How do you set family goals together?
There are NGOs who facilitate short family workshops for different purposes. One NGO that facilitates 1- to 2-hour family visioning and goal-setting exercises for OFWs and their families is ATIKHA (www.atikha.org). These workshops need not be complicated. They can be fun while maintaining the importance of the subject matter. What is important is that the family members voice out their goals and hopes for the future and at the same time discover that each one has an important role in attaining these goals. The desired outcome is that each member commits himself/herself to contribute to the achievement of these goals. Their contribution need not be financial. For children, it may be a commitment to study hard and live a simple, healthy lifestyle. For parents, siblings, and spouses, it may be to continue or look for employment, save money, keep themselves healthy, regularly pay their insurance or pre-need bills, etc.

Following are examples of family goals:
1. Education - of your children or siblings. And don’t forget your own education and training! Filipinos value education very much. You and your family should plan for it. You should also plan your own education and training if you want to advance in your career or business. Education can be through formal schooling or through non-formal trainings and seminars. Plan for both as one form may not be enough.

2. Housing – Having a home of your own is not just a goal or necessity, it is an important investment decision. Depending on the location, design, and developer/builder of your home, it can either increase or decrease in value through the years.

3. Health – Fortunately, there is a rising consciousness about health nowadays. People want to eat the right food, exercise, and live a healthy lifestyle. Even with these positive developments, however, there is no substitute for HEALTH INSURANCE. Without health insurance, we dig into our savings, or worse, go into debt when we buy medicines or get hospitalized for our sickness. Our SSS/GSIS and PhilHealth benefits only cover a very small portion of our health insurance needs.

4. Retirement – Very few Filipinos plan for their retirement. Many probably assume that their children will take care of their retirement. While it is reasonable for you to expect your children to care for you when you get old, this is different from expecting them to take care of your every need even before you retire! The first case is good old Filipino Family Values. The second is plain and simple dependency that can cause conflicts within the family, between siblings and with in-laws. How often do we hear the case about the retired or unemployed mother or father “jealous” of their son’s new dependents – his wife and children – because he now has to take care of the latter’s needs? There are worse and sadder examples of such conflicts.

5. Protection/Preparation for Negative Events - The following are events that you don’t want to happen but which you still have to prepare for anyway. The only way you can protect yourself against the negative effects of these events is by preparing for them.

Unemployment – Your contributions to the SSS or GSIS enable you to receive benefits when you become unemployed. However, these are not enough to compensate for the loss of your salary. And they last only for a maximum of 6 months. You need some savings to tide you over your period of unemployment.

Sickness, Accident, and Disability – The best way to prepare for these negative events is to keep yourself healthy and accident-free. You should also keep your house, car, and other properties safe from fire, disasters, etc. But as we said under the Health family goal, there is no substitute for INSURANCE. Without accident/disability insurance, we lose our income and depend on others for our survival when untoward things happen to us.

Death – As the saying goes, “In life, only two things are certain – death and taxes.” So we might as well prepare for both. This primer is about preparing for the former by obtaining life insurance. Without life insurance, our family is left with nothing (They may even be in debt.) when we leave this world. Taxes need another primer, and possibly an accountant and a tax lawyer.