Hiring a professional financial advisor has become a common trend due to the increasing hype and importance of financial planning. Moreover, the upsurge in the demand for financial planners has resulted from rampant online promotion. You also must have come across various promotional posts encouraging users to hire Fixed Fee Comprehensive Financial Planner in India. Now, before you stop by and get enticed by such a post, ask yourself- Do you need a Fixed Fee Comprehensive Financial Planner in India?
About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI registered investment advisor. He can be contacted via his website plnr.in. Ajay is part of the freefincal list of fee-only advisors and fee-only India.
Most people don’t seem to comprehend that a financial planner is not always required. You can do comprehensive financial planning even without seeking the assistance of a professional. Let’s discuss seven scenarios in which you don’t need a financial planner to make it easier.
Seven Scenarios in Which You Don’t Need A Comprehensive Financial Planner
Here are the seven scenarios in which you don’t need a financial planner.
1 Tax Savings and Filings: You needn’t hire a financial planner if you’re looking for someone to help you file returns and reduce tax liability. Although comprehensive financial planners can help save taxes only up to a specific extent. Additionally, the planner is not going to file your returns at all. A financial planner will focus on the bigger picture and recommend certain investments to help you save tax. Hence, if saving tax is your only target, hiring a Chartered Accountant rather than a financial planner is better.
2 Coming out of a Financial Mess Immediately: A Fixed Fee Comprehensive Financial Planner has no magic wand to help you eliminate the financial mess immediately. If you’ve to pay loans but don’t have much surplus in your possession, a financial planner cannot offer immediate assistance. Though it will take time, they can help you escape the financial mess. If you can understand the same, you can hire a financial planner, but you don’t need one. The same thing applies to your financial goals. If you don’t have sufficient surplus to invest and cannot alter your goals, a financial planner wouldn’t help.
3 Unmarried, Employed with higher education goal only: Let’s assume that you’ve just started working and your only goal is to graduate within 2-3 years. In such a case, a financial planner would not offer significant help. It will only ask you to invest your monthly surplus in a recurring deposit (RD) or a fixed deposit (FD). Other than this, a Fixed Fee Comprehensive Financial Planner can only help you with term insurance and if you’ve dependents. So, if you’re unmarried, employed and have goals to pursue higher education, you don’t need a financial planner. You should invest in either RD or FD and take a good health insurance plan simultaneously.
4 Running behind returns and Daily Tracking: If you think a financial planner can help you gain extraordinary returns, you must reconsider. A fixed-fee comprehensive financial planner`s job is to help you achieve your goals. And for that, he can even ask you to invest up to 50% of your corpus in debt instruments. If your financial goal is just 4-5 years away, he may ask you to invest your entire surplus in debt instruments. Therefore, if your only motto is to get those extra returns, you do not need to hire a financial planner. Even for long-term goals, the financial planner will select only from those products that are available in the market. A financial planner would not be helpful since you can access the same products.
Moreover, do not hire one if you want your financial planner to track your returns daily and suggest corrections accordingly.
5 Stocks investments: If you are only looking for stock-specific recommendations, you should not hire a Fixed Fee Comprehensive Financial Planner at any cost. Most of the fixed-fee financial planners I have encountered do not recommend stock investments. Nevertheless, they suggest their clients opt for equity mutual funds as it’s comparatively safer than investing in stocks. In some cases, it is better to hire a Research Analyst than a fixed-fee comprehensive financial planner.
6 Retired with monthly pension and less surplus: You don’t need a financial planner when you have a regular pension with an additional 30-40 Lakhs in savings account/FD. You aren’t dependent on any portfolio for regular income to meet your monthly expenses. But, if you’re not covered under any Mediclaim policy, the best thing would be to get health insurance coverage. Do not invest at any cost as per the suggestions of your relationship manager or agents. Furthermore, keep that hard-earned money only in the savings account and FD.
7 DIY investor: If you are a DIY investor and have your basics in place:
- You have bought a term insurance.
- Health insurance has been purchased.
- You have also purchased a personal accidental policy.
- You have allocated your assets properly.
- Your investments are in auto-pilot mode.
Suppose you have done all the things listed above. In that case, you do not need a Fixed Fee Comprehensive Financial Planner in India unless you require validation from a financial planner regarding your insurance and investments.
Conclusion
It cannot be denied that comprehensive financial planning is highly essential. However, it is also important to note that not everyone needs a financial planner. The concept is new to India, and it is gaining popularity. So, if you are not able to manage your finances in the right way, consider hiring a fixed-fee-only financial planner.
*Disclaimer- Nothing in the article is my solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer. If you have any doubts as to the merits of the article, you should seek advice from an independent financial advisor. Registration granted by SEBI, BASL membership, and NISM certification does not guarantee the intermediary’s performance or provide any assurance of returns to investors. Investment in the securities market is subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.
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Dr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.
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