How do you prepare yourself for a loved one’s death?
Not exactly a peachy thought on a MoneySmart Monday, I know. But as they say, there’s no going around death and taxes. And while it may be easy to prepare for the loss of a loved one financially, the emotional part is something else again. Can you attache a peso sign to that?
This story from MoneySense about a widow’s journey from tragedy to triumph is worth the few minutes it will take to go through it from start to finish.
Very inspiring. Excerpt below:
I got the worst possible news that a wife could ever receive: a six-seater Cessna plane carrying a skydiving expedition crashed in Tanauan, Batangas. One of the four charred bodies they found belonged to my husband, Jimmy del Rosario II. Pilot error, I was told. On May 8, 2005, I felt that the world closed in all around me. I could not bring myself to go to the morgue to identify his body.
During the first year, I cried everyday. But I also knew that I had a little girl and her future to look after. It was a good thing that we had gotten her an educational plan. One of the provisions of her plan with Philam was a waiver of all the fees if the payor dies. My daughter automatically received the full coverage of the plan. I also received something from Philam, as well as an amount from the insurance coverage of the aircraft company.
One-woman show
I had the option of selling our businesses and going abroad, but I decided to tough it out despite offers to buy them. I knew that I could run the business, since Jimmy had taught me a lot over the years.
But I found out that I still had a lot to learn. Jimmy had very good social skills. He was very outgoing, while I was the quiet type who prefers to stay in the background. He was the salesman and I was the accountant. That was our teamwork. He handled employees who were getting out of line. The biggest part of our income came from Jimmy’s bulk sales of accessories, because he was the one who had a lot of contacts.
I took on all the challenges. I started talking more to people, especially our employees. I let them feel that they can come to me with their problems and that they were part of my family. This is an integral part of our business, because building a relationship with them helps us to trust each other.
We carry the latest accessories, such as LCDs and housings for the newest models. My technicians are constantly surfing the Internet to find out what is new. In this business, you always have to know what is popular or what the customers will ask for next. Filipinos, by nature, want their gadgets to be flashy and up to date. Our peak months are the “-ber” months when people have more money to spend.
Since my shops are scattered in malls across Metro Manila and outlying provinces such as Bulacan and Cavite, I run things from a central office, and a runner goes to the shops for me. I am very hands on; I work late if I have to, monitoring inventories and checking if everything is in order. I feel that I have to set an example for my employees. I cannot show them that I feel lazy or they will start to get lazy themselves. Running a business full-time can get stressful sometimes – to the point that my employees tease me and request that I comb my hair once in a while.
Slowly but surely
There are still consistent offers for the shops, but I politely turn them down. From six shops, we now have eight. We have also added new services: downloads for MP4s, MP3s and PSPs. These are added income for the stores.
There are times that I want to pinch myself. I cannot believe that I was able to handle this male-dominated business by myself. I cannot believe that slowly but surely, there has been growth and progress in my life.
There are few absolutes in financial planning. By absolutes, I mean things that work for the entire universe of persons wanting to have the money-smarts to be financially secure.
But one of that is protection.
Savings, protection, investment. It can’t get as basic as that.
There are different ways to attack these absolutes but each one requires the ability to conquer the need for instant gratification and doing something as boring as preparing for something that will happen in the future.
Thanks for sharing your story, Maneth.
(P.S. No, I am not in the payroll of the insurance industry.)
I'm thinking of buying a life insurance for myself. I prefer plain insurance (either term, whole life or combination) with no investment component because my objective is only protection. I would like to ask some of the experts here, ilang years po ba usually ang payment ng premiums (5, 10 years or continuous until you are living?) for whole life insurance? And normally what is range of premium for whole life and term for 1 M face amount?
BTW, I am 31 this may, married and no children yet.
When a beneficiary claims an insurance benefit, is it tax-free?
Salve, I'm jutst trying if this comment will be a spam or not. I deleted all my cookies and temporary internet files to see if it will have an effect or not. Btw, I've got some comments which I think went to SPAM again.
