As I turned 37 (and still single) this year--I thought about how I had my HealthMax from AXA as part of my investments. Technically, a health insurance is an investment since I took it since I almost thought I had dengue in 2012. My modest investments (confidential) into funds, bonds, and the like had me thinking about some losers. I was thinking about past experiences with people who have no investments or insurance. In fact, as of 2021, it's also revealed that at least 38.9 million Filipinos have no bank account--that accounts for 48% of the adult population of the country. Bank accounts are very important to finance the economy as the money is used to finance businesses and government spending. Another interesting thing to think about is the irony of turning down investments and insurance while having a gambling addiction. It sounds weird but it happens, right?
I could remember how gambling is truly a problem in the Philippines. In the 1990s, I remembered how I saw people play mahjong and cards during the wake of a house owner. Our neighbor died and her body was given a funeral wake in her house. It felt so disrespectful that people were gambling during a wake. Later, I think about people who have had been betting tickets for horse racing. Others buy masiao and jueteng tickets (the very thing the late Jesse Manalastas Robredo fought against) to name a few. The cycle is vicious as this--(1) you lack money, (2) you go gambling to gain money, (3) you make a huge bet in hopes of making a huge gain, (4) you lose that money, (5) you borrow more money, (6) creditors go after you. Can the gambling win even cover up for the losses? I don't think so!
Lame excuses about not getting investments and insurances can backfire with the gambling addiction
I don't think all reasons are invalid. Some of them are valid. Here are the reasons from Money Max as to why Filipinos don't have insurance:
- Not having enough money
- "Bahala na!" or let fate decide mentality
- Procrastination or thinking you have a lot of time
- Lack of understanding
- Thinking insurance is a scam
- Lot of work involved
- Not considered an investment by some
- But I'm still healthy
- Some think it will just invite more risks
- Government-mandated benefits
I'm not going to tackle much but I could actually link how some of these statements could backfire when one doesn't get insurance with those reasons but one is into gambling:
- One can say that one won't buy insurance due to not having enough money. So what's with not having enough money? I think it has to do with poor money management. None of the poor people that became middle class or rich got rich with that! Do you think Lucio Tan Sr. or the late Henry Sy Sr. would've gotten rich with poor money management? Aside from the blowouts done during paydays--others end up gambling their salary away. So, instead of depositing their money or using it to pay bills such as rentals and utilities--one could irresponsibly go to any gambling outlet hoping to make a quick buck. If they managed their money well then they could get a basic insurance for a start.
- The "bahala na" or "let fate decide" mentality pretty much sums up gambling. Why I avoid gambling is because it's a game of chance. How much are the chances that you will get the number you are betting on? Very low indeed. It's not like the stock market where the game is dependent on supply and demand. Demand is driven by public perception, politics, economics, and the like. Gambling is all about letting fate decide, right?
- Procrastination is really another trait that fuels the gambling addiction. Many gamblers tend to think that they still have plenty of money so they keep gambling. They forego the more important things in life to satisfy (but never will be satisfied) their gambling addictions. They say, "I still have money." until they get so shocked that their bank accounts or wallets are out of money. Banks require a minimum from clients to keep the cycle going.
- I guess too many people understand how gambling works better than how investments and insurance work. It's also because of a fixed mindset where you believe your current state of mind is forever--never mind old age may not only bring wisdom but also dumdum. Some people start to lose their wits in their old age. I think they stick to gambling because it's their comfort zone.
- It would be stupid to say insurance is automatically a scam while being addicted to gambling. So why bother spending a lot of money where you can't get it back? However, gambling has a much lesser chance of getting your money back over investments and insurance. For a start, there are insurance scams where they give promises too good to be true. However, it would be stupid to persist in gambling after being a victim of an insurance scam. A good way to know an insurance company is a scammer is by checking out the Insurance Commission and staying away from promises of getting rich quick.
- Sure, work is involved but isn't it work is required for success? I guess gambling is the easy out now, isn't it? Either people choose to open a gambling den because they get rick quick from gullible patrons or people go gambling because it's easier than frying burgers to pay for your college tuition. I remembered I had a friend who worked part-time in Jollibee to pay his tuition fee. The other gambled as a means to get more money. Frying burgers would pay off in the long run. Eventually, having hard earned money can be a reason why you can get into the basic levels of investments and insurances.
