Review: Fly High Financial Planner 2020

The package was delivered on time – a great improvement from last year’s delivery service from a different provider. Still surprised that it was already in my hands that early, I checked the package. At its upper left-hand corner, it reads ‘We Like to Move It‘. I removed the plastic wrapper, then took out the planner. The words Fly High Financial Planner 2020 greeted me.

I smiled. A thought crossed my mind. I felt happy and motivated. With this planner, I can continue with my goal of achieving financial freedom and flexibility in life.

I checked the first few pages. The first page is titled ‘The True Millionaire’s Prayer’ and was written by Bo Sanchez.

The succeeding pages include the Fuzzy Calendar, 2020 Holidays, Loong Weekends, Jars of Money Management, 6 Levels of Financial Freedom, etc.

I found myself reading.

Wait! Why am I reading?

I thought I bought a planner. But it seems I have a financial literacy book in my hands instead.

Awesome! This planner has lots of interesting information anyone aiming for financial freedom should read.

Fly High Financial Planner – Look and Feel

Published by Blueberryph and designed by Des Feliciano and Krissy Domingo, the cover is hardbound and durable just like Dreams to Millions Financial Planner 2019. I’m sure it will protect the whole planner so that it could last for many years. Dreams to Millions remained intact after almost a year of use.

The design of the front cover is pleasing to the eyes with vibrant colors and with green as the dominant one. The word ‘Fly‘ flows freely which is the path created by a flying bird. Above it is a drawing which at first glance, I thought was a bulb. It’s a hot air balloon and this goes well with the theme of the planner.

At the center of the cover, the word ‘High‘ stands tall and prominent. It looks like a castle trying to reach the clouds with flags placed at the top. The two kites on both sides continues the theme of moving up – a figurative imagery of flying high to reach our financial goals.

The designers are in it for full delivery of the message as they weren’t just content with the above imagery. They’re eager to give more. If you check the ‘High’ ‘castle’, financial concepts were cleverly inserted. I was able to figure out ‘Forex Trading’. I’m not sure if there are other words or phrases. Well, I have 365 days to uncover them. Hahaha.

On closer inspection of the lower portion of the cover, I saw a lot of peso signs. The back cover is plain blue with the publisher’s name and logo printed at the bottom part.

Space in every page is fully maximized. The main calendar, ‘2020 Calendar‘ has a quote displayed at the upper-left corner which says “Life, if well lived, is long enough. – Seneca.” Without this quote, that portion should have been just a blank space.

Fly High Financial Planner -Organize your financial life

The primary purpose of having a planner – whether digital or physical – is organizing our daily activities for one whole year. An ordinary planner contains the usual daily, weekly and monthly calendars and it’s good enough for the needs of most people. Fly High Financial Financial Planner 2020 aims for something above the ‘ordinary’ and ‘good enough’ with additional pages such as Monthly 2020 Budget, a budget tracker placed before each monthly calendar.

Let’s check the first budget tracker page – ‘My January 2020 Budget‘. Headings/ categories are Income, Savings/Investment, Expenses. At the bottom part is the Total (Income – Savings – Expenses). For every category, pre-defined items are listed. As an example, items for Savings/ Investments are Cash Savings, Mutual Funds/ UITFs, Stocks, Business, Others. These details are helpful in tracking the budget, expenses, savings, and investments for the coming month.

Aside from the monthly tracker, the planner has also pages for 2020 Holidays and Looong Weekends. These are very helpful in planning, scheduling and organizing tasks, travels, or reunions.

Fly high and achieve your goals

Achieve your goals – whether general or financial – with the stand out features included in this planner.

My 2020 Goals – List down your major goals on this page. It has a table composed of 8 boxes for goals such as money, faith, health, relationship, career, travel, charity or personal. You can check this page from time to time to be reminded of the goals you want to accomplish in 2020.

Vision Board – Visualize yourself in 2020 on this page with dedicated blank space for writing or drawing anything. In Dreams to Millions, I wrote in the same page my vision for this blog, the outline and my targets including the number of posts that it should have at the end of the year.

DIY 52-Week Money Challenge – If you are seriously considering accomplishing your savings goal in 2020 and wants to have something as a starting point, you may try this challenge. It has a table with 3 columns – peso denominations in incremental order, number of pieces needed to be saved for each denomination and the total amount for each row/ denomination. One can save Php 53,750.00 after completing this challenge.

Ultimate Ipon Goals – You can just write down the amount of monthly savings on this page, an effective way to be highly motivated for the whole year.

Travel Goals Map – You can also fulfill your travel goals on this two-page world map where you can mark the countries you have already visited.

Travel Goals Budget Planner – You can jot down your dream travel destinations on this page. Each destination has spaces to write your budget, itinerary, accommodation, food, etc.

Learn how to save and invest

What I really love about Fly High Financial Planner 2020 is the inclusion of financial concepts and articles which are very much informative and should be read by every Filipino nowadays. This feature sets it apart from other planners in the market today.

Found in the first few pages are the following pages discussing various financial concepts:

• 6 Jars of Money Management
• 7 Income Streams
• 6 Levels of Financial Freedom
• 4 Types of Mutual Funds
• Financial Fitness Test: 10 Questions to Know if You are Financially Fit
• #Passive Income Goals: Where to Invest this 2020

In the above list, I personally believe the Financial Fitness Test is the most relevant. There are 10 easy and practical questions to be answered with a simple Yes or No. The total score will determine one’s level of financial fitness.

Aside from the above, the planner also includes monthly personal finance articles covering various topics on saving, investing, business, etc. Below are the topics that you can read every month or whenever you want:

• Stocks
• Forex
• Cryptocurrencies
• Real Estate
• Pooled Funds
• Bonds
• Government-initiated funds
• Freelancing
• Business
• Agriculture
• Crowdfunding
• Financial education

Get your monthly dose of financial inspiration

Similar to Dreams to Millions, quotes are printed creatively on a dedicated page for each month. My favorite quote is “Be Debt Free” with an illustration of a credit card cut into two pieces and a broken chain.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a planner right now, I highly recommend Fly High Financial Planner 2020. This is not your ordinary planner. Not only could you plan and organize your daily activities, you could also learn a lot financially and be dedicated, highly motivated and be more inspired.

This planner really attempted to go beyond the confines of the typical planner. And once again, I can say that it’s very successful, even surpassing what the 2019 Planner had offered.