July 23, 2026

Why young Filipinos are saying "maybe later" to insurance and what can change their minds


For many young Filipinos, adulthood no longer follows a predictable path.

One year, they're working from home. The next, they're freelancing. Some are building small businesses while juggling side hustles. Others are saving for their first solo trip, paying off gadgets in installments, or helping support their families while trying to build a future of their own.

They are making financial decisions earlier than previous generations, but they are also making them differently.

This shift has changed the way they think about almost everything they spend on, from entertainment and transportation to banking and shopping. They expect products to be simple, digital, flexible, and available when they need them.

Insurance, however, has often felt like an exception.

Why insurance keeps getting pushed to "later"

For many first-time buyers, insurance is still associated with lengthy paperwork, long-term commitments, and conversations that can feel intimidating. It's something many know they should have, but often postpone until later in life, when they have disposable income and are earning much more.

The reality is that many young Filipinos, particularly from the Gen Z, want to be confident, unbothered and unstoppable. They want the security that insurance provides but believe it is simply too expensive or out of reach. They assume insurance requires a large financial commitment causing many to delay protecting themselves until they feel more financially stable. InLife (formerly known as Insular Life,) bridges this gap through educational videos teaching financial literacy, and campus events in various universities and colleges directed at the Gen Z, or what they call, the InLife Gen Free, a community of young, risk-taking Filipinos who value both fun and security for what truly matters.

Protection that grows with you

Recognizing this changing mindset and drawing from a deep understanding of what today’s customers need, InLife has introduced Stackbit, its first-ever stackable insurance product. It is designed for Filipinos who want to begin protecting themselves without feeling pressured into making a major financial commitment. Stackbit allows them to start building life insurance coverage for as little as ₱10 and gradually build their protection over time through stacking whenever their budgets allow. Every "stack" adds to their insurance coverage, allowing it to grow alongside their needs and financial capacity.

The idea reflects a habit many young Filipinos already practice. They save little by little. They invest whenever they can. They build their goals one step at a time. If so, why shouldn't protection work the same way?

Three ways to start stacking

To suit different life goals, Stackbit offers three flexible protection options. Quick Play provides one-year life insurance coverage for those who want to immediately maximize protection for each peso spent. Power Stack offers 10-year coverage for customers who want to steadily build their protection over time. Meanwhile, Bonus Block provides 15-year coverage with a money back benefit after 15 years for those looking to combine long-term protection with future rewards. Regardless of the variant, customers can start for as little as ₱10, and decide how to grow their insurance coverage without the pressure of due dates or fixed premium amount.

"Young Filipinos are financially aware, but many traditional insurance products were designed for a different generation, and one with a greater financial capacity. We wanted to create an experience that feels more natural to the way people live today: simple to start, flexible to maintain so they don’t need to keep up with due dates, fully-digital, and according to how much they want to spend, " said InLife Chief Product and Innovation Officer Jose Eduardo O. Ang.

Stackbit allows customers to explore products, register, purchase coverage, and manage their policies online. Stackbit also gives customers the flexibility to decide when and how much protection to add as their circumstances evolve.

Cats have nine lives, humans have one

Making the journey even more relatable is Stack Cat, a digital cat with nine lives who’s on a mission to encourage humans to insure their one life. Cats may be known for having nine lives, but people only have one. The message is simple: because we only have one life, we can't afford to leave it unprotected. Stack Cat reminds young Filipinos that building protection doesn't have to happen all at once. Even the smallest step today can help secure tomorrow.

Whether someone is beginning their first job, earning through freelance work, launching a small business, or simply taking the first steps toward financial independence, Stackbit aims to make insurance feel less intimidating and more approachable. In fact, even college students may avail of Stackbit’s protection solutions as availability starts at age 18 to age 55.

Bit by bit, Life’s a hit!

