Insurance is one of the few things people pay for hoping they will never need to use it. Its value stays invisible, quietly present, never felt – until the moment it isn’t.

For Ella Orate, a single mother and FWD Set for Health policyholder, that moment came. She is currently on the road to becoming cancer-free. Her story is now on film – and FWD is sharing it this Women’s Month, because it belongs to every Filipino who has ever wondered whether their insurance would actually be there.

For the women who carry everything

Single mothers occupy a particular place in the Filipino family – provider and protector at once, with little to no margin for the unexpected. When a serious illness strikes, it is never only their crisis. It reaches everyone who depends on them.

This Women’s Month, as the Philippines honors Filipino women under the theme “Lead Like the Babaylans, Filipinas!”, Ella’s story is a quiet, powerful reminder: that taking care of yourself is how you take care of everyone else.

The benefit you hope you never have to see

What a claim makes possible is rarely talked about in insurance. The policy is sold. The premium is paid. And then life goes on, and the protection works in the background, invisible and untested.

What Ella’s claim made possible was the freedom to focus entirely on getting better — without having to carry the financial weight of a crisis on top of the personal one. “At FWD, our purpose goes beyond insurance. It is about being there for Filipinos in the moments that matter most. That is what protection is for.” shares Gavin Lai, FWD Chief Marketing and Digital Commerce Officer. You can watch Ella’s story here: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14b4SqmSLT4/ 

About Set for Health

FWD Set for Health is a critical illness insurance plan designed to provide financial protection when health matters most. It offers coverage for major critical illnesses, allowing customers to claim up to three times for unrelated conditions. Upon diagnosis of a major critical illness or total and permanent disability, future premiums are waived, giving policyholders the financial freedom to focus on recovery when it matters most. The plan also provides additional coverage for minor critical illnesses and returns 100% of premiums paid if no major claim is made by age 75 — offering protection with longterm value. You can learn more about Set for Health here: Set for Health Critical Illness Insurance | FWD Life PH 

In celebration of its 10th year anniversary as the insurer of the next generation, FWD Life Insurance (FWD Philippines) continues its commitment to create innovative products by launching a new protection plan meant to celebrate Filipinos’ passion for music. 

Filipinos are iconic for their passion for music—from celebrating life through singing glass-breaking tunes in the karaoke to selling out local concerts of their favorite artists. In fact, a recent study reported that 38% of Filipinos have attended concerts locally or overseas and is expected to continue this 2024. The music streaming market in the Philippines is also anticipated to achieve a revenue of US$54.32 million this year.

Now available at the FWD Online Shop, The One for Music Lovers is an accessible insurance plan that starts at PhP 330. It offers customizable coverage for loss of hearing, loss of speech, paralysis, motor neuron disease, stroke, other major critical illnesses, and accidental death for 18 to 70-year-old Filipinos or legal residents of at least six months, and who are in good health.

Policy holders also get a voucher from the Philippines’ leading tech curator, Digital Walker, so they can celebrate their passion for music now, and thank themselves later.

To launch the new plan, FWD became the official insurer of one of the biggest and most anticipated music festivals this year, the Aurora Music Festival, which is happening on April 6 to 7 at Clark Global City, Pampanga. Through the partnership, The One for Music Lovers policy holders have an exclusive opportunity to upgrade their event tickets for free.

For a limited time only, this means their Silver (Php500), Gold (Php1,000) or SVIP (Php3,000) ticket can be amped up into an Orange Ticket for each tier that also comes with its own perks like:

Access to the Orange Lane. Skip the long lines with a special lane exclusively just for limited-offer Orange Ticket holders.

Early entry. Get on the concert grounds 30 minutes earlier than the rest.

Free FWD merch. Fan out with essential festival merch items from FWD.

More surprise benefits on ground to complete your ultimate Aurora Music Festival experience.

FWD Chief Marketing and Digital Business Officer, Roche Vandenberghe emphasizes there is a protection gap among those in the creative industry, including the artists, composers, and those working behind the scenes.

“Aligned with the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, we want to do our part in nation-building by expanding our Celebrate living series with The One for Music Lovers insurance plan,” said Vandenberghe.

“With our new plan, we’re providing accessible and affordable protection for every Filipino who is a music lover, from the listeners to those who make music their livelihood, supporting the country’s creative economy.” 

The FWD Celebrate living series includes the insurance brand’s innovative protection policies including The One for gamers that is designed specifically to complement the lifestyle of the Filipino gaming community.

