VUL Insurance vs Mutual Fund vs UITF Investment

183 thoughts on “VUL Insurance vs Mutual Fund vs UITF Investment”

1. hi ms fehl,
   Tanong ko lang kung san mas magandang mag-invest or mas malaki ang ROI, sa UITF, MF or sa PAG-IBIG(HDMF) ? or magtop-up nalang ako sa VUL ko? thanks and God bless

   • Hi. It depends upon the performance of the funds. Usually, Equity Funds from Mutual Funds and UITF give the higher ROI but also give the highest risk

     • Hi fehl,

       Thanks for your very informative site and blog -financial advice.

       My concern: have paid up option for a VUL with guaranteed P1M insurance coverage and 6% endowment every two years (P60k every two years, or P30k a year) and some dividends depending on the market performance.

       I have the option to borrow P500k from my own fund with loan yearly interest rate of 10%.

       I plan to reinvest into other equity fund/TUIF derivatives which will yield better ROI, and at the same time will give me insurance protection, and monthly gain to pay for my loan servicing from my current VUL.

       What do you advise?

       I’m trying to trade also in our PSE …just playing P100k-P150k which is currently giving me +10% to 15% roi, but very risky.

       Thanks and more power!

       • Keep your VUL but avoid borrowing because technically you’ll lose 10% already if you do that.

2. Hi,
   Kumuha kasi ako ng insurance my question is, ano po ba ang ibig sabihin ng Reduced Paid up Insurance?San ang kelan eto gagamitin and ano at para saan to? salamat po in advance sa mga sasagot.

   • Hello, Ish! My name is Marissa Nicanor and I am a financial advisor of Manulife Philippines with 15 years experience with the company. Re your inquiry about Reduced Paid Up, this means that kung hindi mo matapos yung premium payments mo (for whatever reason), you can still have benefits pero decreased. Ex: kung ang insurance mo 10 years to pay and your face amount is 1M tapos hindi ka na makabayad on the 8th year but you don’t want to lose your benefits, apply for Reduced Paid up and instead of being covered for 1M for life, the insurance company will reduce your coverage. The Reduced Paid Up scale can be found in the first few pages of your contract. Best to consult your agent if you don’t understand the provisions of your contract.

3. “Good Day! Salamat po sa blog na ito dahil nalaman ko ang different types of Investment UITF,MF,VUL. Ako po ay kumuha ng VUL Saveflex sa Generali Pilipinas last year of November., Bali 400,000 ang target investment ko for 10 years, so 40,000 po ang annual ko, tapos ang type of payment ko ay quarterly na 10,000. Kinausap ko po yung Financial Advisor ko kung pwede bang babaan gawing 150000 nalang for 5years dahil medyo nabibigatan po ako sa 10k/quarterly.at nabigla lang ako sa 400,000 investment..hihi pero sabi po nya hindi na daw po mababago kc sa traditional lang daw yun pwede not in VUL.. I’m 25 y/o na po, may sarling business.Single Tanong ko po
   1. Sa palagay nyo ok po ba yung nakuha kung deal w/ my insurance na ituloy ko pa? sa ngaun po 30k na yung naihulog ko ?
   2.Hindi po ba talaga pwede bagohin oh paliitin yung plan ko pag sa VUL?
   salamat po..,”

   • Hi, it really depends upon your comfort and capacity to sustain the fund. With VUL, it is important you assess yourself and your financial situation (current and future) aside from your goal, before signing up the papers. Medyo mabigat talaga ang premiums kasi great ang coverage ng insurance sa mga VUL products

     With you second question, depende din yan sa flexibility ng contract or policy. Contact your Financial Advisor or better yet contact an officer higher than your financial advisor

   • Hi. I am a Financial Advisor of Generali Philippines. You can still amend or make changes with your premium but this is for approval with the Customer Service Department. Upon changing the premium, if you wish to make it lower, know that the Sum Assured will be affected; it will be lowered for it depends on the annual premiums. I suggest that you contact again your Financial Advisor and insist that these changes are possible but for approval.

     Where did you get this policy? I mean, what BDO Branch?

4. Hi there..
   If I want to know about investing,where to start?I’m in my 30’s now,di pa ako nakakapag-start..Your help will be much appreciated.

   • Hi Cj,

     Is your question for Ms. Fehl? or for just anyone?

     Rule of thumb dictates regarding investing:
     Protect yourself first then protect your money.

     -Adrian

   • Hello CJ,

     If you start investing,know your goals first,your risk preference,time horizon and how much money you want to invest. You can invest in stocks,mutual funds or Unit Investment Trust Fund(UITF) if you want pure investment. If you want protection plus investment,go for Variable Universal Life(VUL) which is usually offered by insurance companies like sun life,philam life,manulife and the like 🙂 Hope this helps!

5. very good comparative stuff you made here !

6. Hi adrian?
   Blank lang yung nakalagay sa premium holiday, sum insured is 500k and 5 yrs contract sya. Pro sabi ng financial advisr ko pgmgdagdag daw ako for top up na daw yun wla daw bawas ng premium yun ang sabi nya. If savings dw tlga like ko at want ko kumita ideally 8k monthly ang ihulog ko pero kung d dw kya kht mgkno nlng dw. Hay ang gulo nmn..

   • Hi Ms. Marie,

     Thanks for the info Ms. Marie.
     Bottom line, everything depends on your decision.
     If you want a hassle free investment plan, then withdraw the available money and pick another VUL.
     If you want to carry on with this stress, and feels that the money invested is more valuable than your stress, then, stay.

     What ever your decision will be, I pray that it would benefit you more. If you are interested with our insurance company (Manulife) then feel free to prompt me anytime. 🙂

     Thanks and God Bless!!

   • Hi Ms. Marie,

     Additional info lang Ms. Marie. You’re financial adviser is really quite concern for your investment. Kasi if ever that you withdraw the money, he’ll be affected as well, his commission and points will be refunded kaya ayaw ka nya mag-withdraw. 🙂
     May claw back !

     Good luck on your decision Ms. Marie!

7. I would just like to comment on VUL. I think it is one good investment as it give you both Investment and protection. The protection part of this product if you compare to SSS and GSIS is far more better. The investment in VUL also earns as much as 20% if put into an Equity fund. And yes, if we talk about tax, this investment can be tax free because of its insurance nature. I am an advocate of VUL since when I compare its performance with MF’s they are far better as well. Though for diversification, I would also suggest to invest on MFs and UITF. But since UITFs and VULs are regulated (BSP and IC respectively), they are I think far better than MF’s because if say the company where you invested your UITF or VUL got ‘bankcrupt’ , it can be absorbed by other banks or insurance companies. Consequently, they can be served continuously by the ‘absorbing’ bank or insurance company. Unlike with MF companies, since they are only regulated by SEC, just like what happened to pre need plans, if they get bankrupt, there is no one to ‘absorb’ them thus leaving the clients with nothing. Just my two cents on this post.

   • Very amazing points here. Thank you so much for enlightening us more about VUL. God bless 🙂

   • P.O.T. Point On Target !

   • “… if say the company where you invested your UITF or VUL got ‘bankcrupt’ , it can be absorbed by other banks or insurance companies.”

     Where have you gotten that idea of banks and insurance companies going bankrupt, their clients’ interest i.e. collectable money can be absorbed by other banks or insurance companies?

     I seem to read that local insurance companies join with each other even with companies abroad so that they will remain solvent from mutual assistance, just as with the Ondoy flood calamity no insurance company I like to believe failed to indemnify their policy holders: but they all learned the lesson to not anymore sell anti-flood policies in Marikina City.

     With banks, I don’t think they band together so that no bank will be (of the banded together banks) be insolvent to their clients: because fellow banded banks will come to their rescue.

     Anyway, I like to read what are your authoritative sources or documents from government offices in this regard.

     Perhaps you are talking about the PDIC, which is for cash deposit accounts (up to half a million pesos only though), not for investments in funds available also from banks.

8. Hi Ms. Fehl,

   Your blog post is already legendary among those who are curious regarding putting their money on investments. Just one little favor though, can you please add Manulife on those insurance companies you’re advising your readers to get. On my last count, at least two Manulife Financial Advisers added some valuable insights with your post. (btw, I’m also a Financial Adviser from Manulife)

   Thanks!!

   • Hi Ricky. Thanks! Sure, no problem. I wonder if Manulife has Peso Mutual Funds?

   • Hi adrian,
     Nakausap ko ang axa kahapon grabe pala ang ginawa ng agent ko sa pera ko need ko daw tlga mgbyad ng premium Ko annually ng 150k modal premium ko kc is 100k regular top up is 50k if ndi dw ibabawas sa account value ko yung charges so mauubos lang pla yung pera ko kng sakAli never skn inexplain yan ng agent cnsbi lang mgdagdag dw ako. The best thing to do daw sabi ng axa main is pababaan ko ang sum insured ko to 150k nalang ung agent ko kc nlagay 500k and annual premium pagawa kng 30k nlang dw yan lng dw option. Sakit sa ulo. What do u think?

     • Hi. That’s the usual problem with insurance, oftentimes, di masyado iniexplain yung premiums, yung palagi inexplain nakafocus sa benefits and coverage. I hope your situation will be resolved. God bless!

