Financial Planning

Two years back, my Mom, out of a blue, started gardening.

She started with 3 plants (pots), which she bought from the market and placed it in the balcony. Watering the plants, checking the soil and keeping a check on the plant’s growth, become her daily obsession & favourite routine.

There’s very common saying “Do not keep all your eggs in same basket. Diversification means same, do not invest in only one asset class/only one sector. In India people generally prefer in investing in only two asset classes which are Gold & Real Estate.Historically they are known to give good returns & less risky,But in order to secure your portfolio from all ends & to earn more than inflation rate “Diversification” is very important.

Once you have selected the financial advisor/planner of your choice, the next step will be to meet them and discuss about your financial plan. Your advisor will need to ask you questions related to personal and professional matters to get to know you better and to device suitable plan for you. This means that you should be honest with your advisor with questions relating to these matters, especially when it comes to disclosing your income.

The purpose of financial planning is to achieve your goals. Your goals help you to shape your investments as per your requirement. Therefore, you must be very clear about your goals before you start planning your finances. Your financial advisor will also be able to help you better if you are clear with your goal. Here’s what you should consider before finalising financial goals.

When it comes to planning you finances it will be best if you seek help of a financial advisor. Not everyone has knowledge about financial matters and it will be better if you take professional advice for managing your finances. By managing your own finances or taking advice from friends and relatives, you may not be able to successfully manage your finances and thereby miss your goals.

LTA doesn’t need any introduction; but has a tricky claim process & understanding.

First & foremost, one can claim LTA only for 2 years in a block of 4 years (current block is 2018-21). In case of no-claim in this block of 4 years, you are allowed to carry forward one-year, i.e. if you have not claimed in previous block (2014-17), now for current block, you can claim for three years 😉.

It is seen that many people take financial decisions based on recommendation by their family, friends, colleagues, etc. These are the people whom we know well and therefore take their advice without thinking too much. However, these people may not be knowledgeable enough to give you advice or recommend a financial product.

Are you among those people who think that they are too young to start saving for retirement? If yes then there is a need to change your outlook. Many people start retirement planning only when they are close to retirement. This is not a good idea as the later you start the lower will be your retirement corpus and vice versa. This is because it takes time for money to grow and give reasonable returns and if you start late your money will not have enough time to grow.