Ready to thank yourself later and to enjoy 1Oxperiences at the Aurora Music Festival? Get The One for Music Lovers by visiting shop.fwd.com.ph or contact an FWD financial advisor now.

Being the first Filipino to win the Ms. World crown, Megan Young has license to lead an ultra-glam life, but people will actually be surprised to know that she is “matipid.” In fact, she and husband Mikael “Fofo” Daez has a finance system in place where they have two bank accounts—one for expenses and one for savings. 

“I plan it out with my husband kung ano yung gusto ko, trips I wanna go on, K-pop merch na I wanna buy or new experiences na we both wanna try,” says Megan in her latest Instagram video post about living a vibrant life. That means sticking to the budget despite the “wants”. “If I know I can’t afford [the designer bag], bakit ko bibilhin?”

Megan Young inspires everyone to live a happy, healthy, and vibrant life with FWD Life Insurance.  

For Megan, planning your finances is one way to stay happy, healthy and vibrant because “you can enjoy and have peace of mind.” Why would you overcomplicate your life with unnecessary spends that’s not part of the budget?

Aside from being matipid and taking care of your finances, the actress and TV host on GMA’s The Best Ka! also included nutrition, exercise, self-care, and relaxing via traveling in her tips to lead a vibrant life in her video collaboration with FWD Life Insurance.

Megan Young puts great focus on living a healthy lifestyle.

Nutrition and physical fitness

While the rest of the world do no-carb diets, Megan considers a meal incomplete without bread or rice and dessert! (Hallelujah!). For her, we should not be depriving ourselves with the food we want to eat. “I love having carbs, carbs, carbs! And also meat and dessert. We want to make sure we treat our bodies well. We can eat 80% healthy food and 20% kung anong gusto nating kainin.” 

Rather than focusing on diets, people should focus on creating a healthy lifestyle.  A diet puts her in a mindset that she needs to eat less, which should not be the case. It all comes down to moderation. Plus, exercise. (The secret to her smashing body, perhaps?)

That’s why even if she finds it hard—often second guessing herself like the rest of us why she is even doing it—she always makes sure she works out. 

Financial planning 

When you want to experience more out of life, she says, plan accordingly. (For additional health and financial tips, check out FWD’s blog). And she did not mean just the luxuries and the “wants”. 

Plans should also include the things that are important to you and your family like your health and your future coz we can never really be sure of what can happen. “Health protection…kailangan na ring i-budget ‘yan dahil mataas na rin ngayon ang medical expenses so we make sure that we have insurance para less worries.”

And it’s important that all bases are covered. A product like FWD Vibrant Critical Illness Insurance does that, protecting you from wellness to treatment to recovery. You’re covered from before you get a health problem up to when you get diagnosed and all the way to your treatment and recovery. 

Quite impressed, Megan enumerates every benefit you’ll get from it. “With FWD Vibrant, you can get cash for health screening so that you can monitor your health; you’ll also receive cash for medicines to support your recovery in case you get sick; and for your peace of mind, you can claim up to 6x for major critical illnesses; and on top of that, you get minor critical illness coverage worth 25% of the benefit amount. So, you can focus more on your health and celebrate living!”

Megan Young on why protecting your health and finances is key to living a happy, healthy, and vibrant life.

Travel 

While planning is very important, there are times when we just need to let go and enjoy and appreciate life. As Megan advises: “Pause and take a breather!”

Taking trips abroad is when Megan gets to do this. This is the time when she and her husband can just relax and go with the flow. In her trips for instance, Megan likes to go to places that lets her get out of her comfort zone. There was even a time when they just went on a trip in Japan with no prior plans beyond the airport. After all, where they go and where they stay while abroad are not half as important as how they enjoy it. “Enjoy your time with your family and loved ones. Or even if you’re going solo, just pause and enjoy the view.” 

But don’t get her wrong. For Megan, planning is essential and is the precursor to living a vibrant life. Knowing you’re all covered—your health, finance, your family’s needs—gives you the freedom to just enjoy and let go. “We save up and take care of our health para ma-enjoy talaga namin these things. To do that, we always make sure that we work out and take care of our finances.” 

How about you? What are your secrets? Here’s a tip: start doing it! In the words of Megan, “we all deserve to be happy, healthy, and vibrant!”

Want to live a happy, healthy, and vibrant life like Megan? Set up a meeting with an FWD financial advisor to know more about FWD Vibrant and start planning for your health and finances. 

FWD Life Insurance Philippines (FWD PH) achieves its highest membership growth at 164% in the 2022 Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), putting it in this year’s top three of the MDRT Top 10 Companies in the Philippines.