       • Hi ms. Fehl,
         Ano po ba sa tingin nyo dapat kong gawin ndi nadaw pde irefund yung money. Mag 5 mos plang cmula ng pinasok ko yung 150k ang sabi skn ng customer service representative ng axa ang option lang dw is ptnggal ang regular top up premium na 50k at gawin 150k ang sum insured at 30k daw annually bayad for 5 yrs un lang daw tingin nyo po ok na iyon. So yung nattira po na account value ko is ok na yun nsa investment npo un ung premium na bbyaran ko na 30k yearly 35% dw nun chrge nd 65% s investment mailalagay ano po tngin nyo?

         • Since they allow you to lower your premium, I suggest you request the lowest amount you’re comfortable in paying and continue it coz sayang naman ang investment tied to your VUL and the insurance benefits. I hope it helps you than stress you po.

       • Yung 2,500 mnthly o 30k yearly daw yun daw option ko. Tngin nyo po sa loob ng 5 yrs mababawi ko yung 150k+150k total of 300k n maihuhulog ko s loob ng 5 yrs?

         • Hi Marie,

           Let me first say “sorry” in behalf of those good insurance agents. I hope na hindi ka madala sa pag-kuha ng future VUL or insurance products.
           Good news sa iyo kasi pwedeng ibaba ang coverage mo. Ngayon, you have two solid options,
           1. You continue to stay with your VUL with AXA. But here’s what you should do :
           a. Allocate your funds to their highest earning fund: equities
           b. Try to get a different agent that will handle your account
           2. You can stop and just leave the money you’ve given to AXA. A stress-free investment is priceless.
           a. Get another VUL product, either with AXA or another insurance companies.
           b. Be sure that the agent you’ll get will explain the whole process and product.

           Of course I’ll always be bias on where I work for (Manulfe.. ehem) . Anyway, at the end of the day, you always have the power to choose. Don’t let your situation hold you down. God Bless and let us pray for the best.

         • Hi adrian,
           Parang mahirap naman po pabayaan ko nalang yung ganung kalaking money sa axa na maubos diba? If ever na di ako mgbyad ng annually saknila yung fund value ko paubos nalang ng paubos. Malaking halaga sakin ang 150k sa ktulad kng walang trabaho. Plano kng iwithdraw ang pera ko kung ppwede dahil ndi nman kasi ako nainform mabuti sa policy ko ng agent. Hope maiwithdraw ko sya. Thanks sa time

9. Hi. Good day.
   I am 48 years old, married with no children. Among the investments that you discussed, I have decided to get a VUL for me and my husband. I have inquired with AXA’s a and BDO’s agents (where I have my current savings), the proposals and explanations given to me are almost the same and they are so technical that I got more confused in choosing between the two… Hope you can help me decide. Thanks in advance.

   I

10. Good day ms fehl! Im a big fan of your blog hoping you could help me in my dilemma. I am john and I currently have a life insurance that cost around 60000 pesos a year which I started back in 2011 and have to pay anually for 10 years. I know its too late when i realized that its too much for a life insurance with a face amount of 1M. And i realized i am more into investing to mutual funds and uitf. In your opinion is there anyway i can get out of my life insurance by just claiming even just the money that i placed in? Or i just have to wait and pay the remaining for 6 years? Im somehow confuse because its difficult to pay the remaining knowing that i can invest it to a mf or uitf which would result for better returns after 10 years. Thanks you so much for your suggestion.

    • I’m not very familiar with insurance. All I know is you have to pay premiums in order to be eligible of benefits. Some products have policies and they mature on a given time. I think you have to talk to your insurance provider to know your options if you want early redemption. If you are a government employee, GSIS has amazing insurance products and premiums are cheaper.

    • Hi!

      The first two years (under traditional insurance) is basically Thank you—meaning, wala ng babalik sa iyong pera. No, you cant withdraw all the amount you invested, only a portion of it, you can look sa Guaranteed Value section ng iyong policy. Hanapin mo ang year ng iyong hulog at makikita mo kung magkano ang pwede mong makuha

      Hope this helps. If you have further question you can text me at

    • Sir, 60K for 10 years is only 600K and yet you are protected for 1M. I think that’s a great deal!

      The real value of insurance is that it prepares you and your family for the ‘worst case scenarios’ i.e. early death or disability of the insured.

      Also, if you invested that in a VUL which is a combination of insurance and investment, by the 10th year, your 600K could have at least earned you additional 100K but could even double depending on the insurance company where you have invested your funds.

      VULs are for mid to long term type of investment. You get to use the power of ‘time’ and just let your money grow for a few years. VULs are good for those who have dependents and whose financial priorities are more inclined to education funding, retirement funding and fund accumulation. Education funding say if you have small kids and they will be going to college in 10 years and up time or Retirement funding if say you will be in your 20s to 40s and you will be retiring in your 60s then you will still have about 40 to 20 years to ‘compound’ your interest in your VUL investment.

11. good evening po.. 🙂 i was actually given a vul proposal by an agent from sun life.. but i became hesitant.. hindi muna ako nag go.. then i come across this blog.. im thinking of pursuing it.. but i just want to clarify first… is it necessary to have additional premiums like death benefit, hospital, accident, etc? or its okay to stick with sun life flexilink only? which is better, with or without additional benefits? hope you can guide me through this. thanks. 🙂

    • It’s up to you if you want to add benefits. Their products are flexible naman. I suggest you add some if you don’t have any of them yet from other insurance.

    • Hi!

      Ideally sana mag add ka na ng Critical illness at Total disability. Kung baga foresight mo yan if anything happens in the future. May client ako na nagsisi kasi hindi nya pinalagyan ng Critical Illness tapos after 4 months na-diagnose sya na may cancer

    • Hi Miss Vina, I think it would be worthwhile to add in some of the what we call ‘riders’ kasi added protection siya. Example Waiver of premium, I think that is a must kasi it means should the payor becomes disabled , the insurance company will be the one to continue paying for the premiums. That is true even if nakakaisang pay ka pa lang. Then Hospital benefits and Critical illness naman protects you in cases of maaccident ka or magkaroon ka ng malalang sakit, hospital benefits will be given to you on a daily basis while you are in the hospital so pwede mo po un pambayad ng medicines mo man lang or other miscellaneous expenses while nakaconfine. While ung Critical illness na benefit, that is paid if bigla kang mastroke, magkacancer, or kung anumang critical na sakit (may list po un usually nasa 35 illnesses) na kahit sinuman pwedeng tamaan di ba? Then ung Accident or ADB naman at Term riders, pandagdag protection po i.e. dinodouble niya ung matatanggap ng beneficiaries nyo should your death be caused by accident so if may face amount ung policy mo na 1M then 2M ung marereceive nila , di ba okay po un? Though these riders don’t form part of your investment ung basic premiums lang po saka ung tinatawag na top ups. These riders are for added protection po.

12. Hi ms Fehl. Wanna seek ur opinion po. My goal is to have our income to augment our target lump sum payoff for a home loan. Can leave 150k to 200k for the next 5 years as we target year 2020. Which do u think is better-Single pay or 5 pay? Choosing between philam money tree or philequity. Also got vul offer fr generali at 30k 5 pay. Thanks and more.power!

    • Hi Sir, I think if readily available naman po ninyong iinvest ung 200K, isingle pay nyo po. Then leave it for five years. If you are agressive , put it in Equity funds. But be mindful na since high returns ito, high risk din siya. So ang magiging basehan nyo na lang is the company where you wish to put the money and have it grow there. Dapat po ung company is steady ang fund perfromance for the last 5 to 10 years. Consider also the front end and back end charges i.e. charges pag nagstart ka mag invest at charges pag kukunin mo na ung investment mo after 5 years. Check mo rin sir ung tax implications once kukunin mo na ung investment mo after 5 years. Kuha kayo quotes from UITF , MF and VUL para macompare nyo magiging returns for each. So sabi naman po pag UITF, sa banks, sa MF sa mutual fund co’s whilst VUL sa insurance co’s. Yun lang po 🙂

13. Hi! Thanks for this forum. I am just about to get a VUL in Sunlife but i am still in doubt. I’m single, employed and covered with health and life insurance by my employer. Do you think it’s better to invest my money to mutual funds and uitf rather than get a vul?

    • You already got some insurance, I think you can go directly to MF. If you want to add more insurance, then get VUL. It’s really up to your needs. 🙂

    • Hi!

      I suggest you get a VUL if you want to protect your savings with illness not covered by healthcard such as Cancer, Kidney Problems etc.

      Your investment in VUL can save you from future expenses.

      Hope this helps. If you have further question you can text me at

    • Hi Lyn,

      Ung health card I think they do have coverage for critical illness, check mo lang depende kasi sa position ng employee un eh. Life insurance sa company is ok only if you are still connected with the company. The moment, you resign from the company, mawawala na rin ung benefit mo na un kasi usually companies offer group insurance na pag umalis si employee, itatransfer lang sa susunod na employee.

      For diversification, since single ka, if kaya naman ng budget mo, get the three UITF, VUL and MF. Maganda kasi yan single ka, wala ka pa other responsibility , may extra time and money ka pa to invest in various instruments and vehicles. Unlike pag married na, limited na siyempre pambudget dahil may other responsibility na. Ung maiipon mo at kikitain sa investment tools na ito, pwede mong magamit in the future, say educ funds pag nagkaasawa’t anak ko or di naman kaya pang retirement or pwede ding pag start ng sarili mong business….the more time you invest kasi, the bigger the returns..so let your investments grow for say 5 years and so, pero if short term ang hanap mo, forex trading and stocks ang mas mainam…pero you need to be equipped din, aralin mo rin muna kung paano mag forex and mag stock tradings…

      Hope this helps.

