If you are reading this page–then Congratulations!

You already understand that Financial Planning can help you get your financial life in order. You want to take a planned approach to achieving financial success and not depend on chance alone.

But building a Financial Plan on your own self not only seem confusing but also it is a complex process which takes into account a number of pieces of your personal financial information – like assets, liabilities, cashflows, etc

Why do we need to Plan?

Let’s start at the very beginning

What is Financial Planning?

Financial Planning is a process whereby you will have a roadmap of your personal and financial life, which will help you to meet all your life’s expenses – both the expected… (household expenses, discretionary expenses, children’s school and college fees, putting money together to buy a home, EMI payments, saving and investing for your retirement and so on) and the unexpected…(medical contingency, creating a safety fund to compensate for loss of a job or for any other emergency).

It is easy to say that as long as you are earning, your monthly salary will cover your expenses, and whatever you save you will invest, and on your retirement ,hopefully, you will have enough set aside to live the rest of your life maintaining a good lifestyle.

But we all know that there are 2 things that go against this thought:

Inflation– the one thing that kills the value of your money

Something that costs you`100today, could cost you`110 tomorrow .Imagine what it would

cost you when you retire in so many years.

An example to bring out the point:

Monthly Household expense today: 30,000

Yearsto Retirement:15

Inflation Rate: 8% p.a.

Household expense at the time of retirement, to maintain the same lifestyle:

`95,165per month

2. The improper investment of your money.

This is what can kill the potential future value of your money

For example, if you have surplus funds which you will not need for the next 5 year, and you choose to lock them into a 5 year FD to save on tax, consider that you might have been better off investing into the equity markets perhaps by way of a tax saving mutual fund – thereby getting the benefit of equity over the long term and also saving on tax.

It is theimproper investmentofyoursurplus funds that canreducethe powerofyourmoneyto maximize yourwealth.

Because of these 2 major factors, it is absolutely essential to have a strong Financial Plan that will give you awareness on where you stand today, and what steps you need to take to achieve your financial goals-Majorly creating Financial FREEDOM

Only Tax Planning is not Sufficient

We have also seen that there is a common misconception among investors today, wherein they believe that doing your tax-saving investments during the year is the same as doing financial planning.

These investors are mistaken.

Making tax-saving investments is often misconstrued as proper financial planning but financial planning is a lot more than this.

Financial Planning involves planning for your life goals such as your own retirement, your child’s education and marriage, purchase of an asset such as a house or a car, planning for annual family vacations and any other goals you may want to achieve.

FinancialPlanning–TheFirstSteps

1-WheredoyoustandToday?

Thefirststepindoinganythingofimportanceistofirstassesswhereyou standtodayandwhereitisthatyouwant toreach. Todothis,youneed to firstmeasureyourfinancialhealth,andthendetermine howyourmoney MOVES

MeasuringyourFinancialHealth

Whendealingwith yourpersonalfinances,it isthereforeimportantto start

by knowinghowfinanciallyhealthyyou aretoday.

Generallymostofusgetacompletephysicalhealthcheckuponceayear,especiallyaftera certainage.Thisis donesothatweknow ourhealth issuesifany,andcantreat anyailments beforetheycauseanydamage. Yourfinancesareasimportanttoyouasyourhealth,and deserveat leastthesameamountofcareandattention.

Herewewill support you ,toseewhereyou stand today-By Creating a wealth book on your current investment-which is created on the basis of current investment habits with which you live Bring all investment on Paper and How they are Performing –The cash flow they giving to you

2-DeterminingHowYourMoneyMoves

Whatarethefinancialhabits,or lackof them,that havebroughtustoour currentlevelof

financialhealth?

Whenyousitdownto assess yourself,You will know

Broadly, wehave four important financial quadrants,

i.eincomes, expenses, assets and liabilities.

Money tendstoflowbetweentheabovequadrants–yourincomewillfundyourexpensesand willtakecareof thefullor partpurchaseofanyassetsyoumaybuy.

Partpurchaseof assetscanbe supportedbytakingonliabilities.

Yourliabilitypaymentsarein turnagain fundedbyyour income.

Thus,themostimportant waytogeneratewealthis tolivewithinorpreferablybelowyour meansby keepinganeyeonyourmoneyflow. Forthis,youneedtofirstbeawareofwhatyour meansare andwhatyouarespendingyourmoneyon

Theuseofa personalbudgetisthesimplestandquickestwayofanalyzingwhether youareaspender,orasaver

Step1

Beawareof yourNetMonthlyIncome(posttax).

