Personal Finance 101 (Summary)

What is financial planning?  It is the science, some say art, of planning for your future money needs.  Some says I don’t have any money so I don’t need to plan.  I believe this group of people needs financial planning most!  When you don’t have enough resources, that’s when you should plan so that you don’t waste these resources.  The resources may be water, land, oil or in this case, money.  Rich or poor, you need to plan on how to use money!

To start, most financial planners will want to do the following:

1. Identity your current financial health.
2. Identify your risk profile.
3. Identify your investment goals.
4. Consult with the you to design a suitable budget to allow you and your family to survive.
5. Based on the budgeting, get sufficient protection for you and your family in the event of unexpected accidents.
6. Design and implement a suitable investment plan based on your risk profile and investment goal.
7. Continue to monitor for you the implemented plan and adjust the plan for any changes in the market.

That’s it!  Sounds simple but trust me, anything and everything can happen!

As this point, if someone who claims to be a Financial CONsultant and will like to help you ’spend’ your money, check if he or she follows the above steps to help you.  If they just want you to buy something, beware!