Financial Planning is not very complex but imperfect science. "One size fits all" approach does not work very well because in Financial Planning a lot is dependent on individual's risk profile, cash flows, habits etc but new people can start with some very basic rules.

1. Have adequate life cover

As a thumb rule, you should ideally have life cover which is at least 10-15 times of your annual income. That means if you have 20 Lakhs as yearly income then go for minimum 2 Crore rupees of insurance. Go for pure term plans, you can buy online too.

2. Have a Emergency Fund

Please maintain a emergency fund that should be equal to 6-9 months household expenses. This amount is not for achieving any goals but to combat any emergency situation like medical claims not getting approved temporarily or salary is not being paid due to issues in the office.

3. Prepare a list of Financial Goals

You might have some responsibilities or Financial goals like Kid's education, starting your own business, Kid's marriage, Family obligations etc. Prepare a list of such goals along with the amount of money required and start saving/investing for these goals.

4. Save your taxes

There are so many options to save taxes, study the tax saving options properly and try to save tax as much as possible. For example: Yearly Health Check up amount can help you in reducing your net income and it will also keep you healthy so go for it, you will have both health and wealth.

5.  Plan for your liabilities

You don't want to carry your liabilities till your retirement, plan to be liability free at least 7-8 years before your retirement. For Example : If you have taken home loan , make a habit of doing a repayment every six months or 1 year so that you can close home loan earlier.

6. Invest, just do not save

Do not keep all your money in Fixed Options like FDs. Recurring Deposit, PPF etc. Use Fixed options for your short term goals and go for equity investments for long term goals. Invest in Equity through Mutual Funds, Bonds, FMPs etc, do not get into direct equity, it is risky for retail investors. Fixed options even struggle to beat inflation in long term and equity is the only way to beat inflation and generate returns on top of it.

7. Choose a right Advisor

For health issues you visit a doctor, for fitness you visit a fitness coach, for hair cuts you visit nice saloon similarly work with a good advisor to achieve your financial fitness. A good advisor brings a holistic plan in front of you and his experience of working with other investors also helps him in coming up with much more customized and structured financial plan which suits to your requirements.