MANILA, Philippines – Employees of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in the country should consider saving for their future and planning for retirement as early as now, an expert on financial planning said.
Joyce Tankeh, a financial planner at Sun Life-AIM, said savvy BPO employees who are in their 20s and 30s tend to spend more because of their hefty paychecks.
Fresh college graduates can get paid a monthly salary of P20,000 at BPO firms.
“A lot of them are in their 20s, 30s, and not a lot of BPO companies really prepare for their employees’ retirement. So it’s a concern also. If they could just sit down and do their pencil pushing and reflect on the benefits that they get from their companies,” Tankeh told ANC’s “On The Money.”
Tankeh said the path to financial freedom for BPO employees begins at setting specific goals.
“They have to know what their goals are. The short-term, medium and long-term goals. It’s not just the physical goals. Let’s say if you like to travel next year, it’s doing something about it on a regular basis and not being impulsive,” she said.
Tankeh highlighted the importance of saving up for short-term goals, which include an out of town or out of the country trip and buying a gadget worth P30,000.
“It’s no joke saving up for a P30,000 gadget knowing that a lot of people only get to save P1,000 a month. It’s really something you need to plan on,” she said.
A medium-term goal includes buying that dream house or dream car while a long-term goal is retirement.
“Let’s say if you’re 25, how can you retire by 40? How can it be realistic?” she said. “That’s a common thing. I have a lot of clients who are in their 20s who say they want to retire in their 40s.”
Tankeh said setting goals are important in saving up, but it has to be backed up by a plan. She said goals should be accompanied by a clear plan on how to reduce expenses.
“Knowing expenses is important because it’s useless to have goals then not translating how you are going to push through with it. What’s the game plan?” she said.
Tankeh said failing to save up could be a result of bad habits like excessive credit card use and unnecessary personal loans.
She said the transition to becoming a saver from a spender requires a change in mindset, focusing on specific goals and being firm on reaching them.
“It’s telling them, are you really serious in making sure that you are getting what you want at a certain period of time? Then we work together, that’s where [a financial planner] comes in,” she said.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