14. hi po i need your help in my decision po…in your view po saan po mas maganda mag invest sa vul or utif? i am torn between the two po kc i inquired at bdo on their utif but they insist that i should get their vul. my goal sana for the next 5-10 years is to put up a business with the help of the investment fund. im already a member of sss, philhealth and pag-ibig do you think being a member of these is enough as my insurance?

    • If you’re married and have your own family already, having insurance + investment (VUL) is advisable. Investments are risky so you must choose the one that suits your status, goal, and risk appetite. I suggest you invest 20% – 30% (money market or bond fund) to your business, the remaining to your other needs or other income-generating stuff. I choose Money Market and Bond Fund for you because you mentioned here it’s for business. Must not be involved in too much risks coz you can’t lose so much from that invetsment

15. hi po do you know the saveflex sexure in BDO? 5 years to pay daw po after that ano po mangyayari?

    • would like to discuss that further in a separate article here I will publish

16. mam fehl,

    1. uitf’s are offered by banks only right?? may mga nagsasabi ndi lang sa bangko eh
    2. UITF and MF po ba is liquid, i mean anytime pwedeng i-withdaraw??

    sorrry newbie here, thanks in advance.. Good day

    • 1. UITFs are regulated by the Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP). Never heard of UITF offered from a non-banking institution. Maybe soon. Time changes and laws as well
      2. Yes, you can redeem and withdraw anytime unless you signed or enrolled in a fixed term, you need to pay early redemption fee. That is unusual though because UITFs and Mutual Funds are very flexible.

17. I’m so glad to find this online discussion on MF, UITF, and VUL. Since there was already a lengthy discussion on which fund is best for a specific purpose. Now, let’s have a head-to-head comparison on these investment products say — if I invest P100,000.00 each in UITF, VUL, and MF, which investment has a better capital appreciation or potential returns in the next 10 years? Can anybody here provide a sample computation using current performance of each investments? I just want to be enlightened before I decide to invest. Thanks in advance. Kudos to Fehl for opening this discussion. Merry Christmas everyone!

    • Hi Diyegow. I will grant that request. I will post comparison of 100K for MF, UITF and VUL. If the holidays would permit me, I would try to post it here before the year ends. Cheers!

      • Thank you Ms. Fehl, the discussion here is I think one of a kind. I can’t find anywhere in the net discussing these three investments in one forum. So it’s really a big help for a newbie like me to better understand where to invest my hard earned money. If you ask an agent offering VUL he will surely endorse his product. Same with MF and UITF guys. So it’s best if you can have an objective comparison so we (your readers and fans) can also decide wisely and not fall into the hype of each investments. Will wait for the report Ms. Fehl. May God continue to bless the works of your hands!

      • Happy new year everyone esp to you Ms. Fehl… pls don’t forget my request above. Thank you. More blessings in 2015.

        • Happy New Year! Yes, it’s in the pipeline

          • Hi Ms Fehl, what will happen to an account in UITF or Mutual Fund in case the acccount holder dies? Does it specify a beneficiary just like VUL? Or will it go to the state?

          • The account will be closed and the funds will go to the spouse or closest family but there are requirements and docs to sign for that. As for VUL, the claims will go to the beneficiaries listed on the plan/insurance.

          • Hi ms fehl, im still waiting dun sa promise nyo to show a comparative potential returns say 100k investment each for MF, UITF, and VUL in a span of 5 or 10 years. With the already lengthy discussions made here, I think it’s good if we finally put the numbers here. As an investor I think the first question to be asked is how much money will I make for each investment vehicle. I bet if somebody can show them here it would then be easier for your ‘fans’ or followers to decide. Those figures will speak for itself and will be valued more than the words or hype of each investment vechicles uttered here by those who favored one over the other. Thanks.

          • Hi, Diyegow. It was posted last month pa 🙂 Wow, I thought you already read it. Go to our homepage, you’ll find it 🙂 Cheers!

18. Very nice comparison between the three.

    I myself will be getting a VUL (Almost a done deal with Sunlife’s Maxilink Prime) and a MF (a toss-up between PEMI’s Equity Fund and FAMI’s Equity Fund) before the year ends as my Emergency Fund ballooned so much I have to diversify na.

    • Congratulations on your investments and insurance 🙂

19. Ate Fehl good day.. once again thank you for this very helpful site of yours.. 🙂 would you consider having two or more VUL’s? or okey na ang isa then invest ko na lang yung iba sa MF’s? kasi nga d ba subject for estate tax nman yung MF’s? let’s say in the next 5yrs ko pa gagamitin ang 100k, where would you suggest kung saan ko po magandang ipasok? thanks in advace for the reply.. more power!

    • In my personal opinion, 1 VUL is enough coz I’m single. If you want to add another investment product like a regular Mutual Fund, just do it. Estate Tax is only taken on the death of the client when her investments, profits, assets will be handled to the heirs/beneficiaries. Again IMO, we invest to enjoy life more not to gain more when we died.

      • Single! <3

    • Hi Mackie i suggest you ask for a financial advisor advise para ma plan mo ng maayos ang future financial plans mo. Marami kasi aspects na dapat i consider like; your insurance needs, retirements, investments and estate tax if you have accumulated wealth na. Insurance and investments pa lang ay masyado marami options base kung ano ang pangangailangan mo:) look for an advisor na pwede mo pagkatiwalaan.

20. I would just like to correct some statements : VUL is the cheapest if the Financial or Insurance Adviser gives the cheapest plan. there is one that you can start at 22/day or around 600+ per month, and thats cheaper than the 5K minimum for Mutual funds and UITF. Also, not all insurance advisers or financial advisers will push big insurances and expensive amounts to clients just to get a huge commission. Some of us genuinely want to educate people. Maybe create an article on what to look for in a financial adviser. Insurance is non-taxable which is why many people go for single pay insurance/investment tools as well. Also VUL Compared to MF and UITF–advantage is getting the money when something happens to the owner.

21. Im glad meron gnito to enlighten us esp ofws.aftr reading all urcomments mejo ngkaron ako ng confusions sa mga investmnt ko.hope mbgyan nyo ko mgnda advise:1.i have 2 money secure 88 sa generali pilipinas.i understand VUL type ito but now im planning to decrease my premium to half pra mginvest na lng sa mf or uitf.do u think its a good decision or ikeep ko na lng until mgmature? 2.i already have my emergency fund invested in time deposit.im planning to widraw na lng and invest din in mf or uitf.i need ur suggestions badly kc wla tlga knkita for how many yrs now.kya lng iniisip ko ms mdali kc iwidraw sa time deposit in case of emergency eh.pls find tym to give ur advice.tnk u so much in advnce.

    • Hi tita,kung may vul na po kayo,kuha nalang po kayo ng uitf or mutual fund.pwede din both,para hndi nasa iisang investment vehicle pera nyo 🙂

    • If your account in Generali is not performing so well, yes you can do that. I also suggest you invest your emergency funds to Money Market Funds or Bond Funds instead of Time Deposit 🙂 Redemption is very easy too just like withdrawing TD

      • I dont know how to check d performance of generali.if ask ko nmn agent im sure ssbihin nla ok nmn.i guess un na lng gwin ko pguwi.syang din kc ilan yrs na din un dun.tnx a lot.God bless.

22. Maricar nasa blog ni Ms. Fehl yung information about sa UITF… UITF is offered by banks, mutual funds din sya and a good investment for long term. iba’t-ibang klase ang fund na pagpipilian mo.. It depends sa risk appetite mo.. Kung aggresive ka go for the equity funds pero wag ka nenerbyosin sa up and down ng NAVPU = Net Asset Per Value.. As i have said previously kung longterm ka naman (10 years- 20 years) stick with your plans sureball ang return nun (that’s how positive I am pagdating sa Long Term investment). Ako meron naman ako sa BPI equity funds.. Magbasa ka lang ng magbasa madami ka matututunan. Ang the best part ng ginawa mo ay nagsimula ka ng magipon katulad ko.. 🙂 Para maintindahan mo ng husto paguwi mo pumunta ka sa bangko like BDO or BPI tapos mag inquire ka about UITF investment. WAG KA NA KUKUHA NG INSURANCE+ INVESTMENT if ever offeran ka nila meron ka na eh… Hanapin mo doon yung Trust Representative ng UITF. Ang 2 horses ko for my future are 1) VUL 2) UITF in equity funds… God Bless!

    • Thanks jomar for the infos.ok sige pagnakapagbakasyon ako sa dec sasadya ako sa bpi kasi dun ako ngpaopen ng account sa pinsan ko magtatanong ako bout sa uitf na sinasabi nyo. Oo d nako kukuha ng insurance+ investment kasi un na yung una kong pinasok sa axa e saka medyo malaki dn ata kc ung napupuntang charge sa insurance. Anyway thanks a lot! Godbless..

23. Ok aviddyu tank you very much sa time and effort na basahin lhat ng concerns ko. Mas ok kapa kausap kesa sa financial solution specialist ko tipid sumagot at kulang kulang pa mga answers nya. And parang inis na sa kakulitan ko. Thats why ndi na ko masyado nagttanong sknya and medyo naliwanagan nman nko sa tulong nyo specially sa help m.

