Sun Life steps up financial literacy programs

MANILA, Philippines - It is often said that the key to good financial planning involves two major factors:  Living within your means and knowing what works best for you when it comes to money decisions.

In the Philippines, however, the concept of financial planning is still largely misunderstood primarily because there are very few tools designed to help increase the level of financial literacy in the country.    

According to a recent nationwide study conducted by Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. involving a survey of 1,100 Filipinos, 20 percent consider themselves experts in money matters. However, only eight percent actually scored higher than 80 percent in a financial literacy quiz administered to the respondents.  The study also uncovered Filipinos’ spending and saving habits, with only one in two Filipinos (50 percent) saying they consider savings as a regular part of their monthly budget – lagging behind other monthly budget items like communications and clothes.

The results of past and current studies which consistently indicated the low financial literacy rate among Filipinos prompted Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc., through its Foundation, to engage in programs intended to address the need to increase the Filipinos’ awareness and understanding of how they can achieve financial security. One of these initiatives is the sponsorship of a personal finance program called “On the Money” which started airing last year on ANC. 

“We thought of sponsoring this TV show to primarily reinforce the Sun Life Foundation’s efforts in promoting financial literacy in the country, and secondly, to ensure that financial education is accessible to those who need and want it via a cable channel which reaches audiences from both here and abroad,”  says Joub Miradora, Sun Life Financial Philippines Foundation, Inc.’s executive director.

“On the Money,” which airs everyday at 3:30pm with replays at 6:30pm and 11:30pm on ANC, discusses topics ranging from creating a budget to paying down debts, to saving for retirement and even down to discussing the intricacies of insurance and mutual funds.  The program is now on its third season.

The season sponsorship of “On the Money” is only one of the many initiatives of the Sun Life Foundation in promoting financial literacy in the Philippines.  Recently, the Foundation also sponsored 100 college students for the iCon 2013, the No-Nonsense Investment Conference held recently at the SMX Convention Center.  This was also followed by a Sun Life-sponsored financial training and capacity building of Hapinoy Nanays in partnership with the Microventures Foundation.