Financial planning is a  process that has to be constantly monitored and adapted to fit your ever-changing financial requirements.  Comprehensive financial planning helps you chart your goals, while also directing your strategy and actions to improve your financial health. You decide what you want to achieve and then the plan will help you figure out how to do it.

To build a comprehensive financial plan, start with –

1. Examining your current financial condition, plans, and strategies.
2. Assessing and understanding your present and future goals, both short- and long-term.
3. Charting a plan which takes into account your current financial products as well as those that you will need to scale up from where you are now to where you wish to be.

A comprehensive financial plan combines your life goals with your financial goals. These two goals need to work in tandem  and they should include the following:

• Goal Setting
• Retirement Planning
• Tax Planning and Management
• Children’s Education and Marriage
• Caring for Elderly in the family/differently-abled
• Insurance
• Debt Risk
• Risk Management
• Disaster Management – Life, House, Auto, Disability, etc
• Optimising Investments
• Estate Management
• Alignment of Resources
• Building an Emergency Fund

Who can help you build a comprehensive financial plan?

A financial advisor will become your trusted advisor and guide you with their knowledge and experience to create a holistic and personalized plan. They consider all options and map out a path that will help you reach and achieve your goals in the most efficient manner. A comprehensive financial plan can only be constructed when your advisor knows about your personal and financial aspects.

Detailed information regarding your personal circumstances – You may wonder why you need to disclose personal details when creating a financial plan, for example, you are the caregiver of an elderly relative or you have to care for a differently-abled member of your family. If you do not share these details with your financial advisor, the financial plan that will be developed would not be complete and therefore your goals would not reflect your real needs. As a result, these details must be shared to develop a realistic plan.

Financial Details – To establish a sound financial structure, all financial details, including bank accounts, investments such as property, jewels, artwork, FDs, RDs, mutual funds, stock certificates, insurance policies, taxable information, etc. have to be shared.

A trained financial advisor will gather this information, assess your current financial situation, and prepare a framework for you. Then, taking into consideration your unique situation, they will create a customized plan that aligns your goals with your needs. The investments will be modified according to your needs as an investor and any gaps between the goals and investments will be addressed.

For the plan to be effective and work as you and your advisor envisioned, regular monitoring is essential.