Getting a Home Loan? Consider Having a Life Insurance Policy for your Bank's Mortgage Redemption Insurance (MRI) Requirement. (May apply to existing home loans, too!)

 

It was four years ago when I received an unexpected call from my husband's colleague. And his first question to me was, "Joan, kapag ba kukuha ng insurance policy, kailangan bang magbayad na agad? Eh ipapa-medical pa Misis ko, hindi pa sure if ma-approve agad un." (Joan, when applying for an insurance policy, do I need to pay already? My wife will still go through medical, and it is not yet sure if she will be approved.")

I told him I'm not sure about the process with other companies. But with Insular Life, I informed him that his wife could apply for an insurance policy now, and have the initial premium debited from their bank account once it is approved. Being more comfortable with that, we set a meeting that same week.

During that client call, the couple told me that they are applying for a Php7-million home loan and are planning to use the life insurance policy for the Mortgage Redemption Insurance or MRI. An MRI is a form of life insurance that pays off the insured's outstanding mortgage balance in case of his or her untimely death. This is one of the bank's requirements when applying for a home loan.

Many may oppose shelling out precious pesos for an MRI, as they feel that they already have too many financial obligations. But the truth is, an MRI does not only protect the bank, which the insurance guarantees that the bank will be paid back the amount it has lent, but more importantly, an MRI also protects the insured's surviving family as it settles the outstanding home loan balance.

The excess of the insurance benefit as the home loan balance decreases, will be given to the beneficiaries. 

If you have an existing life insurance policy, you can assign your policy to your bank, regardless of which bank you are getting the home loan from and which company your life insurance policy is from. If you have none, the bank will require you to get an MRI, which is usually incorporated to your housing loan payment.

But because the MRI is renewed every year, the premium payment goes down the drain in case nothing happens to the borrower on that covered year. This makes getting a life insurance policy instead the practical option for such purpose as no premium goes to waste.

My client applied for a Php7M life insurance policy with Insular Life, the first and largest Filipino-owned insurance company, and the only mutual insurance company in the country today. We then attached a Php1M critical illness rider to the policy, wherein my client gets that Php1M lump sum 30 days after diagnosis of any major critical illness, regardless if she is still paying off her home loan or not. With InLife, you can apply for a maximum of Php10M for this rider. 

Over the paying years, their home loan balance decreases. And if anything happens to the insured, only the outstanding balance goes to the bank. While the excess from her Php7M life insurance policy goes to her beneficiaries.

When the loan is paid off, what happens to the policy?

Since a life insurance policy is a whole life coverage, it is assigned back to her beneficiaries from the bank after the home loan is paid in full. My client can keep her Php7M life insurance in force, plus gets to enjoy the investment part of the policy once she retires. 

My client is known to be frugal and very good in handling money. This is also the reason why she referred me to her friends who also applied for home loans. As she said, "Reasonable kasi yung angle na un." (That angle is reasonable.)

And now, they are on their fourth year!

Four years of paying their home loan.

Four years of paying her life insurance policy.

And every premium paid guarantees that their home loan balance is paid in full incase of the borrower's untimely demise.

It also guarantees a Php1M lump sum in case of critical illness diagnosis.

And helps provide a golden nest egg for retirement.

And that is VALUE FOR MONEY indeed.

P.S. I hope you find this post helpful. Kindly click the SHARE button. Thank you so much in advance!

P.S.2 Are you applying for a home loan, or you currently have one, and you are considering getting a life insurance policy, too, for that same purpose as above? Email me at financialplanningforpinoys@gmail.com to ask for a quotation. You may also message me through Facebook at Financial Planning for Pinoys.

Be very blessed!

Productivity Hacks for Financial Advisors I Learned from Eric Feng

 

I was browsing through YouTube for new things to learn and came across a video by Eric Feng. Eric Feng is one of the world's most acclaimed motivational speakers. His voice is broadcasted live over thousands of people around the world. He delivers speeches to thousands of people worldwide.

His mission is to help service professionals globally to become known, loved and respected. 

I found his content to be of value, and so I am sharing key takeaways with you in this post. Below are productivity hacks for Financial Advisors:

1. Have a strong why

As Financial Advisors, we are often faced with rejections, seen zones, criticisms, and disappointments, among others. And when these things happen, a strong why will give us the strength to persist until we succeed.

According to him, "When you don't find a strong why to stay in the business, you will have hundreds and one excuses to quit this business the minute you face a challenge."

I believe it's time we go back to our vision boards and ask ourselves why are we in this business to begin with? If you do not have one yet, create your mission statement. So that each time challenges happen, you will find a bigger reason not to quit.

2. Do not be scared of failing

I remember a quote from Thomas Edison. He said, "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." FAIL is just First Attempt In Learning. And failure is just feedback. Do not take it personally. What matters is that we can always try again; and more importantly, we learn from these failures, and that we learn fast.

In addition, Eric encourages us to reflect on the following questions:

• What did I do/not do that led to this "failed" outcome?
• What can I learn from this?
• How can I do better the next time around?

3.  Do not be too salesy

According to Eric Feng, there is a fine line between being salesy and being helpful. When you talk about your products, you are being too salesy. But when you talk about problems you helped solve, you are being helpful. Instead of being product-focused, be customer-focused. 

4. Love insurance

Determine your energy level when you talk about insurance to your friends and prospects. Where does it fall below?

