A short guide to Hire a Good Financial Planner in India

POSTED BY Jagoinvestor ON January 31, 2010 COMMENTS (262)

Are you looking for Financial Planner? If you are, you should go through this article that talks about almost all the necessary information you need before hiring a financial planner. Most of the clients are confused on simple things like, where to find a good financial planner, what they should expect from financial planner and most importantly they do not understand the financial planning environment in India and how it operates. There are lots of myths and misunderstanding around the financial planning field and this article will give you most of the basic information you need to be aware of while hiring a Financial Planner.

What is a Financial Planner and what is the Certification for Financial Planning

A financial planner is a professional who helps his clients to deal with various personal finance issues through proper planning. Just like we have a doctor for our physical problems, we have Financial planners for our Financial problems. Just because you know “what is a Mutual fund” or some “Tax laws” or can buy and sell stocks on Stock market, it does not mean that you don’t need a Financial planner. Financial Planners are professionals who have done the certification, have learned strategies and have gone through in-depth knowledge to understand how to restructure a common man’s financial mess and come up with a sound long term plan which will help a client achieve his/her financial goals in future.

Just like CA, MBA, CS and other professional certifications, there exist a certification course for Financial Planning which is called CFP (Certified Financial Planner). Read more about CFP Here. CFP is regarded as the top most certification in Financial Planning and it is recognized worldwide in majority of the countries.

The 6 steps of Financial Planning which every Financial Planner has to go through are

  • Step 1: Setting goals with the client
  • Step 2: Gathering relevant information on the client
  • Step 3: Analyzing the information
  • Step 4: Constructing a financial plan
  • Step 5: Implementing the strategies in the plan
  • Step 6: Monitoring implementation and reviewing the plan

Who is not a Financial Planner:

A lot of CA’s, CS’s, MBA (finance), CFA, ICWA and other Finance related professionals feel that they are the right professionals to do Financial planning for individuals. Just because “Financial Planning” or “Personal Finance” has “finance” word associated with it; does not mean that any one from different finance field can be a Financial Planner. Financial Planning is very different from what CA, CFA or a MBA Finance does.

Financial planning deals with individual personal finance, his future financial goals, the risk taking appetite. Having  CFA or MBA (finance) as qualification will definitely help at some level and may be some CA’s, CFA’s or MBA (Finance) have a great understanding of Financial Planning, but it’s not true for everyone in general. In the same way, any ULIP Agent, Insurance Adviser or Mutual funds agent, Wealth Manager, PMS guy is not a Financial Planner. These people are there to assist a Financial Planner to sell the products. In the analogy of Medicine field, Financial Planner is a Doctor and all these agents, Wealth managers etc. are like Compounders.

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Where to find a Financial Planner (Important)

There are two ways of hiring a Financial Planner for your self:

1. Hiring a CFP

In case you want to hire a CFP (which is recommended) you can get a list of CFP’s in India at FPSB website link, Click here.  You can find out CFP based on

  • Name/Company
  • City/State
  • Nature of Employment

Tip: You should search for CFP’s who are “Independent Financial Planners” or “Self Employed”. Read further to understand the reason.

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2. Hiring a non-CFP

You can also Hire a non-CFP but you have to be very careful while doing that. Before CFP certification came to India, we had excellent planners in the Industry who understood the financial planning process subconsciously and still practice that but without having the CFP certification. These people can be from various backgrounds but can have sound financial planning knowledge. They are rare species. Some of them who I can think of are people like P V Subramanyam.

The biggest problem one faces in hiring a Financial planner is the “Trust”. So you need to have some level of trust with Financial planner and for that you need to interact with him, spend time with him, get references from family and friends and once you are satisfied you can then hire him/her. A financial planner at the end is someone who is also interested in educating you and not just making money from you. Just imagine a doctor who gives you medicine, but does not tell you the preventive measures to take, so that you are not ill next time. Would you like to visit him again and again?  He should be interested in educating you up to a level where you can take informed decisions yourself. Only then you can call him a good doctor, the same applies to a financial planner.

Current Status of Financial Planning Practice in India

There are two ways a Financial Planner makes money

  1. By pure consulting and advising (by making the financial plan)
  2. Through Commissions (from products sold to clients)
  3. Combination of 1 and 2

In India people dont value consulting and hence Financial planners are having a hard time getting clients whom they can charge on pure consulting basis. Therefore what has happened is most of them make money through commissions from selling the products. Based on this fact most of the agents, wealth managers etc have completed CFP certification just because they can get the tag of “Financial planner” and then make a financial plan and finally sell products to them and make good commissions, hence at present the current status is that 8 out of 10 CFP’s in India are associated with some mutual funds or Insurance company as  either of

  • Analyst
  • Asset manager
  • Branch manager
  • Accountant
  • Vice president
  • Adviser
  • Senior manager
  • Wealth manager

They are still doing the same old work with a new certification in hand called “CFP” because they know that in coming days  CFP’s is what everyone will prefer to hire for their Financial planning and similar services. These so called just for name sake CFP’s make the financial plan and when you buy the products, they will make majority of their money through commissions.

So what you have to look for while hiring a financial planner is that He/She should be independent Financial planner and should not be associated with some Mutual funds or Insurance company and has no compulsion of executing the plan through him. There should be freedom in Clients hand that he/she can execute the plan from anywhere he/she wants. As an additional service Financial planner can give an option to have financial plan executed through them, but it should never be compulsory because otherwise there will always be some level of biased attitude while recommending products to you.

The biggest problem with Financial Planning is that still “Financial Planning” is confused with “Investment Planning”. The moment I tell someone I am a Financial Planning writer, they start asking me stupid questions like

  • What do you think Market will do tomorrow?
  • Which is the best mutual fund?
  • I have 5 lacs spare cash, how should I invest it so that I get maximum returns?

No one talks anything other than investment. Financial Planning is more than just investment planning, it’s much more than that. Read more to understand what is the goal of Financial planning.

Why to Hire an Independent Financial Planner

Do you know how a Financial Plan is made? No you don’t! Here are the problems with the Financial Plans:

1  No Personal Touch

What most of the Financial planning company or professionals do is that they have automated Financial Planning software in which they just stuff your data and create a Financial Plan automatically with a single click. This can take just minutes. While there is nothing wrong in creating the basic template of Financial Plan with help of a software but what really matters is how much of that is customized to a client’s needs personally? So a financial planner should give enough time to tweak the financial plan to suit a clients need, which is more though for Financial planners working for big organisations especially mutual funds and Insurance companies because they have to stick too much to the template they use and not to much of customization is done or recommended.

An Independent Financial Planner has more liberty and flexibility to make a financial plan which will be more suitable for you. So if he wants to add some extra part to financial plan or want to restructure something totally, it’s possible with independent financial planner but it’s rigid with non-independent financial planners.

2. Lack of quality

Everyone like beautiful pictures, we are attracted to beautiful people no matter what crap they are from inside. Some of the best looking things in the world are totally shit. Same is true for Financial Plans, that most of the financial plans I have seen has beautiful pictures, amazing color schemes, beautifully designed tables and great back ground but when it comes to content and the quality of Financial plan they suck big time! There is nothing great about them. But clients like them because we are visual animals and we assume a clean and beautiful thing literally at face value. I do not say that all clean and beautiful financial plans are crap but most of them really are. A simple analogy is a dish you get at 5 star hotels and some authentic but not so well known eating place, the food you get at 5 star hotel will look great and there will be too much time spent on making it beautiful but at the end it can taste very average or some time even foul, but the food you get at home or some less known place may taste better and may be more healthier but then it might just look okay and not “beautiful”.

A financial planner who is independent and takes limited clients does not have time and energy to work on beautification of financial plan, he mainly works on making financial plan better and not the looks of financial plan. So if you watch a financial plan from an Independent financial planner, it might not look as beautiful as from other planners.

What to Look into a Financial Planner

You should watch out for following things in Preference

  • Competence or Knowledge
  • Confidence
  • Your level of Trust and comfort with Financial Planner
  • Frankness

What to not look into a Financial Planner

  • Promise of Returns
  • Magic (financial planner is not some magician who will fix all your problems and will make a financial plan which will try to achieve all you want)
  • Instant Performance

How much to Pay to a Financial Planner

This is a debatable topic, still let’s try to understand and find out how much do Financial Planners deserve.

Financial Planners in US and Australia gets as much as $150 to $200 per hour. (that’s close to 7.5k – 10k per hour). Financial Planners in India cannot and should not ask for that kind of money for two reasons:

  1. They will not get it 🙂
  2. FP is new in India and there is still not standard procedure or standards to create a financial plan. So what they can expect is not more than $30-$40 max per hour.

Now in India people will literally laugh if a Financial planner asks money in per hour basis, it’s just not what Indians can imagine. Imagine doctors asking per hour fees here or lawyers or anyone. We Indians like to pay one time fees or lump sum fees, that’s the model India runs on. A good financial plan takes around at least 10-12 working hours (strongly focused and distributed across several days). From that stand point a price in range of 10k – 25k looks reasonable for a Financial plan. Anyone who is charging less than Rs 10,000 is undervaluing it and working more for less money. Other point is, you have to understand that all financial planners differ from each other and the amount of detail and care they take while creating it.

Comments, Please share your views on what are the other issues you guys face/ will face while choosing a financial planner. In case you know of a good Financial Planner, feel free to share here.

Check my latest trip Pictures at Netrani Islands . I did Scubadiving , snorkeling and Tent Camping .

262 replies on this article “A short guide to Hire a Good Financial Planner in India”

  1. Vishal Kumar says:

    A good financial advisor will make every effort that investment portfolio is appropriate for you, based on who you are, your life stage and what you want to achieve, what a financial advisor does is like a diagnostic test of your financial health. Every individual has its own risk taking capacity and a financial advisor provides a risk return profile as per individual’s risk appetite.

    1. Jagoinvestor says:

      Thanks For sharing!

  2. Kiran H says:

    Hi Manish.

    Thank you for educating the people regarding financial planning and financial planners.
    Points you made in the article are helpful to hire a Financial planner
    Thank you keep writing and updating people

    1. Glad to know that Kiran H ..

  3. sandip says:

    dear sir
    can u tell me that investment in Adarsh Credit Co-Operative Society Ltd. is safe or not

    1. Hi sandip

      Thanks for asking your question. However, I dont think I am eligible to answer your query as its either out of scope of my knowledge or its not related to money matter directly

      Manish

  4. SanjeevKumarSharma says:

    Hi Manish

    I have been investing in Equity, MF, SIP and insurance since 2002 and I want your expert advice for best investing.
    Could you please help me for this? Do I need to hire you? If yes how much it will cost me?

    Regards.

    Sanjeev Kumar Sharma

  5. Amit says:

    Nice article explaining the importance of a financial planner. I am looking out for one. I spoke with one of the CFP’s and he is charging 2-3% of the total amount invested annually. Isn’t that too much? There has been quite some time since this article was written so I wanted to know the current state. Aren’t the fees fixed like you mention between 10-25k or are they variable? Note that I am requesting for a tailor made financial plan from the planner.

    1. Yes fees should mostly be fixed. We ourself charge a fix fees

      If you are ok with online financial planning you can also apply with us – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/solutions/financial-planning

      Manish

  6. Shyam says:

    Hi Manish,

    Really helpful article – thanks a lot! I have had a hard time explaining to some close friends why I want to hire a CFP and your article sums it up beautifully.

    I could not access the link to the list of CFPs in India – could you share the link to that page? I’m finding it quite challenging to actually find independent CFPs in Mumbai :/

    Regards,
    Shyam

    1. Hi Shyam

      Thanks for sharing that!

      I am not sure of the links or any CFP as such. You can look on net for that

      Manish

  7. tom says:

    You have said what a Financial Manager does not do but what does he actually do? Why don’t you tell us by means of an example what a FM is reasonably expected to produce? You could, for instance, give an example portfolio. That would help understand the fine distinction between a true FM and those who just happen to hold a job in finance in a firm.

  8. uma says:

    Hi manish,

    im from Bangalore looking out for a financial planner m as my company is suggesting me to get into contract basis to help me on my tax , could you please suggest me on this or provide ur no if you from banaglore
    would be a great help

    1. We dont have contacts in Bangalore for FP

  9. Abhishek says:

    very well explained manish!!!

    1. Glad to know that Abhishek ..

  10. Jana Reddy says:

    Thanks for you patience in writing these informative articles. I came across this site 2 to 3 days back..I am reading all the old threads to get some basic’s .Yes FP is required. I understood the importance of it. Soon i will take ur services.

    1. Glad to know that Jana ..

  11. Shankar says:

    Great article, Manish. Do you have any suggestions for Mumbai?

    1. Not as such.

      Are you not ok with online option ? We also have services incase you want to explore – https://www.jagoinvestor.com/services/

  12. varsha says:

    A great article Manish….Thanks a lot… Lot many things got cleared…

    1. Glad to know that varsha ..

  13. Shreya says:

    I would have needed this article 2 years back. I just came across it, luckily I have my financial planners in place. Right Horizons is the best choice in India, I am sure of it. I’ve had such a great run with them. I kept thinking I’ll be earning a fixed amount, but I actually got great advice from them and was able to nearly double my income by investing it in the right places. So I know that I have chosen my planners wisely, it’s a great article though thanks.

    1. Glad to know that Shreya ..

  14. Shree says:

    Quite informative article! So, if I need professional help in managing my savings, spending etc so that I dont face financial crisis, is a financial advisor the person I must be searching for ?

