Time as the ultimate flex

GO inside a luxury mall, and you will see posters of vibrant people, seemingly carefree and all smiles, wandering about as if they have all the time in the world. Read a brochure of luxury car brands and the messaging is clear: enjoy driving this vehicle because you have all the time in the world. Wealth brings about more time. Play your cards right and it will be.

First, let me share that having more time is a worthwhile goal. Financial planners say that we invest toward the accomplishment of a goal. I met a lot of individuals who want to invest to buy a house or to start a business someday. Truly, these are noble goals. To have more time for personal, family or friends is something I don’t quite hear.

I gained more appreciation of the value of time when my daughter attended playschool. The class was all about interaction, with simple key lessons on math and art here and there. The class starts at 9:30 and ends at 11 in the morning. In all sessions, the mothers are there. At first thought, there is nothing special here. Mothers would prefer to be with their young children. Notice, though, that the class is right smack in the middle of the morning. For most employees, this is where meetings and calls usually come in.

Then it hit me. These mothers were in control of their time. Yes, they may step out of the classroom to take a call, but they’re still there for the most part. By observing, our fellow parents have more time to be with their children because they earn from passive income, they are in business and they have flexible work arrangements.

Let passive income give you more time. According to Investopedia, passive income can be generated by earning interest on savings, getting cashback or rewards on a credit card, renting-out space and purchasing dividend-paying stocks. These do give a person additional income streams and more financial stability. With passive income, a frugal lifestyle and proper monitoring of expenses, a person will not be pressured to gut it out in the rat race.

Jump-start your passive income journey by lodging your emergency fund in a digital bank or investing it in a money market fund. These provide a higher return than a regular savings account. One can invest in a money market fund for as little as P1,000. Most will also have no holding period, meaning an investor can stay liquid. The investor can withdraw cash any time there is a need.

Let others work for you. Control of one’s personal time is one of the benefits of entrepreneurship. Of course, this is not an overnight process. Any aspiring entrepreneur will have to go through the process of conceptualizing, planning, operating and expanding his product or service. Key to this is the hiring of competent partners and team members. Yes, this is easier said than done. Once the entrepreneur masters the people and leadership skills involved, a motivated and wellsupervised team can run the venture in automatic mode. The entrepreneur gets to have more time for personal, family or to create another business.

As a financial planner, I advise my clients to take time to decide what business to get into. Ideally, the venture is something that the client has a deep interest and expertise in. This is to ensure that the entrepreneur is competent and ready to take over should an employee be tardy, absent or suddenly resigns.

Flexible work arrangements. Employment is a stable source of income. A drawback of being an employee is the requisite eight-hour duty. Because of the pandemic, a number of companies still allow 100 percent work-from-home or a hybrid setup. This is advantageous for parents as they can carry work remotely while spending more time with family. Some would also integrate a side gig while at it.

There are careers that allow for a natural flexible work arrangement. Medical professionals such as dentists can better manage their time. The same goes for freelancers. In the same light as entrepreneurs, freelancers have to address a need of their target market and build their reputation along the way.

Success is less fulfilling if we lose time for our health and for our loved ones. Let our drive to invest be geared to achieve our goals so that we can have more time for our family. For the truly wealthy, time is the ultimate flex.

Marion Irvin Sales Evangelista, RFP, CTEP, CTA is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 100th RFP program this March 2023. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text at 0917-6248110.