Thiscanbemore thanjustyourpaypacket.Youcanbe receivingincomefromrent,from interest,fromdividendsandsoon.

Step2

Makenoteof yourExpenses.

The mainExpenseitemsthat show up in everybody’s budgets are:

Grocerybill

Spendingon children’s school/collegetuitionfees

Shopping andentertainment,includingeatingout

Electricitybill

Travelling / fuelexpense

Telephoneand cellphone bills

Medicalexpense

Miscellaneousexpensessuchassocietychargesifyouown a homeandothers

Often, part of one’scash outflow isforexpensesand theotherpart is to fund existing liabilities.

SowecometoStep3.

Step3

Keeptrackof yourLiabilities

The main Liabilitiesthatpeoplecanhaveare:

HomeLoan (thebiggestandlongestEMIsyou willeverhavetopay)

EducationLoan

CarLoan

PersonalLoan

Cashoutflowsthat go towardsrepaymentofexistingliabilities suchashomeandcarloans,are fundingtherespectiveasset purchases.

For example,EMIpaymentsareregular,andsignificant,outflowsfromyourmonthlyincome. Beawareof therateofinterestoneachofyourliability,whetheryou canavailabetterrate elsewhere,and knowthetenureofyourloan.

Step4

InvestyourNetFreeCashto build yourwealth

Thefreecashyouhave leftafteryourexpensesaretakencareof isyour netfreecash. Thisis themoney thatwillgotowardsbuildingwealthfor yourfinancial goals andaccumulating assets.Andthis isthemostimportant partof yourmoneylife.

Itisthese‘leftover’funds,alsoknownasyour investiblesurplusthat willbuildyourwealth.Soif youfindyourself inasituationwhereyourinvestiblesurplus islow,or closetonil,youneedto veryquicklyrectifythesituation.The only waytodothat istocutbackonunnecessary expendituresi.e.expenditurethatisnotonanecessity.

Remember–itisbettertofirstinvest,andthenspendoutofwhatisleft,ratherthan tofirstspend,andtheninvestoutof whatis left.

WheredoYouWanttoReach?

Thefirst isthat you needtosetatargetofwhereyouwantto reachinlife–list outthethingsyou wantto achieve.You needto determineyourfinancial goals.

Thesecond shouldbethatthemoreyouareawareand knowledgeable ofyourfinances,thebettertheywillperform. Everybody wouldbenefitfromimproving theirfinancial literacy.

Let us address the first factor:

DeterminingYourFinancialGoals-

Weallliveandstriveforcertaingoalsinlife.Goals andobjectivesprovidefocus,purposeand visiontothefinancialplanningprocess.Bysettingyourfinancial goalsyouwillbe abletodefine your priorities,establisha directionandidentifytheresultsthatyouexpect to achieve.

Whenlistingdownyourfinancialgoals,takecaretomakeyourgoalsmeasurable,realisticand timebound.

STEP1

IdentifyingYourFinancialGoals

Commonfinancial goalscaninclude:

Purchaseof home

Purchaseof Car

Child’s Education

Supportingyourparents

Child’sMarriage

Retirement

Vacation

Buying HolidayHome

WealthAccumulation

CreatingTrusts

Charity

STEP2

Improving Personal Financial Literacy

The ultimate goal of improving your personal financial literacy is to make smart money decisions andimprove yourfinancial well-being.

Financialknowledgeandawareness canhelpyoutakematuredecisionsoneverytopicof personal financefromyourexpenses, savings,budgeting tousingplasticmoneywisely.Eachof these decisionshasanimpactonyourfinancesoverall,andhencetheabilitytomakegood financial decisions isveryimportant.

Improvingyour personalfinancial literacywillnotonly enhanceyour financial freedom,butalso overtimeprovidefinancial securityandstability

Sohowdoyouimproveyourpersonalfinancialliteracy?

Startbybuildingupyourfinancialawareness–youcanreadgoodpersonalfinancewebsites,newslettersandread thefinancial newspapers

Speak to your unbiased Financial Planner to give you an honest view on whether a particular financial decision is the right one to make or not.

Every single informed decision you make will go towards making the most of your financial plan.

TO BUILD YOUR WEALTH- BUILD YOUR KNOWLEDGE

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