Pinoy Style: Another Kind of Retirement Plan?

Last month or so, the sister of my uncle's wife died. She was in her 80's, a valuable member of my uncle's household because she helped took care of my cousins from birth, considering that one of my cousins has special needs. She never married and was a retired teacher.


Years following retirement, she became an active member of a different church organizations in our province. Fast forward last month or so, as I mentioned, she passed away. As sad as it is, there is a lesson to be learned in the whole situation. The lesson? Becoming an active member of a different church organization could 
help pay for your burial expenses when you die.


Yep, all her burial expenses were paid by the 8 church organizations she was a member of. I admired these organizations' way of giving back. A sign that they value their members, but as nice as these organizations' gesture were, my relatives now think that "it's a good idea to be a member of any church organization so that later on, somebody will pay for your burial."

When I learned about this "idea" from my aunt, I was shaking my head and answered, "So, being a church organization member is your retirement plan?" 

Yah, I sound so condescending, but it was so outrageous and a sick idea. I mean, to enter a religious organization just so they'll help you out later? Geeez, where's the "I want to be a member because I believe in their organization"?

I felt bad for them and what I said to my aunt. I might sound too prideful when I said that, but it's sound so wrong to me. We can't expect some organization to fund our personal crisis. It's just not right.

When I think about it, the reason they aren't heeding my call to study how to directly invest in stocks/bonds/mutual fund  for their retirement is that these are the same people who got burned by Aman Futures Group scam. Well, they didn't listen to me once when I told them that Aman was a scam in the making right from the very beginning, I won't be expecting them to listen to me with this. It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks, they said and sadly, it's true.

(To know why Aman Futures Group scam hit close to home, click here)