It is useful to everyone. Very few can consider themselves too rich to engage in Financial Planning. There are many instances of highly paid employees who came to financial grief merely because they did not plan for their post-career years. Similarly, even people earning small amounts of income should undertake this process, as it will help them in prioritizing their goals so that their limited income can be used more efficiently.

Financial planning provides direction and meaning to your financial decisions. It allows you to understand how each financial decision you make affects other areas of your finances. For example, buying a particular investment product might help you save adequately to finance your child’s higher education or it may provide enough for a comfortable retirement. You can also adapt more easily to life changes and feel more secure that your goals are on track.

It is hard to apply a rule of thumb toward savings, because it varies with age and income level. About twenty to thirty percent of your income is a good start. If you find that is too high for you, don’t let that deter you. You can start by putting a little aside each month and then slowly increasing it.

Consider a visit to your doctor. Without complete and fully accurate details, your doctor cannot prescribe the best course of action. The same applies to financial planning. In order to obtain the best service for your ‘financial health’ all details and specifics must be disclosed.

No. There is a misconception about SIP that it is for smaller investment amount but that is not the case. There is no upper limit to the SIP amount and you can SIP for as much investment amount as you want.

To cater to different investment needs, Mutual Funds offer various investment plans. Some of the important investment plans include: Growth Option Dividend is not paid-out under a Growth Plan and the investor realises only the capital appreciation on the investment (by an increase in NAV). Dividend Payout Option Dividends are paid-out to investors under a Dividend Payout Option. However, the NAV of the mutual fund scheme falls to the extent of the dividend payout. Dividend Re-investment Plan Here the dividend accrued on mutual funds is automatically re-invested in purchasing additional units in open-ended funds. In most cases mutual funds offer the investor an option of collecting dividends or re-investing the same. Retirement Pension Plan Some schemes are linked with retirement pension. Individuals participate in these plans for themselves, and corporates participate for their employees. Insurance Plan Certain Funds offer some schemes that offer insurance cover to investors. Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) Here the investor is given the option of preparing a pre-determined number of post-dated cheques (or a direct debit of the bank account) in favour of the fund. The investor is allotted units on a pre-determined date specified in the Offer Document at the applicable NAV. Systematic Encashment Plan (SEP) As opposed to the Systematic Investment Plan, the Systematic Encashment Plan allows the investor the facility to withdraw a pre-determined amount / units from his fund at a pre-determined interval. The investor’s units will be redeemed at the applicable NAV as on that day. Redemption price is the price received by the customer on selling units of an open-ended scheme to the fund. If the fund does not levy an exit load, the redemption price will be same as the NAV. The redemption price will be lower than the NAV in case the fund levies an exit load.

Typically, information regarding investments held, number of dependants, income and expenditure details, savings and financial planning needs, etc. The more accurate information you give, the better the quality of advice can be.