    1. Yes, if you really need help of someone external, then you can approach a financial advisor

  15. Samrat says:

    Hello Manish,

    The article you posted certainly is very informative especially when you have attempted to cover sensitive topics such as how much to pay for a Financial Planner.
    Also I would not deny that till date I have been assuming that Financial Planners are just people offering mutual funds, insurances and n number of products.
    I would certainly like to get a Financial Planner for planning my family and my own future.
    Thanks Again Manish,
    Please do not mind if I post some stupid questions to you.

    Regards
    Samrat Shinde

    1. Glad to know that Samrat ..

  16. Bharathi says:

    Very informative.

    1. Thanks for your comment Bharathi

  17. Nishtha says:

    Very useful information.. Well researched.

  18. Sandip Kumar Sinha says:

    Hi Manish

    I stay in Bangalore. I need online financial planning. Please revert back to me on my gmail id on how we can proceed further.

    1. Sandip

      You can visit – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/services/financial-planning

      its all explained there!

      Manish

  19. Rekha says:

    Can you please suggest a good financial planner in Chennai?

  20. Pingback: Cfp Course Material India – CFP Box
  21. Somesh says:

    A very well written article after reading this article few days back I am a regular redar of your article…and I must say each article is awesome.

    From past 4 months I have started doing investments but as I progress I feel I need a person who can guide me and correct me. For the same I am looking for a Financial planner who not only helps in creating my plan but teaches me as well. I mean if I want to execute on my own then help me if I am stuck or I am not able to figure out.

    Let me know of some reliable CFPs. I live in bangalore and soon be moving to hyderabad.

    Hoping to hear from you soon…..:-)
    Thanks

    1. Somesh

      I cant vouch for others , as Most of the people I know create the plan and then help you execute it . You can also look at our process , if you like it, you can hire us too – jagoinvestor.com/services

  22. Rajendra Nain says:

    All are talking nice,integrity is fine,knowledge is fine,certification is fine end even experience is fine,but all these parameters are unmeasurable.2+2 is equal to 4 is also a knowledge but is that enough.
    What i mean by experience is..
    Have you invested in arkets
    Done any trading,futures,options.
    Have you taken good loss so that you can avoid the losses of client by avoiding the avoidable things.

    1. Hi Rajendra

      Financial Planner is not the right person if you need markets related services. You better connect with a fund manager here .

      Manish

  23. Fareed says:

    hi
    my name is dr fareed
    im struggling to get a nice financial planner who can give time and can help me with the things which a layman would not understand
    manish thanks for the beauty topic but seriously if u know of any good financial planner please do send me their website or email id so that i can get in touch with them.
    there are many people claiming to be financial advisors in this forum, i would also request u to send me ur mail and get in touch with me.
    thanks

  24. jay agarwal says:

    Dear Manish,
    Totally agree its very wise to consult CFP. Especial when one is looking at long term retirement or kids education planing. Spending small amount for expertise can save a lot in long term.

    “Only Fees’ based CFP are the best bet but how will we know that they are only Fees based and not commission based or a combination of both. They can claim to be Fees based only to attract client and inside they could be otherwise..

    Pls advise if there is anyway we can know same other that their word of mouth..

    regds
    Jay.

    1. Why are you considering that the fees based are bad ? If you implement through the planner, itself you can get help in tracking your goals over long term

      Manish

  25. Alimuddin Agwan says:

    Dear Manish,
    I read your article on Financial Planner. It was eye opener for me. Now I know my wealth Manager and other were cheating. From 2000 till I am not making profit through any financial investment except on real estate.
    I am NRI and has to depend on Guy in Bank wealth Manager who are changing frequently.
    Kindly advise me god CFP in Indore my home city. I am ready to bear fees of your advises.

    Thanks and best Regards.

    1. Hi Alimuddin

      Are you ok with online financial planning , as we offer the same !

  26. Vikas Keyal says:

    Hi Manish,

    Excellent article on ‘how to hire a financial planner’. Your article goes a long way in assuaging my concerns about hiring a professional for my financial planing.

    Came across this article as I am looking for a good financial planner to help me prepare a financial plan and devise a strategy to meet my short and long terms financial goals.

    I am from Bangalore and am looking for a good and trustworthy financial planner and was hoping if you can recommend few of them.

    Thanks for all information and assistance.

    Vikas.

    1. Hi Vikas

      Thanks for sharing that .. there are various good financial planners in Bangalore .. I can recommend you some of them .. Please contact me at https://www.jagoinvestor.com/contact

  27. KD says:

    Thanks Manish, that would be a great help. I am based out of Bangalore

  28. KD says:

    Manish,

    I am in the search of a financial advisor who will just advise and not execute. I personally take care of my investments and have spent some time and effort over it. However, as a result of this I realize that I would like to take advice and consultation of an advisor who does this on a daily basis and also for his/her job.
    I recently approached a firm who was unable to take me on as a client because I was looking only for advice and not implementation. Without implementation, they find it hard to track their clients.

    My query is are there any advisors out in the country who can purely advise? I am looking to pay for quality advice and not execution.

    1. Yes you can get advisors like these .. which city are you in ? I might know someone there !

  29. Chirag says:

    Manish this is the most comprehensive post I have seen. In India people start earning money they hire financial planners even when (sometimes) they don’t need a planner.
    They don’t know what they exactly want.
    Sometimes back I met a CFP who runs his planning business in Mumbai shared with me that a client of his said he’s unsatisfied as the advice given by him has fetched only 12% returns while in 2012 the Indian benchmarks gave 20% odd returns and I was stunned!

    1. True . there is a lot of literacy needed to make sure people know what exactly is financial planning !

  30. Rushabh Doshi says:

    Dear Manish,

    I am really impressed by your blogpost but I have a few questions. I see most of the financial planning today is focused more and more on people who are employees in companies. There is a good number of people who are working in family businesses or are entrepreneurs with whom some of the standard steps in the financial planning do not go down well.

    I recently saw a video by a speaker promoting the entrepreneurial mindset. The speaker said that if you are the kind of person who knows exactly what you are going to be doing 1 year down the line then maybe you are not cut out for entrepreneurship as the job of entrepreneurs and businessmen is to take the risk there is not two ways about it.

    In such a case how would you create a financial plan for entrepreneurs/businessmen/HNIs?

    1. True ..

      Financial Planning is all about getting more certainity in life with some planning . The traditional financial planning is all about saving of future goals , and then using your inflows to plan it out . In case of enterpreneurs and business people, at times there is no fixed cash flow , so that traditional way of planning fails .

      So certainly a very different kind of approach is needed for those people. Many planners do that !

  31. Vishal N says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks for all the impressive articles published by you. Looking forward to many more from you.

    I am from Mumbai and request your recommendations on offsite financial planners in Mumbai (as I am not aware of any trustworthy FPs). Your recommendations would be of great help indeed.

    Thanks in advance,
    Vishal N

    1. Are you not comfortable with online financial planning . We have it – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/services !

  32. Mandar Baviskar says:

    HI manish,

    Can u recommend some financial planners in Mumbai.

    Thanks

    Mandar

    1. Just mail me and I will send you the recommendations

  33. Thomas says:

    Hi,

    Do you know of any good FP in Kerala. I saw Progno.co.in, are you aware of them?

    I am an NRI and looking for a financial planner. Can you suggest any?

    Thanks
    Thomas.

    1. I have heard about them, but do not know in detail . If you are fine with online financial planning , you can look at our services – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/services

  34. sameer says:

    Hi Sir,

    Can you please tell me if there is someone good in Kolkata (offline I mean). Also what is your take on fundsindia financial planning? They are offering two types categorized as Gold and Platinum plans.

    Regards,
    Sameer

    1. Yes

      Sameer , you can talk to Brijesh Dalmia http://dalmiaadvisory.com/ . Give him my reference . Also I will connnect you to him on email

  35. sanjay r pande says:

    Can you please let me know if Harshvardhan roongta is a good CFP available in mumbai

    1. Are you talking about Harsh Roongta of Apnapaisa ?

      1. sanjay r pande says:

        No harshvardhan roongta of Roongta securities…i have subscribed to his online service and have send him details of my background,investmnet and Goals to suggest me investment plan.

        Can you provide me your email id so that i send you the doc if you can have a look and suggest your viewpoint and what needs to be done and how much would be your charge for it

        1. Hi Sanjay

          I personally have not seen his work , so cant comment like that. But he is known person and appears on media also . If you have trusted him, you need to trust your decision .

          We charge 15k for financial planning – http://www.jagoinvestor.com/services

  36. Ashish Bhardwaj says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am a regular reader of your website and I think you are doing a good job helping people.

    I found this person on the website you had provided. He is self employed.
    How is https://www.facebook.com/basunivesh

    Has anyone in Bangalore taken his services? Can anyone refer a good Financial Planner in Bangalore.

    Ashish

    1. I know Basu through facebook . However not aware of anyone personally who can comment on his services . there are tons of planners in bangalore , who can help you ..

      1. Ashish Bhardwaj says:

        Anyone you would recommend in particular?

        1. There are few people i know . I can send you name and numbers if you mail me

          1. anil kumar says:

            plz tell me names and cell no. of good financial planners in Bangalore.

  37. Jayanth says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thank you for the informative article. I am looking for a FP in Kerala. Would you be able to suggest one? Thank you.

    Jayanth

    1. Jayanth

      I am not sure about any like this

  38. jai says:

    dear manish, sos. I need your help. I have been trusting an independent financial advisor who made me invest 300,000 rs in aditya birla gold harvest scheme and gave her email and phone number to operate the demat account. she never kept me posted about the transactions she was doing for a long time saying the money was safe and later started avoiding appointments. in a troubled state I called up the aditya birla customer care number this morning who said the account lapsed last year and there is no balance in your amount. all this while this investor had been playing a charade even taking cheques for installments which were never deposted. confronting the advisor later this afternoon she said that four of her 20 customers had completely lost money in the scheme and she was not to blame, it was aditya birla.this has come as a bombshell and destroyed me financially. I am in a big financial mess and have no idea what to do and where to go. what options do I have? what authorities should I go to to seek redressal against this fraud indepdent financial advisor. I am beseeching you for some help on this. please save me.

    1. Jai

      I am not sure who is to blame much here .. you are victim of OVERTRUST .. how can you let some one else manage your money in this manner ? You cant do anything personally, atleast with the company because your creditials were used and its as good as you were doing everything .

  39. Mangesh says:

    Manish

    Looking for good CFP staying at Thane(w), can you recommend the best.

    Thanks
    Mangesh

    1. I can recommend one in Mumbai , I am sure they will be ready to serve you .. please mail me

  40. Narayan K says:

    I am a fan of your website. Being a CA myself, I can understand financial markets quite well. However, your writing is simple and easy to understand.

    I stay in Chembur and I am looking for a good financial planner. Can you recommend someone please.. Highly appreciated..

    Regards
    Narayan

    1. thanks for sharing that Narayan

      Are you looking for a offline financail planner only for face to face interactions, are you not fine with online model ? We have online service incase you are ok with it, else I can connect you with some offline planners .

      1. Narayan K says:

        Offline model is preferable for me. Please connect with some offline planners.

  41. Seenu says:

    Hello Manish,

    I was recently in touch with a well known CFP from another city – he said it is not a problem since he can get all my data by email and send me his advisry report by email. I trust this man fully since he was introduced by my friend. But I am concerned about any communication gaps. I would have liked the CFP in the same city if not next door. What do you think?
    Can you suggest a CFP from Hyderabad?

    I was also having this wild idea of doing CFP course myself and handle my own finances (and that of my family members) – not to sell my services. Can CFP course be done as “correspondence course”? Which are the institutes offering the course?

  42. Mubin says:

    Hi Manish,

    i am preparing for CFP but i have a question. After completion of CFP if i move on to other country (US, UK) for working do i need to complete any other cfp modules like tax and estate? pls give me the details what modules i need to complete in that as well. Thank you. Mubin

    1. Yes, you will have to complete one module of tax to be a fit planner for that country . More details you can get only on the respective FPSB site

  43. Prithipal says:

    Hi Manish,
    Excellent article i must say for someone who is an analyst and portfolio planner in the field of enterprise software for the past 12 years but still a very naive when it comes to investments and the huge glossory of financial terminologies.
    So heres my background of my issue :
    When my child was born, I bought two ULIP’s from Max NY Life around 2008.
    As of now i am confused if there is really any value for them in me now, since though market is doing good from 4 years, i seem to be running in a -ve fund balance compared to my investments.
    I checked with my customer relationship manager from Max NW and he says the reason its not doing good is because i am investing monthly and not yearly.
    and he advises me to shift from the monthly mode to annual mode, before i do this switch i would like a second or true un-biased opinion.
    Now i know after a little bit of research on ULIP’s that this intrument is mainly a insurance tool and not necessarily a money making tool, but i need your or your teams expert advise on how i need to handle this going forward…
    do i pay him the yearly premium, why not , what is the benefit etc .. so i am lookign at answers for such questions .. was not sure if i should email you separately or directly but i didnt find any other way to reach you .. hence posting it here .. please feel free to advise if you want to take this offline …
    thanks, Prithipal

    1. I dont see the reason of putting monthly investment being a reason for its not performing .. totally idiotic statement from your RM ! ..

      Just change this !

  44. Nicklesh says:

    Hello Guna,
    first of all a laptop worth 50 lakhs? Guess you typed tht wrong.