Financial experts have long said that one of the hardest parts of building financial security is simply getting started. That is the philosophy behind Stackbit. Not because ₱10 is enough to solve every financial challenge, but because starting, however small, is often the first step toward building lasting protection. This is the philosophy behind Stackbit’s tagline, Bit by bit, Life’s a Hit! Every bit spent on protection helps build a more secure life prepared for what is to come next.

As more Filipinos embrace digital-first financial services, InLife hopes Stackbit will encourage a new generation that sees insurance not as something reserved for later in life, but as something they can begin building today, one stack at a time. After all, strong financial protection, much like savings or good habits, is rarely built overnight. It is built bit by bit. Build your life protection by stacking through Stackbit at www.inlife.com.ph/stackbit.

Samsung Brings Galaxy Ecosystem Into Everyday Eyewear

Developed with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, intelligent eyewear becomes part of the user’s personal style

LONDON – July, 2026 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today introduced its intelligent eyewear at Galaxy Unpacked in London. Building on the concepts announced at the latest Google I/O, the new designs were developed with global eyewear brands, Gentle Monster and Warby Parker. The intelligent eyewear shows how the Galaxy ecosystem can move beyond the mobile phone and into eyewear that supports daily routines, work, travel and hands-free moments.

“As agentic AI reshapes mobile experiences, the next step is to make those experiences more intuitive and responsive to each user’s context,” said Won-Joon Choi, Chief Operating Officer of the Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “Intelligent eyewear creates a new point of interaction, bringing more personalized AI assistance naturally into the moments that make up everyday life.”

Why it Matters

As AI enters an agentic era, the question is no longer only how intelligent it becomes, but where and how that intelligence meets people. Mobile phones remain at the center of connected experiences, while devices across the Galaxy ecosystem add context to different moments of daily life. Intelligent eyewear represents that next step, bringing AI closer to people as they move, work, communicate and explore, without requiring every interaction to begin with a screen.

Built for these moments, intelligent eyewear brings AI directly into the user’s line of sight, providing timely information and assistance while allowing them to stay engaged with the people, places and tasks around them. Clear controls and safeguards support responsible and secure use, while hands-free access delivers assistance naturally without requiring users to stop what they are doing or turn to another screen.

New Intelligent Eyewear Experience

Designed for everyday wear, the eyewear combines a lightweight frame, slim profile and battery performance, offering up to nine hours on a single charge with up to seven additional full charges from the charging case.[1] A built-in camera brings visual context into the AI experience, while Snapdragon® AR1 Gen1[2] Platform supports the AI performance designed for real-time assistance, with touch interaction, connectivity, power efficiency and thermal management optimized within the eyewear’s compact frame.

As a hands-free extension of the Galaxy experience, the device lets users stay focused on the moment. Built in partnership with Google, it brings Gemini into a familiar wearable form factor, making interaction feel more natural, immediate and intuitive.

"Google and Samsung have a shared vision to bring helpful and context-aware intelligence into everyday life,” said Sameer Samat, President of Android Ecosystem at Google. “Built on the Android XR platform, the intelligent eyewear blends world-class designs with Gemini’s advanced assistance that naturally responds to what you see, delivering all-day, hands-free help. We’re excited to continue this momentum and bring this experience to people soon.”

Key experiences include:

       Staying in the moment: The device can help summarize long messages, read key information aloud, support live translation and allow users to control the experience with simple voice or gesture interactions through connected devices.[3]

        Capturing context: When prompted, the eyewear can capture what the user is seeing, such as a whiteboard or meeting discussion, organize key information in Notes, and make it easier to review, share and follow-up on later.[4]

        Real-time interaction: Users can ask for guidance based on their location, such as finding a route, setting a destination or understanding what is around them, while live translation can support communication in another language.[5]

        Context-aware assistance: The device can support more useful follow-up interactions by understanding the user’s current context and connecting relevant information across tasks, helping users continue where they left off with less repetition.[6]

        Live visual sharing: Users can share what they are seeing during a call or record their own point of view, making communication more immediate while keeping their hands free.[7]

A More Personal Approach to Eyewear

Eyewear is both a functional product and a personal style statement. Samsung worked with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to create intelligent eyewear that balances thoughtful design, comfort and everyday wearability. By combining Samsung’s hardware craftsmanship with each brand’s distinctive design approach, the collaboration offers a broader range of styles to suit different preferences, lifestyles and occasions.

