TEST YOUR FINANCIAL FITNESSBefore starting any fi tness regime, you measure your BMI, Cholesterol and other health

indicators. These indicators tell you about the areas where you need to work more. In personal fi nance also, you need to identify your problem areas.

The better you know your fi nances, the more you can prepare for your fi nancial marathon.

How? You can record your expenses. After that, you segregate them into necessary costs, luxuries and goal-based spend. That will help you, know your fi nances, curb impulse purchases, and prepare for your long-distance (retirement planning) goal.

GET A COACHOnce you know the areas you need to work out, it’s time to get an expert! Similarly, you need Expert advice to work on your fi nancial problem areas, as well. How? You can seek fi nancial advice! A Financial Advisor is a Market Expert. They can help you prepare for your goals and overcome your economic weaknesses. They can also help you determine your optimum retirement corpus.

PREPARE A PLANHow do you want to strategise your marathon? Do you want to start slow; or gain

momentum by running ahead in the fi rst round? Similarly, in personal fi nance, you need to decide your investment strategy. It involves the way of Starting, Expanding, Diversifying, and Completing.How? You can plan your spends. That involves shopping with a list, budgeting your expenses and curbing impulse buys. Further, you need to plan which goal comes fi rst, Diversifi cation, and how do you

segregate your investments.

MEET MILESTONESYou can’t prepare for a marathon with just one day of practice! You need to continually work towards improving your stamina, by reaching several performance milestones, one after the other. In personal fi nance, you can improve by gradually increasing your investment capacity.How? Initially, you can start from a SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) as small as ` 500. You can make investment milestones to increase your investment capacity gradually. If you started with ` 500, your next aim could be ` 1,500, ` 3,000, ` 5,000 and so on.

When you think of a marathon, you map the distance. It is a lengthy, well-determined, strategic and disciplined approach to your long run. In personal fi nance, you do it for your retirement planning goal. Let’s discuss ways you can prepare, strategise and win this fi nancial marathon.

GET, SET, GOPREPARE FOR YOUR

FINANCIAL MARATHON

fi nancial marathon.

*This content was created exclusively for UTI Swatantra. Visit http://www.utiswatantra.com for more information

Anujit NandyDirector, Nandy Financial Advisory Private Limited

The right time to invest in mutual funds is right now. Sometimes the investors

are concerned about the negative news; sometimes there are positive news and stock market are moving up. Investing is a life-long process. It is a marathon, not a 100-meter sprint. Therefore you have to keep investing at least until you retire. In fact, to retire peacefully, you need fi nancial security, that can come from investments. Investments through SIPs or STPs are the best way to invest in market. For lumpsum, invest when no one is investing in the market. Diversify in debt-funds to create a balanced healthy portfolio. If you want to make money don’t exit the market, ignore short-term volatility, and stick to the market to reach your goal.

EXPERT SPEAK

HERE’S WHAT THE EXPERT SAID

A reader asked us: I wish to start investing in Mutual Funds. What is the right time to start with Mutual Funds and when do I stop?

What happens when you skip a SIP or two?

If you miss a SIP or two, it won’t affect a lot on your investments. But if this happens quite a number of times in the SIP tenure, then it might affect the main purpose of SIP, averaging effect. Many investors think that if they miss a SIP, then their account will be de-activated and the fear of missing out on the installment to save for future goals grips them. Well, you need not worry as your SIP would remain active even if you missed 1 or 2 installments due to insuffi cient amount of balance in your bank account. However, you will have to pay the penalty to the bank for dishonoring payment. But one thing to remember is that if you miss three consecutive SIP instalments, your SIP ECS gets deactivated.

GURU SPEAKAtri Ganguly Director, Vrishank Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd.

Steps to download and scan a QR code: 1) Download QR code app on your phone. 2) Run app and scan the QR code. 3) Your smartphone reads the code & navigates to the destination.

Scan this QR code to calculate the amount you need to invest to achieve all the milestones you have set for yourself.

Scan this QR code to know what an SIP can do for you.

