On Yen, Investing and Insurance

I will be posting today a Q&A posted at the Ask The Experts section of the OFW UsapangPiso Facebook group instead of my usual posts.

In this section, members can submit questions to the forum’s panel of renowned financial and life planning coaches, investment experts, and successful mentors. The answers are then published in the section as a reply.

I believe a lot of OFW’s will surely relate to this question addressed to Fitz Villafuerte by a a couple of OFW forum members.

OFW Question No. 1:

“Hi sir Fitz, ang baba po ng palitan ng Yen ngayon, pero gusto ko po sana magkaroon ng investment. Ano po ba pinakamagandang gawin o pasukan as investment?

I have a 9yr. old son and I want to send him to a good university 8-9 years from now. I also want to invest in the stock market but I don’t have enough knowledge about it.“

Fitz answers,

“The yen will continue to lose value over the next few months as Japan is actively devaluating the currency.

My personal opinion – you should keep just enough Yen for financial emergencies (3-6 months worth of expenses), and convert the rest of your savings to Philippine Pesos.

As for the best investment, you may invest in an Equity Fund UITF (unit investment trust fund). Invest P3,500 per month and you’ll have around P800,000 by the end of 8 years. Enough to fund your child’s college education in my opinion.

Be consistent, be disciplined. And regularly monitor the value of your investment. It’s a long and patient journey, but the rewards will be worth the time.”

OFW Question No. 2:

“ I just want to ask about insurance. Actually I already took one but have not understood well the terms and that it has to be paid for 10 years.  But now I am starting to have basic knowledge about these by reading all the advise here at OFW UsapangPiso. I will ask the agent to review again the terms. Kumuha lang ako para masabi lang na insured. Is there a type of insurance na mandatory meron ang isang tao? Or Basta may isa nang insurance enough na yun? Can you explain further about HMOs?”

Fitz answers,

“All breadwinners need insurance, the coverage should be equal to your estimate funeral expenses plus 20% of the value of your assets (to pay for estate taxes) plus the amount of money that your dependents will need until they can “get back on their feet” – which is usually 5 years worth of the household expenses.

If you’re not a breadwinner, you don’t need life insurance, in my opinion. Unless you are already doing estate planning which is another story – I’m only talking about life insurance as a form of protection.

I’d say life insurance is mandatory for breadwinners, and one is usually enough, as long as it has the right amount of coverage

Also, only get term life insurance, nothing else. Do your own investing, instead of getting insurance with investment benefits – you’ll earn more this way.

Lastly, for HMO, these are short-term health insurance – also important, and mandatory if you’re prone to sickness, or have a high-risk lifestyle / job. Personally, it’s good to have one regardless.”

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P.S. 1. The OFW UsapangPiso Forum will be presenting the web preview of iCON2013 The No Non-Sense Investments Conference on May 10, Friday, 8pm (Philippine time) featuring personal finance guru Randell Tiongson and Mr. Stock Smarts Marvin Germo. Join the OFW UsapangPiso Forum for updates of this event.