At the Unpacked, Samsung introduced two distinct designs by: Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

The Gentle Monster edition features a slim frame in black, pairing a straight upper rim with softly rounded lower edges to create a refined and fashion-forward silhouette. The Warby Parker style features a subtly upswept brow line in a rich brown hue, creating a refined, versatile shape perfect for everyday settings.

Throughout the design process, Samsung worked closely with the eyewear partners to refine key fit points such as the forehead and ears. These insights helped shape the final designs with enhanced comfort and everyday wearability. Fit considerations were tailored to each model, alongside durability and reliable performance.


 


[1]  Battery life varies by network environment, features and apps used, device settings, the number of times charged, and may other factors.

[2] Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Snapdragon and Snapdragon branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

[3] Feature availability may require a network connection, compatible Galaxy device or supported app. Gesture interactions are only provided through Watch9.

[4] Feature availability and supported workflows may vary. Samsung Notes integration and related actions may require compatible Samsung services and devices.

[5] Translation and navigation-related experiences may vary by language, region, app, service provider and network environment.

[6] Contextual and history-based experiences may require user permission, supported apps and compatible services.

[7] Live visual sharing and recording features may vary by app, service, market and applicable laws or consent requirements.

Is the vivo V70 worth your money?


Every smartphone promises great features. However, after the excitement of buying one fades, only one question remains: Was it worth it?

For most buyers, value isn't measured by a spec sheet alone. It's found in the moments when a smartphone helps you get through a busy workday, capture memories that matter, or simply keeps up with your lifestyle without missing a beat.

To answer that question, vivo spoke with three V70 users from different walks of life. While each had different priorities, they all found their own reasons why the vivo V70 has become a smartphone they genuinely enjoy using every day.

A smartphone that works as hard as you do

For Gerwin, the vivo V70's imaging system is more than just a tool for capturing moments. It also plays an important role in his daily work. Asked about his favorite feature, Gerwin said it was difficult to choose just one, but the camera stood out the most.




"Honestly, it's hard to pick just one favorite feature because the vivo V70 has so many good ones. But if I had to choose, it's definitely the camera. The quality is just superb. Whether you're doing portraits, selfies, or videos, you can really see the ZEISS optics at work," he shared.

For Gerwin, the camera isn't just for capturing beautiful moments. It has become an important part of his everyday workflow.

"It's been a lifesaver for my daily work since I constantly need to send clear product photos to clients. Some of our product chips have tiny text on the labels, and I love how the camera captures those small details without blurring out at all," he added.

Beyond helping him at work, Gerwin believes the vivo V70 delivers excellent value overall. He shared, "Every single feature delivers great value, from the detailed and crisp camera shots to the long-lasting battery and incredibly fast charging. You couldn't ask for anything more, it is definitely worth the money."

Comfort that fits everyday life

For young users, a smartphone's design and in-hand feel are just as important as its performance. For college student Thea Bañares from Bicol, the vivo V70 impressed her not only with its camera but also with its sleek and lightweight design. "I'm really satisfied with the camera, the photos look so good," she said.

Beyond its imaging capabilities, Thea also praised the phone's build and size. "Its size is just right. People even mistake it for an iPhone, and it's very comfortable for women's hands," she added. With its slim profile and comfortable grip, the vivo V70 fits seamlessly into her everyday routine, from studying to socializing.

Thea was equally impressed by the phone's 6500mAh BlueVolt battery life and smooth performance. "The battery lasts a long time, and the phone runs really smoothly," she shared.

For students like Thea, a smartphone isn't just about performance, it's about having a device that's comfortable to carry, dependable throughout the day, and ready to capture everyday memories whenever they happen.