    • My pleasure po ate maricar 🙂 salamat..as an advisor,it’s our goal and responsibility to give a sound financial advice/solution based on your financial goal…kaya wag po kayong mahihiya magtanong kung may gusto kayong malaman,esp dun sa financial solution specialist na kausap nyo,kasi responsibility ka nya,at right mong malaman ang di mo naiintindihan 🙂 to minimize the risk of investing,i suggest that u also take time to educate yourself about investing since you are already on it 🙂 financial education is the kay 🙂 yun ang magandang gawin para di na kayo nagwoworry,at the same time malaman mo ung mga gagawin mo.tska dun kayo magtanong sa mga taong talagang willing kayong turuan,tulungan at iguide sa gusto nyong gawin. Talk to the right person 🙂 thank you po ulit.take care and God bless po sa inyo… 🙂

24. Jomar whats about uitf nman? Mganda din ba yun? Thanks talaga for the concern.

25. Thanks din po mr. Jomar sa advice nyo laking tulong din po.

    • Mr. Aviddyu sobrang thanks ah sa lahat lahat dami ko natutunan sa mga sinabi mo. Nga pala i mailed my financial solution specialist bout s mnthly o yearly ko nd if ung 100k is premium ko eto lang sinagot nya. (kung kailan ka lang makadagdag next year ok na rin iyon .. but kung talagang saving ang iniisip mo kailangan mo lagyan ng at least or ideally of 8k a month next year. kung hindi kung ano lang na ilagay mo ang syan babasehan ng iyong investment) i dont know yet if mamimeet ko ung 100k mnthly parang mhrap kc wla nman akong work. Pag meron mgdadagdag nalang cguro ako any amount nman will do diba and dagdag dn un sa investment ko kht d nmn 100k as un. Or pag wla yaan ko nlang mna umikot ung 150k total malaking money nmn ndn yan right? Thanks tlaga ah sobrang dami ko pa tlgang katanungan as in kc ngpasok ako bsta basta sa vul ng axa ng wlang masyadong idea sa gnun pro mgnda nmn dw tlga lalo n pag long term at d ginagalaw at dinagdagan. Thanks sau at sa page nato ni ms. Fehl it helps me a lot. Ska sau ndin jomar salamat, mgnda nga dw ang philamlife kc ang frnd ko is financial advisr pla ng philamlife bpi sknya dn ako nnghingi ng idea kht ppano sayang nga lng huli ko ng nalaman sa bpi pla xa under philamlife.

      • Hi ate maricar.ah i see,so parang top up lang pala.ok cge, magdagdag ka nalang pag may extra kang pera.any amount will do,at least minimum 1000 for top up 🙂 magtanong ka lang sa servicing agent nyo pag may concerns kayo…mag top up k nalang para ma cover ung nawalng pera dahil sacharges incurred by ur policy….ung uitf mganda din un…halos parehas yan sila ng mutual fund.u can read the article made by ms. Fehl dto mismo sa site nya.may topic dun about mutual fund vs uitf 🙂 happy reading ate maricar. God bless po 🙂

        • hi aviddyu,
          You said min top up is 1000 pero sabi ng financial advisr ko atleast min of 10,000 daw for top up. What do u mean nga pla for modal premium ang regular top up premium. Diba as i have said before 150k ang pinasok kng money sa vul axa axelerator plan sa wealth equity fund bale nkalgay sa policy details ko is modal premium 100k regular top up premium 50k total premium due is 150k payment mode is annual yan ang policy details ko. So ano tingin mo jan nu ba ang pinakamgandang gwin ndi ko kc alam ang rules jan sa pinasok ko. Wla dn nmn p akong work. Sabi ng financial advsr ko mgdagdag dw ako bale for top up yun psok sa investment wla ng bwas na premium charge dw drecho investment na. Aviddyu help me nman kung ano ba pinaka best thing to do pls.. Wait ko reply mo and if meron pa po iba jan na pde mgbigay advice feel free to comment po. Thanks

          • Hi Ms. Marie,

            Medyo mabigat ang situation mo ngayon. Ask ko lang, how many years to pay ang kinuha mong plan? And how much and covered insurance mo? And ano pa ang kasama sa insurance mo? (accident benefit? critical illness ? etc)
            Technically, you need to pay the 100k modal premium per year, yun ang base ng VUL mo. Ang recurring 50k, optional naman yun.
            First thing you need to ask if there’s a “premium holiday” with your plan, meaning may one year ka na pwedeng hindi magbayad ng premium mo without any consequence.
            Next, you need to get a job so that you can accommodate your plan. (if you are interested on becoming a financial agent too, prompt me)
            Last, you really need to keep this plan. Kasi sayang pag nawala lang and kainin ng mga charges.

            Hopefully may natulong ako. 🙂

          • Hi ma’am Marie,

            Based sa sinasabi mo ngayon,bale ang babayaran mo yearly sa plan mo is 100k,plus ung 50k na top up yearly din..mejo mabigat nga po yun ma’am lalo sabi nyo nga po wala kayong work ngayon at un lang savings nyo..Meaning you have to deposit 150k per year kasi yan ang nasa contract nyo 🙂 hindi ko lang alam sa AXA talga kung magkano ang minimum na top up nila..pero ang alam ko sa PHILAM and SUN LIFE ay 1000 lang ang minimum top up.in your case,maoobliga ka talga to add top ups per year,kasi naka indicate dun na regular top up mo is 50k.. Well,sabi ko nga po,if you find na hindi suitable ung plan na binigay sayo,u can return it naman po sa kanya within 15days after mo nareceive ang policy contract nyo..irerefund po yung binayad nyo together with the initial charges and look for another plan na bagay sa need nyo. You have the right po to do that..but if more than 15days na ung policy contract mo from the day u received it,hndi kna makakapagrquest ng refund nyan..kelangan mo nalang talga ituloy ung plan hanggang mabawi nyo capital nyo,but it takes years po bago nyo mabawi un.dahil sa mga charges..so patience nalng po at talagang wala kayong choice kundi bayaran ung full amount non every year,otherwise,kakainin ang fund value mo at mas mahihirapan kang bawiin ang binayad mong premiums…sadyang may mga agents lang talaga na mapagsamantala(sorry for the term). I’m not being judgmental here,sabi ko nga hindi diniscuss sa inyo ng buo ung plan na kinuha nyo at sya lang nagdecide lahat kung san nya ilalagay.dapat po un dinidisclose lahat sayo,para ma assess nyo din po sa srili nyo na para talga sayo ang plan na kinukuha nyo..

        • Hi aviddyu,
          Tumawag ako sa main office ng axa kahapon dun ko nga lang nalaman yung about sa policy ko. Minail ko yung agent ko lage sinasabi na magdagdag daw ako for top up daw yun pasok na sa investment wala daw charge ng premium pero nver nya inopen sakin na i need to pay 150k annually. Grabe talaga alam naman nya na ang purpose ko lang is may mapaglagyan ng pera ko sa mhbang panahon ng safe di ko need ng malaking interes. Sabi ng main sa axa ang gawin ko nalang daw is pababaan ko ng 150k yung dating sum insured ko na 500k at patanggal ko daw ung regular top up premium na 50k at magiging 30k nalang yung annual kng babayaran yan lang daw option ko. Mg 6 mos plang ung pera ko like nalang sna iwithdraw ang policy ko kaua lang d ata pde yun tingin mo ol na yung bngay nilang option 30k annually bbayaran ko 5yrs tpos sum insured is 150k. So yung natitirang account value ko is mddgdagn nlng sa tuwing mgbbyd ako annually pgkksbi skn 65% s investment 35% chrge s premium ok nb un? S 5 yrs kya mababawi ko yung 300k n total na ibbyad ko sknla kht n wla ng interes. Di ko n mcontact ung agent at d sya sumasgot sa mails ko e. Grabe bigat ng ginawa nya sa pera ko kumita lang.

          • Hello Ma’am Marie,

            Kung ganon po ang sabi ng office,pababaan nyo nalang po ang sum insured nyo para bumaba din po ang premiums na babayaran nyo yearly..mabigat po yun sa part nyo..anyway,so di na nga po yan maccancel kasi matagal na ung policy nyo na in-force. Tsaka i don’t think na mababawi nyo po ung pera nyo in 5yrs time due to the charges incurred by your policy. Ang pagkakaalam ko din kasi sa AXA axelerator nila.for 3yrs ay 35% ang charge sa premium mo..bale 65% lang lagi napupunta sa investment nyo.nagpagawa din kasi ako ng proposal nyan sa isang agent sa product nilang axelerator.PLs check your policy contract for more details about charges..kaya hindi nyo po un mababawi in 5yrs time,one more thing,ung VUL is designed talga for long-term investment. So marerealize nyo lang po ang returns o tubo ng investment nyo if more than 10yrs na ung investment nyo..yun nalang po ang gawin nyo,ang pababaan ang premiums nyo para hindi mabigat sa part nyo. Well,if ganyan nga ginawa sayo ng agent mo,ang masasabi ko lang,gusto lang nya kumita,hindi nya inisip ang magiging effect sayo..basta inuna lang nya sarili nya.

