Understanding personal finance is an important part of managing your money. Financial planning requires a certain understanding of investments, taxes, and budgeting in general. Now, some people may find these things easy to comprehend, but for most people, and for beginners in particular, it may be essential to enlist the help of an expert to understand and plan their finances better.
And often, even if you have a fairly basic understanding of how taxes, personal finance, and investments work, you may still find yourself in a situation where it may be essential to seek the expertise of afinancial advisor.
But how do you know when it’s time to hire a financial planning advisor? Let’s look at some of the key situations when it may just be the ideal time to seek expert help.
The Right Time to Hire A Financial Advisor is When,
You’re Beginning To Seriously Consider Retirement
You work for years on end, mostly with one key goal – to save up enough for a comfortable life after you’ve retired. Now, while there are several avenues of investment in India to help you build your retirement corpus, it takes a financial advisor’s expertise to help you figure out how to best use the money you have to create the retirement fund you need.
For this reason, it’s a good time to seek out an expert when you’re starting to seriously think about retiring down the line. That’s when you’ll have a clear picture of how much you need to save and the time frame within which you need to do that.
You Earned a Hike In Your Pay
Earning a raise at work is always a reason to celebrate. But after the initial euphoria has passed, the dilemma of what you could do with all those additional funds remains. If you have debts or obligations to settle, your extra pay could be redirected to those areas. However, if you’re unsure of what to do with the increase in funds, a financial planning advisor can help you out.
With years of expertise to rely on, a financial advisor could assist you in using the significant raise you received to increase your long-term wealth instead of using those funds for short-term requirements.
You’ve Received Some Windfall Gains
When you receive huge sums of money in the form of unexpected windfall gains, you may be unsure of how to put those funds to the best use possible. For instance, in case you receive an inheritance, you may unexpectedly find yourself handling huge sums of money, with no idea about where or how to invest them.
This is another great time to seek out a financial planning expert, so you can get your queries sorted out by an expert in the field. Without such expert guidance, you run the risk of making hasty or uninformed financial decisions that could erode the windfall gains you received.
You’re On The Threshold Of a Major Life Event
Major life events often require that you take a closer look at your finances and move your money around as needed. For instance, when you have a baby, start a business of your own, or even lose a major earning member of your family, you’ll find that your finances may need to be overhauled to align with the event you’re dealing with.
Financial advisors can prove to be invaluable at such times, because they can offer you the guidance you need to navigate these life events prudently. Right from helping you understand your options to actually charting out a financial plan for you, the level of assistance is wide-ranging and yours to choose.
You’re Just Earned Your First Paycheck
In some cases, the best time to hire a financial planning advisor may be when you earn your first paycheck. This is particularly true in case you are in a high-paying job that leaves you with more money at the end of the month than you can manage on your own.
A financial planner, with their expertise and knowledge, can help you make sense of investments and tax planning, so your salary is put to the best use possible. When you look back years later, you’ll agree that hiring a financial planner early on is one of the most prudent financial decisions anyone can make.
You Want To Reduce Your Tax Burden
A change in the tax regime, an increase in your pay, or even a sale of a capital asset like a building or a plot of land could shoot your income up into an income slab that comes with a higher rate of tax. If that happens, that may be another right time to hire a financial advisor, so you can learn how to reduce your tax burden.
While you may be aware of the key elements of tax saving, like section 80C deductions, a financial expert can help you tap into all the benefits available for your specific taxpayer profile, so you can minimize your tax liability.