    You got liquid funds in your ac which is a good thing but i would suggest investing it with progressive asset allocation towards your goal of building up your house on the property you acquired that should pretty much do well for your retirement plans as well and also you might want to get the estate plan made and registered for it too.

    secondly, most of your SIP’s are either moderately conservative or conservative try more aggressive asset allocation since your pretty youn too and you might want to delay your laptop purchase unless it is absolutely necessary since marriages come with unseen expenses.

  45. guna says:

    Dear Sir,

    I am regular reader of your blog and website.

    First, I am thanking you very much for the financial knowledge you are giving.

    Next, as I am young and willing to start my financial planning. I am very much confident on your advice. Hence i eagerly want to build a financial portfolio on your guidance.

    I know you are very busy,but please engage any of your collegues to guide me with your reference.

    This is my full current financial data :

    1) My monthy income is Rs26,911.CTC is 3.65 lak, date of birth is 16/06/1987

    2) Dependencies : As of now no depencies,because my parents are taking care of them self.Having said that i can save maximum 6000rs till date after paying my personal loan amount which i described later.I am planning to marry in next 6 months.

    3) I opened ICICI PRU DISCOVERY fund and Birla SUN life DIVEDEND fund each with 1000/month in SIP

    4) I am planning to open a pure two term insurance without any rider .They are 1)HDFC click2 protect 2) Kotak e prefered or Aviva i life . please suggest if my priority is wrong

    5) I already opened a PPF ac but just saved 2000Rs as of now

    6) I already have Fixed deposit of 20,000rs as of now

    7) I already opened two Reccurent deposit ac of 1)RS 500 per month (maturity date -Sep 2015)
    2)RS 1000 per month (maturity date – Jan 2014)

    8) I have personal loan of Rs 5 lak opened two months before for purchasing my own land worth 20lak as of now. But, now i have 3 Lak Cash in my bank ac(Suggest me whether to this amount to reduce my loan interest or to invest this 3 lak to get more benifit comparing to paying the loan interset)

    9) I am planning to build a house after 3-4 years worth 15 Lak where I purchased recently.

    10) I am planning to buy a laptop worth 50 lak in EMI option through credit card in next month.

    11) Now as I said i am unmarried, probably I think my wife will be a unsalaried person. So i am only money source of my future family.

    12) I want to open a health insurance( both general health insurance,accident benifit insurance and critical illness benifit insurance) for my family.

    13) I am Owning a land worth 5 lak other than one where i am going to build my home.

    14) Summary: Need Financial portfolio fullfilling below needs

    I want to be a conservative investor having a diversified financial portfolio containing
    So,Kindly suggest for
    a)MFs,(2 large cap for 25 years,2 midcap for 3-5 years ,1 balanced fund for 10years,1 short term fund)
    b)Bonds,PPF,Insurance plan,Children plan,Retirement plan,Emergency fund plan

    With that i can able to fullfill all my below needs:

    1) To finish my 2lak personal loan if i pay 3 lak amount i am having now
    2) To build a home
    3) My family expenses after my marriage
    4) My children life expenses
    5) Retirement plan
    6) Term plan for uncertainity
    7) Health insurance plan for protecting my wealth.

    Kindly , review my financial history. This is my full financial story as of now.

    1. Guna

      Please open a thread on our forum https://www.jagoinvestor.com/forum/ and please ask a more precise and to the point question to get an answer.

  46. Ashwin says:

    Hi Manish,
    Request you to mail me the name of good certified financial planner in Pune.

    1. Ashwin

      I will not recommend anyone from Pune . If you want to consider online financial planning you can look at our services. Also if you were in bangalore or mumbai , I could have suggested someone

      1. Ashwin says:

        Thanks.Please suggest me Good FP from Mumbai

        1. Ashwin

          You can look for Ffreedom Financial planners !

          1. Ashwin says:

            Thanks Manish.

  47. Neelam Jain says:

    The article was educative. Thanks. I have a question. What is a financial advisor’s fee a function of? To elucidate, my advisor (who is somnolent most often) who helped me invest in MFs and debt from time to time suddenly tells me I need to pay him an advisory fee every year. He is charging the fee based on my assets under management. Is that how he should be charging, or should it be a flat rate? My concern is what will be his incentive to ensure my investments are planned efficiently if he is going to charge me a percentage of my total worth anyway? Could you suggest a ball park figure if such fee varies for planners. Many thanks in advance. fyi, I have not agreed to his terms so far even though the bill is retroactive.

    1. The first thing is that there was no mention of any fee like that in start , so its very clear you were not aware about it and hence you should not agree to it , if you want . You can just tell him , that you dont think you should pay him/her , because it was not mentioned earlier .

      You can pay it if you feel there is any value addition by his services . This is the parameter to compensate the advisor . Also more than advisor , I think the person is more of agent, who has just facilitated you in transactions and he must be earning the commissions out of your investments anyways . But its not enough to sustain himself so he is asking for yearly fee.

      But the point is , What is the value addition , Ask him and if you are convinced, then just pay him else not

      1. Roger says:

        At the fag end of my career, I have finally hired a CFA (whose brother I’ve known for some years and who I trust). I want to pay him for advise rendered plus a percentage of profits from mutual funds recommended by him. Since the bloke refuses to give a figure for his services, I have devised a formula of 0.5% on assets under management (besides the AMC management fees) plus 0.1% of profits of the funds’ annual performance.

        Is this fair compensation in your line of work (I’m not a cheapskate)? You advise will help clear the air. Thank you

        1. Yes Roger , its a good enough fees . Some advisors charge 1% of AUM , but if you are giving 0.1% of profits also , its fine

          1. Roger says:

            Thank you Manish… pl put me on your mailing list. And if you have a “paid for” service, I’d be more than happy to avail of it…Rgds

  48. Abhijit says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks for writing this article which I found extremely helpful. I am currently looking for a good FP/Company specializing in FP in Mumbai and was wondering if you could suggest some. Thanks again.

      1. Rahul Gupta says:

        Hey Manish,

        Can you refer a good FP in Bangalore.

        Thanks,
        – Rahul

        1. There are many actually .. you can look at International Money Matters or Procyon Financial Planners Pvt Ltd . If you are ok with online financial planning which works beautifully , you can look at our services also : http://www.jagoinvestor.com/services
          .

  49. Vishal says:

    Would like to know a good, independent financial planner in jaipur, rajasthan who is working as a good doctor ( as quoted by you) and able to relate to my financial problems and sort out the problems with integrity… too much to ask??

    1. Vishal

      You can talk to Hemant Beniwal of arkfp.in . He is a good friend of mine and can help you in financial planning . If you are comfortable with online options , then even we provide financial planning : http://www.jagoinvestor.com/services

      1. Anil says:

        Manish,

        Can you please help me with your or Hemant contacts details as i’m intrested in FP for my family .

        Please mail me with both contacts as arkfp.in contact us tab is not working.

        Cheers,
        Anil

  50. Karthik says:

    Hi Manish,

    I am from Bangalore. Can you recommend a trusworthy Financial planner for me who is from Bangalore? Your article was very useful and I have been trying to get hold of a good CFP from the past one year but it was of no avail. Any help is much appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Karthik

    1. Karthik

      There are planners firms like International Money matters and Procyon Financial Planners Pvt Ltd .. I just know them and you need to do your findings yourself . If you are comfortable for online discussions and planning , we offer planning and coaching services : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/services (we have 100+ clients , many from bangalore)

      Manish

  51. Lokesh Kumar says:

    Hi, I have this great confussion regarding LIC policy and their returns. I came across this article which is provided below, please let me know if LIC jeevan saral provide 10% guarantee returns and is it true which is mentioned below?

    “Jeevan Saral by Lic of India

    Jeevan Saral by Life Insurance Corporation of India is a best lic policy so far. It has won golden peacock award and it is the most flexible plan ever introduced by Lic of India. Jeevan saral policy is like an endowment plan which is very simple and easy to understand. Jeevan saral policy has various premium payment modes like monthly, quarterly, half yearly and yearly. When we sold our Jeevan saral policy to Preity zinta with a monthly premium of Rs.10210/- she got a 250 times risk cover of Rs. 25,00,000/- and double accident benefit of Rs. 50,00,000/- When the policy matures after 25 years she gets Rs.1,36,51,012/- which is calculated @10% returns. Now in case she wants to stop the policy after the 15th year she can do it without any penalty or surrender charge. Her maturity amount works out to Rs. 44,43,968/- at the end of the 15th year. Also she can avail a loan on this policy from the 3rd year onwards.

    If you are also impressed by the simplicity of Jeevan saral by Lic of India, you can book a policy for yourself. Jeevan saral policy starts from as low as Rs. 250, Rs.500 , Rs.1000, Rs.2000, Rs.3000 and so on… It has no upper limit.

    We recommend Rs.3063/- monthly premium for a working male or female

    Benefit of LIC Scheme:

    LIC Monthly Recurring type Scheme

    This is like a Post office or Recurring Deposit Scheme. You can deposit Yearly, Hly, Quarterly or Monthly (ECS) in LIC scheme

    Maturity received in LIC scheme is Tax Free under section 10-10d of income Tax act.

    You can withdraw partial of full amount if necessary after 10 years.

    The amount deposited in LIC is exempted under section 80c of income Tax act.

    You can continue LIC scheme after 10 years.

    In case of death 250 times monthly premium + Total Premium paid – (1st years premium & Extra premium paid ) + LA if any payable.

    If you forget to take maturity at the end of 10 years, You can get return beyond 10 years in LIC scheme. This is not available in Post office scheme.”

    Regards,
    Lokesh Kumar

    1. Lokesh

      There is no guarantee of returns in Jeevan Saral or any LIC policy .. the 10% return is actually the projection only and nothing else . Just dont explore much on this .. be happy with a mutual funds

      Manish

  52. Vivek Kumar says:

    Hi Manish,

    Great article and discussions on financial planning. Thoroughly impressed with your knowledge. Could you kindly suggest a good financial planner.

    Appreciate your help

    Vivek

  53. Neeraj Chauhan says:

    Dear Manish,

    The issue is most of the investors don’t know the difference between a Financial Planner, Distributor, Portfolio/ Wealth Manager & Chartered Accountant.

    The terms are abused in the absence of adequate law & Information.

    Clients expect financial planner to beat their expected ROI and have minimal understanding of the role of the financial planner in managing their personal finance.

    It is important to set their expectation right since the beginning of relationship otherwise it will lead to dissatisfaction.

    1. Neeraj

      Good idea. Its will be a nice post to write on each of them 🙂

      Manish

  54. Makrand says:

    Hi,

    I happened to come across this article by chance. I have a question for all the FP’s on this forum. Most of the FPs (websites, consultants, agents, etc) assume a return % on an equity based investment. My apprehension is that if the equity market is not giving particularly good returns for many years, then what changes to the plan are suggested? Should the allocation to the SIP be increased? or should a market downside protection like contra-MF SIP be initiated or vanilla put options will do the trick? Any comments are welcome.

    1. Makrand

      Yes , a plan cant be valid for many years and thats the reason there are reviews . A plan is just a starting point and a direction . NOthing more than that . Its a action plan which leads to people moving atleast .; One definately has to change the numbers later every year

      Manish

      1. Makrand says:

        Manish,

        So what happens when there is a mid-year trigger – like a 20-30% fall in market ? Do we sit down with the planner at that time and review the execution? How does the planner ensure that the risk of shortfall is minimized? For example, if I want to ensure there’s 20 lacs for my child’s education 20 years from now, the planner says you can invest 80% in equity MF and balance in debt (PPF/debt MF) and then when the market falls, the equity portion goes down. What’s the next step?

        Please excuse me for asking, but I got a version of CFP study material (from internet) where I am unable to find how a planner can actually calculate the shortfall risk, and what strategies can be employed to mitigate that risk and increase the confidence interval for the projection.

        One of the plausible answers found was to churn the portfolio – look for better performing funds, but even then the risk of shortfall is never shown to be calculated. If the general market is in a downtrend the equity market MF are bound to take a hit.

        Regards,
        Makrand

        1. Makrand

          One of the things which planners do is to take the returns for long term considering all the ups and downs in markets and even if the investor does not involve in churning the portfolio . So take example of equity , if you take index , it has given 18-19% return over long term , this is considering the person has invested one time and does not touch it . So when a planner plans a goal with some MF , he takes return expectations of around 12% and considering the client will not touch it on every up and down , but mainly concentrate on the review of funds and how they performed over time wheather its up or down .

          Definately if you want to make much better returns , you can get into fixing the portfolio at every up and down , but there are chances of going wrong also with lot of action taken .

          You need to be clear about the goal of a Planner or fund manager , what you are expecting is not done by all planners , its pure investment advisor or a fund manager .

          Manish

  55. suds says:

    hi manish,
    i am a surgeon and came to know a lot about the financial planning through your blog and am cursing myself for all the missed opportunities for the investments earlier. are u a CFP and if yes can u advise me regarding the investment options.
    PS. dont worry it is not for free i am asking 🙂

  56. Vivek says:

    I want to know how I can register a complaint against LIC. I have sent several reminders to LIC about my balance payment and interest on it but there is no response from LIC. I want to take this matter either to consumer court or IRDA but do not know proper procedure. Thanks in advance for your advice – Vivek

    1. Vivek

      You first need to contact grivience department first : http://www.licindia.in/grievances.htm . If that does not work , then go here :

      Manish

  57. aravind says:

    Hi manish,
    we are group of companies, we are diver-sing our activity into manufacturing plant,real estate(developing lands) , construction chemicals, trading of minerals,and international trading.
    our company is at start up , for its capital expansion we are looking for retail/equity investors.
    looking forward for your valuable reply in this regard.
    Regards
    Aravind

  58. Ransley Santhumayor says:

    Hi Manish,
    Just read your article and i must compliment you on the quality of it. I agree financial planners are difficult to find.
    Is there anyone you could suggest. I need to build an investment plan asap and im lost for options.