Ever thought of how much money you should have when you retire? Scan this QR Code to fi nd out.

It’s never too late to prepare for your fi nancial marathon through SIP; start your SIP now!

Small SIPs can help you cover a considerable distance over time!

READER'S POLLJust as every marathon runner needs a coach, every investor needs a Financial Advisor.

Do you agree?Yes No

Share your answer via SMS.

Type Poll<SPACE>YES or Poll<SPACE>NO to

5676756 In the next edition, you can fi nd out how many people agree with you.

In the next edition: You can run more when you are young. Similarly, first-time jobbers can be more flexible with their investments. In the next edition, we will introduce you with the benefits of starting your finances right from your first paycheck!

Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.

Do not miss our special edition for the first-time jobbers. An investing roadmap so that you reach your financial goals in a timely manner. Catch our live show on UTI Swatantra Facebook Live - ‘Smart money moves to make at your first job’ on 29th August 2019 from 5 PM onwards.

*This content was created exclusively for UTI Swatantra. Visit http://www.utiswatantra.com for more information

*This content was created exclusively for UTI Swatantra. Visit http://www.utiswatantra.com for more information

For more details, follow us on Twitter @utimutualfund; Email queries or suggestions: utiswatantrateam@gmail.com Please mention ‘Swatantra in TT’ in subject line. For more such fi nancial advice, head to our website: http://www.utiswatantra.com

3. Gaining early momentumWhen you start a race, you are charged-up with all your strength and freshness to run. You have more capacity to run fresh, rather than when tired. As you move ahead, you leave your

fi nancial ineffi ciencies behind. Smart tip: Start early to help compounding

work its magic. As you start early, you can be aggressive with your investments and gain early momentum with your fi nances.

For high long-term returns, you can invest in Equity-Based Mutual Funds.

COMPLETE YOUR FINANCIAL MARATHON1. The DDD approachMarathon is a lengthy run. You need to be Determined, Dedicated, and Devoted (DDD) to complete this run. In personal fi nance, you need to have

a similar DDD approach to achieve your retirement

planning goal. Smart tip: Be

disciplined with your SIPs. Further, it is essential to be regular and not stop your investments.

Just keep moving, manage your pace,

and you might be able to retire early successfully.

2. Hydrating other short-term goalsIn every marathon, there are Hydration points. Hydration at regular intervals helps you keep running and improves your capacity. Similarly, while investing for your retirement corpus, you need to keep your other short-term goals hydrated.Smart tip: Have a separate SIP (portfolio) for each of your goals. Keep investing for your short-term and medium-term goals based on priority. Have a Diversifi ed portfolio for all your objectives.

WHAT NEXT?Now that you are

prepared for your fi nancial marathon, here are a few smart tips for completing it with fl ying colours. Let’s have a look at three ways to achieve your fi nancial

marathon.

BABY STEPSAs explained earlier, dividing your corpus into smaller SIPs can help you start early. You can even change your SIP amount without any penalty.

Therefore, you can invest economically as per your convenience and capacity. The smaller the SIP, easier it

is to be regular with it. You can divide your investments into monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, weekly, and daily frequency.

*Figure achieved through compounding calculator. Years=35, Percent yield = 15, Initial balance = 1,000, Monthly contribution = 1,000.

SMALL REGULAR INVESTMENTSSmaller investments are more common especially when you have just started investing. Once you become regular with small regular investments, you can try improving your capacity. It also gives you the benefi t of rupee cost averaging, since you don’t need to time the market before investing. Through Mutual Fund SIPs, you invest during different market conditions. Therefore, a peak or plunge will not have a signifi cant impact on your portfolio.

Here’s how a SIP-by-SIP approach can help you build a corpus:Swatantra Kumar Explains: Step by Step – SIP by SIP

What sounds doable - an investment worth `12,000 or `1,000?

The latter sounds like a more feasible option.

Even a small SIP of `1,000 can help you build a

retirement corpus worth a crore*.

What sounds doable - an investment worth `12,000

The latter sounds like a more feasible option.

worth a crore