I really love SPAM but the luncheon meat. Hehehehehhe
Hi Nina,
From an agent's guide of a major life company:
Age 31, term cover for Php 1M
5-year level term - 4,550/year
10-year level term - 4,420/year
20-year level term - 5,140/year
term till age 65 - 6,930/year
fyi, thanks
i'm preparing myself for things like this. you'll never know with my adventurous ways and near-death experiences
i have a life insurance and a pension plan and slowly accumulating savings
oh nina, i t thought you're still single. hmm.
Thank you so much Mr. Alijeffty. Your response is very helpful :)
hi nina, i make it a point to look at my SPAM folder now just to make sure none of your comments are lost hehe
hehehe : ) Thanks, Salve!
I am 45 years old, ask ko lang ano ba type of insurance ang mas mainam ko bilhin I have 4 children my eldest is 18 yrs, old, my youngest is 6, sana it's not yet too late!
Paki suggest sana yung magaan ang payment. thanks sa sinuman ang mag reply sa inquiry ko.
Hi Imelda,
a 20-year level term insurance would be the most cost efficient way for you to avail of an insurance protection
thanks,
i think the best combination for PROTECTION PLANNING are four products:
1. Whole life (limited Pay)
2. Term life (Decreasing term)
3. HMO or Hospital and Surgical coverage
4. Disability Insurance
Getting your self insured should be STARTED when you are young... kasi malaki ang chance na wala ka png PRE-EXISTING conditions which equates to LOWER PREMIUMS...
For Nina... i would say but a WHOLE LIFE with TPD and CI riders... TPD = TOTAL and PERMANENT DISABILITY and CI = Critical Illness.. asked your Agent to do a profile risk analysis para tama ang maging coverage mo... then when you have kids, take up a TERM Insurance for extra coverage at a LOWER cost... if you're working, probably my HMO ka na... eh paano kung lumipat k ng work tapos ala HMO??? so i would suggest kuha k ng kahit minimun coverage... ung DIsability Income Insurance magagamit mo ito kung hindi kaya ng husband mo na buhayin kayo ng sya lng ang nag-tratrabaho... its a bigger prob kung may anak n kayo... Disability income insurance can provide you a monthly income until you are age 65...
As for Imelda.... getting a Whole life might be too late already kasi malaki na ang premium.... I would agree na Term Life na lng kunin mo... 20yrs should be ok... kasi ang youngest mo is 6yrs old na... usually we use Term life for extra coverage on-top of your Whole life... and it is usually based kung anong age magiging dependent ang youngest son or daughter mo....
Repost
i think the best combination for PROTECTION PLANNING are four products:
1. Whole life (limited Pay)
2. Term life (Decreasing term)
3. HMO or Hospital and Surgical coverage
4. Disability Insurance
Getting your self insured should be STARTED when you are young... kasi malaki ang chance na wala ka png PRE-EXISTING conditions which equates to LOWER PREMIUMS...
For Nina... i would say but a WHOLE LIFE with TPD and CI riders... TPD = TOTAL and PERMANENT DISABILITY and CI = Critical Illness.. asked your Agent to do a profile risk analysis para tama ang maging coverage mo... then when you have kids, take up a TERM Insurance for extra coverage at a LOWER cost... if you're working, probably my HMO ka na... eh paano kung lumipat k ng work tapos ala HMO??? so i would suggest kuha k ng kahit minimun coverage... ung DIsability Income Insurance magagamit mo ito kung hindi kaya ng husband mo na buhayin kayo ng sya lng ang nag-tratrabaho... its a bigger prob kung may anak n kayo... Disability income insurance can provide you a monthly income until you are age 65...
As for Imelda.... getting a Whole life might be too late already kasi malaki na ang premium.... I would agree na Term Life na lng kunin mo... 20yrs should be ok... kasi ang youngest mo is 6yrs old na... usually we use Term life for extra coverage on-top of your Whole life... and it is usually based kung anong age magiging dependent ang youngest son or daughter mo....
@jeff and spyware, thanks for the information you sent nina and imelda. much appreciated!
@paetechie, good thinking! make sure your coverage is sufficient though :-)
Those who've still not experienced the death of their closed ones should feel fortunate that their loved ones are still with them. Tragedies can teach us many things and specially the whole family suffers if the only breadwinner dies. So even if we are not the lone breadwinner in the house we should try to become more self reliant. It's experiences which teach us many things, I guess it's God's way of speaking to us.
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