ICan Do Financial Planning

ICan Do Financial Planning by Swapna Mirashi ; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 143; Price Rs. 245/-

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Swapna Mirashi is a Financial Literacy Consultant and author of two books. She was a member of the Steering Committee of Financial Literacy of the Reserve Bank of India. She developed a comprehensive rural financial literacy manual for ICOCI Bank. She is regular contributor to financial journals. The book under review is a manual of financial planning. Financial planning is a process of planning and managing your current finances to meet your goals. Income, expenses, savings, assets and liabilities have to be so organized as to secure your aims— buying of a house, provide for education and wedding of your children and plan your retirement,

This is a well-organised step by step manual enriched with smart worksheets and checklists. It encourages you to design your own personal financial plan. Almost every page contains a box that highlights important concepts. The first step is to set clearly your goals—with a time-frame. If your start planning early in your career you have to set aside less money each month. A basic need is to assess clearly your financial position. It is advisable to have realistic goals commensurate with your assets and income. A cogent analysis of your financial needs is a must. Set reasonable goals and take firm steps to achieve them.

The next subject tackled is “Investment”. Seek out profitable avenues like provident fund, fixed deposits and ensure a good balance between growth and steady income. Acquire a thorough knowledge of avenues of investment. Arrive at an ideal portfolio. Due to inflation you have to invest in such a way that the value of your money is retained. A wise management cycle is to save regularly—invest wisely—spend intelligently and at the same time ensure your security. You have to master the process of investing, gauging risks and taking right decisions. There are various investment channels—some riddled with risks and some high-yielding. Study stocks and shares and available exemptions. You can arrange your investment portfolio and review periodically your holdings. Another crucial area is planning and managing your debts portfolio. You have to be aware of risks involved. Risk is the possibility of a loss or negative out come. Vulnerability to risks varies from individual to individual. You have to be aware of certain practices that inevitably lead to risk. This manual offers guidance on methods of managing and overcoming risks. Information is offered on briefly on regulators like RBI ,SEBI and those who regulate insurance market and pension fund market. It is safe and essential to build an emergency fund to combat risks, Different types of risks are analysed. The manual provides sample planning steps to achieve common financial goals. The volume has a valuable glossary, a tiny list of books ( why no books by India analysts are included is not clear ) and a number of useful websites.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Dr.D.Subbarao, who contributes a “ Foreword ” rightly hails the book as “A rewarding learning experience.” Surely this manual is very valuable and offers easy-to-implement advice to wise financial planning. The Reserve Bank deserves warm praise for bringing out this book as part of its efforts to encourage financial literacy.

P.P.Ramachandran