Financial Life Planning is a branch of Financial Planning which deals with peace and happiness in life. It aims at creating yogic wealth. As per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are five levels of human needs; Physiological (Food and Water),Safety(Home), Love and belongingness (Family), Self esteem(Professional achievements) and Self actualisation (Passions in life).We need money for fulfilling the needs for the first two stages i.e physiological and safety but do not need money for the last three stages. We always worry about money and fear for not having enough of it.Fear gives rise to insecurity which again leads to anxiety. This again is the root cause of our greed. In fact most of us have these emotions and we should not feel bad or guilty about it. Rather we should recognise these emotions before we aspire for peace and happiness in life.
Many of us develop inferiority complex for not having enough money and to overcome this, we develop superiority complex by getting into comparison mode to satisfy their ego. Comparison gives rise to jealously, envy, frustration, shame and anger. It may lead to crime. Singular pursuits of money and wealth have affected relations in many families.
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We, the financial planners collects data on income, expenses, assets and liabilities which are in the conscious state of the client but rarely factor the emotions of the client which are in their subconscious mind. In fact we have found in the “Well being camps”organised for senior citizens that the main cause of their unhappiness in life are the subconscious emotions about their comparative status. Many are already rich, but they want to be richer than the others.The real financial freedom can be achieved by recognising these emotions and being free from these thoughts.
The latest trend to overcome tension is retail shopping therapy.Many feel they can calm their disturbed nerves by going for a shopping spree or purchasing relationships through gifts or going for lavish dinner/parties.These are temporary reliefs and do not address the chaos created in the subconscious level. Benjamin Franklin has opined that money can create a vacuum in life.
We need to respect wealth and put it into right uses.Wealth not used properly creates mental upheavals.Our scripturers talk of four types of wealth i.e Financial, Physical,Social, and Emotional .Financial wealth alone can not give peace and happiness life.Further wealth is best enjoyed when shared with the society through charity. Bill gate,Tatas and Aziz premji are enjoying their created wealth by giving back to the society.
The real satisfaction in life comes not from how much wealth one has. It comes from doing a job with passion or making lesser number of visits to the doctor or less medicine purchased in comparison to last year or love and affection in a mutually supportive family. In fact standard of living and quality of life is not proportionate. Surprisingly it is inversely proportional for many who mismanage wealth. One has to maintain a balance between the two to optimise on peace and happiness. Some senior Financial Planners are now offering counselling on Financial Life planning and help in not only achieving Financial Goals but also in achieving peace and happiness in life.
Reproduced with permission from http://www.maxsecfp.in/component/k2/item/130-achieve-peace-and-prosperity-with-financial-life-planning
About the Author
Shri Prakash Praharaj topped the university during his graduation and post graduation in Commerce and has been awarded two gold medals. By training, he is an MBA and he has been awarded a Diploma in Treasury, Investment and Risk Management besides CAIIB from the Indian Institute of Bankers. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER CM and a Certified Personal Financial Adviser with 30 years of experience in the financial services sector under his belt, which include service at financial sector pillars like the Reserve Bank of India, United India Insurance Company, State Bank of India and SBI Life Insurance Company.
During the year 2010, he promoted Max Secure Financial Planners to provide fee-only financial planning advisory services and promote financial literacy. Today, he is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser and helps plethora of investors to plan their financial lives and achieve their aspirations.
Mr Praharaj is listed on finvestor.in and you can ask him a query at finvestor.in
Smrutirekha Bhoi