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In India we must have often seen elders, working class and business people doing financial and investment planning at the beginning of the financial year. Usually investment planning is done after an individual has wavered off their individual taxes for the impending year and they are set roll into the next financial year. Some people turn lax and keep delaying their financial planning without realizing that they will have to scramble all over again to complete all their tax saving investments at the end of the year putting unnecessary stress on their finances.

Before making any investments or insurances it is necessary that an individual prepares a concrete investment plan that would be used as a blueprint to guide all their investment activities throughout the year. This will also make sure that wherever the individual is investing he can track the return for it simultaneously at the end of the year and accordingly prepare tax saving documents. Investment in India is given so much of importance for lot of reasons. Most importantly India has emerged as one of the powerful countries in terms of economic growth during the last decade. Along with this majority of our earning population is young which also means that there is high return on investment, thereby making India as a favourable destination for investments. Also we are a family and religion oriented country and therefore we always tend to invest in things that would secure our families future against any crisis and would provide timely financial aid. There are numerous plans offered by investment guru such as retirement plans, education plans, mutual funds, bonds, property etc. Two things that are extremely important before you start investing are one thing that every individual needs to do at the beginning of the year is to invest in Public Provident Fund (PPF).

This needs to be done before the fifth of every year as the interest would be paid on the invested money only if the money is invested before the fifth. Another thing to do in the beginning of the financial year is to invest in systematic investment plan which is more or less like a recurring deposit where small amount of money is invested every month and the frequency of the investment can vary between monthly and quarterly. The amount earned on the investment in mutual funds solely depends on the external market conditions and economic growth rate both of which are known to fluctuate rapidly. Therefore it is always better to invest small amounts of money during the beginning of the month for a small duration as it would lead to higher returns by the end of the term. Apart from this, the three things that guide investment in mutual funds are risk, time frame and diversified portfolio. Risk here refers to the amount of risk an individual is willing to take.

Higher the risk, greater are the returns. Time frame refers to the duration for which an individual would like to invest in shares which are guided by external market conditions. Lastly, diversified portfolio means investing in different types of investments where one gets the option of moving between different types of funds reducing the risk of losses.

Some of the common types of financial plans that clients opt for are comprehensive financial plan, retirement plans, goal plans, education loan plans, risk management, tax planning, debt management, salary structuring, debt management etc. Out of these the comprehensive financial plan is considered to be the best investment by an individual for his as well as his family’s well being. It is a strategy that creates a roadmap for achieving all your financial goals throughout the life without compromising on any of the expenses. It also provides financial security in terms of crisis or other serious issues.