The initiative started by Red Fm 93.5 Mumbai in association with Kotak is a great idea. This section which features at morning no.1is very informative. They ask people about their investment strategy in the new year which they want to follow.
It is very interesting to know what general public is interested in and the level of information one has about the investment desicion they take. As a full time investment consultant I am sometimes surprised by the range of information people possess to achieve their Financial Goals.
(A)Some of them can be as ignorant as not investing anything and money lying in their savings bank a/c while some are updated with all the viable options(like debt oriented Mutual Funds) to get the maximum value of even their idle money.
(B)Some invest keeping in mind only their today’s needs(options which are convenient, popular, conventional) not focusing what this money would be of use when it matures and what would be the tax implications while others do complete financial planning by first ascertaining their goals and looking for opportunities which will help them achieve those goals.
(C)Some trust their friends, neighbours(who themselves are not sure why are they giving the advice) for investing their hard earned money and some are smart enough to go through professional Financial Planners who are not biased towards any kind of investment.
Needless to say that the latter find their way easier to be peacefully retired, getting their children married, buying a property and achieving whatever financial goals they may set.
As an investment consultant I would advice people to first look in to following aspects before investing
(a) What is your risk profile
(b) What is the liquid money you need for emergency
(c) Do you see any capital expenditure(like buying a home, car, self marriage) in near future
(d) What are your Financial Goals
(e) What corpus you require for retirement have u taken inflation into account
These are few of the aspects which one should look before investing.According to me their are many ways to invest but one should not duplicate what is popular or invest without knowing all the aspects of investments. Hope the above information is useful to the investor community. Let money work for you instead of you working for it
Saurabh Mittal
Investment Consultant
secureLife
email: saurabh@securelifeindia.com