I received a mail from Namrata Mehta asking about my investment advice services. To be more specific, here’s an edited version of the mail:

My husband and I work in the IT industry in bangalore and are looking at investing around 3 lacs per annum. We have been looking for a good financial advisor but didn’t find someone we could trust. I liked what I saw on your blog and I am glad that your advice and services are for people in India.

I saw that among the courses listed on personalfinance201.com, you also have finacial advice listed under your professional/paid services. Can you please send me the details on how we can avail this and of course, the fees to avail this service?

My answer:I still have a day job and am not providing any financial advice/planning services as yet. (Question to self: When will you have the guts to go into personal finance business fulltime?)

See, financial advice is easy. Just invest 10k, 10K & 5K every month through a SIP in three MF scheme that I recommend and it takes care of your Rs 3 lacs investment per annum. I don’t know whether I should charge for that! Though I shouldn’t be saying no, no?
 
But financial planning is slightly complicated. Any person who can help you set financial goals and setup a financial plan will have to understand your situation and protect you from either dreaming too big (getting greedy) or from being too conservative (being fearful). It’s almost the job of a Counsellor.
 
To my mind, managing your money is also about maximizing your income and optimizing your expenses apart from the investing part.

Additional comments: So as a financial counsellor, I would also explore the possibilities of maximizing your income. Check How to maximize your income. I would be keen on doing a thorough Financial Health Check on a spreadsheet that I have developed.

I would also set up metrics so that you can measure what you earn and what you spend. Once we start measuring, we find ways of improving upon the findings. I’m sure, RupeeManager will help.

I also talked about asking the right questions in my last post. (Link). A financial counsellor would be able to ask the right questions too. To help you arrive at the right answers yourself. I’m a strong believer of DIY! Ultimately, you are responsible for your well being, no?

Conclusions:To my mind, the financial advice service has two main components.

One, the transactions part, where you advice your client about specific investment products. Two, the counselling part, where you understand the client personal situation and customize your recommendations.

It seems like an utopian concept as I write this post. But having travelled for 20 years in financial services industry, making a lot of mistakes and now mending a lot of financial decisions, I feel confident of providing that service.

Infact, that’s the idea behind the workshops, where I can guide people in a group. For individual attention, I may have to charge much more.

My question to you: Do you think such services are available in India? Or is it possible to provide such services? And would you be interested in just the investment (transaction) advice or want a complete financial planning package?

Comments and email are most welcome. Thanks.

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