(The author is a financial planning coach, founder and CEO of Money Avenues, a Wealth Management firm based in Chennai. Mail him at: finplancoach@gmail.com)
"At the end of the day, this was still a 55/45 situation"
"And so if it turns out that it's a wealthy, you know, prince from Dubai who's in this compound, and, you know, we've spent Special Forces in -- we've got problems" -- US President Barack Obama's comments post Osama's hunt.... 
President Obama's comment sums up the life message. Life will offer 55/45 situations and we can still be successful if they are handled the right way; that the life never gives us opportunities which can be 100% sure; they always come with an element of uncertainty. But the key message is the conviction; though he gave a 55/45 chance even when it was decided to go for the mission. Of course the mission had a precise GOAL & TARGET and a METICULOUS PLAN and RELIABLE RESOURCES to back it up. The result is there for all of us to see........
The key takeaways from this are a) setting precise goals b) setting precise targets c) reasonable forecasts d) constant tracking e) employing the best resources for the task.
Same principles apply in our lives too.. None of the situations offer 100% chance. It can be 55/45 situations many a time in our lives. But one should never fail to plan for situations which occur in our lives... Without planning is like saying we'll land there and plan for the operation....
Financial planning is a tool which is a must for any life situations; be it 100% or 55/45....
1. Setting precise financial goals:
First basic ingredient in making a good plan is to clearly set the goals.. It can be your retirement, or your child's future planning or owning a home or any other goals.. And they must be very specific and measurable goals in order to achieve them financially.
2. Work on precise targets:
Goals should have measurable and time bound targets to make them meaningful and worthwhile. The entire financial planning concept works around the goals and targets. Some of them could be: buy a house in next 3 years; plan for child's education - 10 years; retire in 15 years... So on
3. Reasonable forecasting, a must:
However uncertain life may be, we still can reasonably forecast our needs and wants, if not accurately. It's important that we spend some time and do home work to understand our needs and wants, which will form the basis of our goals and targets for the future.
4. Keeping an eye, always:
It's highly important that you keep an eye always on the goals and targets after identification; because they keep changing over the time as the life in general has become very dynamic. What you planned 5 years ago may not be relevant today. It's better one keeps reviewing the goals and targets just to check if the plans are on sync with them.
5.Engage a professional financial planner:
Financial planning is best left to an expert, whose job is to assist the clients on their future planning. It's true that you are very very busy in your work and profession, which leaves little time for your personal financial planning. Remember, planning is one part of the process, but tracking is a critical part in the on going process.
Only perfect financial planning will safeguard you for the 55/45 situations in your life...
(The author is a financial planning coach, founder and CEO of Money Avenues, a Wealth Management firm based in Chennai. Mail him at: finplancoach@gmail.com)
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