3 Tips to set your financial priorities straight

The COVID-19 pandemic has imparted many lessons. In just a year and a half, we already experienced how it feels to be constantly anxious about getting the virus, feeling isolated during lockdowns, worried about our family’s livelihood, and fearful about what will happen next.

After going through this crisis, we want to be much more prepared and better when it comes to facing challenging times like this. This is why we need to focus on one of the pandemic’s most important lessons — how to be financially secure.

Being financially secure might be tough when you know you still have a long way to go to becoming stable in terms of monetary resources. But the pandemic has taught us that financial security isn’t a luxury anymore. Rather, it is a necessity.

Also, each one has a unique lifestyle, different priorities, and mindset when it comes to spending, which may be reasons why achieving financial security is challenging.

Millennials and some older Gen Zs might find it more difficult to achieve financial security and stability. During the pandemic, many have lost their jobs, have unstable sources of income, and for fresh graduates, it was difficult to find jobs.

The circumstances may be harsh or difficult, but this doesn’t mean nothing can be done to achieve that financial security. This may even be the right time to recalibrate your financial priorities that will help you in the long run.

Here are some tips on how to find financial security during a pandemic, crisis or none:

• Start small and slowly identify your priorities and goals

There is no reason to panic even in the middle of an economic crisis. Just like any other plan you make, start in your own space and identify first how you are doing financially. Are you doing well? Do you need to transition to a tighter budget? Will you have to change your lifestyle? These are the things that require some much-needed clarity when you want to plan for your financial future.

Once you do that, you can finally write down realistic goals and parallel them with your lifestyle and financial status. With this, you will be able to build a foundation to ease your financial worries while still in the middle of a pandemic.

• Be proactive in saving for emergencies

It’s never too late to build an emergency fund. Since we’re still unsure when the pandemic will end, you must have something to lean on in cases of sickness, accident, or unemployment. Not only that, having an emergency fund can ease your worries in times of uncertainty. It doesn’t matter how much you save for your emergency fund. You may set aside 10-20% of your monthly salary for it or you can customize it according to your capability.

• Think about your own and your family’s protection

When it comes to achieving financial security, you have to look at the bigger picture. Most of the time, people don’t get insurance because it’s not deemed as a priority. But have you ever wondered why people buy insurance? It’s simple: peace of mind.

Whether you have your own family or not, you want to protect your loved ones from the financial burden they might experience when something happens to you. You may experience those burdens when you or your loved one gets sick. And by the way, COVID-19 isn’t the only disease we should be wary of.

Since the rainy season is already starting, it’s also important to get the protection you and your family need against other viral diseases like dengue. Insurance providers have products for these. For instance, PhilLife has Dengue RX Family, which provides up to Php30,000 worth of reimbursement of hospital confinement per member of the family due to dengue. For only Php1,200, it already covers four family members.

Quarantine restrictions have loosened again, too. And while we wish for everyone’s safety, the chances of your loved ones getting into an accident are now higher. So, it’s also important to secure their income to cover for expenses stemming from such incidents. For this, PhilLife has its Family Accident Secure that would protect you from the financial toll brought by such emergencies. For as low as Php400, you can get up to Php5,000 in medical reimbursements due to accidents for each member of your family.

What’s even good about this is that PhilLife also made sure that its services are accessible through its online shop that can be accessed through your mobile phone or laptop. This way, you can easily choose an insurance that’s best for you. With PhilLife’s online shop, you can ensure your safety by staying home and reducing any possibility of catching the virus just to get insurance. Your privacy is safe, too, because it is secured. For more details, just visit https://phillife.com.ph.

As we continue to live through this pandemic, don’t forget to take the time to find the right way for you to navigate the financial security you want to achieve. Take things slowly so you can properly prepare yourself in the future and make progress toward your financial goals.

SOURCE:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/09/op-ed-the-financial-lessons-that-2020-has-taught-us.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/13/pandemic-shows-long-term-financial-security-is-necessity-not-a-luxury.html

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