Objective Oriented Financial Planning & Investing

A three days Faculty Development Programme was organized by the Department of Commerce from 10th to 12th May 2023 on “Objective Oriented Financial Planning & Investing for Individuals”. Financial planning is the process of developing a personal roadmap for one’s financial well being. The inputs to the financial planning process are: one’s finances, i.e., income, assets, and liabilities, Individual’s goals, i.e., current and future financial needs and his appetite for risk. The output of the financial planning process is a personal financial plan that tells the individual how to use his money to achieve his goals, keeping in mind inflation, real returns, and taxes.
In short, financial planning is the process of systematically planning one’s finances towards achieving his short-term and long-term life goals.

Personal Financial Planning is a significant issue however not many people are aware of the appropriate ways to address it. The FDP was therefore aimed at giving insights to the participants about the vital aspects of financial planning people.

The targeted participants of the FDP were faculty members; the FDP Programme received an overwhelming response with 61 participants. The FDP aimed to feature sessions on Mapping Personal Financial Goals, Mutual Funds & ETF, Life & Health Insurance, Equity, Real Estate & Housing Loan, and Retirement Planning.

Date wise brief Report for each of the three days FDP programme:

DAY 1

The FDP commenced on 10th of May 2023 with an informative presentation by Mr. Prashant Sharma, Regional Business Head, Uttarakhand and Mr. Shapath Gupta, Manager, HDFC Mutual Funds. He explained the concept of Financial Planning and emphasized its significance in attaining long term financial security. He highlighted the idea of Long Term, Medium Term and Short Term Financial Goals and the strategies to achieve them. Mutual funds are an excellent investment option for individual investors to get exposure to an expert managed portfolio. Also, you can diversify your portfolio by investing in mutual funds as the asset allocation would cover several instruments. Investors would be allocated with fund units based on the amount they invest. He also apprised the participants about credit rating commonly known as CIBIL Score. He explained the concept of Credit Rating of an individual and its importance for the purpose of obtaining loans. He also outlined the factors which contribute to the credit score as also the acts which reduce the credit rating of a person.

Start now, even if you are in your mid thirties or forties, it’s better to start now than dawdle for another five years, every day counts, Be honest with yourself, Seek help when needed, Set sensible, measurable goals for yourself, Be realistic in your expectations of the results of financial planning, Review your plan and financial situation periodically and adjust as needed, always review the performance of your investments; pull out if needed and reinvest the money elsewhere, Be hands-on, it’s your money and no one else will do your work for you were some of the tips shared by Mr. Prashant Sharma for making the most of the financial planning process

DAY 2

CA Shalini Sabharwal delivered a talk on the theme “Investment in Equity Markets and Bonds” During her talk she explained with facts and figures, the potential of the equity markets in giving returns to the investors over a medium and long term period. She highlighted that investments in equity markets fructify if an investor makes informed decisions about selecting good companies and waits patiently to allow investments to grow. The discussion was also done about the derivative products such as Futures, options, Mutual funds, Exchanges traded funds, NPS etc. by giving very simple examples. There was intense sharing of experiences and information on the various sources of revenue. The session was highly informative and helped the faculty in increasing their knowledge on financial management and made them understand the importance of investing that too in right direction with proper strategies for strengthening their investment sustainability.

DAY 3

CA Sumit Sabharwal talked on the theme “Taxation” . The main objectives of the session was to provide an overview of new tax regime and a comparison of new and old Change in tax regime has created the necessity to have a comparison between the old and new tax regime and understand the difference between the two, and accordingly help us understand the best alternative to be selected while filing income tax returns. The faculty members cleared their doubts in the interactive session. The whole concept of the new tax regime was understood well by the participants.

This FDP provided an opportunity to the participants to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to take better financial decisions. Most of us knew that we need to improve our money management skills and start saving for retirement, yet we fail to take the appropriate steps to achieve our goals because of lack of knowledge.
The overall session was very enriching for all the faculty members.