Everyone who walks out of school in a toga is confronted with this question: What is the next step?

The traditional views run along the lines of getting a job and saving money, and all for the same purpose: to get by and provide for a family.

These all sound very practical, but altogether vague.

It’s been over a decade since we graduated from college ourselves, so we’ve condensed lessons from life, books, articles, seminars, and workshops into five attainable steps.

Get a job, yes, but don’t limit yourself.

On the side, you can try your hand at business, real estate buy‑and‑sell, jewelry, or even paper assets like stocks and bonds. Your employment plus entrepreneurial gains are considered your active income. To complement this, you can also have passive income. These are earned from renting out property, royalties from your intellectual property like previously written work, invented patents, or composed music, or yield from investments. There is so much money available, find out how to get your share of it from all sorts of ventures.

There is a difference between getting by in life and getting more from life, and the secret is in this formula: INCOME ‑ SAVINGS = EXPENSES. Most people spend their salaries the moment they receive them, either on necessary bills or other wants; but sometimes there is none left for savings, or worse, their expenses exceed their earnings resulting in debt. What has helped us through the years is setting aside a specific percentage of our income, while also ensuring that the expenses we have fit well within our means.

Younger generations lose their foresight when they hear of 3‑day sales or presented with the latest gadgets. With consumerism bombarding our senses from billboards to social media, it is becoming increasingly difficult not to want want want now now now; but this is the trap that causes people to live from paycheck to paycheck. With so many delayed payment options now available, some fall under the illusion that their purchases will pay themselves off. Some forget that credit cards are merely representations of their actual money, and assume that swiping is the end of the transaction. Be smarter than that, and prioritize.

Believe us, it is how the rich became rich, but it is not only for the rich. Nowadays, you can open stock market and mutual fund accounts with just ₱5,000. The trick is finding an investment vehicle that will yield higher interests, higher than those the banks offer for your deposit. Invested money can only grow over time, so be patient and put into your portfolios regularly—this goes hand in hand with paying yourself first.

Why now? Because it gives you the chance to decide if you want to retire earlier than the government‑mandated age of 60. You can stop working any time you want if you can secure provisions for your future. Decide on the age you want to retire by, and compute the numbers needed to sustain the lifestyle you envision. Retirement is the end goal to financial freedom: it means you no longer need to work for money, but you have your money work for you.

These steps are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many opportunities out there waiting for you to tap into them. Don’t put these off until you have a better job or a bigger paycheck.

Remember: It’s not how much money you make, it’s how much money you keep.

“My dad came to the Philippines 30 years ago with nothing but ₱500 in his pocket,” said racer, actor, and now Sun Life brand ambassador Matteo Guidicelli. The 27 year‑old Cebuano, a grandson of the late Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan, was born to an Italian father and a Filipino mother. About his father, Mr. Guidicelli said: “(H)e climbed the ladder, driving his motorcycle around Cebu looking for products to export back to Italy. I want to climb my ladder too, starting from zero.”

He is aware of the pitfalls some of his contemporaries have fallen into when their fame started to fade. “We really have to be smart about what we’re gonna do with our finances,” he said. “It’s very, very important to know where your finances are going and how we’re saving it.”

Mr. Guidicelli, along with Sun Life bank and alternate distribution channels head Gerald Bautista and chief marketing officer Mylene Lopa in a press conference last May 17, announced an upcoming vlog (video blog) series called “Make It Mutual” which will be launched in June. The series, which stars Mr. Guidicelli, aims to explain mutual funds to millennials, and to get them to invest early, regardless of whether they’re already wealthy or aspiring to become wealthy. Managing mutual funds is only one of the financial services provided by Sun Life Asset Management Company, Inc.

How does Mr. Guidicelli define mutual funds in a way that’s easy to understand? A preview of the vlog was shown during the press conference, where he likened mutual funds, or a pool of funds from different investors in different securities, to: “travelling with your barkada, you share the highs and lows of the trip, and you share the risks and the potential reward.” Meanwhile, he likened mutual fund managers to travel agencies, which would guide how the fund would earn over time just like how agencies handle the details of a trip.

And who doesn’t like to travel? Travelling, getting a new car, starting a family, and buying a house are among the goals of millennials as they charge towards the cusp of their careers to earn the money that they need.

“In terms of finances, research says that adulting millennials are open to investing and they’re willing to allocate a portion of their earnings in investments,” Ms. Lopa said, defining “adulting millennials” as those above the age of 25, who are in the middle of their careers. However, she added, these millennials feel “locked” in a cycle of “work, eat, sleep, repeat, a very busy lifestyle.”

“But they have a lot of life goals—they want to travel, have a business, own their own house or car, but they’re not sure how to go about achieving their goals,” said Ms. Lopa. “If you don’t do anything, all your goals will remain goals unless we exert effort to achieve it.”

That’s where mutual funds come in as an option. While different financial agencies would offer different rates, investing in mutual funds with Sun Life’s prosperity card program starts at ₱5,000, more or less a month’s worth of designer coffee.

“My ₱5,000 gained 6% interest in less than a year,” Mr. Guidicelli testified. He has been a client of Sun Life for the past three years. Mr. Bautista, who serves as the young racer’s financial adviser (or in Mr. Guidicelli’s own words “ka‑MU [mutual understanding]” when it comes to money matters), described him as a meticulous investor who does due diligence, working with him in order to improve his finances.

“We’re trying to get millennials to start early, because the longer you wait. the longer it would take (to earn),” Mr. Guidicelli explained. “And it’s not true that you’re not gonna to be able to travel or do what you want. Imagine if you’re going to make ipon now, and you invest, you can have nicer travels along the way. You’ll have security, knowing that in five, ten years from now, you’ll still have money.”