As a blogger, there is no specific time/date/place where you will get an idea to write about( I know I've said this before).
Like this: Ironing my office going clothes in the morning has been a ritual for the past 8 years. These 10-12 minutes are also where some of the ideas for this blog pop up. Here is one interesting topic that came up the other day I would like to share with you.
Are you looking for Financial Planner/Advisor? If you are, you should go through this post that talks about almost all the necessary information you need before hiring a financial advisor. Most investors are confused about simple things like, where to find a good financial planner/advisor, what they should expect from him and most importantly they do not understand the financial planning environment in India. There are lots of myths and misunderstandings around the financial planning field and this post will give you most of the basic information you need to be aware of, while hiring a Financial Advisor.
First things first:
Who is a Financial Planner:
A financial planner is a professional who helps his clients to deal with various personal finance issues through proper planning. Just like we have a doctor for our physical problems, we have Financial planners/advisors for our Financial problems. Just because you know “what is a Mutual fund” or some “Tax laws” or can buy and sell stocks on Stock market, it does not mean that you don’t need a Financial planner. Financial Planners are professionals who have got the requisite qualification, have learned strategies and have in-depth knowledge and experience to understand how to structure/restructure a common man’s financial mess and come up with a sound long term plan which will help a client achieve his/her financial goals in future.
Just like CA, MBA, CS and other professional certifications, there exist a certification for Financial Planning which is called CFP (Certified Financial Planner). Read more about CFP Here. CFP is regarded as the top most qualification in Financial Planning and it is recognized worldwide.
Who is not a Financial Planner:
A lot of CA’s, CS’s, MBA (finance), CFA, ICWA and other Finance related professionals feel that they are the right professionals to do Financial planning for individuals. Just because “Financial Planning” or “Personal Finance” has “finance” word associated with it; does not mean that any one from different finance field can be a Financial Planner. Financial Planning is very different from what CA, CFA or a MBA Finance does.
Financial planning deals with individual personal finance, his future financial goals, the risk taking appetite. Having CFA or MBA (finance) as qualification will definitely help at some level and may be some CA’s, CFA’s or MBA (Finance) have a great understanding of Financial Planning, but it’s not true for everyone in general. In the same way, any ULIP Agent, Insurance Adviser or Mutual funds agent, Wealth Manager, PMS guy is not a Financial Planner. These people are there to assist a Financial Planner to sell the products. In the analogy of Medicine field, Financial Planner is a Doctor and all these agents, Wealth managers etc. are like Pharmacists.
There are two ways of hiring a Financial Planner:
1. Hiring a Financial Planer
In case you want to hire a CFP (which is recommended) you can get a list of CFP’s in India at FPSB website link. You can find out CFP based on
- Name/Company
- City/State
- Nature of Employment
Tip: You should search for CFP’s who are “Independent Financial Planners” or “Self Employed”.
2. Hiring a non-CFP
You can also hire a non-CFP but you have to be very careful while doing that. Before CFP certification came to India, we had excellent planners in the Industry who understood the financial planning process subconsciously and still practice that but without having the CFP certification. They can be from various backgrounds but can have sound financial planning knowledge. They are a rare species.
To be continued....
To be continued....
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