Built for everyday reliability

For Emar Dolfo from Quezon City, a smartphone needs to consistently perform from morning until night. He usually takes photos, edits content, navigates around the city, or scrolls through social media, so reliability matters most for him.

That's why his favorite features are easy to identify: the camera and battery. He explained further, "The 50MP ZEISS triple camera and 50MP selfie camera take great photos day and night, while the 6500mAh BlueVolt battery lasts all day with 90W FlashCharge."


His experience reflects what many users look for today, a smartphone that doesn't require constant compromises between camera quality and battery life.

When asked whether he would recommend the vivo V70, Emar offered an honest answer, "Yes, if you want amazing cameras, an all-day battery, and a bright AMOLED display for around Php 35,000."

Is the vivo V70 worth your money?

Every smartphone user has different expectations. Some need a reliable work companion. Others prioritize comfort, style, and a phone that fits naturally into their everyday routine. Many simply want a device that captures great photos and lasts throughout the day.

For Gerwin, the vivo V70 became a practical tool that helps him work more efficiently. For Thea, it's a smartphone that's stylish, comfortable to use, and dependable from morning to night. For Emar, it's the confidence of having a camera and battery that consistently keeps up with his lifestyle.

Their priorities may be different, but they arrived at the same conclusion: the vivo V70 delivers value where it matters most, not just through its impressive specifications, but through the everyday experiences it enables.

The vivo V70 is available nationwide through vivo stores and official online channels, including vivo e-store, Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop at a starting price of Php 35,999. Learn more about its full features on the vivo website.

LG OLED evo and Micro RGB evo: Two Distinct Paths to the Premium Home Cinema


For decades, building a home theater meant choosing between the cinematic depth of OLED, with its perfect blacks and contrast, and the expansive, colorful impact of an ultra-large LCD screen. This year, LG Electronics (LG) has advanced both technologies to a point where this decision is no longer a compromise, but simply a matter of viewing preference.

The LG OLED evo G6 AI sets the benchmark for premium television performance. Alongside it, LG has established a second flagship display category. The LG Micro RGB evo AI represents LG’s most premium LCD TV to date. This dual-flagship approach offers a choice between two highly uncompromised cinematic experiences, allowing consumers to tailor their setup to the space that shows it off best.


The OLED evo: Hollywood-Level Picture Precision

When Hollywood colorists fine-tune films for home release, LG OLED TVs are widely used as reference monitors to see exactly how they will look in your living room. Self-lit OLED pixels help provide the precise contrast and shadow detail needed to reproduce content as intended with theater-like impact. By turning off individual pixels in dark areas, the LG OLED evo achieves Perfect Black.1

To see why this matters, picture a character standing in a shadowy alleyway. On conventional displays, an always-on backlight washes those deep shadows into a murky gray. The background bleeds into the foreground, and subtle facial expressions disappear into a flat, foggy haze, losing the director’s intended suspense. Perfect Black solves this by cleanly separating the actor from the background and preserving the finest shadow textures. This exact preservation is a key reason film industry veterans trust our displays. “Every colorist and cinematographer points to the screen and says, ‘Look at that black,’” explained veteran color scientist Joshua Pines in an interview with Variety. Pines, whose credits include Saving Private Ryan, Gravity and The Revenant, added, “It’s the gradation expressed through true blacks and the preservation of shadow detail without artifacts that matter most.”

Crucially, this deep darkness does more than just master the shadows. Because a display’s black levels help anchor its overall contrast, achieving true black is essential to keeping the rest of the picture from looking washed out. This precise relationship between darkness and vibrancy is why LG OLED evo G6 reproduces certified, true-to-source colors2 even in bright, everyday environments.

