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Forest Lake celebrates 25 years of revolutionizing total death care in the Philippines

Forest Lake celebrates 25 years of revolutionizing total death care in the Philippines https://youtu.be/9oVr4xdlvAI Manila, Philippines – The country’s largest total death care provider Forest Lake marks its 25th anniversary by recognizing its top-performing sales force through a National Sales Convention (NSC) held on June 8, 2022 at Okada Manila. Since 1997, Forest Lake has empowered not just its bereaved customers but also its employees and sales teams by revolutionizing total death care—one that goes beyond offering memorial lots for sale. With a nationwide footprint that spans Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, Forest Lake now has over 25,000 registered sales agents in more than 35 locations in the Philippines. Forest Lake President Alfred Xerez-Burgos, Jr. shares, “Over the last 25 years, Forest Lake has fulfilled its brand promise of being A Better Place in a multitude of ways. Our vision is to build a better place where generations of family memories are treasured, immortalized, and celebrated by the living and our mission is to offer accessible and affordable memorial parks and services managed by a professional team dedicated to providing value, innovation, and personalized service.” Revolutionizing total death care As a total memorial care company, Forest Lake provides not just memorial parks, but also cremation and interment services as well as chapel services which includes retrieval of a beloved one’s body, embalming, casketing, and viewing rooms. The intent is to provide clients with the highest quality of service and convenience and through the efficient integration of these memorial care services. Through this, Forest Lake becomes the one-stop memorial care provider. As an added bonus, Forest Lake lot owners are entitled to receive P45,000 worth of Libre Burol services which includes body retrieval, embalming, casketing and chapel viewing, all completely free of charge through the the Libre Burol Program. There is a qualifier however: Libre Burol is offered only where there is a Forest Lake Chapel in the Forest Lake Memorial Park and comes free for every interment service. Therefore, every lot owner who avails of the interment service is entitled to Libre Burol. This means that lot owners, for as long as an interment service can be performed, can avail of memorial services which include pickup, preparation, coffin and viewing for one night – amounting to at least P45,000 – for free. For Forest Lake Managing Director of Operations, Sales, Marketing, and Chapel Services Alfred Xerez-Burgos III, death care is an investment, not just financially but emotionally, as well. “Filipinos want more than just a memorial lot, chapel, a coffin, and a memorial service. When you invest in total death care, you’re investing in emotional support during your time of grieving. Every Filipino deserves to celebrate and immortalize the memory of their loved ones in a dignified manner,” said Xerez-Burgos III. Power of the Past, Force of the Future: Forest Lake’s 8th National Sales Convention With a theme, “Power of the past and Force of the Future” the NSC focused on remembering and honoring Forest Lake’s notable origins and encouraging its people to look forward to the incredible growth in the coming years. Forest Lake also unveiled its Digital Transformation updates through its upgraded customer digital portal, MyForestLake, as well as its business expansion plans for 2022. MyForestLake will allow Forest Lake lot owners to manage their memorial lot investments, purchase lots, pay their monthly amortizations, and access customer information and services, all from the safety, comfort, and convenience of their homes or anywhere they may be. The program, hosted by celebrity hosts Sam YG and Wacky Kiray, was nothing short of a star-studded affair. Forest Lake’s rich history was brought to life through El Gamma Penumbra’s interpretative dance number and famous OPM artists such as Ogie Alcasid and Jonalyn Viray took the stage. The evening included other performances from Buganda and Beast House. Between performances, Forest Lake also paid homage to its sales representatives who have shown incredible dedication and love for the company. Among these are those who have been with Forest Lake for over 20 years such as Pablo Layog who began his career in Forest Lake 25 years ago. “As much as we give importance to our past and our future, we also hold in high regard those who have dedicated their lives to helping the families of those who have passed on. It’s part of our vision and mission to create better places for Filipinos – not just for the bereaved, but for those who have the heart to help them through total death care, as well,” says Forest Lake Chairman Antonio V. Syyap. Forest Lake Senior Sales and Marketing Manager Carla Crisostomo shared as she introduced the tribute video, “Memories are more than just a link to the past. Sometimes they are all that we have that will last. As we celebrate our victories tonight from the challenges of the pandemic towards full recovery, towards the light of a new day, let us take this time to honor and remember the lives of our Forest Lake family members who have transitioned to their new eternal lives. We thank them for the lives they have touched, for their hard work, and contributions. Their memories will forever be in our hearts.” 25 Years of Being a Better Place Forest Lake’s signature personalized service, and family-friendly nature-themed parks have established it as one of the Philippines’ leading, trusted, and preferred memorial parks. In 2015, Forest Lake opened its first memorial chapels in Forest Lake Binan, Laguna for viewing chapels. With high occupancy levels in 2018 and 2019, a second building housing 10 additional viewing rooms were opened in March 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. In 2018, Forest Lake launched its grief counseling services which began as a partnership with grief coach, Cathy Babao for bereaved clients in Forest Lake Binan, Laguna. In 2020, Forest Lake planned to take the workshops nationwide, however, due to the pandemic, these face-to-face sessions were cancelled. Thus, the birth of Creating Better Days Webinar Series. Knowing how the pandemic brought