    Thanks,
    Ransley.S

  59. Vijay says:

    I am willing to pay for financial planner
    Problem is How to identify and find a Good Professional Financial planner . ( if i compare Fin. Planner to Doctors then there are many Neem Hakeem and jhola chaap doctors then Qualified MBBS Doctors)

  60. Vishal Sabnis says:

    Hi Manish,
    In a family -both husband and wife{in their 30’s } are earning 12 lacs per annum. the Living expenses are 40K per month , there is no liability , than how much insurance cover should the wife have on her own life or rather should she have a substantial insurance cover,
    My perspective is that the idea behind a term plan is to not to allow the family suffer from financial distress or difficulty which arises when a sole income earning householder dies . There is drastic impact to the standard of living , there might not be much provision for higher education expenses. the entire lifestyle might shift from luxury to barely ability to make both ends meet. And even than the insurance cover if any wont be sufficient for more than 2-3 yrs . this is mostly the case in under insurance guy. In such a scenario the thumb rule of insurance is perfectly fine i.e human life value factor.
    But in above case if its used ,with both having a cr of insurance cover ,than that much seems like a excess sort of profit replacement.
    In such cases i feel, if we can work out the contribution to home expenses , and something of that sort should be adequate expenses.
    And ofcourse if someone whose independent , who is doing good in career if becomes widow in early age than there is quiet a possibility that she/he might marry.
    Hence two queries -how much should the insurance cover each person have in above cases with parents of both dependent for 20K per month{other than their above commitments and also should wife have such a high insurance cover–particularly when the husband is doing good.

    Looking out for some enlightenment here!!

    1. Vishal

      The way you should approach this problem is very simple and logical , see both husband and wife seperately and in isolation , suppose husband is no more tomm , how much money should family get so that they all meet their lifestyle , repay debt , meet future goals and have enough for emergencies in future, what ever is that amount should be good enough cover for the husband , same in case of wife . For more read this article : https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2009/11/how-much-insurance-cover-is-enough.html

      Manish

  61. yogesh says:

    Hi Manish/Amol,

    Take ULIP and go for rupee average concept..I don’t think ULIP is bad.
    In ULIP top up facility is there if some one uses that wisely it can return very good result even if he don’t use switch option.

    FOR ULIP i develop my own concept
    1)If u choose for yealy mood of payment pay only when market is down.
    best is to go for SIP(monthly)
    2)Second,when market is down go for some top up.
    3)Make use of switching..When market is down transfer money in debt fund(after top up) and when market start growing put money back in equity.

    Is there top up facility available in MF?

    Regards
    Yogesh

    1. Yogesh

      Actually when you say when market is down , switch in debt , this looks very easy , but may be you are not able to see the complexity involved here , Its same as trading with 1-2 months time frame . Which is something which 99% people can do . So using switching is not everyone cup of tea .

      Thats the reason i say ULIP;s are unsuitable product for majority , only a handful can make the best use of it . Note that “making best use” is not same as “making profits”

      1. Amol Sathe says:

        Yogesh

        “Make use of switching..When market is down transfer money in debt fund(after top up) and when market start growing put money back in equity.” I wouldn’t agree with the 1st part (about shifting the money to debt when the market is down). When the market is down, one should add to the equity investments. Was it that you wanted to say “when market starts going down” instead of “when the market is down”?

        If so, I agree with manish completely. Its much much easier said than done. Especially true in case of Indian markets, which are still a bit immature and sentiment driven.

        Amol

        1. Amol

          Thanks for enriching this community with your wonderful comments 🙂

          I would suggest you to join our forum https://www.jagoinvestor.com/forum/ where you can showcase your website , facebook links and also earn points by replying to questions asked by users and then showcase yourself .

          Manish

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  64. gopal says:

    Manish,

    Nice post . Does fundsIndia.com provide assistance through Financial Planners ?

    1. Gopal

      I dont think so , its a platform to buy and sell mutual funds and other products .

      Manish

  65. Nice to see so much of discussion happening on financial planning in this place.

    As a practicing CFP in Bangalore since 2006, I can see the changes in the mindset of people occurring slowly but surely.

    Lot of discussion is happening on how should be a financial planner behave (fee only, fee cum commission, commission only). I have a minor advise for the investors in general and young people in particular. A simple back of the envelop calculation should show the quantum of opportunity loss one would incur if proper asset is not choosen at right point in time. Just to give an example, if the returns differential is, let us say 5%, for Rs.1000/- invested each month for the next 25 years, opportunity gained or lost is nearly Rs.6 Lakhs. If you know, this could be the wealth lost of gained if proper advice is not received let us say on one’s retirement planning. Multiply this figure by the thousands you would invest to know the impact.
    Most of the discussion is occurring on the basis of suitability or superiority of one over the other. But very less is discussed about what is one’s need. However, financial planning is not about returns, it is about reaching your financial goals. If you know your goal, you may find a way to reach there. What if you do not even know your goal?
    To come back to the charges, one would not mind paying if he or she sees value in it. If someone is willing to pay let us say for a new model of a mobile phone 7K which will be discarded 6 months down the line, that is because he or she sees value in it. If you do not see value in a plan 10K or 20K cost may look very big. What about the opportunity gained or lost?

    If anyone is thinking that selecting the products is very easy, try selecting the best term insurance plan available in India. Just keep track of your time and other expenses (phone call, visit etc). If you feel it is worth it, go ahead and do it. No need to complain about the charges a financial planner asks for. If you get stuck anywhere, then talk to a planner about the charges. We Indians are great DIYs. I know of many people who tell their doctor what prescription he should give. Only few of us would succeed and many would accept the failures as fate.

    1. Narendra

      Nice to get your perspective on this topic. You have raised a valid point here . Its about the value we see in something and what we pay for it . Most of the people do not want to pay for financial planning and the main reason is that they dont understand it well and can not understand what they loose out because of absence of financial plan in life . One thinks 10-20k is lot of pay or waste , but they will not realise that a well planned strategy can save them literally lacs and lacs of rupees in coming years and also gives them peace of mind from their financial worries .

      Btw , do you remember we met during the “way2Goals” seminar 🙂 .

      Manish

      1. I do remember Manish. Keep up the good work.

        A small suggestion though. It feels good to rip a product apart and blame its manufacturers. But it is always “buyers beware” and the onus is on the buyers. Again to use the analogy of mobile phones, even if an investor does part of that kind of research on financial products he is going to buy, he would be better off. Insurance products are good ‘bad boys’ that need whipping. But are mutual funds snow whites? Good or bad are relative and awareness is the key. An agent by definition is the ‘agent’ of the manufacturer and not of the buyer. If some one stuffs himself with 7 to 10 insurance products without even asking few simple questions, who is to be blamed? Once it could be blamed on the agent but not if it is more than once.

        I had written some thing on this last year. Hope your readers would appreciate it.
        http://procyonfpblogs.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/you-must-ask-questions/

        Regards,
        Narendra

        1. Narendea

          I agree for most of the parts with you .

          Even though its “Buyers beware” and agents are of manufacturers , I think all the companies + agents have moral resposibility of atleast giving investors fair amount of clarity if what they are buying, just saying that buyer should be held responsible is not the right thing. Mutual fudns also have misselling but its doing less damage to a person compared to insurance policies . Correct me if my reasoning is limited.

          Manish

  66. vineet says:

    Hi Manish, I came across your blog accidentally when I was searching for STP. Your blogs are pretty informative yet simple. I’m digging through archives of this site now.

    As regards to FP, well, my experience is a mixed one. Twice, I’ve discussed with a FP from a reputed company/website and both the times, at the last moment I didn’t take the plunge to allow him make my financial plan. There was something which didn’t seem right. I need somebody to assess my current plan, suggest modifications, review say once every year. While these services are offered by most of the FPs, the cost looked higher compared to benefits. Also the idea of paying someone 25k for planning was difficult to digest. Recently read that typically those who can afford a FP, have decent savings/portfolio and that too without taking FP’s help. So why bother? I think it was some article on valueresearch. I might sound like a typical Indian mindset towards financial planners.

    While I’m convinced we need to plan our finances, I’m still thinking whether to go for a FP or not….

    I’be become an avid and regular reader of your blogs now. The comments section is just too good! Keep it coming folks…

    1. Vineet

      I understand your point . 25k seem to be on higher side for a salaried person unless the FP is world class. 10-15k is good fees to pay , go for a financial planner who does not force you to buy products through him .

      Mainly you need a roadmap in the start , which you can take forward later without his help or very less help . Review per year should be there but you should try to do it your self

      Manish

  67. Samir says:

    Hi Manish,

    This is really very nice informative article and discussion has given lot of information.
    One more thing I like about this article is great level of question by reader. I do read lot of article but never feel as per level. Yes I agree in India still long way to change people thinking from Investment Planning to Financial Planning and pay for same
    Currently I am at US but from long time I am thinking about start my own full time FP service in India. This article gives me idea about what is people expect from one FP and what skill needed to be a good CFP.
    Any suggestion for me…and my plan?

    Thanks,
    Samir

    1. Samir

      Are you a CFP already ? If not , complete the CFP and also try to make your own identity through some blog so that people start knowing you . the main thing is that people should trust you . FP is still at small level in India and it will take time to gain momentum , so starting days can be tough 🙂

      Manish

  68. Shilpi says:

    @Akhil, we are looking forward to hear from you:)

  69. Jitendra Solanki says:

    Hi,

    I have met many clients who are knowledgable enough to do their basic financial planning.But the main problem lies in execution.They are not able to execute and review.

    In my opinion a Financial Planner is more helpful in executing a Financial Plan for an investor.Timely review,Change in Investment strategies and Portfolios,Right Investment Avenues are key factors why an investor hire a financial planner (Based on experience i have with my investors).Every website gives Future Value of Present Expenses.But sometimes an individual laugh or get scared by looking at figures (especially retirement which run into crores).What a website cannot tell is how to achieve a good retirement corpus with an individual existing resources?

    Through my experience i have realised, a financial planner is hired not only to tell an investor what he will require in future and how to spend but mainly how to execute it.And this is case with an investor earning 15000 p.m. and an investor earning 3 lakh p.m.All investor fall in same basket when it comes to execution.(This also includes IIM and IITs).

    1. Jitendra

      “Financial Planner is more helpful in executing a Financial Plan” , i would take that with a pinch of disagreement , In our country most of the people would first require for planning only , and just planning part, which is mostly thinking and applying financial planning principles .

      I agree with you for HNI’s as they dont have time for all this execution-vexecution 🙂

      Most of the middle level investors can do the execution themselves , financial planners should mainly be motivator for execution .

      What do you think ?

      Manish

      1. jitendra solanki says:

        Manish,

        I Fully agree with you that first its planning then only execution can happen and every individual require Financial Planning.
        My view was that all investors do sone kind of basic planning initially.I mean if i have a child i will certainly be doing some basic investment knowing what today’s college expense cost.If an individual has two child then he/she certainly will be on some basic investment pattern.Yes what they don’t foresee is what they will actually require 15-20 years hence.
        Now meet an individual in thirtees and working in IT sector then he/she would have done some calculation with all the information avaialable today.(Although IT guys are very good in Excel and they can calculate all future values in a very good manner).
        My line of saying was even with so much information and working on some basic calculations what they are not able to do is Execution.(This is my experience with clients from IT sector).
        So a Financial Planner apart from doing Financial Planning helps a client in Executing in more effecient and discipline manner.

        1. Jitendra

          Yes , I would agree to that point , just knowledge is not assurance that the execution will be smooth . So a financial planner is helpful in that sense 🙂

          Manish

  70. Shilpi says:

    Ya Manish, you are right something is better than nothing! But at the same time if this half baked knowledge is adding to the confusion and tarnishing our image, we must be careful.
    This will have ripple effect. We will loose the ground before launching ourselves. I hope someday Akhil will meet some real planner and will get to understand the meaning of Financial Planning!

    shilpi

    1. Ya , I agree to that .

      So a client should have basic knowledge himself to understand if the plan is result of half baked knowledge or professional financial planning . Education is important . Nice discussion from yourside 🙂 . Keep it up .

      Manish

      1. Akhil says:

        Manish,
        .. which one is Investmentyogi? link hmm.. I guess I have seen some different one… 🙂

    2. Akhil says:

      lol shilpi, will share the experience surely with jago readers… 🙂

  71. Shilpi Johri says:

    Manish,

    By the way I misssed to Thank you!
    Of course None of us can claim to know a lot…but this is why we are required to keep updating our knowledge and earn Continuous Education points to keep our Certified Financial Planner status intact. 🙂

    shilpi

    1. Shilpi

      Yes , we all need to learn constantly as this space is so changing every other day/month/year 🙂 .

      Manish

  72. Akhil says:

    I have seen the sample pdf which was posted here by sombody related to online services which do financial planning online for there client to be honest… I found it utter waste (talking for sample only) which i seen…. if that’s how really financial planning conducted out… my advice is learn to manage your own fund, why not if you learn the way t0 earn it……

    1. Shilpi Johri says:

      Manish,

      Experiences like these are cause of concern. Its important for us to understand what general public imagines as financial planning. Showing some half cooked plans and mathematical jamboree will not impress anybody (at least not logical persons)…we need to reach out more and clear all myths about financial planning. We need a large scale awareness campagain. Even a survey on ‘What is Financial Planning’ will be helpful.

      shilpi

      1. Shilpi

        I accept that , but a simple plan based on some mathematical forumula’s can give atleast some plan which is “no plan” at all .. I accept that we need to tweak it a lot for making it better, that is the final result, but some basic plan will help starting things ? No ?

