Financial Planning
Financial Planning is a process which involves addressing all the financial goals of clients and advising them on how to achieve their short, medium, long term or any other specific goals.
Investment Planning
Investment Planning determines the optimum investment and asset allocation strategies based on the time horizon, risk profile and financial goals of the investor. It is the main component of financial planning. Investment Planning begins with identification of goals and objectives of the investor. Then these goals are matched with the available financial resources. Nowadays, there are many investment vehicles to invest in; most common being cash, equities, bonds, commodities, real estate and alternative investment products. Hence, as per the available asset classes or through investment vehicles, investment can be made achieve the said financial goals and objectives.
By helping investors to set out clear and measurable goals, we can match the most suitable mixture of investments to each specific goal in the most efficient way. From the outset, it is important to build a strong foundation and as your circumstances change, we help you make necessary adjustments to keep you on track of your financial goals and objectives.
Tax Planning
Tax Planning includes planning of income, expenses and investments in a tax efficient manner to gain maximum benefit of the prevailing tax laws.
Taxes in India are of two types – Direct and Indirect. Taxes that cannot be collected from third parties and whose burden directly falls on the tax payer are called Direct Taxes. Personal Income Tax, Corporate Tax and Wealth Tax are examples of Direct Taxes. Indirect Taxes are those whose burden can generally be passed on to third parties and can be rightfully collected from them. The principal Indirect Taxes levied in India are Goods and Services Tax (GST), Custom Duty, Excise Duty, etc.
Personal Income Tax
Personal Income Tax is levied on the incomes of individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), firms, bodies of individuals and other associations of persons. Personal income tax is progressive – the rate of tax rises as the level of income rises.
Retirement Planning
Retirement Planning is the process of ensuring that there are sufficient financial resources to provide a desired lifestyle during the retirement years of an individual. This process runs through different life stages of an individual. It starts with the commencement of an individual’s working life, when the retirement plan is first put in place. Then the individual goes through his working life, accumulating funds which are required to build up a retirement nest. And finally, it is the retirement period itself, during which the individual needs to manage his corpus in such a way that it lasts throughout his retirement years. Hence, retirement planning starts long before you retire. The thumb rule is that, the sooner you start, the better it is. The retirement corpus is the amount you need to carry on with your retired life comfortably and is highly personalised. How much corpus you need depends on how you live and how you want to live after retirement.
Retirement planning generally looks at answering three fundamental questions:
- Goal setting – How much amount does one need on retirement?
- Contribution and time horizon – How much amount one can save on regular basis or lump sum for the retirement goal?
- Risk tolerance – How much risk one can take to reach the retirement goal?
Cash Flow Planning
Cash Flow refers to the inflow and outflow of money. It is a record of income and expenses. The purpose of cash flow planning is to ensure a surplus. So, it is extremely important to analyse each and every item in the income and expenditure statements and do a budgeting. Cash flow planning also includes the identification of the future incomes and expenditures (both short-term and long-term) and making planned investments so that the required amount is accumulated within the required time frame. For successful cash flow planning, one needs to identify his cash flow planning needs and select an approach that will satisfy those needs. Many people will need a comprehensive cash flow plan that may include detailing of all items of cash inflow & outflow, monitoring & evaluating compliance with the plan. Some people will need a simplified cash flow plan. This plan may include only a cash management system to ensure that amounts needed to fund financial goals are invested.
Contact an expertRisk Management & Insurance Planning
Insurance Planning is determining the adequacy of insurance cover required by an individual to cover the risk associated with one’s life, medical emergencies and assets. It includes Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Insuring Physical Assets & Accident/Disability Insurance. Whereas in the financial world, risk management is the process of identification, analysis, and acceptance or mitigation of uncertainty in investment decisions. Essentially, risk management occurs when an investor or investment manager analyses and attempts to quantify the potential for losses in an investment.
Steps of risk management:
1. Identifying existing risk: Risk identification involves immense brainstorming. In this stage, a review is conducted for all sources of risk. After that, all the identified risks are arranged in the order of priority.
2. Analysing the risk: This step involves analysing how likely it is that a risk will occur and that it will have a measurable impact.
Some of the common ways of mitigating risk include:
- Transferring the risk.
- Avoiding the risk
- Controlling the risk
- Accepting the risk
3. Monitoring the risk: Whoever owns the risk will be responsible for tracking its progress towards resolution. But you will need to stay updated to have an accurate picture & overall progress to identify and monitor new risks.
4. Control: We can control risk only in limited extent. By avoiding the risk or by non-participating severe risk.
Estate Planning / Wealth Transfer
Estate planning refers to the organized approach to managing the accumulated assets of a person in the interest of the intended beneficiaries. Wealth may be accumulated with a specific purpose of being passed on to heirs, to charity, or to any other intended purpose. Without formal structures that ensure that these purposes are met, there could be disputes, conflicting claims, legal battles, avoidable taxes and unstructured pay-offs that may not be in the best interest of the beneficiaries. Estate planning covers the structural, financial, legal and tax aspects of managing wealth in the interest of the intended beneficiaries.
The term 'estate' includes all assets and liabilities belonging to a person at the time of his death. This may include assets as well as claims, a deceased is entitled to receive or pay. The term estate is used for assets whose legal owner has deceased, but they have not been passed on to the beneficiaries and other claimants. Once transferred, the estate becomes the assets of the beneficiary who has received the legal ownership. Estate can also be passed on to a trust and managed by trustees, in which case, ownership is with a distinct entity, but periodical benefits from the estate is passed on to beneficiaries. There is no uniform code for civil law that exists in India with respect to this.
The consequences of dying intestate are very severe in nature. If a person dies without making a will, he is said to have died “intestate” and in such case his property will be inherited by his heirs in accordance with laws of succession applicable to him. The end result may not be what the person would have intended. If the dependents include minor or incapacitated children, more than one spouse, elderly parents or in-laws, or siblings and siblings-in-law, there may be disputes in distribution of assets. Distribution of estate may also suffer due to lengthy legal procedures and administration costs. This could add both inconvenience and financial burden to the family. Succession is governed by personal laws, which will apply in the case of intestate death. Different personal laws apply as follows:
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The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Applicable to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs)
- Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Applicable to Christians, Jews and Parsis)
- Mohammedan Personal laws (Governing inheritance of Muslims)
The prolonged dispute, legal battles and costs can be avoided, if intestate death is prevented through timely estate planning.
Contact an expertSpecific Goal Planning
When it comes to personal finance, everyone’s situation is unique. No one has the same bills, rents, debts or lifestyle. When you are ready to take control of your financial lifestyle, you need a plan that will answer your specific problems, not your neighbour’s. A specific financial goal is a target to aim for, when managing your money. It can involve saving, spending, earning or even investing. When you have a clear picture of what you are aiming for, working towards your target becomes easy. This means that your goals should be measurable, specific and time oriented. There are several types of general specific financial goals:
- Short-term goals: These are financial targets that can be reached within 1 – 3 years.
- Mid-term goals: These are financial targets that can be reached within 3 – 5 years.
- Long-term goals: These are financial targets that can be reached after 5 years onwards.
For better understanding, here are a few examples of specific goals:
- Pay Off Debt
- Strive for Homeownership
- Plan for Hobby
- Retirement Planning
- Children Education
- Vacation Planning
- Wealth Creation
- Planning for Charity