Let me ask you a question. On which subject you will find most experts in India? Any guess? Studies, movies, money, politics or cars. Answer is none of these. Then what is it? Its ‘CRICKET’. Every Tom, dick and Harry of our country is expert on cricket. Your house maid, driver, colony’s watchman, shopkeeper or even a 10 yr. child. Everyone is an expert. Who should play, who should bat at what position, who is the best batsman or bowler, how can we beat Australia. Everybody has an opinion, everybody is an expert.
But have you ever though- how many of such experts have actually played the game? Not even .001 % of India’s population. So how come they become expert? General accepted principal says unless you have practiced something personally, you can’t master it and yet they are expert, how? Short answer is ‘By simply observing /watching the game, developing their understanding over time by listening to the commentaries of experts who have played the game or reading the newspaper article or discussion on TV, you tube etc.
So, clearly you need not be a born player to participate in a game, you can develop the competencies overtime. This is so similar to the fact that you need not to be an expert financial planner to start investing in financial market.
you don’t need a degree or a certification to think like a financial planner. You just need a shift in perspective. Let’s look, how by changing our thinking process a bit, we can conquer the conundrum of financial planning.
- Figure out how many are enough?
What is the first question asked when a team decides to bat? How many runs are enough to win this match? Nobody asks, how will you get it or who will made how many runs? Once the target is set then team decide the strategy to achieve it. Who will open, who will be pinch hitter etc. Similarly, first figure out how much money you need. Set the goals, then it became easier to figure out how you will save money for investment, where will you invest etc.
- First know where is leakage before fixing?
During a workshop I once attended, the speaker asked, “Raise your hand if you know exactly how much you spent last month on non-essential purchases.” Only three hands went up—in a room of 60. Its hard fact, most of us don’t track our expenses. Unless, we know where we are spending, how will we manage our expenses. Planner don’t just spend, they budget, spend and track to avoid over spending to ensure that cash flow is in control.
- Defend then attack:
What makes a Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting or a Kallis all-time great batman? Along with great attack they had an equal solid defence. It allowed them to correctly played good balls with ease, preserved their wicket and had long stay at wicket. End result – big scores. Become a great batsman in game of investment. Insurance is that solid defensive technique, a safety net that ensures stability, risk mitigation, and long-term wealth protection. Without it, a single catastrophic event (medical emergency, accident, property loss) can wipe out years of savings. So, take enough insurance cover to cover any health and life emergencies.
- Weather the storm:
Which is Gavaskar’s favourite one day innings? 175 by Kapil dev against Zimbabwe in 1983 world cup. Why? Because when he went out to bat, score was 17/5, conditions were really tough for batting, ball was new, swinging, forget scoring, saving your wicket was tough, but he counted on his experience, patiently weathered that storm and once condition got better- ball getting older, less swing, he did counter assault, India ended up with score of 266/8 and later won the match.
Thinking like a planner means, developing the habit of weathering storm, patiently wait out tough time, be a market crash, ill ness or a job loss. It’s not paranoia. It’s preparation. Build a plan to safely navigate tough time without impacting your ability to stand up again. E.g. build a contingency fund to take care of your expenses which can cover your 5-6 months of recurring expenses.
- Cut the chase
How good teams chase a big score in a match. They don’t go hammer and tong from the first ball. They plan, they break the chase in phases, let say over 1-10, 11-25, 26-40 and 41-50 and plan strategy for each of these phase. E.g. attack, take advantage of field restriction of power play, accumulate many runs, then milk bowling in next phase and final assault in last ten over.
Plan like this in chase of your investment goal. Don’t put all eggs in one basket. Bracket your investment to maximize returns with different risk levels.
| Goal Horizon | Examples | Investment Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Short-term (1–3 yrs) | Travel, gadgets, buffer fund | Liquid funds, RDs, FDs |
| Medium-term (3–7 yrs) | Car, kids’ school | Balanced or hybrid funds, RDs |
| Long-term (10+ yrs) | Retirement, children’s education, marriage | Equity funds, NPS, PPF, EPF |
This method aligns expectations with realistic returns—no more investing for retirement in a 1-year FD.
- How I can be next great?
What is common in all great player, be a batsman or a bowler or even a fielder? They don’t sit on their laurels. They continue to learn and adopt. They learn from their success and failures. They even learn from their opponents. This hunger of learning, ensures they continue to improve their game and become better and better.
Become similar player. Don’t believe you know everything—learn and adapt. Don’t react to Twitter tips or WhatsApp forwards; read, explore, compare, question and analyze.
How to do this – Read the basics of investment – SIP, compounding, mutual funds, insurance, diversification and inflation etc. The more you understand these factors which impact your investments, the more empowered your choices become.
- Set- review – Reset
Generally, teams have a set batting and bowling order to ensures, consistency and stability, since everyone know their role. Fast bowlers use the new ball, batsman with good technique open the innings, to defend and save wicket when ball is moving around. But some time we see, a spinner starts the bowling with new ball, why? Because the pitch is rough and new ball being harder gets more bounce and spin and get you a wicket.
It means routines gives you discipline and good result. But it’s important to review and make amends to take advantage of circumstances.
Build discipline through routine in your investment, start SIP, auto-debits for saving, monthly check-ins, it’s all about making smart decisions automatic. But do periodic reviews to see how your investments are doing. Make changes, Adjust as life changes. Promotion? Bonus? Job switch? Each one’s a chance to realign your compass.
Conclusion:
You don’t need to be a planner on paper. You just need to start thinking like one. Have a reason for every rupee. Build resilience before chasing returns. Learn a little, track a little, and plan a little—consistently.
The mindset of a financial planner isn’t about spreadsheets. It’s about seeing your life as a series of dreams—and crafting a money map to get there.