        Anyways , we have to see that even that simple plan is good or not , just some magic will not be tolerated . What are your views ?

        Manish

    2. Akhil

      May be you are pointing to Investmentyogi link which does basic financial planning , I think its a good thing considering that its fruitful for any investors at basic level . he can get very basic plan atleast , its always better than having nothing .

      Manish

  73. Shilpi Johri says:

    Hi Manish/ all,

    I am new to this blog. I could see some very interesting discussion happening here.
    It is great to know that people at least realize the importance of planning their finances…thanks to your blog.
    But I can see there is lot of apprehension about hiring a one. People who are in Metros and have access to internet feel they can do it themselves with the free help available but what they don’t realize is that The process of Financial Planning is not only about putting some data in excel sheet or retirement calculator and printing some 20-30 nice looking pages. which ultimately leads you to buying certain products only.
    Rather it is a ‘Consulting Exercise’. Here a planner try to understand the current situation not only financial but also emotional, health related and professional as well. The recommendations can range from curtailing your expenses to the appropriate usage of credit card, investing in a mutual fund to making a will and opening a locker. My clients relate to me all their worries. My responsibility as a planner becomes to make them financially healthy not only today but secure them even for years to come.
    I hope soon people will realize this and even the planners will start behaving like TRUE Planners.

    You are doing a great job!

    Shilpi

    1. Shilpi

      Nice thoughts . I accept what you say is correct . People are now realising importance of financial planning . Still they think its something they can do because they dont understand the things which go in between, they see the end result which is “Where to invest , how much to invest and how to invest” , they are not aware of the process and thoughts which go in between . So they think this all can be done just by themselves .

      Other thing is less number of quality professional in pure consulting , I know very less my self 🙂 . I am sure in coming days people like you can help in growing this field . Good luck 🙂

      Manish

  74. Jitendra Solanki says:

    Hi,

    I believe lack of awareness,not about products,but about Planning is a hindrance in our profession.No customer will deny you if you approach.But if asked for paying a fee,he will think many times because this he has never heard of.So unless customers are not aware about a fee based advisory concept they will not pay you.
    Lets put ourselves in place of our clients.How many of us thought of a fee based advisory.If CFP profession hasn’t come to india would we thinking on this line.It was there in HNIs segment but not in retail.
    So there is lot to be done to reach to the masses-
    -First awareness need to be created which we are doing
    -We need to have different business models.A low fee based model will at least bring clients to the forefront of accepting you.Gradually this can be increased once a client is satisfied by your value added services.

    In my view just adding CFP to our name will not help us.We might have to think a bit differently to work in indian context.

    1. Jitendra

      Why not !! . Adding CFP mark should be sufficient from certification point of view . Most important thing is giving unbiased advice without fees , you have to educate the customers , infact random people out of whom a small percentage will become your customers .

      Manish

  75. vikas khandelwal says:

    Hi Manish,
    First of all congratulations for such an great blog.I am preparing for CFP’s last module.
    I completely agree with your views on FP,India has long long way to go in FP and that’s also true that everyone thinks FP is just selling MF and LI. I am working at Udaipur, Rajasthan and struggling to acknowledge me as an Financial Planner .
    struggling a lot to get clients and many time thinks to leave this field altogether,but one thing keeps me going is my passion towards this field.

    1. Vikas

      I can understand the problem . Forget Udaipur , even Mumbai and Bangalore have similar issues 🙂 . First try to gain the confidence of individuals by providing them education and unbiased advice . It will take time but people will start beleiveing you and you will get success . It takes time and CFP is no different 🙂

      Manish

  76. Jitendra Solanki says:

    Hi Hemant,
    There are so many firms who have started fee based Financial planning in North with astarting fee of Rs.10000.
    I too started 6 months back fee based and non fee based.But i kept feebased at a lower price reason being i felt middle class was still ignored in this new concept when they are in need of the same.

    Are funancial planning companies going in teh same direction as financial indutsry went-First target high incomegroup and later appraoch lower middle class if required.

    What are your views on teh fee structure of many companies in Financial Planning.Rs.10000 is startung fee across all companies?

    1. Jitedndra

      Better mail Hemant on this , As no one gets notifications about the comments unless they have subcribed to this article comments . Regarding your question .I will tell you my view

      You are correct when you say that Middle class is in some way ignored , HNI are the main target for most of the financial planner especially if they are a commision based ones , But there are some companies and some financial planner who are try to give better service and target middle class too . We actually have to target lower middle class and middle middle class for financial planning to make it more beneficial .they need it the most .

      Thats my view

      Manish

  77. varun agrawal says:

    manish ,

    it depends on individual…how will he react on this thing?…
    every client has different mind set and different thinking../..
    and most of the indian mass may not be thinking in dat way or taking it positively….
    like it is said..
    ” in this kalyug, person is not so happy with his hapinnes, that much he is sad with other’s happiness..”

    but for me…or the person who knows and understands the things well…for them there will be no problem…..
    coz after all u are getting benefitted….

    what’s ur opinion…

    regards,
    varun

    1. Yes , Mostly I agree with your point , the person has to understand that his happiness is because of his own things and not others .

      Manish

  78. varun agrawal says:

    thanks manish,

    yaa my meaning was..rather than selling the products by himself, he can guide to the clients,where they can get it easily,without any hassle..
    and if the FP is taking a proper Feedback then i dn’t think he wud let the client to go here and there../..
    But he shud recommend any agency or channel for buying product without having any commision ( means he shud be true to his job?..)

    as gandhi ji once told,
    ” Honesty for your profession, and dedication for the work are the two keys of success..”

    what u say manish..?.m i right?..[:)]

    regards,
    varun agrawal

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      For most of the part I agree with you . But for what you said “But he shud recommend any agency or channel for buying product without having any commision” . there is some other view from my side .

      Why cant financial planner take some commision from the seller if he recommends a client . After all its a revenue model and everyone wants to make money . as far as FP is ethical in recommending a product and sends you to the right place , he should be allowed to get some share of commisions seller is making . The only wrong part is when his main intention for sending you to seller is that he is making money and he overlooks your needs .

      As far as a client is taken care properly . I think its fine . just imagine that FP has advised you to take some insurance , now anyways you are going to get hold of some agent and taka the policy and agent will make say Rs 1000 . Now What if the FP has a network of agents and he gives your reference of these agents (without compromising the quality of service and without biasness) .

      Now if you go through this agent and he gets 1000 , 50% of this can be shared with FP which can be their own arrangement . I dont find any issues with this unless there is no compromise on ethics .

      What do you say ?

      manish

  79. Swathi says:

    No I haven’t seen any FP personally. I am doing it for myself [:P]

    1. manish says:

      Swathi

      nice to know that , it shows the confidence . Incase you have learned most of the stuff here , its an honour 🙂

      Manish

  80. varun agrawal says:

    hi manish

    Thanks for ur appreciation
    as i am also new and learning a lot abt personal finance.
    and the thing dat i told was the sum of my thoughts regarding personal finance till now?…
    @ adding to the points of swathi
    the things dat i wud like to see in a financial planner are..

    1). He should not be a greedy person, means his focus shud not be to dat how to take the benefit out of my client ( as it is happening )?..
    2).He shud be able to judge the risk appetite of his client by client’s thinking , his personality, his way of talking, his confidence level, and by giving some good tricky example to him?.and then he shud conclude./..coz if u are asking directly to a person what is ur risk appetite, then i think more then 80% people will give the wrong answer..so if the FP is same as like a doctor,then he shud have a strong ability to judge it?
    3). He also shud be able to find whether client is greedy or not?..means client is expecting more returns in every product advised by him. that is easily understood by more conversation with him.
    4).A plan is zero..without having GOAL…means he shud have a good & frankly discussion with client on his goal?
    5). He shud talk to the clients in a way so dat client cud be comfortable with him,and atleast client cud believe him if not trust…( and dat thing is possible only if FP is not a money oriented person himself?..)
    6).he shud be true to himself..no cleverness,..no cunningness..shud be like a friend forever..[ not like he advise only if he will get paid, or he will advise only according to his payment ? .]
    7).He shud not sell any product ( as i personally feels ), coz wat i think if he is selling product by himself then client will not take him seriously, coz client wud be having a doubt in his mind dat he himself is selling product and he is taking benefit out of me..and FP will loss the client’s confidence in him?
    8).He shud take the proper feedback of client’s and keep on boosting his moral and confidence …even after the client is not taking his service ( dat will show ur care for the client..and
    a very good example is :
    a washing machine comapny IFB , they people call & even personally visit to the customers whose machines are out of warranty..and advise how to take care of the machine..will cleans the machine by theirself in front of u…even to some customers they will call and say happy birthday to u sir….say this is called the human behaviour..and they are not forcing to anyone to take their recommened product…but really they care…)

    9). he shud tell his client abt how to gain some knowledge regarding finance,shud say follow this magazines..websites,news papers..etc.?
    10).He also shud considers the risk factors in a finance plan ( suppose tomorrow market is down and no fund is performing , and at that time he shud boost confidence of his client dat dear have patience my plan will work..)
    10.)And once he has made a plan , he shud be confident that yes if my client stick to my advices then definitely he will achieve his all goal…
    that is what i think about a FP….
    i dont know practically it is possible or not….( coz he , himself is having a family….)
    But i know, if a FP is genuine ..he can do it…may be will be doing..and will keep on doing[:)]

    what u say manish….

    regards.
    varun agrawal

    1. manish says:

      Varun

      Very very nice points . All your points make sense 100% and its possible , but lets see how it goes in our country in coming decade 🙂

      I would like to take forward your 7th point .

      “He shud not sell any product”. I agree with it . However here are clients who like to take FP help on this . So what I would say is its not totally feasible to say that “FP should not sell products” . I think FP can help clients execute the plan through a channel or a network of sellers , so that client does not have to roam around finding things . This involves risk and now everything resides on a good planner . He shouls have integrity that for his personal benefit he will not sell the products .

      Manish

  81. Bryan says:

    Well written article. I’ve posted a link to your article on my internet forum that was created for financial planners.

    1. Bryan

      Thanks for the link . I was amazed to see that you said that “Its the same situation in US” , is it true , I tought its well regulated in US .

      Manish

  82. Swathi says:

    I feel a good FP should have the below qualities:
    1.Understand client’s risk appetite- not by asking what is your risk appetite.Give your client situations and ask questions to understand risk appetite.
    2.Estimate a realistic return.
    3.Should not hesitate to tell clients that they cannot meet their goals ( with realistic returns) if they aim too high.
    4.Should not sell products for commission.In fact he should teach his clients how to choose a fund and give them 5-6 choices.
    5.Stand on his decision even when funds suggested by him are not performing and explain the reason to clients.
    6.Give references of earlier clients.

    1. manish says:

      Swathi

      I am glad to hear these points from you . The reason is that All these 6 points are true for me . I follow each of the points with my clients for whom I do planning for fee .

      Some of the points I would like to highlight .

      2. Having a realistic returns . Some planners are too aggresive and take equity returns in range of 16-20% just because a) they themselves are aggresive and b) given the funds performance for last 5-6 yrs , they conclude that 16% is realistic . I dont disagree that funds cant give 16% return , just that we have to take margin of safety and make sure that even in worst case things are achieved .

      5. This is important . this is linked to confidence . Financial plan is long term commitement and the underlying principles should never be changed. If a planner has suggested a mutua fund and its return does not figure out in top 10 , it does not mean that he suggests a change just on this reason .

      Good points over all . Did you see Any financial planner personally ?

      Manish

  83. Vinod says:

    Manish,

    This is the link to Vivek’s writings: http://www.dnaindia.com/columns/vivek-kaul
    I do not know if everything that he writes in DNA appears here.

    Vinod

    1. manish says:

      Vinod

      thanks for the links . I am sure readers will benefit with his writings 🙂

      manish

  84. varun agrawal says:

    manish,

    a good article..
    what i feel, it is not dat a person can’t plan his finance…..but the major thing is if a person is well disciplined and a logical thinker then he can manage his finace in a well way.the main point comes are..
    1). a person shud be clear of his goals..( that’s the major point as most of the world population won’t be confident of his goals…most of the people wud be earning without having any goal set in mind)
    2). He / she should gather a good knowledge of personal finance through internet, and magazines, and news channels ( rather then consulting to his neighbour uncle/aunty/relatives & investing money in some bullshit products without knowing for wat purpose he/she is doing it)..
    3). Then considering his/her riskappetite , he/she should choose those product which shud be inline with his/her goal..( means each investment shud be for a purpose…)
    4). and for his reference one can use various calculators, provided on various websites like
    * http://www.consultskyler.com (even it will give u a clear picture hw much u will accumulate through EPF at ur retiring age)
    *www.invetmentkit.com etc.
    * hdfcmutualfund.com ( there are many calculators which can give you a very good idea, and even can provide a financial plan also,according to ur input data)
    web sites like..
    * http://www.itrust.com ( have some financial planning samples..)
    * http://www.investmentyogi.com ( provides basic finace plan for free..)

    But overall if a person is well discipliend & goal oriented & have patience, regarding every aspects of his life (not only finance)..then he can do it….

