and his family would travel to his hometown in the Philippines on occasion to see relatives. During one of these vacation s , Arsenio received unexpected news: the company he worked for had been forced to close due to financial difficulties. This meant that Arsenio was out of work. Worse, he would not be paid for his separation or retirement. His family's savings were meager, except for a tiny investment. Arsenio and...

Things are not always going to go our way and there are going to be curveballs that we must avoid in life.   If we’ve learned anything from the last 3 years, it’s that the world is much more uncertain than we could ever have imagined. At the start of 2023, many economic experts warned about the world slipping into a global recession. In light of this development, what steps should ordinary consumers, especially family breadwinners, take to assure financial security in the face of economic uncertainty? Yesterday,  I attended an online seminar entitled "Life Insurance: Plan B against Economic Uncertainty" hosted by financial guru Chinkee Tan, BDO Unibank SVP, and chief investment officer Frederico Rafael “Fritz” D. Ocampo. During the seminar, Fritz D.  Ocampo said “Taming inflation usually requires slowing down economic growth by raising interest rates. It’s a tricky balancing act that central banks and policymakers need to tread carefully to avoid falling into recessi...