My son the astronaut.

This post is sponsored by AXA Philippines.

My kid scares me sometimes. He tells me when he grows up, he wants to live on Mars. He dreams big. And I don’t know what our world will look like in 5 years, let alone 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow scientists finally figured out faster-than-light space travel or jumping through wormholes or folding space and time.

These things almost seem inevitable. Science fiction eventually becomes science fact. It’s just a matter of when. And incidentally I’m still waiting for my personal jet-pack, step on it science!

So when my child tells me he wants to live on Mars, and won’t stop talking about planets, and dwarf planets, and stars, and suns, and moons, and rocket ships, every waking hour of every single day, I have to take him seriously. Those are his dreams. And I don’t ever want to tell him he can’t dream big.

But if his dreams are ever going to become a reality, it’s my job to give him the best chance of reaching them. That starts with a good education, and very likely an expensive one.

If your child is in preschool today, the price of a 4-year college education, while factoring inflation into the equation, comes out to about P2.5 million. Maybe when the time comes you’ll have saved enough of that money. Or maybe you won’t.

Anything can happen. You can get seriously ill. Some crazy congressman may suddenly propose a bill increasing the cost of tuition in private universities 10-fold. Laugh now but just wait ‘til it happens.

Fail Proof Your Future.

AXA Philippines is an insurance company with a plan on how you can prepare for and ensure your childs’ education.

“For Rien Hermans, President and CEO of AXA Philippines, one of the keys to escaping from the debt trap is to plan early. Parents with kids aged 0-6 years old should already start thinking about how to finance their child’s education, as saving up early will help their money mature to an amount they can use to finance their child’s university expenses.”

They recommend starting when your child is 0-6 years old, giving you ample time to build up the necessary funds you will need while making your payments relatively light.

“Hermans also advises parents to look into variable life insurance as a way to prepare for a child’s higher education, noting that the regulation within the industry would prevent a shutdown similar to what happened with some pre-need companies in the 1990s and 2000s.”

“Variable life insurance builds cash value. A portion of the monthly payments can be invested in bonds, equities, or to money market funds, where the money can grow,” adds Hermans. “The life insurance industry is highly regulated, so the risk of an insurance agency disappearing with investors’ money is zero.”

AXA has 3 products to help in securing your childs education.

Academic eXentials is an easy education savings plan that helps parents secure their child’s dreams for the future. Parents will receive a fixed, guaranteed amount in cash for four years (Annual Education Benefits), plus an Achiever’s Gift to be given a year after all the Annual Education Benefits have been paid out. It is available in 3 easy and affordable plans: Plan 1500, Plan 3000, and Plan 4500.

AcademiX is an education solution tied to high-growth potential AXA investment funds that allow parents to build their funding earlier and faster. The longer parents pay, the bigger the potential for growth. This opens more opportunities for the child—studying at a top university, specialty schools (e.g. culinary and aviation), college abroad, or even funding post-graduate studies such as med school, law school, or even an MBA or Master’s degree. It also provides a guaranteed contingency education fund in case of the parent’s untimely death.

Life BasiX with Bright Rider Plus provides security and protection with its link to high growth potential funds for education funding, and higher insurance coverage. Moreover, the child will regularly receive a guaranteed education fund until he reaches the age of 21, in case of the unfortunate loss of the parent.

I really like that AXA has plans that are very affordable yet have very big benefits. And since they are an insurance company, the industry highly regulates them, ensuring that your money is invested in the safest equities.

I don’t know how long my son will keep talking about Mars or Jupiter or Saturn. Maybe he’ll stop in a year. Maybe he won’t. Maybe he grows up to be one of those crazy, obsessive people, single-mindedly pursuing a dream, believing he can touch the stars.

If he does one day make it there, I’m gonna miss him like hell.

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To learn more about AXA Philippines’ products and services, visit www.axa.com.ph or www.facebook.com/AXA.Philippines. You may also call their customer hotline (02) 5815-AXA (292) or (02) 3231-AXA (292).

About AXA Philippines

Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp. (AXA Philippines) is one of the leading and fastest-growing life insurance companies in the Philippines. It is borne out of the formidable synergy between Metrobank, one of the foremost financial institutions in the Philippines, and the AXA Group, a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management serving 102 million customers in 57 countries.