Editor’s note: The Get Ready with Me (GRWM) series features the routines of people from different walks of life, from their morning rituals to bedtime habits. In this installment, let’s get ready with a student vlogger making educational content online. This content is sponsored by Singlife.

Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed a lot of young people take over the digital space, using their platforms not just to entertain but to educate as well. Through their vlogs, podcasts, and TikTok videos, we learn about different cool topics ranging from fitness, travel, language, to personal development. 

These days, all eyes are on Nicole Alba, a 21-year-old political science student who shares  financial literacy videos on her Youtube channel. She creates explainer videos that make topics like investing and personal finance easier to understand – thanks to her memes and funny facial expressions. 

“I’ve always wanted to make Youtube videos because there were creators I learned from and loved watching when I was growing up,” said Nicole. “I’ve also always had a passion for making videos, so I would make short films, edit mini-vlogs, videos and reels for clubs and organizations when I was in grade school and highschool.”

Among the content creators she loves to watch on YouTube are Ali Abdaal, Thomas Frank, Nathaniel Drew, Matt D’Avella, Elliot Choy, Casey Neistat.

Interestingly, when she was just starting out on YouTube, Nicole didn’t tell her parents about it at first – except for a few close friends. She didn’t promote her channel on her social media accounts as well since she was simply making videos for fun. When she hit 1,000 subscribers, she finally told her parents about it and they were very supportive, especially when Nicole’s channel started gaining traction on the internet.

Recently, the Gen-Z content creator talked about getting insurance from Singlife Philippines, a mobile-first life insurance company from Singapore, Asia’s Technology Hub. 

“Getting insurance is important, but whether it is advisable to get one would depend on an individual’s needs. In order to determine whether one needs to get insurance, it’s important to first gain a basic understanding of how insurance works,” said Nicole.

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A post shared by Nicole Alba 🍞 (@alba.nicoleee)

With all the things going on in her life (she’s also graduating from college in a few months), how does Nicole keep everything together? In this article, she talks about her creative process, her YouTube journey, how she handles her finances, and why she recommends getting insurance at a young age.

STARTING ON YOUTUBE. I didn’t make a Youtube channel because I wanted to teach people about finance. Nope, not at all. Around that period, I was in the process of learning how to manage my finances and it was something that I enjoyed talking about to the point that it sometimes bored my friends and siblings haha. I decided to make Youtube videos to serve as an outlet for processing and applying the things I was learning as well as an avenue for creative expression. In short, I decided to make youtube videos because I wanted to document and share my learnings and experiences as I entered into adulthood

CONTENT PLANNING. I keep a running list of ideas for videos I can make on a platform called Notion. I’ll take note of random ideas that come up throughout the day and I’ll note them down. I’ll usually plan out my upload schedule for a month, then I’ll spend 2-3 days brainstorming, researching, and scripting a video. I still handle everything with my channel from planning, to brainstorming, to filming, editing, making the thumbnails, to uploading. I’m a one-man team so it gets pretty demanding!

ADULTING. Graduating from high school gave me the feeling of needing to prepare for adulthood, so I wanted to start preparing myself for my future. I got interested in financial independence and I started devouring books, articles, videos, and whatever resources I got my hands on so I could start learning what I can do as an 18-year-old to set my future self up for (financial) success. Then I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole of personal finance and created opportunities for myself to apply the concepts and lessons I learned.

PROCESS-BASED GOALS. From the [Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki] book he says that when you want something, instead of saying “I can’t afford it”, you need to instead ask yourself “How can I afford it?” This single question forces your brain to think of ways to work for the things you want to purchase – and it’s how I pursue a lot of my goals, both financial and non-financial related. When it comes to goals, I don’t set specific outcome goals like “I want to buy a car at 25 years old” or “I want to have P1M.” Instead, I set process-based goals like “I will save 70 percent of everything I make.” The reason is that even if I’m not aiming for something specific, I’m still making progress when I consistently stick to a process.

PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. I’ve actually made several videos on this on my channel! Haha shameless plug. The way I manage my money and track my expenses have evolved through time from when I started learning about personal finance when I was 18. Back then, I made use of a spreadsheet and created my own tracking system because I felt too restricted and confused by the existing apps in the app store. Now, I use a combination of google sheets and a phone app to track and manage my personal finances. Here’s a link to some of my videos where I explain how I manage my finances. An important thing to remember is that there’s no one-size fits all approach in managing your finances. Personal finance is personal, so you need to find the approach that works for you and your lifestyle.

INSURANCE 101. Okay, let’s start with the basics. Simply put, insurance is a form of protection. There are many different types of insurance. There’s life insurance, health insurance, car insurance – but all of these insurance products do the same thing. Here’s a chart that summarizes some common insurance terms:

If you own an insurance policy, you’ll need to pay a small monthly premium. This is like your monthly insurance bill in order to be insured. If you own car insurance and you get into an accident for example, the car insurance company is actually going to help you pay for the repair costs (as long as it’s covered by the insurance policy).

The purpose of insurance is to protect you from being forced to empty out your savings, sell your investments, or worse: mangutang, in case bad things happen like hospitalizations or accidents. 

WHY SINGLIFE? What I like about Singlife is that they’re a technology-driven company, which I think is important in the fast-paced societies that we currently live in. They come from Singapore, which is a financial and technological center globally, so this assures me that they are able to create and innovate on products and solutions that will be able to cater to people’s diverse set of needs. As of now, their products are primarily accessible in GCash and I appreciate the fact that I’m able to shop for insurance conveniently with a few taps on my phone.

GETTING INSURED AT A YOUNG AGE. I’m not a professional, but in general, getting insurance premiums are lower when you’re younger and healthier as opposed to when you’re older and have health conditions. Out of all the types of insurance, I believe that Health Insurance would be the most important one to prioritize to safeguard oneself from potential financial ruin from unexpected medical emergencies. A lot of middle-class families are vulnerable and are often one hospital bill away from getting financially wiped out.  However, it’s also important to think about how to take care of yourself and your family financially in case the injury or illness is long-term like if you get permanently disabled. This is why income replacement insurance is also very important. 

SINGLIFE’S CASH FOR INCOME LOSS. This specific product is designed to replace your monthly income – in case you can’t work because you are permanently disabled because you got into an accident or you got sick, or worse, you pass away – para masupport mo pa din family mo (so you can still support your family). This product will provide a Monthly Cash Benefit that will be your income for the next three years so you can continue supporting your family, and there’s also a Cash Bonus worth twice your monthly income at the end of the payout.

Nicole recommends

• Singlife’s Cash for Medical Costs or Cash for Income Loss product
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – The financial wokening book

Singlife recommends

Singlife is offering free P100,000 accidents cover for three months. All you have to do is get a quote for Cash for Income Loss on GInsure via GCash. No purchase needed! This way, you can see how affordable it could be to ensure that you and your family continue to have money to pay for expenses in case the breadwinner is unable to continue working due to death or disability. Get yours today by clicking this link or by going to your Gcash app. (Note: Gcash link accessible on mobile device only)

Over 130,000 customers have already claimed this free protection coverage. Get this limited offer until June 30, 2022.

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*Responses edited for brevity