Looking for a Sun Maxilink Prime review you can use as reference?
Sun Maxilink Prime and other VUL products of Sun Life are popular among my OFW clients when I used to be a financial advisor.
What is Sun Life Maxilink Prime?
You see, Sun Maxilink Prime is a Variable Universal Life (VUL) plan which combines both life insurance and investment components. It allows you to insure your income so your family gets something if something happens to you.
And, it also allows you to invest indirectly in the stock market.
Ibig sabihin, kapag tinawag na tayo agad ni Lord, at least may makukuhang lump sum ang pamilya mo para tuloy pa din ang pag-aalaga mo sa kanila kahit wala ka na.
At the same time, since your money is invested, kapag ikaw ay pinalad na mabuhay ng matagal, mayroon ka pa ding matatanggap na pera na pwede mong gamitin habang retired ka na.
Why Do Filipinos Like Sun Maxilink Prime?
Why do OFW clients like VUL solutions such as Sun Maxilink Prime even though some “financial experts” tell you to you separate life insurance from investments instead?
It’s because of this:
You and I live in the real world. And in the real world, ideal financial advice doesn’t work on everyone.
In the ideal world of finance, we think it’s so easy to just follow financial advice.
- Don’t buy Starbucks!
- Save 20% of your income via online banks!
- Separate life insurance from investment!
What we don’t realize is that in the real world, what we think is ideal and what we actually encounter aren’t the same thing.
If you have a budget, you’re living below your means, you’re protecting yourself, investing for the future and have enough to give back, I won’t think you’re a bad person if you buy Starbucks and cut down mercilessly on your other expenses.
If you’re just starting out and you can only save 5% of your income for now, that’s still great!
5% is better than nothing, diba? You can just increase that gradually. What’s important is the habit of putting money in your savings account.
And if you’re more comfortable combining your protection and investment, no problem.
What works for others may not work for you.
It’s still better than no protection and no investment, don’t you think?
Sun Maxilink Prime Review for OFWs
VULs help OFWs secure their financial future because VUL is a:
1. One Product = Two Solutions
When OFWs get a VUL, they are answering two questions:
a. Paano kung mawala ako ng maaga?
VUL will give your family a lump sum benefit that they can use.
b. Paano kung gusto kong paghandaan ang college fund ng anak ko/retirement ko in 10 years?
VUL is invested. Meron itong living benefit na pwede mong gamitin pagkatapos ng ilang taon.
Whenever I ask OFWs why they want to protect their income or why they want to invest, they always say this:
– Gusto ko ng magandang bahay.
– Sana magkaroon ako ng kotse balang araw.
– Ayoko mag-abroad habang buhay. Gusto ko 5-6 years lang ako mawalay sa pamilya ko kaya nagiinvest na ako ngayon.
– I want my child to go to a good school.
If you just get pure life insurance, your family will only benefit if you die.
If you just get pure investment, you & your family will benefit if you’re still alive. If you die, pahirapan pa sa pag-withdraw/redeem because there you have a responsibility to file and pay estate taxes.
With VUL, you get two benefits. Since it is an insurance bundled with an investment with scheme similar to how Mutual Fund or UITF works, you protect your income (and provide for your loved ones) and invest for your future at the same time.
2. Forced investing mechanism = good financial habits
My father used to be an OFW. And just like other OFWs, he had a lot of financial responsibilities.
My papa also has two financial accounts: he has a mutual fund account and a VUL account.
When I was still a student, he and my mother needed to budget for:
- car payments
- condo unit payments
- land payments
- education of his children
- their retirement fund (they don’t want to work forever)
- SSS and Pag-IBIG online contributions
- tulong sa pamilya fund
- travel fund
- and many more
He is a senior engineer. As such, he always has to:
– attend meetings regularly
– supervise/oversee electrical plans
– travel extensively for work
Doon sa VUL at sa mutual fund account ni papa, ano kaya ang mas napondohan ng investment?
Obviously, his VUL account had more deposits/investments compared to his mutual fund account.