A Better Place: Why Forest Lake has grown to be the largest cemetery brand in the Philippines

Growing to be the largest cemetery brand in the Philippines Every time a loved one passes, we like to think that we are sending them off to a better place—free of pain and worry from the life they are leaving behind. This resonates with Forest Lake’s vision of building a better place where generations of family memories are treasured, immortalized and celebrated by the living. Largest Memorial Care Brand Forest Lake has been providing Filipino communities with professional services for 24 years now—from opening its doors for the first time in 1997 at Zamboanga to becoming the largest memorial care brand in the country, the company has remained true to its promise of providing affordable, easily accessible and dignified places of rest for the Filipino. Throughout communities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the signature personalized touch and nature-themed parks have set Forest Lake apart. Its mark of excellent service has made it the preferred memorial park of Filipino families and trusted brand honoring the memories of their loved ones. A Place for Every Family Aside from its wide-open spaces that bring you closer to nature, Forest Lake Memorial Parks also takes pride in its efficiently-designed and family-friendly parks, allowing everyone to have a meaningful experience every time they visit. Forest Lake Memorial Parks is headquartered at the third floor of Alexcy One Building, 51 President’s Avenue, 1718, Parañaque City. For more information, email info@forestlakeparks.com or visit https://forestlakememorialparks.com. You can also like and follow Forest Lake on Facebook @ForestLakeMemorialParks and Instagram @forestlakememorialparks.

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CREATING A BETTER DAYS

#CreatingBetterDays webinar series is back! We are inviting you to our financial wellness webinar, The FUNDamentals of #CreatingBetterDays with Edric Mendoza, a Registered Financial Planner next Saturday, November 7, 2020. The webinar aims to boost awareness of the importance of financial wellness and financial planning. This will be a Zoom Webinar to be hosted and moderated by Ms. Danie Laurel. Forest Lake is a staunch advocate of preparing for the inevitable: death. However, aside from preparing for it emotionally and spiritually, one should also do so financially. One way to do this is by normalizing discussions about death and not shying away from death-fueled conversations while preparing for certain contingencies, such as investing in memorial lots as early as possible. Unfortunately, talk of death in the Philippines is still taboo. But fear of death should not hinder you from getting your affairs in order and being responsible for your future. Remember, today is the opportunity to build the tomorrow you want so join us in learning how to be prepared for the inevitable and give you essential principles on why it is important to be ready. Indeed, death is not something you should fear but prepare for. One key takeaway from the pandemic is how critical end-of-life planning is. REGISTER FOR FREE: Click here to register.    

Forest Lake kicks off CREATING BETTER DAYS Webinar Series

Forest Lake kicks off CREATING BETTER DAYS Webinar Series Forest Lake recently launched CREATING BETTER DAYS, a webinar series advocating mental health and well-being featuring journalist and Grief Coach Cathy Babao and Mental Health First Aider Zarah Hernaez, moderated by well-being advocate Angel Jacob. Cathy is trained in grief counseling at the Center for Loss and Transition in Fort Collins, Colorado USA and Zarah is a Mental First Aider from the National Council For Behavioral Health in Washington DC, USA. Forest Lake President Alfred Xerez-Burgos, Jr. in his opening message said, “Given these challenging times that are causing feelings of overwhelm, fear and uncertainty, we wish to help you rediscover clarity, calm, and confidence. Recognizing the pandemic has changed the way we grieve and come to terms with loss, we are offering this webinar as a channel to provide you with newfound knowledge and tools that you can use, so you may thrive in this brand new world by learning how to adapt and create a better now.” The webinar topics discussed were: 7 Misconceptions of Grief – Learn how to navigate through the pain of loss (loss of your loved one, loss of your job or business, loss of what you believe as normal) 5 Reasons for Ritual – Know how to find closure and move forward as we change the way we grieve during the pandemic 4 Ways to Manage Your Anxiety, Fear, and Uncertainty of the Future – Movement, Breathing, Grounding and Reframing Your Thoughts 3 Tools to Creating A Better Now How to be focused and productive while working from home, plus learn how to: Shape your now using organizational tools (The 7 S Framework) Rally your troops forward (The Family Meeting) Move forward with confidence (The Blank Slate Exercise) The webinar audience had a chance to win functional health products from Synnovate Pharma Corporation, the natural products company of Unilab. Apart from bottles of Sekaya Botanic Infusions, Integraid products were also raffled off. Audience members were also given the opportunity to schedule a free one-on-one session with each speaker—the first 10 to sign up on the online registration system are now looking forward to their private online session with Grief Coach Cathy Babao and Mental Health First Aider Zarah Hernaez. Forest Lake’s Managing Director for Operations, Sales and Marketing, Alby Xerez-Burgos closed the webinar by saying, “We hope that you were able to take away valuable life lessons that will help you navigate confidently through life’s twists and turns. We wish for you to feel empowered so you may move forward and flourish in this new world we’re living in. Thank you for being here today and joining us as we continue our fight for a better place. Together let us keep CREATING BETTER DAYS ahead. Stay healthy, stay safe and well!” Through the free CREATING BETTER DAYS webinar series Forest Lake aims to empower its audience with the knowledge and tools needed to thrive in our brand new world by learning how to adapt and create #ABetterNow. Please visit forestlakeparks.com to learn more. You can also like and follow Forest Lake on Facebook @ForestLakeMemorialParks and Instagram @forestlakememorialparks.