FWD Group also climbed four places from last year, ranking sixth in the MDRT Top 10 Multinational Companies rankings.

The MDRT is a global independent association recognized as the standard of excellence in the life insurance and financial services industries. The association requires members to serve customers by exemplary performance and the highest standards of ethics, knowledge, service, and productivity.

“We’ve been nurturing next-generation financial advisors and leaders who are committed to revolutionizing the industry with innovations to protect more Filipinos. The highest MDRT membership growth recognizes our commitment in providing best-in-class customer experience,” said Li Hao Zhuang, FWD PH President and CEO. He adds that while FWD is growing, it continues to strive to offer the best agency career path in the insurance industry, leveraging technology and intensive training.

Jun Marasigan, FWD PH Chief Agency Officer, affirms that FWD wants to sustain a growth trend in its MDRT membership by strengthening its MDRT culture. “We encourage our financial advisors to be part of the top 1% of MDRT members across the world. Join the FWD team and we’ll assist you to be MDRT members too.  We’re looking to attracting and grooming top financial advisors in line with a standard of excellence that supports our vision of changing the way people feel about insurance,” Jun claims.

Globally, only a small number of life insurance and financial services professionals meet MDRT’s membership criteria. In the Philippines, FWD’s Elite Agency Strategic Initiatives contributed to the development of financial advisors and financial solutions consultants by giving them professional training in the MDRT culture, including Elite Learning, Elite Digital, Elite Affiliates, and Elite Coach – all designed to help expand market reach and enhance overall customer experience.

To talk to an FWD financial advisor or find out how to become an FWD financial advisor, visit fwd.com.ph/.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of money management and health, which is why financial advisors have one of the most important careers today. For others, though, it’s more than just a career. It’s their purpose.

Eight of FWD Life Insurance’s financial advisors share their purpose inspired by their own personal experiences. The events that happened in their lives made them realize that they can be instrumental in providing real-life solutions to customers who face challenges involving their family, marriage, health, career and personal fulfillment. They believe that if they can change the way people feel about insurance, they believe that they can inspire others to celebrate living with the people they love.   

TO TAKE COURAGE IN RAISING YOUR FAMILY ON YOUR OWN

Sheila Nunag struggled emotionally and mentally when she lost her husband due to dilated cardiomyopathy. It was unexpected and made life difficult for her since her husband was her rock for 18 years. With his passing, she suddenly found herself raising their kids on her own.

Instead of breaking apart, she gathered herself to turn this heartbreaking experience into something positive. She raised the kids on her own with the investment that she and her late husband made through insurance. This is what she shares to her clients as a financial advisor: that every family’s goals for their children can still materialize despite the loss of a loved one, as long as they realize the value of protection and investment early on. “Yung nangyari sa akin, yun yung gusto kong ipaintindi sa lahat ng tao,” Sheila says.

“Lahat ng pangarap na yon, ako na lang ang tutupad. Your pain will be your testimony, e ‘di ba? Na I was able to survive that. That was me who did that,” Sheila says firmly, referring to her husband’s dream of taking their kids to various places around the world someday.

TO HAVE EVERY FILIPINO CHILD GROW UP WITH THEIR PARENTS BESIDE THEM

Chicoy Estiñoso grew up without his OFW mom beside him, so he knows how it is to have a loved one live away from you just so you could be financially secure. Spending birthdays and other special occasions with only his dad became his “normal” childhood. 

It has become typical and generational, Chicoy believes, for Filipino families to bear the pain of working among strangers in unfamiliar territory just so they can earn more money. It doesn’t always have to be this way, he says, especially for those who have young children in the family. "Yun yung gusto ko for every child not to experience being left alone, of being left in the Philippines,” Chicoy rues. “Yung scene sa airport na nag-iiyakan yung pamilya, totoo talaga ‘yon. It’s the most difficult thing to experience for a child.”

This is why as a financial advisor, he made it his personal mission to help other OFWs make their income work for them through proper financial planning so they can come home sooner. “If we start to grow where we are, kumbaga second option na lang yung pag-a-abroad,” Chicoy closes. The family that plans together, indeed, stays together.

TO LIVE FREE

Russ Juson struggled with insecurities growing up. He felt rejected, unloved and lonely because of his physical appearance. His depression became his baggage that he projected to others around him. When he was old enough to make decisions for himself, he sought help through several kinds of intervention.

Out of these interventions, he found his calling in life coaching. “It allowed me to create a new awareness. I took the biggest leap, left my full-time job which was my identity for 15 years, and went for something that I truly love and enjoy instead,” Russ shares.

