Episode 13 - The One-Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards

You must be already aware that astute financial planning is the key to achieving your financial goals. However, many of you might find it to be complicated and challenging. Worry not. Financial planning can be simple and uncomplicated and can easily be done on a single page!

Summary

In his book “The One-Page Financial Plan”, Carl Richards makes financial planning easy by laying out a step-by-step guide for creating a customised financial plan that reflects your unique requirements and risk profile. Listen to this Podcast by Edelweiss MF & learn more!

1. When you start creating a financial plan, the first thing that you should ask yourself is, “what does money mean to you?” Money can mean different things to different people. For some, it is the means to becoming happy and for others, it could be a necessity. The answer to this question will reveal your values and will help you create a holistic financial plan that can meet your requirements.
2. The next step is to establish clear and precise goals. The chances of achieving your goals can greatly increase if you can be specific about your goals and articulate them precisely in terms of time and money.
3. Once you have defined your goals, you need to first assess your networth. This will show you how much money you currently have and how much money you will need in the future to achieve your goals.
4. After determining your networth, you will know the amount of money you need to save and invest on a monthly basis. This means that you will have to create a budget, clearly write down your earnings and expenses, and ensure that you save the required amount of money every month.
5. After you have saved the money, the next step is to invest it in such a way that it can generate the necessary returns over the expected time-frame. Thus, you will need to create a diversified investment portfolio that is spread across multiple investment instruments.
6. Most importantly, always remember that your financial plan needs to be agile. Your personal circumstances can change and so can the investment environment. An agile financial plan will ensure that you can quickly change your investment plan in response to sudden external changes.

Carl Richards’ book has made financial planning easy and serves to put your financial goals within your grasp. You can read the book summary here or listen to the podcast on the Edelweiss Mutual Fund website, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcast. We hope you enjoyed this podcast and will tune in to listen to more such podcasts on investing nuggets.