      • You’re welcome Maricar. And all of you are always welcome here. If you invest in the following companies, you don’t have to worry: PAMI (Philam Asset Management, Inc.), Sun Life, PEMI (Philequity), Pru Life UK, AXA, FEMI (First Metro Investment Corp.) BPI ALFM and ATR Kim Eng

26. Thanks po mr. aviddyu for wasting time na sgutin lhat ng questions ko it really helps me a lot medyo natanggal na ung ibang takot at worries ko siguro need ko nalang magsave ulit ng money para madagdagan ung pinasok kng pera pra mkpgtop up pro ndi cguro ganun kalaki as what my financial solution specialist told me. Pde nman cguro un kht d ko mameet up ung cnasabi nyang price right? Uuwi ako sa dec ng pinas cguro mag aask nadin ako sakanya nhihiya kc ako dhl sobrang dami ko gsto itanong e. Sya kc lhat prang ngdecide san ipinasok ang pera ko. Thanks po.

    • No problem po ate maricar 🙂 i hope natulungan kita sa mga concerns nyo po 🙂 yes ok lang po yun kahit hndi parehas na amount ung ipasok nyo every month/year.pero better po tanungin nyo padin ung fnancial solution specialist na kausap nyo if kung yung premium nyo po na binayaran is one time lang or regular pay siya..kasi kung regular pay yun for 5years,kelangan nyo po un bayaran same amount per year…tama po yan,wag po kayo mahihiyang magtanong at wag nyo basta2 ibibigay hard-earned money nyo ng hindi nyo po naiintindihan lahat.after all,pera mo padin yan.buti kung maliit na halaga lang yan..if i were you,try to contact the person who offered u the plan,para maclarify nyo ung mga concerns nyo about dun sa babayaran nyo..at the same time,makapag prepare din kayo kung sakali man na babayaran nyo padin ung same amount for 5years.tanungin nyo po kung ung sinasabi nya na idadagdag nyo monthly kung top up xa o pang regular premium mo para magkaroon ka peace of mind 🙂 thank you po

27. Marcar if you have an extra money and it suits your budjet then top-up if not and short ka naman just pay for the premium until the end of your contract… in the long run rest assured ka naman na magkakainterest ang pera mo. About naman sa sinasabi ng financial advisor mo to na kailangan mo magdagdag monthly ng 8k or 100k yearly baka naman yan ang premium mo for the 5 years? So ibig sabihin you nid to pay talaga your premium to be covered by your insurance… wag ka matakot sa up and down ng stocks normal lang yan so as I have said if you are for the long term it will be a gain in the long run so kung ako sayo finish your premiums nde ka na lugi tumubo pa pera mo… There after, pag matured ng pera mo after 5 years kunin mo na lahat and I advise you to get term insurance at invest mo sa uitf ang sobrang pera mo… Para diversified pera mo at nde ka kinakabahan.. Hope my advise help you and for your information I have a vul also from bpi philam life called build plus peso and plan ko to finish it within maturity age premium ko 103k for 10 years and then I will redeem it. God bless!

28. Ung sinasabi din po nila na dapat magdagdag ka monthly ay para mabilis tumaas ung fund value nyo,at maka take advantage sa pag appreciate ng price over time,at xmpre strategy din po un gamit cost-averaging method…regardless kung mataas o mababa ang price,magpapasok padin kayo dun chosen fund nyo 🙂

29. Pag time deposit,mababa po ang interest 🙂 ok na ung vul mo.ituloy mo na un,anyway matagal m p naman xa bago kunin..kaya ok lang yan..tsaka bumababa din ang risk pagka long-term,usually kasi ung trend talaga sa market is pataas eh kahit nagffluctuate 🙂 para di ka po nagwoworry sa iniinvest nyo,take time po kayo na intindihin lahat ng sinasabi nila at pag may questions kayo,wag po kayo mahiya magtanong,because u have the right to know everything before kayo magdecide at maglabas ng pera 🙂

30. Oo pang long term nman tlga ang balak ko. Dapat tlaga time deposit ko lang sana pero ung metrobank yan nirecommend skn. Do i need to add pa ba next year sbi kc ng financial solution specialist need ko dw mgdagdag atleast 100k yearly or 8k monthly, sbi ko nman sknya i dont know yet pa if may mppasok akong gnun kalaki what if di ko mdagdagan un what will happen? Mdagdagn ko mn d n cguro gnun kalaki. Balak ko by nxt yr mag sunlife or philamlife if may extra png money.

31. Hi malou,i’m a financil advisor from sunlife.i was bothered about ur concern…just want to tell you that all vul plans have cooling-off period.meaningto say,upon approval of ur policy,you have 15days to review the policy contract,and if you find that it is not the right plan for you,u can simply return the policy to the servicing agent or just go directly to the office and tell them that you’re gonna return the policy contract para maprocess nila agad..in your case,naapprove ung policy mo on oct 7 right?try to ask the servicing agent kung hawak na nya ung policy mo,kasi kung naapprove na,dapat hawak n nya policycontract mo para maibigay sau at mareview mo..then try read the contract,nakalagay dun ung sa cooling-off period..pls be reminded that the cooling-off period of ur policy is upon receipt of your approval date. I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT U TALK TO THE FINANCIAL ADVISOR IMMEDIATELY regarding ur concern.kasi kung naapprove policymo nong oct 7,ur cooling-off period will end on oct 22,para maibalik mo ung policy contract mo..if u were able to return it within the cooling off period,they will return to you the amount u invested including the charges incurred by ur policy,if not,u may realize possible loss on ur investment.so pag mtapos na ung cooling-off period mo at di mo naibalik,better to let it stay invested nalang kasi malulugi ka…anyway it will earn interest naman in the long run..i hope this helps and gives u peace of mind..

    • Thanks for the advice aviddyu.wla kc ako sa pinas sa ngaun e by dec pko ult mgbbakasyon.sabi ng pinsan ko nung oct 17 dw dmtng ung contract s bhy sya sna pagpupull outin ko nung ininvest ko sa vul axa pro ndi nya agad maackso. Wla ako kht anong kind ng insurance nman so tingin m ok din ung pinasok ko sa axa? Is my money safe nmn at di mglalaho ng bula as stock market goes down kng skali. Sbi kc frnd ko mgnda nga dw sunlife ang philamlife.need ko pdw mgdagdg ng 100k mnthly is it necessary b wht if wla ako gnun halaga?

      • Ah ganon po ba?no problem un kung wala ka pang insurance..anyway u need that too..yes ok lang yan,eventually mbabawi mo din yan..just let it stay invested for the long term,para mag grow 🙂 un din naman goal mo db pang long-term..kelan mo ba xa gagamitin?opo ok naman po ung mga companies na nabanggit nyo 🙂

32. Hindi ko nalang cguro un dadagdagan like ung sinabi skn ng agent n 8k mnthly o 100k yearly. Continue ko nalang siguro gang sa dumating ung 5 yrs nya cguro kahit pano ok naman na un. Ndi ko naman hangad ng malaking interes din e. Sa ngaun kc malaking bagay ang 50k kng ipull out ko un sayang po diba? Thanks and pasensya n.

33. So u mean ms. Fehl tapusin ko nalang ung buong 5 yrs contract with VUL AXA? Yun ung pinaka thing to do. Kailangan ko bang magworry bout dun sa money? Magiging zero kaya yun bigla what if bumaba lalo ung stocks? And sabi pa nung financial solution specialist ng axa need ko daw mglagay ng 100k sa loob ng isang taon or 8k monthly kailangan b tlaga un what if wla akong pandagdag sa 150k n unang pinasok ko sa vul what will happen? Wla nmn dn akong work right now. Pasensya na sa sobrang daming katanungan. Ndi ko kc alam ang dapat kung gawin basta nalang ipinasok ko yung perang 150k without any idea sa ganun and lhat ng un ung agent ang parang ngdecide kung san ilalagay ung pera ko. Ngayon worried ako sa katangahang nagawa ko ndi ko nman n mapull out dhil sobrang luge na ako. Sana masagot mo ms. Fehl lhat bg bumabagabag sa isip ko ndi nman kc ako mayaman pra ndi icpn ang 150k lalo pat nakalaan un sa future ng anak ko. Thanks and godbless!

    • I don’t know the full details and features of the VUL you got but if you are doubtful, un-comfortable and not satisfied with what the insurance rep. has put you with, better pull it out and just invest on Mutual Funds. Switch to something you are comfortable with and you are fully aware with. Investing is a serious business. AT the end of the day, it’s your peace of mind that matters 🙂

      • I want to pull it out na nga po kaya lang base sa mga nalaman ko hindi ko na makukuha yung buong 150k n pinasok ko bawas na daw ung charges tapos kng mgkano nalang daw ung account value ng pera ko ngaun un nalang daw mbabalik as if minitoring nsa around 104k nlng sya may iba p atang ibang charges kaya sobrang talo ako. Pero for long term ko tlaga sya di ko sya gagalawin sana basta safe and ndi mawawala. Sorry ms fehl sa pang aabala.

        • You’re welcome to ask and share anything here 🙂 I recommend you place in in Bond Fund or Money Market Fund coz it’s less risky. Sun Life and Philequity are really great MF companies

          • Hello! Maybe I can help you with this. Would it be okay to ask for your policy number?

