There’s fear of the dead, and fear of the living… but nothing beats my fear of being befriended by a person who secretly plans to sell you VUL Life Insurance.

It happened to me last week, and my heart was shattered when a lovely woman from our neighborhood had to mention that she’s with that three-letter life insurance company I shall not name. I didn’t see it coming.

Dear “financial advisors”: attempting to sell life insurance as a secret agenda to a woman who brings up FIRE (financial independence, retire early) as a first point of discussion is not a good idea—this might be the cringiest mistake you’ll ever make. (She’ll probably even write about you in her secret finance blog that nobody reads).

But selling an investment you don’t even understand to a lower-middle-class worker just trying to make ends meet—all so you can pocket a commission—is the most evil move you could pull. And frankly, you look desperate and not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Capitalizing on people’s fear of Cancer while actively derailing their chance at building real wealth while young and able is the wrong side hustle. There’s a very thin line between scamming people out of good financial opportunities and selling VUL Life Insurance… and that line is just a business permit. Call me OA!

The minimum premium you’d pay for a VUL with a “Critical Illness rider” is easily around ₱2,000 a month—that’s ₱24,000 a year. Meanwhile, pure term life insurance would likely cost you only ₱3,000 to ₱8,000 annually.

If you bought term and invested the difference in a proper vehicle—like local or global index funds—you’d save yourself from a lifetime mistake. You wouldn’t be paying ongoing, silent management fees for decades on an insurance product you won’t even need in the same way once you’re older.

Not to mention, you don’t get a single peso back from a VUL if you don’t get sick. Given an 80% chance of not getting a critical illness before age 60, I would much rather bet on creating an independent financial system that supports me in sickness and in health.

If you need health or medical insurance, buy health insurance by all means! Don’t buy something you have to pay for indefinitely just to keep the exact same amount of coverage you had decades ago. Apart from inflation, if you actually take the time to run the numbers, you’ll know VUL ain’t cheap.

The money you pour into “premiums” by your 10th year could, if invested in even a bare-minimum vehicle like MP2, yield a sum that rivals a critical illness payout—all without admin and management fees silently eating away at what’s left of your money for as long as you live.

Remember, folks: it’s not a business if it’s not profitable for them. Don’t retire with regrets—and a broken heart—because of uninformed financial decisions.