Here are 5 smart ways to achieve financial freedom through your salary loan:

Open a savings account

Saving for the rainy days is deeply rooted in Filipino values. Remember the story of the ant and the
grasshopper? The ant spent all summer saving up food while the grasshopper basked in the sun drinking
his cola. Came the rainy season and the poor grasshopper shivered from cold and hunger.

Moral lesson: Always save for the rainy days which are sure to come. Life is cyclical, and if we are to ride
with the tides, we have to prepare for the difficult times.

Take it from the ant. If you got a salary loan, save some for the rainy days -- for the unforeseeable
emergencies such as health emergencies, accidents, natural disasters, repairs, and other unfortunate
events.

Keep track of assets & liabilities

Keep track of your assets and liabilities. Looking at the two-column list lets you weigh your financial
health. It helps you keep in line with your financial goals, warns you of overspending and consequent
overdraft, and it motivates you to keep tipping the scales to the assets side.

Right now the salary loan you got goes into the liabilities plate because you would have to pay for it
every month. How do you convert some of it into assets to somehow tip the scales?

Company shares

Some companies help their employees gain financial freedom. Many companies offer profit sharing
based on tenure positioning it as a reward for their longest-staying, loyal employees.

Take advantage of these initiatives even if it means cutting a portion of your monthly salary and,
consequently, your budget. Take it even if it means reducing your expenses. Unlike savings accounts which earn a fixed, usually meager, interest rates set by banks, investing in your
company shares has the potential for a higher earning especially if you are in an industry that is
performing well in the market.

Retirement funds

Start planning your retirement as early as now. You cannot work for money forever. Have a plan for a
steady income without working by the time you are at the age you would want to retire. You can do this by starting a retirement fund you will use as your income during old age.

Of course, the size of the fund will depend on how much you will be spending monthly in the future.

Having a retirement fund frees you from worries in the future when you will lose the regular income
from your job. That is one of the smartest ways of gaining financial freedom.

Income protection

Have you thought about what would happen if you were to lose your job or any source of income
today? Can your existing assets sustain you as you are yet looking for another one?

How about if you lose not just your job, but more than that -- life or limb? How will your family fare
without their breadwinner? You might want to think about these worse case scenarios and look for ways
to protect your income.

Income protection can protect and free you from any untoward financial disasters by having a
replacement for your income. Due to the stiff competition, many insurance policies combine investment
and retirement so that when your life insurance is not used, it can be converted into a retirement fund
in the future as it earns in the market today. Look up some income protection products and see what suits you best.