34. I am 55 y.o. and due to retire in 5 years. All my 3 kids are already gainfully employed and are no longer dependent on us. My husband and I have TD’s, UITF (mainly equity, with some balanced and bond funds), MF and Index funds as well as the stock Market. About 35% of our funds are in TD’s, 10% in stocks and the rest in the other investments I mentioned. My husband already has 2 insurance coverages (one is VUL) but I do not have any. Our office has a group insurance, though (but that stops once I retire!). I got a VUL offer from BPI-Philam with the usual coverage including health care benefits. The thing is, I was diagnosed with stage 1 cancer last year and have undergone surgery and completed chemo early this year (I am cancer free, based on my metastatic work-up last week). I feel I am not qualified for the health care component (hospitalization etc) of the VUL. Should I proceed with getting a VUL, even if I will not be getting the full coverage (specifically, the health component) but will still be paying the full premium? If I do get a VUL, it it better to pay one time or the regular payment type? Both my husband and I are SSS, Pag-ibig, Philhealth members. But of course, the Philhealth coverage is just a drop in the bucket of my med expenses and out office hospitalization coverage was not enough to cover the rest of my medical expenses when I got ill. You can say that both my husband and I are preparing for our retirement.

    • If you won’t be getting the full coverage, why still pay premiums. Just switch to regular Mutual Fund instead of VUL. Have you watched Rated K last night? A cancer-miracle drink was featured. It’s called Chocolate Soup. You might want to check it out even if you are already cancer free. God bless you!

      • Fehl, thanks for the advice… including the Chocolate soup… will look it up.

        • My pleasure. Please share us your experience with the chosoup once you tried it. I’m curious and I know it will help a lot of people needing that 🙂 God bless!

35. Hi ms. Fehl. Nag invest ako ng 150k sa axa phil. And about sa ininvestan ko honestly ndi ko msyado naintindihan ung mga sinabi sakin ng financial solution specialist that time. Bsta ang sabi nya investment and insurance daw tpos 5 yrs ung min nd ung pera ko is pinasok sa phil equity fund like pldt ayala malls etc. nd nka insured pdw ako ng 500k sknla once n my nangyari sakin makukuha dw un ng beneficiary ko. Ask ko lang sna if bat ganun dumating sa akin na mail is premium ko is 100k lng tpos ung 50k gnwang top up tpos ang dami p plang charges. Tingin m magiging ok lang kya ung ininvest ko ndi kya un maglalahong prang bula lalo n nkdepende pdw s stock market ung account value ng ininvest ko. Oct 7 lang this year naapproved ung policy ko lhat ng bnyad ko is 150k pro pgkacheck ko ng account value ko is 104k smthng nlang tingin nyo po dpat ako mgworry at matakot pra kc sa anak ko yan sa future nya kya nga prang gusto ko ipull out pero sbi skn ng frnd ko wg dw dahil luge ndw ako gnun dw tlga dpa dw agad mkkta ang interest nya s ngaun lalo n bgo p pro aftr a yr ptaas ok ndw yn ska mlaki lng dw kc tlga charges ng axa. Sbra tlga ako ntatakot ngaun bout sa 150k n ininvest ko sknla. Pls reply po sna thnks

    • Right now (October) equity funds are down talaga and actually pati stocks. With VUL, you have to pay premiums since your investment have insurance mix. For equity funds, you will have more earnings if you invest them for 5 years or so. VUL are only recommended for those without insurance. However since you already have VUL na and you are required to place it in 5 years, just let it be and wait for its earnings to come 🙂

      • Hi Maricar I am a former advisor of AXA , though late na reply ko i hope i can still help you with your case. Your case was a normal case with a client and an advisor which is not honest judging your story. Dapat sana ay one time placement of 150k ang nangyari.pero ginawa nya na regular premium + top up for 5 years. In your case lugi ka if you will pull it out kasi you will be subjected to many charges however if you dont have money to pay for the other 4 years of premiums ay liliit pa ang account value mo kasi next year you will be charge of another 35% of 100k(premium) + cost of insurance. Since sabi mo wala ka na pambayad, ito sy ibabawas sa account value mo kaya ito ay mas liliit pa. Then the last 35% will be charge on the 3rd year + cost of insurance kaya paliit ng paliit. Now if you opt to continue the premiums of 100k for the next four years then you can possible be even maybe on th 10th year. If you have more question you can reach me to my email

        • so dr. edwin salagoste ano po b mas maganda kng gwin? if itutuloy ko po sya mgkano need ko ibayad mnthly?d man lang sakin pinaliwanag to at yung mga huhulugan ko sya lahat nagdecide kung san ilalagax ang pera ko sabi ko sknya ang akin lang gsto ko parang time dposit kht knti interes ok lang bsta safe n nakatago ang pera ko. pls gve me sme advce po. bka maubos nlang ang pera ko bgla mgng zero account value nlng to possible po b un gang 5yrs dhl s mga charges.

36. Hi – I am also interested in getting this VUL.. Kanino po pwedeng mag-request ng quote on premiums and coverage?

    Thanks!

    • Contact us and we will refer you to a licensed VUL rep.

      • Hi saan ba mganda mag ng vul?tnx and god blesd

37. may SSS and stocks na ako pero hindi ako ganun kaactive sa trading. ano pong maaadvice nyo na investment sakin UITF, MF or VUL?

    • If you have your own family (husband, sons and daughters). VUL is good for you since you’ll have MF + Insurance.

38. Good morning po. Una sa lahat maraming salamat dahil napadpad ako sa website na to. And napakainteresting kaya ndi mo maiiwasang icheck lahat ng articles. two thumbs up! 🙂

    Pero may tanong lang po sana ako sa perspective nyo sa Variable Life Insurance (VUL) with respect sa inflation rate dito sa Pilipinas? May offer kasi skin ang isang life insurance company na annual premium of 18k (10 pay) tpos after 38 years, magiging 2M. iniisip ko kung gano ang magiging epekto ng pera ko with respect sa inflation rate. Salamat po! 🙂

    • Hi Miguel! Thank you for the nice comment. If you don’t have any insurance and investment yet, I suggest you get VUL. But if you already have insurance, just get a Mutual Fund. I also suggest you get VUL or Mutual Fund from decent companies only like Sun Life, Philam, Pro Life UK, Axa because they are strong companies.

      • Yes maam, nakakuha na po ako ng VUL. Napapaisip lang po kasi ako sa magiging epekto ng INFLATION RATE sa VUL. Hingin ko po sana yung input nyo about dito sa concern ko. Salamat 🙂

        • All investments (MF, UITF, VUL, Stocks ) are very good to beat inflation.

39. just a few question lang po.. what if i have a 100k. and im earning a minimum wage, is there any option to invest my money n walang monthly? i heard something about one time downpayment in bpi. im not familiar about it.. can any own help me to explain about it.. thnx in advance

    • I’ve answered your question from my other post here. Regarding the BPI investment, give us the type of fund so I can make a post about it here and explain it well. God bless!

    • Hi jay, you can actually invest it in VUL single pay, you can just do top-ups if you have excess money and your family is protected with 125% of your 100k if anything happens.
      Hope this helps! 🙂

40. Hi ms fehl,

    Are you familiar with manila banker’s life insurance? I wanted to get a life insurance.. Which one would you recommend? Thanks po..

    • Sun Life Carlo 🙂

41. Thanks, good article.

    I have a question, I have 2 kids and i’m planning to get an educational plan for them. Is this a good idea or I just have to invest it in either UITF or MF?

    Thanks,

    • Educational plans are different investment products.

    • Hi guyven69, fel

      Thank you for the very informative post.

      I am a financial consultant too. We have a flexible VUL plan that you can use either in education, retirement, travel or major purchases because this is withdrawable when you need. It has basket of benefits due to riders so when you have critical illness, you don’t need to spend your hard earned money. Prulife UK will give you a separate check for these needs. such as permanent disability, accidents, etc. I myself have investments here because I believe in these products. Our fund manager is East Spring investment, awarded as no. 1 in the ranking of biggest fund manager in Asia. You can see comparative rates too when you want to know the historical and current return compared with others who also offer VUL, MF and UITF.
      I never liked traditional insurance company before because of death benefits only. But now that they have VUL, it has living and death benefits, at the same time investing. Win-win talaga. No worries na masasayang

42. Wow! Good read… I have a question, I also have a VUL and I’m planning to top-up on my funds annually… Does it mean that my funds is not under the estate tax because it comes with my insurance .. I just want to be sure with my thoughts… thanks a lot

    • Hi Jomar vul products are not estate taxable as long as your beneficiary designations are irrevocable.

43. Sure. No problem 🙂 At your service fehl 🙂 thank you…

44. If you need assistance regarding your plan to get vul in sunlife, i’d be happy to assist you if there’s no one who can assist you 🙂 thanks….

    • My sis referred her friend from Sun Life from Manila. If I couldn’t get through him, I would definitely contact you. Thanks!

45. Oh really?actually im planning to get uitf this year also.i was inspired with what you shared 🙂 i also want to get mf. Yes vul is nice,for me sunlife has the best vul product that suits in every individual’s need. Aside from its impressive returns,their best selling product is one of the cheapest and most affordable compared to other vul products from different companies 🙂 no offense to other companies 🙂 peace. I can tell this because i have one in sunlife.very affordable for every employee who wishes to have an insurance with savings 🙂 and that made sunlife no.1 in the phil. Moreover, they have also the mutual fund which is pure investment for those who dont want insurance. I’m planningto get 1 from them 🙂
    Do you have a friend who is a financial advisor from sunlife?you can ask him/her 🙂 thanks fehl 🙂

    • hi aviddyu.. i’m interested kc with VUL.. just want to have an idea sana of the monthly/annual premiums and coverage and all other things I need to know about VUL.. thank you so much..

