According to Investopedia.com, there are many benefits in retiring in the Philippines, such as its low cost of living, its expat incentives and the beautiful setting of the area. I believe that this article was written for those who are planning to retire abroad and Philippines one candidate. However, in terms of low cost of living, it did not rank at the cheapest level for cost of living. Cambodia beat the Philippines. Even Vietnam came in second.
This article, though, is not meant to address why Philippines would be a good place overall to retire. Consider the drawbacks as well. We are short on infrastructure and safety issues nation wide; and we have this perennial healthcare problems especially for retirees.
If you don’t have a choice and will retire in the Philippines, might as well plan the most out of your retirement plan. In reality, retirement planning will work better for some more than others.
So, let’s zoom in a little bit further on what I am talking about. Since I have been a Financial Advisor since the start of the century, ie., 2001, I have come across different retirement products and it is only now that I have seen something that is the ideal retirement plan.
I am talking about how to build up for your future so that when you retire, you have enough money to use to enjoy the current lifestyle that you are living in. Because let’s face it, when you retire, chances are, if you are dependent on one source of income like employment, for example, you never stop spending. So where will you get the money that you have been accustomed to getting for quite some time? Does that mean that your lifestyle will have to change since your money will dwindle down over the years and you need to conserve it for your everyday expenses? Why not, at this point in your life, plan your retirement well so that you can still enjoy the current lifestyle that you are living in? Isn’t that smarter?
What is the retirement plan anyway?
Recently, AXA Philippines has come up with the BEST RETIREMENT PLAN PACKAGE in the market, called RETIRE SMART.
WHAT MAKES RETIRE SMART UNIQUE?
It allows clients to build their cash reserves and grow it over time by letting the fund managers do what they do best: PRESERVING CAPITAL and CAPITAL GROWTH OVER TIME.
Here are the Product Features:
- Guaranteed Protection. It has a Life Insurance Coverage. This is a cash benefit to ensure that loved ones or heirs left behind will have insurance protection or funds to help them go on with their lives in the even to the untimely demise of the policy owner. The policy owner can even have the flexibility to tweak this Life Insurance coverage subject to the client’s protection-level preference.
The Death Benefit will be either the Minimum Sum Insured or the policy’s Living Benefit whichever is higher.
- Rebalancing Feature.
This product automatically REVIEWS and REBALANCES client’s portfolio into a mix of growth (potential) and safety (stability) assets.
It has a scheduled Auto-Rebalance Feature which strategically builds the client’s retirement fund over time; prioritizing growth assets early on and will AUTOMATICALLY move to a more CONSERVATIVE INVESTMENTS to balance the portfolio as it nears its target date.
Here’s how it works:
At the start of the investment period, 77% of the client’s investments are allocated in equities and the rest in a mix of Government securities, cash and corporate instruments.
In the middle of the term period, the client’s equities participation is now at 62% and the rest in CONSERVATIVE INVESTMENTS. This is done by AUTOMATIC REBALANCING.
As the client nears the RETIREMENT TARGET DATE, only 44% of the client’s money is placed in equities and the rest are allocated to Government Financial instruments, Corporate instruments and Cash, in keeping with the REBALANCE FEATURE of the product to protect the gains earned from the start to the middle period of the term.
What is the rationale for this change in allocation over time?
When the client is younger and at the prime of their careers, they can afford to take on a greater level of risk. As they age, their risk appetite decreases and they would want to conserve what they have so they can be sure that they will have something when they retire. This is the goal of a Retirement product – to have money during their retirement years.
- Sound Investing. Where is it invested? It is composed of Peso-denominated Assets which impacts the long-term risk and return assumptions and are managed based on the average client’s risk aversion profile.
The Growth-Oriented funds consist of Equities/Stocks while the Protection-Oriented funds comprise of Government & Corporate Fixed Income instruments, Cash & Money Market Instruments.
This means that when money is placed in Growth Oriented funds, the higher the potential, the risk is also higher; but when investments are placed in Protection Oriented instruments, the growth potential is lower compared to Growth Oriented funds but it follows that the risk is also lower.
- Target Date Fund of Choice. RETIRE SMART is uniquely invested in the selected TARGET DATE FUND OF CHOICE. For example, client has the option to choose they YEAR when they get to receive the “RETIREMENT PROCEEDS“. It is like typically investing for the long term when they choose to get their money in 10, 15, 20, or 25 years, if started this year.
- Waiver of Premium. This Waiver of Premium rider is useful should the client become totally and permanently disabled before reaching the age of 60. With this feature, the client’s future basic premiums will be waived while the client’s retirement fund will continue to be built as if the client is paying the premiums. This ensures that the client’s retirement fund is built no matter what. The good thing about this feature is that it is voluntary or an option on the client’s part.
- Additional Health Riders. The client can also add Health riders to protect health concerns and other uncertainties. For example, if the client is diagnosed with a listed critical illness, the company will pay the client a specific sum based on the terms and conditions of the policy. If the client chooses to have hospital allowance for each day of hospital confinement, the client can add a Hospital Income Rider. Same with Accident rider. The client can also receive additional cash benefit in case of dismemberment or death due to accident.
- No Bid offer Spread. With this feature, it allows the client to have a higher amount to invest.
If you are a corporate executive, an entrepreneur, or simply someone who is concerned about these things, there is only one way to go but to start doing it now so that in your later years, you would have said to yourself, yes, I did something a few years ago and now, I am reaping the benefits.
Live the life you live by Retiring Smart.
Got any questions?
Contact this Financial Advisor, Ronnie Reyes, at 0917 796 2530 (globe, viber, whatsapp) or email him at reyes.ronnie@gmail.com.
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