A new financial year calls for new financial goals.
Let this year be ‘THE YEAR’ when you not only save better but increase your money, too.
Sounds like too much effort?
We are here to help.
Before you jump to the planning bit, here are two important things that you can do:
Define your goals: Begin by thinking about what you want to accomplish financially next year. (Do you want to pay off debt, save for a big trip or invest in your retirement fund?)
Be specific: Make sure your goals are measurable. (Instead of saying, ‘I want to save money’, say ‘I want to save Rs.10,000 per month.’ )
Well done! Now, let’s start planning. Saving and growing money involves three basic things; budgeting, tax saving and investing to increase your wealth.
Budgeting
Sounds easy but it demands dedication and adherence. Here’s an easy template that you can download for free and use to prepare your monthly budget.
Tax Saving
Once you have factored in your bills and monthly expenses, you have a fair idea of how much money you are left with for the month that you can invest to pay fewer taxes. Don’t leave tax savings for the year’s end. You can set aside some amount every month to invest in options like ELSS mutual funds, tax-saving SIPs, government bonds, FDs, NPS, and PPF that will help you save taxes for the next year. These options will also help you in building a retirement fund with minimum risk. Remember to utilize the full 1.5L/2L limit for 80C and plan as per your tax bracket.
Investing to make more money:
Once you have set aside a monthly amount to invest to save taxes, it’s now time to invest to grow your money. Divide this amount to invest in different options. Here are a few options to consider:
- Low-risk low returns investment options: Municipal bonds, treasury bills, FDs, NPs, PPF, and Money Market Funds.
- Medium-risk Medium returns investment options: Debt funds, balanced mutual funds, Exchange Trade funds (ETFs), and Corporate Bonds.
- High-risk High returns investment options: Equity Mutual Funds, Direct Equities, Hedge funds, Foreign Exchange.
We hope this helps you set financial goals and adopt better money habits this year without any stress.
We’d love to hear from you.
Financial and Business expert having 30+ Years of vast experience in running successful businesses and managing finance.