Beginner’s Guide to Investing

Beginner’s Guide to Investing Investments can be quite intimidating. If you are on the lookout for the best investment in the Philippines, you might be considering to invest in the stock market, on a house and lot, on mutual funds, or start a small business. You may lose a great deal of money if you are not aware of the techniques to successful investing. Investment options can provide additional income, and all assets may be focused on comfortable living for the future. Below is a general overview of where you can invest, as well as the best investment options in the Philippines for 2019. Where to Invest Money in the Philippines? Invest in yourself Your knowledge and skills are considered your top assets aside from money. So it is just appropriate to begin investing for yourself and your future. You can learn new skills or go for higher education which can be related to your field of interest to achieve enough preparation for career advancement. Career advancement opens opportunities for better income. Bonds As a beginner in investing, you may be cautious when taking large investment risks. This is the reason why low-risk investment channels such as bonds are ideal for beginners. The minimum investment for bonds is P5,000 to P10,000. Due to small risks, bonds may generate lower profits compared to other investments such as stocks. Yet investment through bonds is better compared to placing your money in a savings account. The interest rates are normally higher compared to deposit accounts and this is the reason why they gain higher returns. Mutual Funds Being able to invest in the stock market is perceived to be profitable. However, it can be challenging and overwhelming at the same time for beginners. This is why it’s recommended to place your money in a mutual fund. The minimum investment for mutual funds is P5,000. The money gets pooled for the funds of other investors, as professional fund managers put their investments in various forms like money market funds, stocks, and bonds. Mutual funds are regarded as one of the best investments in the Philippines for beginners. Best Investment Options for 2019 and Beyond Short-Term Goals Short-term goals entail, for instance, savings for an upcoming event such as a baby’s arrival or a wedding. If you are in need of a large amount in less than three years, then it is safer to invest small. Liquid assets are basically easy to buy and sell, like money market funds and time deposits, which allow your funds to grow through established maturity dates and interest rates. A house is regarded as an illiquid investment since it takes about two months or years to sell it. Time deposits, on the other hand, are considered one of the best investments for beginners who are doubtful due to certain risks but still want to earn higher interest rates compared to a traditional savings account. Most savings accounts normally have interest rates lower than 1%, yet time deposits can earn up to more than 4%. Money Market Funds Money market funds are essential for conservative and beginner investors who wish to make higher revenues compared to time deposits. They are regarded as an excellent investment for capital preservations that last about one year or less. Funds are normally invested in risk-free short-term securities, government treasury bills, and corporate bonds. Medium-Term Goals In terms of medium-term goals, it is advisable to put your money in a mixture of safe and risky investments. Equity-based UITFs and balanced funds are considered the best investments especially if you are in need of money in four to nine years. Nevertheless, despite the high risk of such funds, it lessens eventually since professional fund managers handle them. The responsibility of the fund manager is to select the holdings for equity and balanced funds, as its main objective is to increase returns while decreasing its risks. PAG-IBIG or SSS Investment Program The PAG-IBIG or SSS Investment Program can be considered as one of the easiest investments which the Social Security System (SSS) and PAG-IBIG Fund offers. The minimum monthly investment is P500 for the modified PAG-IBIG 2 Savings Program and P1,000 for SSS P.E.S.O. Fund. The Philippine government ensures both investment schemes and through this, you will have lesser chances of losing your savings. Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) A unit investment trust fund (UITF) refers to pooled investment funds that are almost the same as mutual funds. What sets it apart from other mutual funds is that commercial banks offer UITFs. Since most of the banks in the Philippines are under the supervision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, you can guarantee that UITFs are scam-free and safe. The minimum investment is P1,000. Variable Universal Life Insurance (VULI) A variable universal life insurance (VULI) plan is an investment that doubles. It serves as a way to protect your loved ones against any financial obstacle in case something unexpected happens to you as that of a serious accident or death. The minimum investment monthly for VULI is P2,000. You can make the best investment in the Philippines due to its liquidity, since you can avail of your funds after several years, and this can be of great help during financial emergencies. Balanced Funds Balanced funds may include high-risk holdings and conservative bonds. They are considered the best investments for reasonably aggressive and conservative investors who possess the willingness to invest their money for three to five years. Funding for your child’s tuition and retirement, for instance, are considered long-term goals that you need to save for. Long-Term Goals Long-term goals entail investments that have a lifelong impact not only to yourself but also to your family. It includes property investments, investment on a memorial lot, and stocks. Memorial Lot Investment Purchasing a piece of traditional land is regarded as a wise investment, yet it can cost a lot especially if you are still a beginner. Cemeteries are considered the best options for those who are searching for something