In my industry, it's called a fact-find. It's the first part of any proper advisory conversation, and it's the part most often rushed or skipped.
If an advisor recommends a product before they've asked you most of what's below, that's worth noticing. Not because they're necessarily bad, but because they're guessing.
Here's what I need to know, and why each question matters.
1. Who depends on you?
Not just "are you married?" but who, specifically, would be affected if your income stopped. Children. Parents. Siblings. A partner. A household abroad that receives remittances.
This shapes everything. A single person with no dependents and a breadwinner supporting six people have completely different needs, even at the same age and salary.
2. What comes in, and how reliably?
Your income, and how steady it is. Salaried, commission, business, freelance, remittance.
Irregular income changes the advice. It usually means a bigger emergency fund first, and premiums set at a level you can sustain in a bad month, not your best one.
3. What goes out?
Fixed expenses, family support, debts.
I'm not judging spending. I'm looking for what's left, because a recommendation that leaves you with nothing at the end of the month is a recommendation that will lapse.
4. What do you already have?
Existing policies, your HMO, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, employer benefits, savings, investments, property.
This is where a lot of advice goes wrong. People get sold cover they already have, while the real gap goes untouched. I need to see the policies, not just hear about them, because what people think they have and what they actually have are often different.
5. What's your health like?
Honestly. Current conditions, family history, medications.
This affects what you can be offered and at what price. It also affects what you should prioritise. And on an application, honesty here protects your future claim. Undisclosed conditions are one of the reasons claims get disputed.
6. What are you actually worried about?
This is the question I care about most, and it's often the one that gets the most honest answer.
Sometimes it's dying young. More often it's getting sick and becoming a burden. Or being unable to pay for a parent's hospital bill. Or a child's education. Or not having enough at sixty.
What you're worried about tells me what to protect first.
7. What have you been through?
How you grew up with money. A family business that failed. A parent who got sick without insurance. A bad experience with an agent.
This isn't small talk. Your history shapes how you'll feel about every recommendation. If I don't understand it, I'll recommend something that's technically right and that you'll never keep.
8. What can you comfortably commit to?
Not the maximum. The comfortable number. The amount you could keep paying through a bad year.
What happens after
Only after all of that do I start talking about solutions. And sometimes the honest recommendation is:
- Build an emergency fund first.
- Your existing cover is enough for now.
- Fix your beneficiaries and come back in a year.
Those meetings don't pay me. They're still the right advice.
If you're about to meet an advisor
Bring your existing policies and your HMO details. Be honest about your health and your budget. And notice how much of the first meeting is them asking versus them telling.
A good advisor spends most of the first meeting listening. If yours spends it presenting, ask them to slow down and start with you.