- Insurance doesn't automatically mean the money grows. However, why would one go gambling instead of getting an insurance? Insurance means depositing some money to an insurance company to serve as a safeguard budget. It would be money set aside for future use. If I do get hospitalized--my other funds will be left untouched. Instead, the money I set aside for my health is what gets drained as a budget for my health. It's like how foreign investors open bank accounts in several countries around the world. It would mean having a separate budget for that branch and only a small portion goes back to the mother company.
- Gambling is a serious threat to one's health. Do you know some people can actually get anxiety from gambling debts? It can be observed how there are several psychological issues that comes with gambling. So, where are they going to get money to treat the disorders without health insurance or even savings? Gamble some more to get the money?
- Funny enough how one says "bahala na" or "let fate decide" then think investments and insurances will bring more risk. Yes, there are risks but these are manageable risks. For example, in stocks, it would be best to buy low and sell high or hold on to stocks. The advice in stocks is to set aside a budget you are willing to lose if ever something goes wrong. So, borrowing PHP One Million and recklessly trading it is not advisable. However, in gambling, there's no manageable risk and it all goes down the drain. Setting that money for insurance or a budget for damages would lessen the risk.
- The government-mandated benefits are good but not enough. True, I pay my Social Security System (SSS) Pension which should be focused on retirement benefits. However, it's not enough since where can that pension take me without other investments? PhilHealth is also good but it's not good alone. A public healthcare system paid by taxpayers is good. However, it would be better not to put all your eggs in one basket. Paying government-mandated benefits is putting some eggs into some baskets. However, you have plenty of eggs and there's so much to how much they can accept. Why only have PhilHealth when you can also have Healthmax or other good private health insurances too?
The gambling issue has gotten worse with the digital age today. Even before that, people already watched on television to see their fighting cocks and horses win or lose. Now, the Internet allows them to check their bets online. I could appreciate the benefits of the digital age. My cash isn't the only security I have now. Now, I can pay wireless and cashless to my deliveries from Shopee and Lazada. I could use GCash to pay some restaurants that don't use Food Panda and Grab to deliver their food. Shawarma Gourmet has ceased to use Grab so I ended up paying its owner, Mansour Houran, via GCash whenever I order pita bread, juice, or shawarma from him. However, the digital age has been misused and abused also by online gambling. Even now, the Axie Infinity games are a real threat that I'll avoid like a plague. Some online schemes that I saw to earn money online involve online gambling. So many Filipinos get suckered in by it in spite of the Philippines having low Internet speed due to having only a few Internet providers. I say we open up the economy to 100% shares for utilities. However, let's discourage online gambling while at it.
I think the underlying cause is for the sake of the thrill, right?
One of the many reasons why I hate the Christmas season is because of the traffic. Some people do their Christmas shopping rather late (such as a few days before Christmas) than schedule it properly. Though, is it me or are many Filipinos, well thrill-seekers? Then again, the same can be shown in the United States of America. There's the thrill of the last-minute Christmas shopping. I guess might be why they make up any excuse to avoid investments and insurances. It might just be an excuse to hide this one thing--I think they find investments and insurances boring because they lack the thrill of gambling. Not even the stock market can provide that much of a thrill.
The volatility of the stock market isn't that volatile compared to gambling wins. Sure, one can watch the stock market rise and fall to a certain extent in a day. I could remember my managed funds can go up and down in value since stocks were used. What could cost higher today will cost less tomorrow and vice versa. Yet, the thrill there is nothing compared to gambling. The stock value may go up and down but the thrill wouldn't be as much unless events like finding new oil, the Berlin Wall's fall, Deng Xiaoping opening up China, or the recent conflict between Ukraine and Russia happen. Stock prices won't easily fall or rise unless major events happen. Though, it's still a tale of caution to invest money in stocks and you are willing to part with it if ever a catastrophic event happens.
The volatility of the stock market isn't that volatile compared to gambling wins. Sure, one can watch the stock market rise and fall to a certain extent in a day. I could remember my managed funds can go up and down in value since stocks were used. What could cost higher today will cost less tomorrow and vice versa. Yet, the thrill there is nothing compared to gambling. The stock value may go up and down but the thrill wouldn't be as much unless events like finding new oil, the Berlin Wall's fall, Deng Xiaoping opening up China, or the recent conflict between Ukraine and Russia happen. Stock prices won't easily fall or rise unless major events happen. Though, it's still a tale of caution to invest money in stocks and you are willing to part with it if ever a catastrophic event happens.