1 - Fearful

2 - Uncomfortable

3 - Apathetic (no feelings)

4 - Pushy

5 - Passionate

Fear may come from uncertainty. You also likely believe that your prospect has a negative sentiment towards insurance.

Discomfort comes from a lack of knowledge and confidence. You can overcome this through sufficient practice. 

Apathetic means you are not emotionally connected with what you are selling, that you are just providing information about your product. If so, your prospect will prefer buying from a website instead.

For number 4, you feel excitement during your presentation, but that becomes a problem as well, as this excitement merely comes from closing the sale. You become pushy, and thus becoming salesy.

The best energy level is at 5 as your equally excited and passionate because you know how amazing insurance is, and you are excited to share this good news to the person in front of you. Focus on your client's benefit, not on your benefit.

5. Do not expect overnight success

There are a lot of rewards that come with being a successful Financial Advisor. We often see the six figure monthly income, all expenses paid trips, luxurious vacations and a comfortable lifestyle. But what we do not see is the hard work, sacrifices, and long hours that have to be made in order to achieve this kind of success. 

Success is not overnight. But rather, success is over time. 

6. Manage your time well.

Time is our most important asset. Block time for prospecting and appointments. This means use your time intentionally. If we are not protective with our time, many other things will try to take away our time. 

Set aside time daily for prospecting, at least 10 hours per week. The goal of prospecting is to help you get leads, who you can then set for appointments.

As Eric Feng showed in his video, I began plotting my schedule in a spreadsheet.

Reasons why you need to block time in advance for appointments:

• Seeing the empty time slots will motivate you to fill them up with names
• If you don't block the time in advance, someone else will end up taking it away. It could be your mom, your friends, or your pet dog.
• It makes it easier to fix appointments with your prospects. Instead of letting them think of when they are free (which may take forever), you give them options based on your available time slots. This makes it so much easier to fix appointments.

7.  Do something after learning

Now that we have learned six productivity hacks from Eric Feng, nothing will change if you do not do anything about it. 

Thank you so much for reading until the end. I hope you find this post helpful, and you may share it by clicking the buttons below.

Got questions? You may also send me an email at financialplanningforpinoys@gmail.com.

Share in the comment section which of these hacks are going to work on in the next seven days. Be very blessed! 

Find Your Surrendered Place by Bo Sanchez

 

Allow me to share with you valuable snippets from this book, Find Your Surrendered Place by Bo Sanchez.

In this book, Bo will teach you to surrender fifteen attachments. Some of which are below.

On Surrendering Ego..

"But in the Surrendered Place, I saw how insane this was all was. Here's what I heard from God:

          Focus only on what you can do. I don't ask you to offer the success from the work of your hands, but only the work of your hands. This is enough. For your labor of love -- not the outcome of that labor -- is where true peace and happiness come from."

On Surrendering Your Fear of Death..

"Every day, as I tried to inhale enough oxygen to fill my weakened lungs, I realized how foolish I was not to think about my mortality.

Because my next breath is a pure gift.

It may be given.

It may not be given.

Here's what I heard from God:

          Unless you embrace the raw truth that your life hangs by a very thin thread that can snap at any moment, you will never know how to fully live with joy, gratitude and generosity."

On Surrendering your Stress..

"Every day, I surrender everything to God constantly.

Emotionally, I'm not attached to the outcome. 

I resolved in my mind that I cannot control results.

I can only control the work of my hands."

On Surrendering the Delusion that Life Continues Forever..

 

"First, go into meditation and quiet your mind for a few minutes. Be aware of your breathing. Be aware of God's presence around you.

Then ask yourself this disturbing question, "What if I were to die five minutes from now?"

When I think I will die in five minutes, suddenly all that becomes totally irrelevant. I no longer care.

Dear friend, live each day with total surrender.

This is how to have peace beyond measure.

Bo also shared Six Practical Steps to Overthinking

Step 1: Tell a new story

Step 2: Find safe people

Step 3:Make gratitude your core identity

Step 4: Enlarge your circle of control

Step 5: Move your body

Step 6:Absorb sunlight daily

At the end of the book, Bo says, "Finally, Apply What You Learned in This Book

Shift mental states.

Get into your surrendered place.

Be in the present moment.

Practice mindfulness.

Practice meditation.

Stop rushing.

Stop multitasking.

Surrender everything to God.

He then ended the book with two epilogues.

At the back cover, it wrote, "In 2021, Bo Sanchez had COVID-19 and his near death experience changed his life forever. Through that crisis, he learned to enter into what he calls the Surrendered Place. "I didn't want to leave. I wanted to live there for the rest of my life," he said of that place. Today, he enjoys inner peace amidst life's stressful situations. Now, he wants to share this spiritual gift with you."

Final Note

If you are like me wherein there are days when you feel overwhelmed with stress, I highly recommend this book, as it taught me to surrender everything to Him as I can only do so much. I have now learned to connect my limited resources to God's limitless power. I encourage you to offer your finite abilities and skills to Him, and claim His miracles in your life.

I have also began meditating, starting my day at 6am and joining The Feast's Summons to Your Surrender Place. You can check their Facebook page, The Feast PICC AM, and you may also join via Zoom HERE.

To get a copy of the book, visit www.feastbook.ph.

Be very blessed!

P.S. I hope you find this post helpful. If yes, kindly share this post so we can bless and inspire more people. Thank you very much!