      • Contact us here: https://philpad.com/contact-us/ I will refer you to a licensed Sun Life advisor who offers VUL

        • Thanks Ms. Fehl for this informative blogs! and to ALL who contributed facts about financial stuff…it’s giving me more idea
          I’m a newbie…
          I have been reading it from the start…
          I have UTIF but I would like to try VUL perhaps you can recommend someone to me please.
          I work abroad so I wanna make sure that the hard earned money I have will go to something useful and will grow…

          Thanks…

46. He fehl,

    Just wanna ask which has better returns between UITF-equity and Mutual Fund-equity over the past years? Do you have an idea? Thanks a lot 🙂

    • Honestly, I love both of them: UITF in Equity and Mutual Fund in Equity. I have personal UITF in Equity and it’s been impressively rewarding. I’m not doing anything, only letting my money stay on it but it’s giving me more money every month. I wish I knew this when I was 5 years old LOL Since I’m also into stocks, I don’t have MF yet but planning to have VUL with Phil. Equity this year in Sun Life. I’m also impress with the graphs of it.

47. Hello Ms. Fehl,

    Question lang po. Have you heard home fund for 5 years in insular life? Maganda po ba yon? How it works po ba? Kasi ini offer yun sa office nang husband ko, which we pay every pay depende kung magkano and were planning to choose the 650 every pay. Hope you’ll enlighten me po before kami makuha. I want to know more pa po kasi

    Thank You

    • I’ve never heard of it but would like to talk about it here soon

48. Hi Ms Fehl, good blog. Short but very informative.

    This is just confirmed that there is VUL-Variable Universal Life here in the Philippines, because last night I spoke to one of WFMA Managing director and she said that I should review the proposal that was given to me by an insurance agent because VUL is only available in US. Which I don’t believe because Sun Life has VUL products, right?

    Thanks,
    Mae

    • The companies I talk about here such as Sun Life and Philam are originally international based. 🙂

49. I agree Ms Fehl. But, aren’t most VULs place their investments in MF or UITF? Furthermore, once the client stops paying for the insurance premium, won’t they get the premium payment from the investment “future” gains, provided that the funds do gain after 5 or 10 yrs.

    • The features and offers of VUL are very wide. It depends upon the specific type or class of their products you have chosen. Just read and contemplate on the specifics options and offers of the VUL. If you already have insurance somewhere else, why opt for them…

50. I beg to disagree, MFs are considered less risky not because it is invested on bonds only. In fact MFs can also invest in company shares. It’s the accrual portion of an MF that makes it less risky, to lessen the fluctuations of the MF share price. I also don’t agree with VULs getting better returns in more than 10yr mark since there are no existing past performance data to prove this. However, MFs have been around for more than 15yrs and looking at their past 15yr performance, some are able to gain more than 500% return as seen in their share prices.

    • Mutual Funds have different types same with VUL. The risky part lies on equity funds coz they are too volatile and are mostly on shares of stocks of companies

51. To avail the “no estate tax” in the VUL, make sure that your beneficiaries are irrevocable. And to my understanding, only the insurance coverage part will be subjected if your account values are already higher than your Face Amount, the excess is not included anymore. VUL – means Variable Unit-Linked. On the other hand, the Mutual Fund is not subject to Witholding Tax for it’s already the Corporation of the MF is the one who paid and absorbed it. MF may charges ales/exit loads and others but very minimal..usually at 3% the most..thus most part of the investment is being purchased to the shares. VULs strentgh is trully more on the protection aspect (except the single premium which is usually at 125% of the invested amt.). And Premium Charges may vary for every VUL product..thus is usually seen in the proposal or the policy itself.. Let’s all invest wisely! 🙂

    • It’s amazing when fellow Filipinos leave informative comments here too. May God bless you, Jane. thank you for sharing that.

52. Hi Fhel, good explanation with the 3 types of investment but may i share to you the beauty of the VUL, single premium or one time VUL differs from the regular pay products which have higher cost or fees. I will be a little biased but in company like manulife investments with 500 k up have no upfront fees,no bid offer spread and the cost of insurance will be dependent on the difference between the account value and the insurance which is too little or sometimes none.The investment returns can compete with the returns of UITF and mutual funds and when the owner of the fund/s die the settlement is immediate and not subject to maximum 20% estate tax. On the other hand UITF and mutual funds will be frozen first pending the payment/settlement of the estate tax.

    • Hi Edwin. Thank you for the heads up about VUL’s advantage with estate tax. Geez 20% is a big thing. VUl scores for this in terms of fast settlement and zero Estate Tax. I should add that up there in the article 🙂

53. thank you for the informative articles. I’m currently researching because my friend from philamlife has offered their VUL to me. However, I’m still unsure because I read that the money is shared between insurance and investing, so the gains aren’t that much. I guess my concern is that if I put all my money in investments instead of a shared vehicle like a VUL, will I earn more in the long run which would be enough to offset any amount I would get from a VUL, including if I met my untimely demise? I guess I need to get hard numbers to give me peace of mind before I actually invest. Also, I get the feeling that it’s harder to start investing in mutual funds than UITF’s because UITF’s are more readily accessible from banks. Can you kindly point me to a MF fund manager please?

    • When purchasing VUL products the most important thing for you is to make sure that your agent is giving you the proper information. Make sure he/she informs you about all the charges and not to make any false promises. I’m an adviser too so I hate it when agents misrepresents a product because it just makes it harder for everyone else. VULs that are paid regularly (You have yearly premiums) are strictly for long term. You have to continue these products religiously (at least 10 years) to make any gains from it. Keep your insurance at 20X the premium or lower to make the most out of the investment. Most agents at Philam and Sunlife I believe already have MF licenses so maybe your friend can sell you one (most agents don’t offer it because it generates low commission) In the long run VULs and UITFs earn more than MFs because MFs usually invest in bonds and securities. VULs have the highest earning potential in the long run due it being tax deferred. If you want to make the most out of VULs as an investment vehicle then you have to set it’s insurance value to the minimum so the COI is low. Tell your agent that you want to get the DB2 option since this option will allow you to drop the insurance the moment that your account value exceeds the insurance value, meaning you wont be paying the COI anymore. I hope this helped. Oh and don’t go for regular pay VULs (VULs that you pay whole life) since the premium load for those products is way too high, only get them for protection. A 5-pay VUL has the lowest premium load, ours is at 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%. Good luck in your investment future, I hope that the information I gave you helped.

      • Hi Cerberus 🙂 Thanks for the excellent tips and advice about VUL in the Philippines. I wonder if there are VUL products that are invested purely in stocks?

        • Yes, there is. Single Pay VUL is another instrument that will invest your funds like how MF/UITF work.. The advantage of it, even your funds are purely invested, your beneficiary will get 125% of your fund if something happens to you..but you need more than 100K to open an account..

        • Yes fel there is. You have options actually on what fund you wantto put your investment in.bond fund,balanced,equities. If you want stocks,go for the equity fund. That’s the beauty of vul….youcan choose where you want to put your money in,you can do fund switching and fund allocation 🙂 hope this answers your question.

          • How much is your annual premium for personal accident insurance?

          • The premium for the face amount actually depends on the age,gender,if you are smoker or non-smoker 🙂 and that can be your insurance coverage/death benefit in whatever form or cause of death(like 1million face amount).may it be natural or accident-related. Moreover,we also have what we call riders to make your coverage more comprehensive,and one of those is accidental death benefit 🙂

            Maybe what you mean in personal accident insurance is a plan that offers purely protection only like term insurance,and not vul. On that case term insurance is cheaper compared to vul,because it offers only protection,unlike vul,you have protection and savings 🙂 hope this answers your question 🙂

54. Thank you mam for a very informative and clear presentation of UITF, VUL and Mutual Fund. I have read books of R. Kiyosaki, F. Colayco etc. and watched some videoclips on investing. It always has a common denominator, SAVE and INVEST. I love to invest in the stock market but I don’t have any formal orientation or background of it. yet I am willing to study and learn about the stock market. Do you think it is workable to engage in investing online?

    • Investing is learning too. I had to read and learn financial stuff too before I opened some investments. If you don’t want to trade directly in the stock market, there are still other ways to invest in stocks, that is thru Mutual Funds in Equity and UITF in Equity. Read our post about them in our MONEY section or MILLIONAIRE posts

55. Hi miss Fehl,

    Glad to come across your money articles. It would really help people like me to be financially educated and take control in their finances. Hope you keep on posting articles for us to learn more. All the best…

    Michael

    • Thanks Michael. Happy to see comments like yours. Yes, I will put more money articles this week and the coming days. Summer has been so busy for me so I need to make them coming now. I’m gonna put about opening UITF online. Yeah, thankfully first in the Philippines, there’s now an online UITF service. 🙂

56. All options are good but of course you have to choose the one that suits you and your budget. Actually depending on your age, you can start getting a VUL product with a budget lower than P2500. VUL is better because of its fund value ( OR LIVING BENEFIT ) that grows overtime based on interest that is 2X or more higher than that in the bank, and of course its insurance feature, meaning if anything happens to you even right after you paid 2500 for example as you premium, your family gets the full face amount free of tax. Hence, You are safe whether you live too long or you die too young! I have a friend who is financial advisor you can ask her about it and all about financial planning at ( jen)

57. I think VUL is better because of its insurance feature. When uncertain things happen, (which i think we have to consider that) the proceeds of the face amount of insurance will go directly to your beneficiaries plus the gain of your investments which is called the fund values. If for UITF, funds will be freezed and will not be immediately get by your family. This will first go in your estate and will be taxable.