Stock market boring? Do you have to wait for bonds and mutual funds to mature? Do you have to wait for the prices of stocks and other investments to rise? They are rather boring to the point I feel it's "pointless". However, stock trading may seldom tell you to hold on to the stocks for a long period and not to sell everything. The first time I got into a bond required some years. These are all 'boring" to thrill-seekers. However, gambling always has that thrill like you're watching the gladiators murder each other in Rome or the horseracing bets. These are more exciting and I admit I got the thrill when I made a bet back as a teenager. However, it was just a one-shot deal when I won that bet. The thrill wasn't worth its return compared to "boring" investments where you have to wait for them to grow.
The thrill-seeking was the reason why the Stock Market Crash of 1929 happened. Too many people bought stocks at once. That thrill-seeking mentality led to that stock market crash. Stock markets have to be more cautious to avoid the same tragedy that hit last 1929. The overproduction led to an oversupply. Now, with stocks revealed to be "no easy money"--gambling once again gets the spotlight one way or another. The problem was an unregulated stock market. Gambling ends up having little to no regulation which adds to the thrill. A regulated stock market is "just boring" and so are the other forms of investments that people take as alternatives to stocks.
However, it doesn't have to be boring. Sure, I'm not going to get my money immediately. I'll have to let all my money investments be on hold. Doing money investments has helped me curb my spendthrift tendencies. I used to spend a lot of money buying this and that back when I was a student. However, my parents refused to give me more money until I started to see why. I used to run out of money so easily as a high schooler. I even stole petty cash at home (at times) and got into trouble for it. I soon learned the value of learning to save when I started to see my money grow in college. I remembered one time my late father didn't give me my allowance immediately. My father only gave my allowance (lumped together) two weeks later. Having a lot of savings helped me survive the commerce week stress. I ate more than usual but it wasn't much of a problem with high savings. I was getting money from my money box before all of them got deposited into the bank. Then, we had our practicum profit-sharing which I slowly used to start with savings, slowly deposited whatever excesses I had at home and there was a thrill of seeing the money grow slow as it is. I made some bad financial decisions too. That's why I felt like having extra money is necessary because you may end up making bad decisions with finances. One of my aunts lost millions in bad debts. Another friend of my mom lost millions to a fair-weathered friend. Even roses have thorns and financial losses are charged to experience.
However, it doesn't have to be boring. Sure, I'm not going to get my money immediately. I'll have to let all my money investments be on hold. Doing money investments has helped me curb my spendthrift tendencies. I used to spend a lot of money buying this and that back when I was a student. However, my parents refused to give me more money until I started to see why. I used to run out of money so easily as a high schooler. I even stole petty cash at home (at times) and got into trouble for it. I soon learned the value of learning to save when I started to see my money grow in college. I remembered one time my late father didn't give me my allowance immediately. My father only gave my allowance (lumped together) two weeks later. Having a lot of savings helped me survive the commerce week stress. I ate more than usual but it wasn't much of a problem with high savings. I was getting money from my money box before all of them got deposited into the bank. Then, we had our practicum profit-sharing which I slowly used to start with savings, slowly deposited whatever excesses I had at home and there was a thrill of seeing the money grow slow as it is. I made some bad financial decisions too. That's why I felt like having extra money is necessary because you may end up making bad decisions with finances. One of my aunts lost millions in bad debts. Another friend of my mom lost millions to a fair-weathered friend. Even roses have thorns and financial losses are charged to experience.
Yet, we can mitigate the losses by not gambling. Investing and insurances make a diverse portfolio. A diverse portfolio means trying to lessen the losses. For example, one may have a loss in stocks so it would be best if one had savings, bonds, mutual funds, and the like to back it up. It would be good not to put too much into stocks or to diversify stock purchases. However, gambling should be counted as it is--a faulty basket that will never take your eggs to be sold to the marketplace called profits.
References
"Bank exec: Lack of financial literacy, branches among reasons for 'significant' unbanked Filipinos" by Pilar Manuel (November 12, 2021)
"What Caused the Stock Market Crash of 1929?" by Leslie Kramer, Reviewed by Julius Mansa, Fact-checked by Yarilet Perez (December 31, 2021)
"What's to know about gambling addiction" by Tim Newman, Reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD (June 19, 2018)
"Top 10 Reasons Filipinos Don’t Get Insurance" (Updated: February 15, 2022)