Planning is key to financial freedom

When Manuel Chua started his retail business, he had one employee – himself. It didn’t make sense then to distinguish between what was his own money and what was the money of the business. After all, both – no matter how small – were entirely his.

Chua’s business has since grown. He has several retail outlets, each with its own group of salespeople. His dream is to further grow the business so he will have enough to retire on and still leave a viable company to his three sons.

"I now have a personal bank account and the company has its own bank account," said Chua. "It’s better that way for both my family and my business."

Chua’s friend, Serafin Lee, has taken the separation of what is personal money and what is corporate money one step further. He has chosen to concentrate on his business and let somebody else manage his personal finances. "I know the priorities my business should take because I have the expertise and I know the market. I can’t say I have the same kind of expertise when it comes to what financial products will be good today but not tomorrow. By letting somebody else handle my personal finance, I don’t split my focus and my emotions are not involved in making investment decisions.

Planning

Like any money-making venture, planning is the key to personal financial freedom. An individual must know how much money he/she is willing to play with and what kind of risks he/she is willing to take. For example, someone who is financially conservative might be happy with the rates offered by time deposits. Someone who is financially less conservative might try the stock market.

There are no guarantees that the investment will generate a specific amount over a certain period of time.

"The financial markets are ever changing. There are new, more complex financial products now available in the market," said Citibank vice-president Patrick Cheng. "To monitor all these changes is a 24-hour, seven-days a week job."

Cheng oversees the bank’s six branches, all of which offer the CitiGold Wealth Management financial service to high-networth individuals who bring in at least P4 million worth of business to the bank.

"We offer a comprehensive, integrated approach when it comes to managing our customer’s personal finances. First and foremost, we provide our customers with a dedicated team of highly trained professionals to guide our customers make informed financial decisions," said Cheng.

Every CitiGold client is assigned a CitiGold relationship manager and an investment consultant who use their global expertise to keep him/her attuned with market developments and a wide array of financial product solutions. The client is also assigned a CitiGold associate to speed up whatever transactions he makes with the bank. Outside office hours, the client could get hold of a CitiGold phone executive to handle his transactions.

At the heart of the bank’s financial service to high networth individuals is the CitiGold Wealth Planner, a proprietary tool that helps create a personalized financial plan for a bank client. "You give us all the data, which we will put in our system. Then, we’ll give you an overview of how to manage your wealth," said CitiGold relationship manager Kerwin Chua.

The Wealth Planner involves a customized process that begins with customer profiling, moves on to how much is allocated for each product or investment and ends with a portfolio review and adjustments that can be made to capitalize on opportunities to grow the client’s wealth.

"What we give a CitiGold client is a financial plan that is customized to his needs and access to our global network of financial experts. CitiGold goes beyond mere product pushing. It’s a win-win partnership with each of our clients," he said.

It’s the kind of partnership Lee would probably appreciate.