For many, the ritual of a true “movie night” comes with a familiar hassle: drawing every curtain and turning off all the lights to replicate the pitch-dark immersion of a theater. The OLED evo G6 eliminates this need to plunge your living room into total darkness. Featuring Reflection Free Premium3 technology, the screen absorbs incoming glare from windows or overhead lighting, dispersing remaining reflections in multiple directions rather than bouncing them back into your eyes. This reduction in glare helps maintain our certified Perfect Black performance in everyday ambient light. By preventing reflection from washing out the screen, the technology helps ensure that light control never comes at the expense of black depth and delicate shadow detail. You can now enjoy incredible contrast without the traditional blackout routine.


The Micro RGB evo: The Ultimate Color Impact

While our OLED evo delivers the pristine precision demanded by industry professionals, the Micro RGB evo is built for pure, breathtaking impact. Imagine trying to build a home theater in an open-concept living room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows. It is a stunning architectural space, but a nightmare for ordinary displays. If you place a standard screen in that intense, natural sunlight, the image immediately struggles and vibrant colors wash out. To deliver a premium, highly uncompromised viewing experience in a unique space like this, you need a display specifically engineered to command the room on a truly monumental scale of up to 100 inches.

That is exactly why we built the Micro RGB evo, establishing a new flagship category within our premium display portfolio. It utilizes an advanced backlight system that produces extraordinarily high-purity red, green and blue spectrums.4 Rather than cranking up the brightness and washing out the picture, it operates with outstanding color authority. Scenes with fiery explosion, vibrant sunsets and striking superhero costumes burst off the screen with unpolluted color purity, effortlessly cutting through the ambient glare of the brightest rooms.

Historically, the trade-off for this intense, room-filling brightness in LCDs was a loss of precise color control. On conventional screens, pushing brightness causes contrasting colors to bleed into one another — an effect known as color crosstalk that often leaves pure white highlights looking tinted and polluted. To solve this, the α11 AI Processor to algorithmically drive the Micro RGB LEDs with precision. Picture a blazing red sports car featuring crisp, white racing stripes. By executing color algorithms at a granular level, our processor enables these contrasting elements to coexist without bleeding into each other. The neon red stays fiercely vibrant, and the white stripes remain remarkably clean, delivering an incredibly accurate and crystal-clear color expression. The resulting contrast is so deep and clean to the naked eye that it helps preserve the creator’s intended picture quality on a massive screen even in a sunlit room.

Your Cinema, Your Choice

An exceptional screen is only the foundation of the cinematic experience. To authentically mimic a true theater, both the OLED evo and Micro RGB evo are fully equipped with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and Filmmaker Ambient Mode, helping the director’s original vision come to life exactly as intended. Beyond the display, LG AI TVs serve as a gateway to thousands of blockbuster movies, utilizing the iconic Magic Remote as a cinematic wand to make finding what to watch effortless. A simple voice command starts a smarter entertainment journey, where AI helps surface personalized content recommendations and enhances audio to better match the epic visuals on screen.

This seamless experience extends directly to your soundscape. When paired with the wireless LG Sound Suite AI,5 our TVs act as the hub of a Dolby Atmos FlexConnect setup. This technology automatically calibrates wireless speakers in real time to deliver immersive, three-dimensional audio without the hassle of complex wiring or fixed speaker locations, making it easy to fit any room layout.

Because you never have to compromise on this intelligent experience, content or audio flexibility, the choice comes down to the display technology that best suits your unique space and viewing style. You might desire the uncompromising precision and perfect blacks of the OLED evo G6, the pinnacle of display technology. Alternatively, if your space calls for a truly massive screen, the 100-inch Micro RGB evo delivers a larger-than-life viewing experience driven by breathtaking color richness. We built these two paths for one purpose: to put the most premium home cinema entirely in your hands.

Why every Filipino needs an emergency fund

Did you know that most Filipino families are just one healthcare emergency away from falling into poverty?

According to a study published in 2005, even a PHP 10,000 medical bill is enough to indebt 64% of the Filipino families surveyed, highlighting how fragile the finances of many Pinoy households are. This data was validated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ 2025 Consumer Finance and Inclusion Survey which found that only three in 10 adults are able to withstand financial shocks.

