Face it, we are now all multi-taskers, and not by choice. Everyone’s trying to do many things in life at once. People want to save money and get health insurance, but they also want to enjoy vacations and dream about owning their own businesses — right now. Whether you’re a future retiree, an OFW planning ahead for restful days, or a millennial not really attuned to thinking about nest eggs and mortality, the future demands that we juggle all things at once.
AXA Philippines hopes to cover the spectrum with a new product, AXA Retire Smart. It’s a monthly investment plan that promises to maximize the growth of your nest egg while you’re young, and automatically minimizes risk and volatility as you approach your target retirement date.
Also, Retire Smart comes with life insurance coverage equivalent to at least five to up to 25 times your annual basic premium, so your family benefits in case of unforeseen circumstances.
During a launch held at Makati Diamond Residences, AXA Philippines host Issa Litton invited four speakers to talk about their retirement dreams, and how to achieve them. They included Philippine STAR columnist Barbara Gonzalez, Philippine Realty and Holdings chief brand officer Jose Ramon (“Monchet”) Diokno Olives, chef and passionate surfer JP Anglo, and Happy Skin co-owner Jacqe Gutierrez, who each gave their own version of the perfect “live what you love” investment dream.
For Gonzalez, who worked in PR for companies like Coca-Cola before selling her assets to take care of a mom sick with Alzheimer’s, the secret to retirement is this: don’t get scared. A single mom and author, she knows that investment is no easy picture to frame, but she believes in keeping very busy: “You can’t just relax, because you need money!” Now, besides writing, she teaches, sells jewelry, and nurtures another dream: “To be a lounge singer!”
AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora explains the new Retire Smart product.
For Monchet Olives, a not-so-far-off dream is to turn a parcel of land he’s acquired in Coron into a boutique hotel. Dream-wise, he’s also made money from selling boutique fans, after being invited by Malacañang to create a special fan for the visiting Queen of Spain.
Gutierrez moved from Unilever to starting up a business with Happy Skin partner Rissa Mananquil-Trillo. As much pleasure as she gets from selling beauty products that people love, she is — this early — thinking about stepping back from day-to-day managing to be with her family: “The purpose of having a business was to have time to live — to pick up the kids from school and schedule weekday lunches with my husband,” she says.
Bacolod-based chef Anglo may be too young to think about retirement dreams, but he knows health is key: “You want to keep your health, so you can enjoy your time when you retire.” Like a lot of millennials, this is balanced with a YOLO attitude: “It’s cheesy, but happiness is everything!”
Different people, different retirement needs.
Let’s say you’re Teddy, a 42-year-old office manager who wants to open a B&B in Tagaytay when he retires. He’ll need at least P2 million to make his dream happen. If he wants to retire in, say, 2035, he pays a yearly premium of P74,707.50 (P70K premium plus P4,707.50 waiver of premium coverage). By 2035, at age 60, he will have saved up P2.4 million. But, if unforeseen death occurs before that day, his family receives an insurance benefit of P350,000. So his family is covered either way.
According to AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora, planning for all life’s twists and turns has gotten easier for Filipinos in recent years. More people are recognizing the importance of saving and investing, and more insurance players are entering the market, lifting up all boats. AXA has taken advantage of Internet changes to make planning your future dreams easier than the old days of agent-based visits. Its website (axa.com.ph) tours you through the Retire Smart package with an algorithm based on the amount you wish to invest per month, plus the expected year of retirement — whether it’s 2030, 2035, 2040, or 2045. Based on a projected eight percent growth of your fund (and AXA has a proven track record of expertise in picking investments), the table instantly calculates how much you will have saved by retirement date, as well as how much your beneficiaries would receive in case you don’t, er, make it to the finish line. Insurance coverage plus retirement savings is a flexible way to achieve most life dreams.
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Join AXA’s “Retire for a Day” promo by visiting AXA.com.ph. Get a quote from the Free Quote Calculator, submit your required personal info and wait for confirmation, and enter a free raffle to win prizes including an Epicurean Lab Lifestyle Course from Global Academy; a 3-day/2-night stay at Alta Vista de Boracay with free round-trip airfare from Philippine Airlines; or a 3-day/2-night stay at Conrad Manila for four pax (2 adults, 2 children). Open to prospective Retire Smart customers aged 21-54, the raffle draw is on Sept. 20.