    A very simple thing is that..” to judge someone, first u have to judge urself whether r u able to judge other or not”..means first u have to educate urself enough in dat field….
    same case is here….if you don’t know much, then hw can u follow ur finance plannner advices?
    or y to have a insect in ur mind ( doubtful)..?..
    AND if u have educated urself in personal finance & u r confident…then u can plan it also..
    but if u r in doubtful situation then u can take the help of FP ( finance planner )…

    but first educate urself is most important thing….[:)]

    @ PATTU: i am agree with you…

    what u say manish…

    regards
    varun

    1. Varun

      Wow .. thats an amazing comment with lots of detials and some bold comments 🙂 . You have given some very nice insights and food for thoughts to everyone . Nice link for calculator 🙂

      Your steps 1,2,3,4 are very nice and if one follows that i am sure they would be benefitted a lot . Not that everyone can become a financial planner by themselvesm, but yes ,using a financial planner services and understanding them is definately going to happen .

      Good work . This is what a client has to do from their side. Do you have views on what should happen from FP side ?

      manish

  85. Vinod says:

    As somone who must be reading a lot about finance, do you find any particular newspaper/magazine that covers financial news or gives financial content in a user-friendly manner?

    I’m familiar with the writings in the DNA, HT, TOI and the Mint. I find the Mint the best of the lot. I also like the coverage of DNA, especially the writings by Vivek Kaul.

    Any recommendations for your readers?
    Vinod

    1. manish says:

      Vinod
      regular magazines like outlook money and Money outlook at good options to get updated . I also find Mint to be good one , especuially Monika Halan updates . can you share some links from Vivek Paul .

      Manish

  86. Tejas says:

    Hey Manish,
    Long time since i posted a comment. Interesting topic this
    I think one doesn’t need a financial planner if he/she has access to internet. Here is my take on this..
    1)Put a substantial portion of money in FD no matter how low the interest rate is.
    2)Invest in large cap diversified mutual fund thru SIP. You can also buy when there is a heavy correction.
    3)Dont buy large cap stocks. (2 already covers it). Buy under valued mid cap small cap stocks. (Do your own analysis. don’t go by tips etc). You can even buy some penny stocks
    in small quantity and forget it.
    4) For tax saving go for ELSS. (But dont buy in a hurry at the last moment. Buy on dips)
    5)For insurance take term insurance. Dont take any insurance if you think your family can live with the current wealth.
    6)Live in a rented house until you are convinced that the property you are buying is not overvalued. ( Today there is no connect between the rent and the emi).
    7) Last but not the least, never lend money to anybody no matter how close they are. (Unless threes a genuine reson like critical illness etc). People dont return at all.

    1. manish says:

      Tejas

      I do not agree entirely with it. How come everyone do their financial planning from internet ? first thing is most of the people in india do not have access to net , other thing is people do not have interest to find out and manage things on their own , may be personally you like to do it and you will succeed. I would like to point other things points of yours .

      1. For putting money in FD , what is the time frame you are looking at , will you advice people to invest in FD for many years like 10+ yrs ?

      3. Buy small caps which are undevalued, how easy do you think it is for average people, fund managers also do that and they fail . its not easy .

      other points are good 🙂 . nice work

      Manish

  87. Srinivas says:

    Manish,
    Nice article once again. Financial planning is need of an hour especially in present India. Today, 100% of the youth are behind making money but when it comes to best utilization of their earned money (Financial planning) I bet you won’t find more than 10%.
    1. Most of the agents, sales executives call them self as planners, advisors and cheat investors with wrong products, which is my people loses trust part. So finding a right and establishing trust part is core part here.
    2. Most people wonder, There exists a word “financial planning”
    3. Indians are known for savings but not for investing. Most people save but does not plan to utilize their money at right time.
    4. Education system does not teach the importance of financial planning.
    5. Companies hire fresh graduates and put them on professional training but how many of them teach them about financial planning.

    I see good growth for financial planners in coming days.

    1. manish says:

      Srinivas

      Nice points . I would like to take forward two main points you mentioned.

      1. “Making money is easy , handling it is hard” , True , most of the people make good money and try and try for it but when it comes to grow it , they fail .. however a better deal would be that we try to make a little less and concentrate more on growing it well .. this way i think the second way would beat the first one .

      2. Education system should teach us financial planning , atleast at the basic level we should know all the products and why managing money will be beneficial .

      what are your views on these ? especially the 1st one ?

      Manish

  88. Swathi says:

    Good article Manish. As you have rightly pointed out, finding a good financial planner is a challenge because you never know their genuineness until a very long time. Recently , I got a call from Max New York life Insurance fellow saying that if I spare 30 mins he will do financial planning for me. The products he will suggest are obvious.

    So most of the poeple hesitate to go for a FP because of all these factors. Agents must not disguise themselves as financial planners, then people might go for planners.

    1. manish says:

      Swathi

      It will take some more years for financial planning to come to a point where finding good financial planner becomes more easy than today . If you meet a CFP who claims to make a good financial plan for you . what all points will you make sure is there in that CFP ? Would like to hear what you think of this ?

      This might help understand the perspective of everyone here .

      Manish

  89. Vinod says:

    Manish

    Thanks for the quick feedback on my book. I agree with what you say. I had a reason for writing it in that way; maybe we can discuss it some other time.

    Returning back to the idea of communicating about investments – Manish – who do you think needs knowledge about investing and financial planning more: the rich, the upper middle class, the middle class, the lower middle class, or the really poor? Whom would you like to reach out to if you were given a choice? Whose needs do you think is most urgent?

    I agree that it’s necessary for all – to make sure anyone can protect and grow their wealth. But some sections of the society have a critical need for it I feel. Especially now. As you rightly pointed out in one of your answers – our previous generation probably didn’t have such a need; ours does. And the question is – how do we reach out to these people? How does one explain the “concept” of financial planning and the need for a financial planner to people when the concepts of saving and investing are still unclear.

    Sorry if we are moving off topic, just thinking aloud….

    Vinod

    1. manish says:

      Vinod

      very nice question :). I think the biggest need for financial planning in our country is for “Middle class” . leave aside poors , they have their own share of problems , they first need education , food and shelter , we need to plan for future goals with their current income , poor people dont have any of these unfortunately . While everybody needs it badly , i would say that middle class is the biggest market of financial planning. Again higher middle class is also a market, but then if they fail in financial planning also , they still make it and acheive everything . if they fail still their children get good education , their retirement is under control .

      Manish

  90. Debashish says:

    May be a few investors in our generation are better then our parents , in a way that they understand equity / asset allocation etc(i’ll put that at less then 5%)
    Many people in our generation(50-60%) think its’ too early to invest . They spend all the salary by last week of the month. ( I did not save a single rupee in first 3-4 yrs of my Job )
    The rest still take advice from their parents (save regularly in RD, purchase a house) , or worse take advice (??) from uncles who are LIC agents .
    A statement from one of my team last week – ” I have a 3 year old ULIP , for which I have not paid premium last year. I am planning to pay 2 yrs premium this year so that I’ll get more tax saving ( what the @#$%)

    1. manish says:

      Debashish

      yes , nice points you have here . Old generation was savers , but not investors . This generation is worst now .. they are not savers also at the first hand , but then want to make lot of returns too ..

      early investing is key to all the investing issues . So if one does not want to work hard , he can compromise on returns if he/she just invests early .

      Regarding your friends , yes , his main focus is tax and in that process he is loosing the main thing , saving for his goals strategically . Ask him to come here . did you ?

      Manish

      1. Debashish says:

        I did give him the link to the blog and few articles on why ULIPs are not good . He never discussed the topic with me again

        -debashish

        1. manish says:

          Debashish

          nice ,I am sure he is now a reader of this blog , may be a silent one 🙂 .

          Manish

        2. Akhil says:

          Debashish… I can still prove ULIP is not bad 🙂 ask manish…

          1. Akhil

            We are only saying ULIP’s may be unsuitable for most of the people , not “BAD” , I can handle ULIP better than MF , because of short term switching . “ULIP’s are bad” is not a general statement , its just true for most of the investors .

            manish

            1. Amol Sathe says:

              Hi Manish,

              I know I am referring to a damn old post (dated 22nd feb 2010). But cant help it since I have come across this blog today. Nevertheless, I felt like replying to your post addressed to Akhil.

              Well, I think you have taken a quite soft (and a li’l diplomatic ;)) approach while replying to his post. I would say, “ULIPs are BAD” can surely be a true statement. Here’s a basic reasoning:

              When a life insurer sells a policy worth 20,00,000 to you, it assumes your risk and promises to pay the sum of 20,00,000 to you at the maturity or to your nominee in the event of your unfortunate death. In case of ULIP, unlike MFs, the risk of the investment is not completely borne by the insured person. If your MF investment performs poorly you may end up with nothing. However, even if the value of investment done by the ULIP drops to 0, the insurer still has to pay you the sum of 20,00,000. So the insurer has to protect the capital and invest in low risk instruments to take care of the eventuality of your claim. This results in more allocation to debt instruments and your investment returns suffer.

              Take this example. I know a guy who bought a ULIP in April 2009 with highest NAV guarantee. The insurance company had launched a new fund for this product. As of Nov 2009, the fund had gained around 45%, while the market itself had run about 80%. When I took a look at this fund’s asset allocation mandate, guess what I saw? The mandate said “Debt: 0 to 100%” and “Equity: 0 to 100%”

              Doesn’t this make the company’s intentions quite obvious? The sad part is – as you and others have mentioned many times earlier – how many people are aware of such practices? How many people really take the pains of taking a closer look at the characteristics of the underlying fund or funds of the ULIP?

              Regarding your point about the short term switching: If you take a closer look at the options that are available to you for switching, they are almost worthless. Take example of SBI Smart ULIP. The ULIP invests in only two funds. 1. Flexi Protect fund (Which offers extremely low transparency and no minimum for Equity allocation) and 2. Money Market fund (Which gives meager returns considering the ten year term of the policy.)

              I strongly feel that a ULIP can never be a good option when it comes to insurance as well as to investment. In this regard, I agree with Vinod’s view i.e. Buying ULIP is driven by a combination of greed and ignorance.

              Best regards,
              Amol

            2. Amol

              Thanks for your explainatory answer . however the point I made is still the same .

              For a person who can understand markets movement and can do successful switching every month or 2 month . Suppose he choose the best ulip around which make sense cost wise , What if he can do this for next 15 yrs ?

              Manish

  91. Debashish says:

    Nice Article Manish , though I agree with Pattu that it will be difficult to trust a Finance Planner ( for that mater finding one ) . In last few month when ever I get a cold call(around 10 times) about Finance / Investment planning , I ask them whether they are ready to give me a plan for a Fee and I’ll not use them as agent . Till now I have not got any +ve response .

    Also one thing came to my mind while reading the comments. How many people realize that the need Finance Planning . I guess for 80% people who earn enough to save , Finance Planing means
    1-What ever you can save put in in FD
    2-Invest enough in LIC Endowment/ Money back plans to reach your 80C limit .(you should hear my Father in Law how he says he Financed his Daughters wedding using LIC endowment plans :))

    -debashish

    1. manish says:

      Debashish

      I understand the problem of “Trust” . Its not easy, its like arranged marriage 🙂 where the risk is very high because you dont know who the other person is , we generally would like to have a affair for few months and would love to spend time with Financial planner for the long term relationship .

      But thats the way it is 🙂 . Regarding your Father in Law comments , i have no solutions for them , Its too tough to make them understand them because they come from different generation where safety of money and trust was far far important that high returns and excitement 🙂 . Ask them the retruns they made on their money and tell them the equivalent amount you can make if you were in their place , I am sure it would be a nice scene 🙂 , just save your ass to be kicked :))

      What do you feel todays investors have differnet than our fore fathers which makes us better investors ? Do we ?

      Manish

  92. Manish,

    Thank you for your reply.

    I’m glad to hear your viewpoint. It echoes exactly with what I think – and which was the reason I wrote my book “What Every Indian Should Know Before Investing”. You can check the contents of it on my site http://www.investjunction.com. I’m currently working on the second edition of it. I hope I can take your help with some of the chapters.

    I really admire the way you are going about this blog. But I still wonder what’s the best way to go about communicating the need for financial planning to the ordinary Indian. I have a feeling a mix of Internet and Mobile would be the best. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

    Vinod
    .-= Vinod Pottayil´s last blog ..ULIPS – mixing ignorance with greed =-.

    1. manish says:

      Vinod

      Mobile + Internet , thats what covers not even 10% of the people in india for financial planning . Most of the market is tapped at root level like middle class and not just big cities , but smaller ones . there people dont understand anything other than FD’s and LIC . thats it ..

      This is what we need to change truly if we want to change India . The real medium still I think is Newspapers , magazines . Internet is also a big contributer.

      I saw your content , it looks good from the point of product knowledge , but it missing heavily on Psychology part . The book will teach then “What” and where is “Why” ?

      manish

  93. Venky says:

    Manish,

    A great blog once again and extremely informative. I really wonder how you manage to get all the information and write these blogs!! You are actually doing a great service to all of us out here. Frankly I am wondering if I can start a Manish Chauhan Fan Club!!

    Well done Manish and keep up the good work.

    1. manish says:

      Venky

      I am glad that you think like that , the love of readers on this blog is what I am interested in and I dont need any Fan club 🙂 . When We have interest and passion for something , then time is not the limit. Even with a fulltime job , I somehow manage to run to this blog , but still feel I am not doing well and consistently try to improve on things like content , blog features , marketing the content and getting more readers . Thanks for all the support I get from you all in form of appreciation , comments and participation 🙂

      What are your views on the article and the issues we have discussed here . Do you feel Financial Planning is going to be a hit in next 2 decades and Why ?

