At our very first encounter, he shot his first query, “Why should I plan?”
I countered by stating,
“You will need Rs.2.75 crore upon retirement. Are you prepared for it?
In 2003, the fees at IIMs were around Rs.3 lakh. By 2012, the same jumped to Rs.15 lakh. Will you be able to send Neha to IIM when she graduates?
Every time we visit a doctor we bid goodbye to a 1000 rupee note and if unfortunately we land in a hospital, our bank balance plunges by lakhs. Can you afford it?
Apart from all this, wouldn’t you want to drive a nice car, own a nice house, buy a nice smart-phone and go on nice vacations?”
In the words of Bill Copeland — “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” I added.
With an income of Rs.50,000 per month and an additional Rs.22,000 that Swati brought in every month, he realized that he needed an effective strategy to realize his financial objectives.
Jayesh then fired his next salvo “Fine, so how do I go about it?”
“Very simple” I replied “Just as how a road-map tells where you stand, where you wish to go and the best possible routes to take; a financial plan synonymously tells what you earn and own, what your desires are and the best possible investment techniques to achieve them.”
"Do you remember how you built your home? It was your financial capacity that decided the budget. Your family and your personal tastes with preferences decided the décor and furnishing. Do you remember the endless dining table discussions, multiple market visits, haggling on prices, debating the colours and arguments with the carpenters? You didn’t arbitrarily choose the sofas, the beds, the curtains, the cupboards, the ACs…did you? You didn’t simply hire the interior decorators and give them a free hand…did you?
On the same lines, given your unique financial profile, preferences and attitudes, it is but obvious that your Financial Plan too should be unique to you. There cannot be a Plan that is common to everyone."
With this brief introduction, I took Jayesh through a sample financial plan which demonstrated how we can easily design, implement and follow our Personal Financial Plan — by following a series of simple and logical steps.
The bottom-line: Therefore, roll up your sleeves and start building a wonderful financial destiny for your family and yourself.
...Know how you can design your financial destiny in my latest book 'Your Guide to Finance and Investments' (which, as informed few days ago, is available at an amazing 35% discount, for Rs.