    • Thanks for sharing your insights about VUL and the possibilities compared to UITF

58. \***—UITF – you may need to declare taxes from capital gains—-***/

    UITF is net of taxes as a definitions of Net Assets Value per Units. I hope this can help

59. very informative and it educates to beginners to who wants to avail these investment. Hope more topics about investment here! Thanks

60. Very informative article. I didn’t know that gains from UITF have capital gains. I’ll ask my bank for more details about this. I haven’t tried investing in Mutual Funds, between UITF and VUL I prefer investing in UITF due to convenience and lesser fees. My first investment vehicle was a VUL and I noticed that a huge chunk of my money was placed on insurance. I switched to UITF and focused more on investing. I still have to try investing in mutual funds to diversify my portfolio. The only way for me to know which is better of the three is to try all three methods of investing.
    Money and Opportunity

    • A huge chunk of your money isn’t actually going to insurance costs in a VUL. I’m a financial adviser for Manulife so I’ll tell you how it all works. I’m actually having a problem with this since VUL is my core product but a lot of agents are misrepresenting it so I have to keep explaining it to my clients again and again. Most, if not all, VUL products have what we call a “premium load” for the first 4-5 years, which for our company is set at 60%, 40%, 20%, 20% for a 10 year investment plan. That premium load is not going to the insurance. The premium load covers your agent’s “service fee”/commission plus other admin fees. The COI of a VUL is pretty much just the same cost as term insurance (Php 2,000/year at 30 years old for 1M coverage) which increases as time goes by. I have investments in UITFs, MFs, and in VULs now by comparison MFs are by far the least risky among the investment but it also gains the least overall. UITFs and VULs have similar ROIs. Now it all depends on your time horizon of investment. For short-mid term investments (less than 15 years) UITFs and MFs are better options since they don’t have the premium load at the start. Now for long terms investments VUL are better than the other 2 simply because it is tax deferred. Imagine when your investment reaches around 5M at 10% ROI. The VUL will earn Php 500,000 while a UITF or MF will generate Php 400,000 due to taxes. Which means as time goes on UITFs and MFs actually slow down because of how big the taxes become while VULs aren’t hampered by that. It’s best to use different investment vehicles for different goals. There are VULs that don’t have premium loads though, mostly the single pay ones but they do require a high capital (500k minimum) Single pay VULs have very low insurance coverage (125% of premium). These products when regularly topped up leaves every other common investments in the dust.

      • Now VUL got my attention more 🙂 Thanks for sharing these details.

    • In my own opinion, VUL is much better than the other two.
      1. In VUL, a certain percentage of your initial deposit is being placed in insurance coverage for a certain period of time say 1st 5years because in case something unfortunate happens to you, you can be sure that your family gets a lumpsum amount say Php400,000.00 as minimum death benefit even if you have just started building your future wealth. After this period anyway, 96% of your premiums will now be applied to investment in succeeding years(the remaining 4% will be for the charges such as asset management charge, etc. same with MF and UTIF). We have a client who just opened one VUL account. She was just 31 years old have 2 kids She just made an initial premium of 1,500 for his 1st month. Unfortunately, the following month, she suddenly died because of anneurism. It was tragic for their family but because she had a VUL plan before it happened, her family received Php400,000
      2. In VUL, you have the option to add up some benefits such as
      a. Waiver of Permium where your monthly future savings up to a certain age normally up to age
      60 shall be waived if you suddenly had an accident and you became permanently disabled
      b. Daily hospital allowance when you get confined in a hospital
      c. Medical fund when you are diagnosed with major critical illnesses,
      ..and many more.

      Always remember that we should not only focus in building your retirement, building wealth or whatever you call it but instead, we should also consider the “What ifs” like for example, you just invested an initial 100k in a mutual fund, but what if suddenly you were diagnosed of a major critical illness? Health card, if you have one in your company normally covers confinement. Tendency are you will pull out you recently invested money. But the question is, will your 100k + interest be enough to sustain your expensive healthcare? or worse you were suddenly taken out of the picture from your family, will it be sufficient enough to at least sustain your family’s need for the following years..?

      Its good that we invest our hard-earned money in something that can offer higher rate of return compared to a regular savings account. But doing this while being sure that if something happens you or your family will get a fund without pulling out your investment is always the best.

      • Very well said Henry. I’m planning to get VUL in Sun Life. Any suggestion?

        • Hi ma’am sorry for late reply. I am actually from AXA Philippines, joint venture of Metrobank and AXA Group one of the world’s largest financial protection and wealth management companies with 102 million customers in 57 countries. Recently. AXA is ranked as 16th in Profitable and Reliable Companies world wide(http://fortune.com/global500). AXA is actually recognized as TOP GLOBAL INSURANCE BRAND five years in a row!(http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/2013/). If you want, I can send you a computation of our own. Just text me you First Name, Middle Name, Surname name, birthday and your email acct where I can send it

          • good to hear from a rep of Axa 🙂 Yes, I know Metrobank has been with Axa for many years now.

        • Hi fel,

          I was reading your blog recently and i learned so much from it knowing the different investment vehicles i could choose from. Just in time since i’m planning to invest in MF and UITF very soon and i’m educating myself for me to know how it works and its differences,advantages and disadvantages.. thank you for providing me this information.it helped me a lot 🙂

          Anyway,u mentioned that you want to get a VUL in sunlife. I’m from sunlife, and it’s a pleasure to assist you in getting one. You can give me the details depending on your goal and feel free to contact me thru this no: 🙂

          Thank you and God bless.. 🙂

          • Hi there! Thank you so much for the kind words here

      • I agree with henry. I also agree that our government retirement benefits suck!! Our government will only give us peanuts when we retire compare to if we invest wisely. Had i known about VULs before i would have invested on it rather than a regular life insurance. With VULs you are hitting two birds (sometimes even more) with one stone.
        You get a life insurance and your money is invested at the same time!
        You can even get coverage for critical illness and disability.

        • Very well said. At least we knew about VUl and investments 🙂

61. Thank you for a very informative blog entry. I enjoyed reading it.

    I only have two concerns.

    1. VUL is not expensive, starting of UITF and MF is P10,000 while VUL can be as low as P2,500 because that is the plan I picked for the retirement plan of our employees.

    2. SSS, GSIS and Pagibig nowadays cannot be considered protection. Let’s face it. We cannot solely rely on the government during the situations that we need them the most. My Mom worked for Landbank for 29 years and now that she is retiring, her pension is enough only to pay for our electricity bill. Can you imagine that? Our family is just lucky that we have our own company so we do not have to rely on her pension but just imagine all other Filipinos who are depending on this, what will happen to them in the future?

    Bottomline, yes the government can give you a little sum of money when you need it but it’s never enough so we have to be responsible for our own financial freedom, start early and be ready.

    That’s all. Have a nice day! 🙂

    • Thank you for sharing your views. God bless! 🙂

    • I totally agree with this , what private employees will have in SSS or Pag-ibig is totally insufficient when they retire. It’s good you got your employees retirement through VUL but you can also consider a comprehensive group plan which guarantees annual interest , at the same time do valuations of the unfunded retirement liability you already so that you are assured you will be compliant to the Retirement Act Law. 🙂

62. Thanks for this info maam. Is starting to invest in UITF a good start? I mean wala din akong ganong kalaking pera, I just want to gamble my remaining money. Is it safe to gamble it sa UITF? Also, ok ba yung sa BPI o pare-pareho lang sila nung ibang banks na nag ooffer ng UITF?

    Thank you very much and more power.

    • Hello Dave, If you are interested in investing in equities I suggest you read more about investment strategies which will lessen the risk of you losing your investment. You can either try Cost Averaging or Value Averaging. Both of these strategies involve a long investment horizon. As for funding your investment the author has already mentioned that their are a few UITF, Mutual Funds or VUL that offer a regular monthly investment plan. If you already decided on investing in UITF, try searching BDO and BPI for their regular monthly investment programs.

63. Wow, so the trick is to decide what tier or area the person belongs in. So if a person works for a company or for themselves or are a business entity, they will know. And they can decide which to go for.

    It is good to have an investment – especially one that is safe and builds towards somewhere in the future where it has a benefit attached. People are wary of where to put their hard earned cash nowadays. I’m glad you explained this so easy and so well, Fehl. We all have to make our money work smarter for us and so we need to manage it better. Your blog shows the path towards more money security for our futures.

    Thank you for another great post.

    Cathy 🙂

    • Yes, it always depends upon the investor’s status, capacity, and goal. Some people just signed up for any tempting investment offer without really contemplating and studying the investment’s benefits and background plus their capacity to maintain it. Instead of earnings and protection, they get headaches and depression. I’m happy you like this post, Cathy. You are right we have to make our money work smarter for us. I’m glad to share what I learn about investment and wealth building here at Philpad.

      Cheers! Thank you and God bless you always, Cathy. 🙂

64. thank so much for the info ms fhel

    • You’re welcome and it’s a pleasure 🙂 Which investment do you prefer?

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