This newfound self-worth has also been helping him as a financial advisor to teach others the rewards of financial freedom so they can live on their own terms. He feels that he is transforming lives and leading them to focus more on what matters and what they want to achieve.

“Can you imagine a world where everyone is just happy and excited, moving towards retirement simply because we’re able to help them plan around it. We crafted financial freedom for them because of the work that we do,” Russ proudly affirms.

TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH FAMILY 

Some people will really do anything for love, even if it means giving up a highly lucrative job. In Raymond Ilagan’s case, he was well paid as a fitness coach in Singapore. The downside was that he needed to work 15 hours a day, every day. It became so stressful that it took its toll on his physical and mental health. Fortunately, Raymond was wise enough to invest his hard-earned money in property and insurance plans. It was around that time when he fell in love with his then financial advisor, who is now his wife and mother to his beautiful children.

He knew he was taking a significant risk when he left Singapore and started from scratch in the Philippines as a financial advisor himself. “If you’re not going to take the risk, walang mangyayari. Ang mindset ko dati, it’s either I earn or I learn,” Raymond vows. And both earn and learn he did, with the bonus of having more time to spend with his young family. 

It’s from this stress-free life that he found the purpose to help others plan their finances wisely so they too can give more priority to the people they care about the most. “I’m blessed to be a blessing to other people,” he presumes.

TO MAKE MARRIAGE WORK DESPITE FINANCIAL CHALLENGES

Marriage is not perfect for all couples, but Bonet Madayag and her late husband Milky made a conscious effort to make theirs work. Instead of going for a separation, they decided to honor the sanctity of their marriage and found common ground that reignited their love for one another. They have become even sweeter to each other during their trips abroad that people who do not know them thought they were newlyweds.

They succeeded, and this inspired them to encourage other couples to fight for their own relationships. One of the top three struggles in marriage, according to Bonet, is financial worries so she uses her work as a financial advisor to help her clients figure out their own financial obligations, make their money grow, and perhaps even save a troubled marriage. 

Even though Milky has passed away, Bonet shares that she believed they were at the best stage of their relationship because they built a stable family foundation despite challenges. Her only regret is that Milky won’t be able to see their kids graduate from school, and that they won’t be able to celebrate their silver anniversary. Today, Bonet takes comfort in the fact that she is helping other couples and their families enjoy financial protection. “Financial security is very, very important sa couples, sa families. Without security, maraming away. Mas nae-enjoy niyo yung life to the fullest when you are financially stable and secure,” Bonet affirms.

TO RISE ABOVE MISERY

Typhoon Yolanda opened the eyes of many to the realities of life’s uncertainties. Marlon Lopez may not have been there when it happened, but his heart felt the pain that his fellow Taclobanons went through. “Kahit wala ako nung Yolanda, parang naramdaman ko yung pinagdaanan nung lugar. This place will take a while before siya maka-recover,” Marlon infers.

It was different for Sherem Lumeran who was one of the survivors. It gave her one of the most bitter lessons in life, saying, ‘I realized na in just one flick of a finger, everything will just perish.” Together, Marlon and Sherem found their purpose as financial advisors to help fellow Taclobanons get back on their feet through financial planning and life protection. By educating Yolanda survivors about insurance, they believe they can help prepare them against life’s unexpected events that may hit them in the future such as critical illness, disability, or loss of life. 

Marlon and Sherem find it rewarding that more than having the survivors rise above the misery they went through, they are confident that they have helped their community in securing their future.

TO SHARE THE MINDSET OF GROWTH

Growing up in a big family, Bonnie Gonzalez has always had the mindset of a leader.  At a young age, she already knew the magnitude of her responsibility as the eldest of eight children. She strived hard and vowed to help her parents send her siblings to school once she was capable. 

And so right after high school, she became a working student – studying by day and working by night. By the time she was already working as a financial advisor, she and one of her sisters were able to fulfill their parents’ dream of having their own house. 

“To provide something for my parents was fulfilling,” Bonnie shares. It’s this same passion to provide that Bonnie is sharing with her growing team of financial advisors.  “For me, it’s just a continuation of my vision when I was young, about my family. We’re here to serve not only the client, but also the people around us. Whenever we see them and you see them grow with you, not only financially but having that growth mindset, you feel good.”

Find out how you can be part of FWD’s financial advisors here, or make a financial appointment with them to learn about FWD’s products here. You, too, might just find the purpose you have been seeking.