87. "Ahente lang ako.."

 "Ahente lang ako.." 

is one of the saddest declaration I can hear from a financial advisor in describing what we do as financial advisors, this is both demeaning and de-moralizing, it's as if we are only purveyors of insurance products to sell, earn commission and we are done

There is no question that to be successful in this line of work, the ability to sell is very crucial, but we may have to define the parameters as to where the sales function begins and the financial advisory function starts

Life Insurance in a lot of ways is a very flexible product, I say this because most life insurance products now (VULs) are very straightforward and can actually be custom designed with specific financial needs in mind 

A well thought of VUL plan can be tweaked to address both the "protection" and "wealth accumulation" goals in a single plan through the attachment or dis-attachment of "riders"  

For example, for a breadwinner just starting out can put more weight on maximum protection while building up the "fund value" by adding a term insurance rider, this can be decreased over time as the fund value increases thereby increasing the funds allotted for wealth accumulation, this plan after a time can be used to fund longer term goals such as retirement

The "sales function" in this case is helping the client realize the importance of starting early, as the resulting fund value is a function of market movement over time, we always hear experts telling us that over the long term, capital markets investments almost always deliver decent returns

But capital market returns are earned without a lot of volatility in between, this is where the financial advisory comes in, we have to continuously "update" the client and ensure that this volatility will not lead to a premature cancellation of the plan

So, if we are asked what we do as financial advisors, we can say that we help people achieve financial security by helping them design a plan appropriate to their current financial circumstances, then provide a "helping hand" to guide them along the way

All the best my friends.

#acgadvice