Financial planning  for everyone

January 10, 2010
The Seminar was premier event that aimed at bringing in the experts from the financial industry who shared their knowledge and experience with individuals who are researching different avenues of investment and portfolio planning/ management. The MyFiWay Series covered Risk Management, Insurance planning, Investment planning, Asset allocation and retirment planning.

Program Highlights

Topics:

• Investment planning- Accessing the various avenues of investment and choosing the best portfolio for your requirements. Highlighted the importance of investing in equity and making sure the expectation from the same are realistic and reasonable.  
  
• Insurance planning- the basics of the different types of insurance available in the market and which is best suited for different needs.The concept of risk and how to mitigate the risk.
• Asset Allocation - How to divide your investments in various  asset classes.  The importance of asset allocation.
  
• Retirement planning- Basic steps in retirement planning. How the cost of food has increased over last 30 years and what needs to be done to ensure  that people have good retirment life.

Delegate / Participant Profile:

No of persons attending:              50+ 

Job Title                               :              over 70% top level management/ Business owners

Age Group                            :              23 - 70 

Gender                                   :             75% Males - 25 % females

Marital Status                     :            90 % married 

Couples                                  :            15% 

City                                          :            Bangalore

NRIs                                       :            5%

Industries                             :            IT, Product companies, Industrial Textiles, Specialized Steel, construction, project management, Printing, Event management, Visual computing technologies, Insurance. 

Feedback from delegates

The feedback from the participants was very encouraging and overwhelming. Over 70% of the participants in the first seminar said the program was excellant. Some people suggested that we bring someone from the mutual fund industry, allow more interactive sessions and have a panel discussion so that participants can ask questions to the speakers. They wanted stalls where they can get more personalized solution and suggestions. Some of the participants were asking to have such seminars often to cover other aspects of investments with specific case studies.

Some Key TakeAways:

• Buy insurance to cover the risk of loss of key person and the subsequent loss of cash flow.
• Consider Life Insurance Covers as expenses and not investment/tax planning avenues.
• Similarly have adequate Medical Insurance for self+family (include all dependents).
  
• Stay 'invested' in stocks for beating inflation and considering tax implications. Do not indulge in day trading.
  
• Have long term investment objectives while investing in stocks.
• Have diversified portfolio of investments.
  
• Review and re-align your investment portfolio regularly to align with your financial goals.
• Take the help of the financial planner to come with a good mix of various asset classes.
• Rebalance your portofolio at least once a year.
• consider the impact of inflation and plan to make more than inflation to keep the standard of living.
• Start early and the best time to start taking the first steps is now.
•  There is no free lunch, the higher the risk you take, your chances of  making more increases, but at the same time your capital is at risk.
  
• Spend time to identify your financial goals  and make appropriate investments to match these needs.
• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of the product you are buying. Do not sign  without understanding what contract you are getting into.
• Don't be afraid of volatility of the market. By nature some assets as equity are volatile.
• Have reasonable expectations of returns. Don't expect 10% per month (120% P.A.) returns on equity/mutual fund investments .
• Long term is at least  5-10 years and above.