      Manish

      1. Venky says:

        Manish,

        In my opinion, financial planing is still in infancy in India. Having said that I also believe that there is a great potential for good financial planners who can provide professional and honest service. The key is professional and honest service!!

        Your article is actualy quite informative and throws open a lot of questions for the financial planning comunity to answer. I have noticed that one of your blog readers who is a qualified FP (Hemant) who is ryng to answer some questions but we need a lot more such FPs to have confidence to trust them and thier advice.

        I live in Bahrain (have been in this region for the last 15 years) and I an guarrantee you that there is a huge contingent of Higher Middle and High Income earning NRIs who are investing / planning (actually not planing!!) for thier retirements like blind men in dark alleys. All these guys need serious professional assistance /planing / advice. However all we have in th Gulf region is the so called personal finance experts wo generally work for a Mutual Fund / Insurance Company / Broking Company, who actually push some product or the other in the name of financial advising / planning.

        One Financial Planner in India (who I met in Bangalore, in August 2009) did not even alert me to the fact that I had one to many endowement / moneyback LIC policies (13 in all and my total annual premium was Rs. 4.15 Lakhs for a coverage of Rs. 70, Lakhs). All he was interested in was to get me to invest in Mutual Funds through his company wih a fee of 2.5% on each investment. This was in Aug 2009 after the entry loads on MFs was scrapped by SEBI. This Gentleman’s arguement was that he was charging the 2.5% fee for the professional service and research that his company would be providing. Once I returned to Bahrain after my anual leave in Bangalore, I came across Manish’s Blog (Jago Investor) which made me realy wakeup to the mistake that I had committed with regards to my insurance policies. I understood what a term policy was and in January this year, I visited Bangalore again to get myself a term policy for quite a large sum and have discontinued my 13 policies as well. Had the above Financial Planner alerted me in Aug 2009, I would have probably saved 2 quarterly premiums (approx Rs 2 Lakhs) but al he wanted was my investment in MFs.

        I seriously hope that the Financial Planing community wakes up to the needs of the market and starts behaving ethically and professionally so that people who are in genuine need of financial planning can aproach the planners without the fear of being taken for a ride. Also, I believe that with the increase in awareness among us Indians rearding various aspects of personal finance, there will be a very large clientele in the coming years who will be looking to seek the services of professionally qualified (and honest and ethical!!) fancial planners. I would like to end my post / comment by saying that ‘the business is surely there for the financial planners and it is for them to loose the business!!’

      2. Venky says:

        Manish,

        In my opinion, financial planning is still in infancy in India. Having said that I also believe that there is a great potential for good financial planners who can provide professional and honest service. The key here is professional and honest service!!

        Your article is actualy quite informative and throws open a lot of questions for the financial planning community to answer. I have noticed that one of your blog readers who is a qualified FP (Hemant) is tryng to answer some questions but we need a lot more such FPs to have confidence and to trust them and trust thier advice.

        I live in Bahrain (have been in this region for the last 15 years) and I can guarrantee you that there is a huge contingent of Higher Middle and High Income earning NRIs who are investing / planning (actually not planning!!) for thier retirements like blind men in dark alleys. All these guys need serious professional assistance /planning / advice. However all we have in the Gulf region is the so called personal finance experts wo generally work for a Mutual Fund / Insurance Company / Broking Company, who actually push some product or the other in the name of financial advising / planning. Please note that all these so called experts are Indian Expatriates who are trying to take the NRIs out here for a ride!

        One Financial Planner in India (who I met in Bangalore, in August 2009) did not even alert me to the fact that I had one too many endowement / moneyback LIC policies (13 in all and my total annual premium was Rs. 4.15 Lakhs for a coverage of Rs. 70, Lakhs). When I asked him about my insurance policies he said my policies were good!All he was interested in was to get me to invest in Mutual Funds through his company wih a fee of 2.5% on each investment. This was in Aug 2009 after the entry loads on MFs was removed by SEBI. This Gentleman’s arguement was that he was charging the 2.5% fee for the professional service and research etc. that his company would be providing. Once I returned to Bahrain after my annual leave in Bangalore, I came across Manish’s Blog (Jago Investor in Sept 2009) which made me really wakeup to the mistake(s) that I had committed with regard to my insurance policies. I understood what a term policy was and in January this year, I visited Bangalore again to get myself a term policy for quite a large sum and a health policy and have discontinued all my 13 policies (which were just a year old and hence no use of making paid up or surrendering) as well. Had the above Financial Planner alerted me in Aug 2009, I would have probably saved 2 quarterly premiums (approx Rs 2 Lakhs) but all he wanted was my investment in MFs!!

        I seriously hope that the Financial Planing community wakes up to the needs of the market and starts behaving ethically and professionally so that people who are in genuine need of financial planning can aproach financial planners without the fear of being taken for a ride. Also, I believe that with the increase in awareness among us Indians rearding various aspects of personal finance, there will be a very large clientele in the coming years who will be looking to seek the services of professionally qualified (and honest and ethical!!) financial planners. I would like to end my comment by saying that ‘the business is surely there for the financial planners and it is for them to loose the business!!’

        P.S. – I am actually thinking of acquiring the CFP qualification and use my qualification to plan my own finance!! Wouldn’t this be better than having to trust an unknown financial planner and his advice (or the lack of it)?? I know this is a bit far fetched but I would rather dig my own well to ensure my water supply instead of relying on the unreliable, unethical and unprofessional water supply that is available otherwise.

        1. pattu says:

          @ Venky
          “I am actually thinking of acquiring the CFP qualification and use my
          qualification to plan my own finance!!”

          I have taught about this many times too! Two issues: cost of education should be considerable (for me) and like every other course, class room coaching is good but field experience teaches you better!.
          CFP website has nice quiz. Have you taken it?
          I will bet Manish has! Given his enthu. I started to take it but felt bored midway!

          1. manish says:

            Pattu

            Which quiz ? where ? Looks like I missed it 🙂

            Manish

            1. pattu says:

              Mock tests with sample paper and working notes can be found here:

              http://www.fpsb.co.in/scripts/CFPCertification.aspx

            2. manish says:

              Pattu

              I feel everyone should try to take the tests if they have good knowledge about financial planning . Atleast they will know whats the gap between then and professional 🙂

              Manish

            3. Akhil says:

              I ‘m not FP… But over a period I learn few things, continuously interacting with client facing question which induce me to search for an answer. which slowly upgrade my level of knowledge upto certain level… where I can able to understand things… most importantly I start thinking way one FP thinks while diagnosing their patient financial status.

              Still I think certified Planner is one who suppose to understand and possess in-depth knowledge and ability to tailor made the strategies after properly conducting the need base analysis of client. But having said that. If client trusting them blindly and taking their given advice n implement it in complete belief that it will surely help him/her to met the goal he/she sets for them self in life. Then responsibility of FP is double because the consequences of their bad advice may hamper the future plan of client or result into some monitory loss.

            4. Akhil

              Yes, the most important thing is to find out answers ourself upto some level 🙂 . You have made good points here 🙂

              Manish

            5. Akhil says:

              lol Manish, ULIP still best….;) if you say I offer you good plan with 85% return 🙂 hehe

        2. manish says:

          Venky

          Nice to get your detailed comment . U have some great points here .

          Nice to hear about the opportunities in Bahrain , I am sure many will find good planners now in india and avail their services. regarding the services of that planner you met in bangalore , its the same thing what i said in the article. Most of the planners do not have the motivation to actually work on your plan , but rather sell the products only .

          Regarding your comment on “I am actually thinking of acuiring CFP and doing your own planning” , Pattu has comment on that already , but i would also like to comment that

          Its some thing like you have a diesease and then you are saying i will become a doctor and treat myself . leave aside cost , its not everyone cup of tea , i am not saying that its tough or something one cant do , but its really too much work to do just for your own financial planning, also you may not have interest in doing it for long term . so think about it .

          manish
          manish

  94. Marshal says:

    Well i have tried once, but most of them sells products… infact i agreed to pay on hourly basis but couldn’t find professional with holistic approach…
    I have seen software generated templates, but i was not satisfied.

    Will try again by going thru CFP professional list… thanks for providing link
    i need professional outlook on financial planning i have done so far… :)..may be someone just tear apart whatever done so far 🙂

    1. manish says:

      Marshal

      Did you get it done through non-CFP ? Which company ? Most of them sell products as I said in the article because of the wrong model they follow , Imagine a chemist shop where their main intention is to sell medicines and compromise on the proper checkup .

      I am sure you would find a good planner from the list .

      manish

    2. Finqa says:

      Marshal,
      Try http://www.finqa.in – We are a fee only advisory firm with only one product – personalised financial plans and we don’t sell products.

      cheers

  95. Manish,

    What do you think is the best way to communicate the importance of financial planning to people? What do you think is the best medium to do so?

    You took the analogy of a doctor to explain the need for a financial planner. While I agree to it principally, I feel there are some important differences too. The symptoms of illness (not being well) are easily recognized by people to make them visit a doctor. But the symptoms of poor financial planning are not so visible. So people do not realize that they may be needing the help of a financial planner. To use the same analogy, it will be like a person who’s suffering from a minor illness but keeps ignoring it till it becomes a full-blown disease.

    Nice site and article.

    Vinod

    1. manish says:

      Vinod

      Nice question . The best way I think is that we can let them know what can go wrong if they dont do financial planning, now most of our last generation has not done any financial planning and they have lived happily , so one counter argument can be “then why cant we do without Financial planning” . The answer to this is that our generation needs it more badly compared to our forefathers , because things change !! . And current generation is different , we have different life styles and the expenses these days are very different and the way it will be in next 50 yrs also is very different .

      I agree your comment on analogy between doctor and financial planners , from that same comment we can conclude that issues with financial planning is more serious compared to doctor part . We need to be proactive to determine what is the issue , else at the end it will get late . Now just thing of people who have already paid 20 yrs in endowment policies , they never know that its an issue .

      Manish

  96. Mohan says:

    Interesting article. A person who proclaims himself as a financial planner should ideally abide by what you have mentioned, but the reality is not really true. Many such folks work for their share of commission from products they suggest to customers atleast in india. They still have a long way to go… Latest series of articles on my blog has a good analysis on how planners have been playing with customers and how to understand their motives. Good post as always 🙂
    .-= Mohan´s last blog ..Decoding Financial Advisers – Part 2 =-.

    1. manish says:

      Mohan

      I think it will take atleast 10 yrs in India when things will “really” start to change . 9 out of 10 people in India still dont understand how mutual funds work and why term insurance is better insurance policy , what can we expect then ?

      Manish

  97. pattu says:

    Manish,

    Nice article. However complete trust on a financial planner is something I am not comfortable with.
    Once I used to trust doctors. They they screwed my Fathers health and my wifes health. Since then I am used to questioning decisions. I am not sure a financial planner will work for me. However it could work for others. That said personal finance like health is extremely ‘personal’ and hence requires a lot of individual attention.

    A basic financial assessment and a simple plan now any regular jago investor can do.
    The link provides a basic plan from investment yogi (IY)
    http://investmentyogi.com/themes/yogi/FinancialPlans/SampleFinancialPlan.pdf

    IY now offers a free financial plan with some features unavailable.
    http://investmentyogi.com/user/finprofile.aspx?option=3

    People can a simple assessment of their financial health here although some features are disabled. I think IY charges Rs. 2000 for this basic plan with all features enabled. Any Jago investor reader can do this plan on their own.

    You have to admit there now enough resources and calculators to do a simple plan. It comes down to how clearly one can define ones needs.

    Even if you hire a planner you should what the planner is going to do hence knowledge of basic formulae and know how of a simple plan is important. Advanced financial planning could be hired.
    Some details of what to expect in a simple and adv. plan are found here
    http://sardesai.com/services.htm

    Even this I feel if one does adequate research one can do reasonably well. Of course the plan will not be optimal to start with but one can work on it constantly to achieve goals reasonably. The point is its all down to interest and use of commonsense.
    Of course a certified planner knows many things is good in so many ways but the joy of making my money grow on my own is important for me.

    By the hour consulting may not work and flat rates are better in India, I think. Fees should depend on take home pay (0.5-1%) and not fixed the same for everyone.

    I am not saying planners should not be hired, merely saying that I am unlikely to hire one!

    1. manish says:

      Pattu

      “However complete trust on a financial planner is something I am not comfortable with.”

      Agreed , and one should never “trust” 100% . When we hire someone we have to make sure that we monitor his advice and ask every possible question we can to make sure we understand it , Infact its a job of financial planner to make sure we understand each part and even from his side he should make sure that we understand things completely .

      regarding “Financial Planners not working for you” , thats pretty fine and I think that you personally are pretty much empowered with knowledge , as well as the attitude required for successful financial planning yourself , atleast upto great accuracy, currently I consider you are the biggest contributor among all the readers with amazing questions, which brings up important questions for all of us to think .

      Regarding Investmentyogi free financial planning feature, yea it can be used to make free financial plan and a good idea for basic plan .

      At the end you also understand that Financial planning is all about “Doing some calcualations” and “thinking Logically about everything” . If one has these two qualities which people lack , one can give a miss to a financial planner and pretty much do things on their own 🙂 .

      I hope you agree ? Any other comment ?

      Manish

      1. pattu says:

        Thanks Manish. You are right in saying not many people have interest to sit and do financial planning. A friend has a few lakhs in his bank acc. has no personal mediclaim and doesnt want to do anything about it! He asked me to help with his plan. Then after a few days forgot all about it. Yes there are many who need financial planners However it will take some time to catch on.