Why?
Sa dami ng inaasikaso ng mga OFW, wala na silang panahon pa para mag-deposit sa bank, mag-fill ng form at mag-order ng subsequent investment for mutual funds.
Usually, since there’s no “forced” element in mutual funds, the subsequent investment would be whenever you feel like investing.
“Kung kelan mo lang ulit feel/naalala na gusto mo mag-invest.”
The beauty with VULs is that you’re “forced” to invest, or else, your insurance coverage will lapse.
How can you ensure that you’re investing regularly to your VUL account? You just automate it.
3. Wise Way to preserve your estate
During your lifetime as OFW, you suffered from homesickness and you worked hard to provide for your family and also to get various assets such as houses, cars, business, properties, stocks, bank accounts, UITFs, mutual funds, etc.
It’s great if you have assets! Good for your family!
All these assets form your ESTATE.
If suddenly God calls you, what will happen to your estate?
Pag nawala ka, madali lang ba ma-withdraw ng pamilya mo ang mga pinaghirapan mo?
Will it be transferred to your family immediately?
NO.
This is where “Estate Tax” will come into the picture.
Estate tax – A tax on the transfer of the net estate of the person who passed away.
Meaning, for your family to access your assets (your whole wealth and your properties, etc) and transfer these to their names, they need to file and pay estate tax.
Tax na naman? Yes.
ESTATE will still be subject to ESTATE TAXES whether you make a will or not.
How much? It depends on the amount of your net estate.
The higher the value of your net estate, the higher amount your beneficiaries will be taxed.
Sample Computation for Estate Tax:
If we get the total value of your real estate properties (land, house, condo unit) + business + vehicle/s you own + collectibles such as jewelry/paintings + bank savings account + stocks in COL + UITFs in banks + mutual funds, let’s say we get the net estate of ₱15M.
Your net estate = P15 million pesos.
Based on the chart:
First ₱10M = ₱1,215,000
Excess of ₱10M = P5M (20%) = ₱1,000,000
Total Estate Tax = ₱1,215,000 + ₱1,000,000
Total Estate Tax = ₱2,215,000
Para matransfer ang estate mo sa pamilya mo, kailangan muna nilang magbayad ng ₱2,215,000! Saan sila kukuha ng pambayad?
All your money in your bank accounts, even in mutual funds, stock market, time deposits will all be frozen or cannot be withdrawn until estate tax is paid.
What can be used to pay for estate tax?
Life insurance proceeds.
Life insurance proceeds will not be included anymore in the computation of the gross estate.
If something happens to you, your family can use the life insurance proceeds to pay the estate tax.
Sample Computation for Life Insurance:
For 50 year old, male non-smoker to have life insurance coverage of ₱2,400,000, he only needs to pay ₱132,000 a year for 10 years.
₱132,000 x 10 years = ₱1,320,000 payment to get ₱2,400,000 coverage
Hindi pa natin naisama sa ₱2.4M coverage ang investment na meron ang VUL plan mo.
To give you an illustration, if you:
Die at age 55, you only paid ₱660,000, but your family gets ₱2.4M plus 499,642 (10% projection)
Die at age 62, you only paid ₱1,320,000, but your family gets ₱2.4M plus 1,862,812 (10% projection)
Die at age 70, you only paid ₱1,320,000, but your family gets ₱2.4M plus 3,611,162 (10% projection)
Now, do you get why most of my OFW clients love VULs? 🙂
If you don’t remember the reason, just remember that VULs are OFWs:
One Product = Two Solutions
Forced investing mechanism = good financial habits
Wise Way to preserve your estate
What’s the most popular Sun Life VUL that Filipinos love? It’s Sun Maxilink Prime.
Do you want to request a Sun Maxilink Prime proposal?
If you want to request for a FREE proposal, just leave a comment in this blog post and I’ll refer you to my trusted financial advisor. 🙂
You can also email me at lianne@thewiseliving.com so you can get referred to the best financial advisors out there. They’ll be the ones to contact you and meet you online.