A new year brings fresh starts, ideas, chances, and experiences. With the start of FY 2022–2023, it could be a good time to begin your financial planning tasks, organise your money, and prepare for the year ahead. It’s never been a better time to work toward your financial goals and instil some financial control.
It may have been hard in the last month of the fiscal year to meet the March 31st deadline for your tax and financial planning needs. As a result, assessing your finances in the middle of 2022 is one task you can do to ensure the rest of the year is free of worry.
10 Financial Planning Strategies to Prepare for 2022
Here are the top 10 financial planning and tax strategies to prepare for 2022:
- Examine your portfolio.
This financial planning tip can help buyers still worried about inflation, rates, and crisis risk. The recent market activity allows you to verify your risk level and ensure that your cash balances are still sufficient. You could also think carefully about whether or not this is a good time to change your portfolio.
Your evaluation might include the following:
- Consider tactics for managing a rapidly changing environment.
- Consider the new chances given by this year’s rather large market pullbacks.
- Studying the cost-benefit analysis of potential projects.
- Purchase medical coverage for your family.
You may even save money on taxes by buying health insurance for yourself and your family. Section 80D of the Income Tax Act permits you to deduct up to Rs. 25,000 for paying premiums for yourself, your spouse, and your dependent child.
Also, if a taxpayer is over the age of 65, the person may get a tax deduction of up to Rs. 50,000 here under the clause. You may save as much as Rs. 50,000 if you pay for the parents’ health insurance.
- Review your cash management.
Matching the features of various investment options with the desired demands is vital. Even inside a brokerage account, money market fund options have varying rates and certain liquidity hazards. Confirm that you are satisfied with the return on your money and the items providing that rate.
- Calculate your progress toward financial freedom.
Even though the last few years have already been hard on many fronts, owners’ total net worth has grown steadily, even with this year’s market slump. After a period of great performance, compare your existing assets to the levels required to sustain financial freedom. With this research, decisions on savings rates, investment policies, and wealth transfer schemes may be made. In many cases, it is also a wonderful time to reflect on the positive changes and enjoy the outcomes of a focused financial planning tip.
- Invest in tax-advantaged assets.
This financial planning tip might help you. As said before, Section 80C of the Income Tax Act permits certain tax breaks on sums invested in tools. It states that purchases of these assets are tax deductible up to a limit of Rs. 1.5 lakh.
- Select the relevant tax regime.
Indian people currently have access to two tax systems. You may choose one of these when submitting your ITR. Yet, selecting a suitable tax system is critical to maximising tax savings.
While a new tax system provides reduced tax rates, tax deductions are not permitted. So, if you wish to use the tax deductions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, you must follow the previous rules. Otherwise, you might choose the new tax system to reduce your income tax bill.
You can use an online income tax tool to see whether the old or new tax system is more favourable to you.
- Create a reserve.
You also need to keep an eye out for any urgent expenses that might come your way. If you still do not have a reserve to meet your urgent needs, create one as soon as possible. Begin by saving 10% of your monthly income and gradually increase. After a couple of years, you will have a considerable amount in the corpus.
- Examine buy-sell deals.
Because the value of businesses has increased in recent years, the owners of privately held companies must evaluate any buy-sell agreements. They must also check that all parties agree on the listed price and the process to determine the price in the future. If you depend on insurance to help you meet your commitments, you should review your coverage in light of any changes.
- Plan ahead of time for the expiration of estate tax exemptions.
If the family thinks about wealth transfer methods, you should start designing and adopting them now. If you’re thinking about shifting capital to reduce future tax payments, do it as soon as possible.
- Remember to make use of home loan tax breaks.
Assume you get a house loan from a bank or NBFC. You may deduct your loan’s rate and principal parts from your taxable income in such instances. The maximum deduction allowed under this provision is Rs. 2 lakhs under Section 24 for house loan interest and Rs. 1.5 lakhs under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act for home loan principal.
Conclusion
New Year’s goals are simple when you decide what is most vital. Wealth, health, and happiness should always be top priorities when it comes to living well. So, if you follow these top ten financial planning tips, you’ll be well on your way to a prosperous 2022.
Many taxpayers rush to invest in tax-saving devices toward the end of the fiscal year to save money. Yet, this defeats the basic goal of allowing such deductions, which is to inspire people to save for the future.
As a result, the optimal time to make tax-saving investments is at the start of each calendar or fiscal year. You may also save taxes and build wealth by investing regularly in numerous tax-saving routes. However, you must comprehend all tax-saving investing options and only invest in the relevant ones. You can visit Piramal Finance for more exciting blogs on financial planning and explore their products and services.