Unexpected expenses come in many forms, such as sudden car trouble, home repair due to typhoons and other natural disasters, emergency hospitalization, and even sudden job loss. These situations can happen to anyone, regardless of age, income, or occupation. While you can’t predict life’s surprises, you can prepare ahead for them. This is where an emergency fund comes in handy.

What is an emergency fund?

“An emergency fund is an essential financial tool. This refers to money put aside for unexpected financial expenses or sudden income loss. It is a way to prepare for unplanned circumstances to avoid being burdened financially,” shared JM Pabiton, Chief Finance Officer of CIMB Bank Philippines.

Your personal savings ≠ your emergency fund

According to Pabiton, a longtime banking professional and finance educator, your emergency fund should be different from your regular savings.

“It should be the most liquid account you have and not locked into longer tenor funds, meaning you can access the money anytime. The primary goal is not to earn interest,” he said. “While you can also keep it in your savings account, the intent and the purpose are also very different, as emergency funds must only be used for necessary and important expenses, not day-to-day items.”

How much should you save?

Starting an emergency fund can seem daunting, but the process can be broken down into smaller, more manageable steps, according to Pabiton. While it depends on the person, he recommends understanding your monthly expenses first. Log all costs, then identify which are truly necessary every month. List these necessities, calculate your total monthly expenses, then aim to have at least six months’ worth of these expenses saved to form your emergency fund.

“Personally, my benchmark is six to 12 months. This depends on your current situation. If you’re starting, start with one month. Then go for two months, three months, until you get good at saving. Once you reach your target, you can focus on growing your savings, investments, and other long-term financial goals. This gives layers to your money management."

Where to keep your emergency fund

Once you start saving, you may be wondering where you should keep it. The most important consideration when deciding where to keep your emergency funds is ease of access, meaning your funds must be easy to transfer or withdraw in the event of an emergency.

"Thanks to digital banking and technology, it is easier now to access your funds. Certain banks also offer higher interest rates without locking in your money, so this keeps you liquid with the bonus of earning more interest. This makes these accounts a smart place to keep your emergency fund," said Pabiton.

Things to keep in mind when managing your funds

While the journey varies per person, Pabiton also shared three important reminders to effectively manage and grow your emergency fund:

Leverage technology. Many banks now offer free and automatic transfers. Use this to your advantage to set aside money for your emergency fund first, then learn to live on the remaining amount. This way, you can build up the habit of saving for emergencies more easily and consistently.

Be firm with what counts as an emergency. It can be tempting to dip into your emergency fund when the going gets tough, but it is important to keep in mind that this fund is not meant to cover day-to-day spending in case your weekly budget runs out. Think of it as an exercise in budgeting and living within your means.

But while Pabiton does not recommend taking out money from your emergency fund when your regular budget runs short, there are certain exemptions.

"There are certain situations that you cannot anticipate. For example, the recent spike in fuel prices. Who would have known that prices would double that quickly? For me, it's a basic commodity and a necessary expense, but no one was able to plan for the price hike. This is an example of how unexpected increases in cost of basic necessities can constitute a financial emergency," he said. "From this experience, you can adjust the budget needed the following month to ensure you won't have to keep taking from your emergency fund."

Recalibrate the amount needed regularly. To be better prepared for the unexpected, your emergency fund should also be reviewed and adjusted regularly. Pabiton shared that if you're still building your fund, it is best to review it every month.

For those with partners, he also stresses the importance of communicating openly and planning as a couple, as expenses need to be planned for the entire household. Whether a household has a single source of income or multiple income earners, it is important to have a clear view of the household's overall financial situation to better protect its financial wellbeing.

Building an emergency fund is a journey that takes time and looks different for everyone. However, the most important thing is to take that first step and focus on achieving your goal. These small yet definite steps can help lead you towards financial freedom.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
enjoying wonderful world