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It's less than three months for the new financial year to kick-start and we are forced to think over our tax-planning regime perhaps more seriously this time. If you haven't planned anything yet its time to evaluate your decisions on how you can go about a having a perfect tax planning in place.

What you would need to do is have a through look at the various schemes and try to see which is the most suitable to your requirements. Usually people make a last minute rush to invest in various schemes to get the tax benefits. But factors such as risk appetite, need, use of a particular scheme get overlooked and in the bargain you end in investing in schemes that match neither your needs nor requirements.

What you would need to do is plan it out effectively and better still if you do it right now. Under section 80 C, the government permits you to make investments upto a limit of Rs. 1 lakh and avail tax benefits of the said amount. So, you are exposed to the following options, which are:

1. Life Insurance
2. Public Provident Fund (PPF)
3. National Saving Certificate (NSC)
4. Equity Linked Saving Schemes (ELSS)
5. Provident Fund (PF)
6. Principal Home Loan Repayment
7. Fixed Deposit

The first step for individuals who have seriously thought of planning for their investments is to set their goals straight and clear. When you know your destination, the journey becomes easier.

The purpose of investing may differ which could be either purely for tax saving purpose or it could be for some specific goal. If you know the amount that you are investing is for a specific purpose, it becomes clear where you are headed. In case you still have blurred goals, a word caution to you- have something planned for that unexpected day. There has to be a cushion on which you can fall back upon.

You can relate this kind of planning to that of a 'financial planning' where you give equal consideration to all the important events in your life. It basically means that you plan for the unpredicted events in life. If you choose to overlook it, it can have serious strains on your finances. It is better if you invest your money in something worthwhile like property, gold, etc. It is a smart way of investing rather than letting you money lie idle.

If you do not have funds when you need them, you may find your other reserve set aside for your some serious objective getting used to fulfill that unexpected event. This can impact your finances significantly. To make it simpler to understand, let say you meet some unforeseen event and it demands quick expenditure of Rs. 500,000. Now, if you have set aside a decent amount for your child's education, you may end up using that amount to meet the demand of that particular situation. What comes out clearly from this example is that you need to save and set aside an amount for a rainy day. When you set your objectives straight, you know the reason for saving money and its exact need.

Once your planning is in place, you know there is no need to ask favours from any other source besides your own. But no matter what the onus of a complete financial planning lies in you.