        1. manish says:

          Pattu

          There are similar people in India just like your Friend and I guess its mainly true for small places and under developed places like north Indian states like UP ( I come from that place) , Bihar , Orissa etc , but mainly its India story, and its not just a matter of changing their thinking . Its obviously going to help them, but its also linked to major problems like Economy development . Most of the money in our country is tapped in FD’s and Insurance policies , which should go to Equity markets , not just for returns purpose , but for other developments .

          What do you think on this ? Err .. I am digressing from main topic it seems .

          Manish

    2. @pattu
      “Information is not Knowledge” Albert Einstein

      Thanks to google, with a single search we can enter into jungle of information. Even if you want to make a time bomb, you will know it in a click.

      My Story – When I became Doctor through information on net:
      Few months back my wife had some sores & blisters on stomach. Through symptoms we tried to identify disease on google as it was already 10 PM. Within few minutes we were sure that this was HERPES. Try to search about Herpes & you will know it’s very dangerous & contagious disease. That was my worst night of life, my wife slept in other room. Next morning we consulted 1 dermatologist & he said you have read it right but she has Herpes Zoster that is not that severe. Information almost killed us.

      It needs a lot of experience to convert information into knowledge. Financial Planner can certainly help in this.

      Secondly I have seen your interaction at this blog & it seems you possess a good level of knowledge on personal finance matters but every Indian is not like you.

      Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.

      1. pattu says:

        Dear Hemant, Agreed. My point is that when you go to a planner you cannot treat him/her like a doctor where some amount of blind faith is inevitable. One must basic financial formulae to check what is being said. There several retirement calculators avaialable. Each gives its own answer for monthly contribution. So I have reason to believe that no two planners will also agree. Hence the need for information with the interest to process it so that it turns to knowledge.

      2. Hemant

        I think @Pattu has a different message, what he is trying to point out is that at this point , there is very big gap between the truthful services provided by financial planners and what we are getting at the moment as most of them are mainly interested in selling of products and making money through commissions, thanks to the environment .

        What level of trust should a client have with the financial planner and if client does not have trust , what is the best way to maximize the trust part at present .

        Manish

  98. Brij Mohan says:

    Great post again,
    I will see how I can make best use of these information now.
    Thanks Manish again

    1. manish says:

      Brij

      I would like to hear more of your views on Financial Planners hiring , What are the issues you face with the thought of hiring one for your self . Do you feel a need of it ?

      Manish

  99. yogesh says:

    Hi Manish,

    I feel everyone shd get work and i understand the concept & role of specialization too.
    And Financial planner will be best person to do this job undoubtfully.

    Knowing the thing theorticial is different from implementation.we can read n learn but still
    we will not able to implement as same as CFP.

    But I still don’t know what kind of advise i will receive from CFP in given time and in given fees.

    Suppose i goes to CFP n tell him that i want money after 15 years(for kids education) n after 25 yrs(for kids marriage) and money in old age(something like pension)

    How he will help ?Will he be suggesting some specific products(MF,ULIP) or something else?

    Can u elaborate more in this direction ?

    Regards
    Yogesh

    1. manish says:

      Yogesh

      “we can read n learn but still we will not able to implement as same as CFP” , I guess you meant “planning” and not “Implementation” . Implementation simply means execution of plan and buying different products as per the plan .

      Regarding “What will financial planner do ?” , so he will help in Planning your goals , Evaluating that its feasible or not and can it be achieved considering your risk appetite, Future income flow etc . Common person do not think too much about small things which a financial planner can do . For example , if you are planning to save for you child education in US after 20 yrs, a common person will think of basic stuff like Money required after 20 yrs considering current expenses and may be he will factor in inflation also in that . But what he will not think about is .

      – Changes in currency valuation after 20 yrs (today it is $48 , what if in future it will be $20 or $60)
      – What will be the tax implications of maturity proceeds after 20 yrs, will it affect the savings we are doing for child education ?

      So a CFP will help in planning , evaluating it , planning for an investment strategy for you and also recommend products (preferably products category and a list of funds with names for you to choose from) and then help you implement it or let you implement it and most importantly , reviewing it later so that to make sure its moving on the right track .

      Still you have doubts ? Clear them , ask more .

      Manish

    2. Alok Verma says:

      Hi

      I just saw your blog today and could not help appreciating it enough. I was really looking for thsi kind of info. Concerning the topic of need of Financial planner, let me share my own experience of the same.

      At the begining of the yaer 2010 I promised myself that I will hire a CFP to advise on my financials and help me with my financial decisions. I requested one of the firm which is regular on rediff and other sites who provide FP help. The guy who came to my house was infact AFP (associate planner) is what he told me and was in the process of clearing some exams to be a CFP. Then he explained everything. The only thing which made me skeptical abt them was that after discussing and preparing my finincial plan, the company would take over my all funds and do all investing in MF and Equity themselves…..I was not at all ready for it…………So the whole thing looked really awkward to me.
      I was looking for a CFP who can advise me and not do all the things himself.
      please let me know if somebody know of this kind of CFP or finincial planner

      Alok

      1. Alok

        I have already told how to find CFP from fpsb link , why dont you try that ? you can mail me for financial planning if you are ok with CFP-pursuing planner ?

        Manish

      2. @ Alok Verma & others
        Manish started this poll: How much should be the “total compensation” of a Financial Planner? Total responses 129 (18 Feb 2009)
        84(65%) said less than 10000 & out of this 44 said less than 5000.

        Thank god!! Manish haven’t given options less than Rs 1000 or FREE.

        Let me try to explain how & how much fee is charged internationally. (1$ = Rs 45)
        Some data is taken from Survey conduct on USA financial planners in 2009 & others are based on websites of different financial planners.
        A. Fee Only
        1. Pure fee only
        Comprehensive: $1000-$100000(ya $1 lakh) Avg $ 3600
        Modular: $100 – $5000 Avg $ 859
        2. Hourly Rate $ 100 to $ 500
        3. Asset Under Management: .75% to 1.25% every year
        B. Fee offset: Similar as Fee only but these financial Planners offsets any commissions that they receive on implementation.
        C. Fee Based (Fee + Commission): They may charge you a lower fee.
        Example: How they charge fees
        http://www.vertexfs.com.au/go/financial-planning-services/fee-structure

        1. Hemant

          Do you see this kind of charges happening anytime soon in India 😉 . I am sure 30-50 yrs is the time frame we can target it 😉

          Manish

          1. @ Manish

            We can’t compare $ with rupee.
            I know 4 CFP Professionals in india who are charging in between Rs 70000 to Rs 200000.(Fee Only)

            1. Really !! .. OMG

              But then they are very small in numbers and their clients would again be very big HNI’s . We are talking average here 🙂 .

              Btw, do these CFP offer Internship program 🙂 . Sounds like good opportunity to make money under them .. just kidding 🙂

              Manish

            2. @ manish
              Mentorship of CFP Certificants will start from this year.

              Secondly as we all are working on Financial Planning Week, I had a talk with few of the financial planners about their fees.

              Most of them are working as Fee based (Fee + Commission) & they are charging first year fee in range of Rs 10000 to Rs 30000. (Second year 40% to 60% of 1st year).

            3. Hemant

              what kind of mentorship is this ? something part of CFP course ?
              10-30k looks on higher side .. 10-20k is acceptable for a larger chunk ?

              Manish

            4. pattu says:

              The charges stated are way too high for many. You can’t do financial planning in one sitting and I don’ think many people (the ones that really need the planning) can afford Rs. 15,000.
              There are many people who can afford that kind of many but wont spend it because they think its a waste.
              Unjustified of course but the fact is I wonder if someone can make a good living doing financial planning alone.
              I think the fee should be proportionate to annual/monthly income of the client.

            5. @pattu

              “Planner: The financial planner is the qualified doctor who runs his dispensary as well as his own chemist shop. So, you need to pay for all of this. Broadly speaking, CFPs today in India charge you anything between Rs5,000 and Rs20,000 for the first financial plan. Subsequently, the charges can go up to Rs15,000-30,000, or even upwards every year. This, typically, includes one or few reviews of your financial planning every year to ensure you’re on track. Note that these are ballpark figures and financial planners charge you depending on how much effort they need to put in to set your house in order.”
              http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/27231502/Do-it-yourself-get-the-agent.html?pg=1

              Charges depends on the time & effort by Financial Planner. And for your second question “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder “.

  100. yogesh says:

    Hi Manish,

    First of all I didn’t received mail on this topic in my mail box and took this topic from ur gmail status.I don’t know how this happen or u r yet to post on mail.

    Secondly I really didn’t understand the concept why payment shd be hourly basis.
    Can u share ur thought ?Is anyone in india getting hourly paid ?There is no such concept in india.Its culture in US and other countries n those people don’t have job in hand all the time.

    What will going to happen with middle/lower class people ?Is the financial planning
    not applicable for them ??

    Regards,
    Yogesh

    1. manish says:

      Yogesh

      The reason you didnt get mail about this post is because i have set the time as morning 5:00 am . Rest of the post I publish late night so you directly see it in your mail box .

      The next point of Hourly fees of Financial planner , I have said in the post that its not realistic in India, may be you misunderstood .I accept that it will not work in India , its only in US and other developed countries where per hour wage concept works 🙂

      What do you feel are challanges in our country for clients as well as financial planners?

      Do you feel you will hire a financial planner some day ?

      Manish

      1. Akhil says:

        lol don’t know about mail… but damn you manish… sms alert woke me up 🙂

        1. hehe .. Nice

          You must have got the mail too 🙂

          Manish

  101. Great Post.
    I was waiting for your comments on idea of Financial Planning Week-India but never get your views. I thought you don’t ignore your readers.
    Now I would like you to share your views on your blog.

    Hemant Beniwal, CFP Professional
    Jaipur

    1. manish says:

      Hemant

      My apologies for not putting my comments on linkedin thread .I will do it soon . I have mailed you .

      What are the other problems you see our country is facing in financial planning field other than what I have discussed . Would you like to add something useful here 🙂

      Manish

      1. Your readers will ask this question.

        Do I need a Financial Planner?

        Ask Yourself……
        Do I have enough for retirement?
        Am I paying more taxes?
        Am I working on a budget?
        How can I repay my loans?
        How can I protect my assets?
        How will I pay for my child’s education?
        Should I invest now or wait for stable market?
        How do I minimize my investment risk?
        Are my investments beating inflation?
        Why should I start investing?
        Is the stock market too risky?
        How to investment in a fluctuating market?
        When can I retire?
        How can I achieve my financial goals?
        Is my portfolio diverse enough?
        Am I saving enough?

        Do You Have Time To Plan?
        Typically caught up in our day-to- day work, you can afford very little time for financial planning. Moreover, with little access to real time information and lack of ability to interpret and use financial information, investment decisions just do not figure in our list of priorities.
        Creating wealth is not a rocket science. All it requires is discipline and direction by Financial Planner.

        1. manish says:

          Hemant

          Nice points . Even though you have covered most of the things individuals have to think , one main question is still now answered and that is even though people ask these questions, how to motivate them to hire a financial planner , I am sure all these questions as in eveyrbody mind at a sub concious level , but then nobody feels that they need experts for that , Somewhere we feel that we can take care of all this ourself .

          Dont you think even Financial Planners are mainly trying to get more and more clients somehow rather than creating awareness about Financial planning , so that people get the feeling of hiring a financial planner themselves . Atleast readers on this blog have started appreciating the need of financial planning and its importance .

          Manish

          1. “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance;
            It is the illusion of knowledge.” Stephen Hawking
            Most of the people think they have great knowledge, so you can’t put more water in already full jar.

            The only way is either they should understand & accept new things or we tell them that their jar is full of grubby water. You are already doing your part through Jago Investor.
            You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. We are not pushy salesman – we can just tell what is right & what is wrong, it’s their financial life.
            Secondly I agree with what you said about role of Financial Planner. But days are not far when their will be qualitative rating of Financial Planners.

            1. manish says:

              Hemant

              “But days are not far when their will be qualitative rating of Financial Planners.”

              Wow !! .. this looks very interesting , We are discussing lots of ideas of future 🙂 . So what I feel can form as the deciding factors can be

              – Service given to clients (time taken , level of details planned , clients confortableness)
              – Cost
              – How well financial plan moves as expected (this will take time to show , but still)
              – Education provided by the FP to clients .

              What are the other factors you can think of ?

              Pattu , you can add some good points here .

              Manish

            2. Extract from FPSB’s (Outside the United States CFP Marks are owned by Financial Planning Standard Board Ltd.) report:

              Who is a Financial Planner?
              FPSB has defined a financial planner as “a professional who uses the financial planning process to provide a client with integrated strategies to achieve financial and life goals and who has demonstrated the abilities, skills and knowledge outlined in FPSB’s Financial Planner Competency Profile.”

              According to research conducted by FPSB among its 23 countries, 78 percent of territories do not regulate the term financial planning, and most territories regulate financial planners by the products they advise on, rather than as financial planners per se.
              Because the term “financial planner” is loosely regulated and often poorly understood by the public, companies in the financial services industry may choose to define the term according to a person’s job, rather than the person’s competency.
              Ted Rechtshaffen “My four-year old son could print up a business card and portray himself as a financial planner [without violating any law].

            3. Hemant

              Ya , Even in India Most of the Financial planners are the one who got converted from Agents or wealth managers . There are very few true “Financial Planners” .

              Manish

    2. Finally our dream came true:

      “FPSB India proposes to launch Financial Planning Week on its 5th year of establishment.”

      Expected Dates 2nd Week August 2010

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