“In brightest day, in blackest night, No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil’s might. Beware my power—Green Lantern’s light!”
THIS is a very powerful oath spoken by one of the most powerful superheroes of the Justice League, the Green Lantern.
Ever since my childhood, I have been an avid fan of this superhero and, in fact, when playing superhero characters with my cousins, I chose to be Green Lantern.
I was very amused to watch him defeat his opponents using his power ring. All the while I thought that the source of his power was the power ring. Only in my adulthood did I come to know that is power comes from his will. The stronger his will is, the higher the chance of him overcoming Sinestro (his arch-enemy) and others. In fact, the best-known power of the Green Lantern is to create green energy constructs that reflect the will and imagination of the wearer.
When it comes to our personal finance, our will plays a major factor. Sadly, a lot of people have will but their will is too weak to compel them to act. As the saying goes, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Here are some will powers we need to have to succeed financially:
Will to save. Financial planning requires us to save at last 20 percent of our income. Saving money means you are paying yourself first. Remember when Joseph was governor on Egypt? God inspired Joseph to require Egyptians to save one-fifth of their harvest to prepare for the impending famine.
Saving 20 percent of our income serves the same purpose for us. In fact savings is the basics of financial planning because we cannot go on with the succeeding steps without it. If you do not want to have
famine in your future, your will to save should be more powerful than your will to spend.
Will to create emergency fund. Saving money is one but creating emergency fund is another. Unless a part of the savings be allotted to emergency fund, it runs the risk of being spent for other things. After saving money, the first priority is to build this fund. Unless your will to be free from debt is strong, you run a high risk your life to be at someone else’s hands when emergency strikes. Never depend on Bahala Na.
Will to be insured. No one is exempted from owning an insurance policy nobody is immortal. Getting ill or dying at the time you are needed most can be a source of financial stress to the family as this can drain your savings. Insurance provides a buffer fund in case the risk we do not want to happen occurs. Insurance premium may seem costly but remember that the occurrence of risks comes with the greatest drain on our pockets.
I was once a doubting Thomas about insurance but, after I learned the beauty of it, my will to be insured adequately was stronger than the thought of potentially losing my savings made me buy a lot of policies.
Will to invest. Nowadays, saving money is never enough. Two generations ago, my paternal grandmother was a shrewd business person even during the Japanese occupation. She was able to save a lot of money and used these to buy gold bars. My grandmother, even with good eyesight at that time, was farsighted. She knew that Japanese occupation will not last long so she converted here Japanese money into gold. Her fear of losing the value when the occupation is over strengthened her will to invest in a tangible item that is not controlled to inflation.
Sadly, the millennial generation thinks only of “You only live once.” They do not realize that because of technological breakthrough in medicine, people can now live longer and without investing today, their financial future will be at risk. Ms. Rose Fres Fausto gave a good refutation “You also grow old.” Stephen R. Covey said it right in his seven habits for highly effective people, “Begin with the end in mind.” If you want a financially trouble-free future, you must have strong will to look far and imagine your future and start investing today.
Will to plan ahead. Time is short. We will soon part ways with whatever we have built in our lifetime. We can never bring our ownership in the next life. The difficult part is to be unmarried to you possession.
A lot of old people find it hard to give away their possessions for fear of losing control over their children. But the same fear has created chaos among siblings when the asset changes status and becomes estate. Old people should have strong will for succession planning so that whatever they leave behind will be assured of continuity.
The question is: Is your will as strong as that of Green Lantern?
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Edmund Lao is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 72nd RFP program this October. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text <name><e-mail> <RFP> at 0917-9689774.