Goal Planner

Goal Planner: Plan, Fund and Track Your Clients' Financial Goals

The Goal Planner helps you turn a client's life goals, such as retirement, a child's education or buying a home, into plans you can measure. For every goal you can see what it is expected to cost, link the client's existing investments to it, and keep track of how much of it is already funded.

Where to find it: Utilities > Goal Planner

In this article

•     Finding a client's plan

•     Creating goals (Goal Maker)

•     Linking investments to a goal (Map Asset)

•     Reviewing all goals together (Goal Status)

•     Common ways to use the Goal Planner

•     Frequently asked questions

1. Finding a client's plan

When you open the Goal Planner you see a list of your clients along with the number of goals each one currently has.

Figure 1: Goal Planner client list

•     Search: type a client's name in the Client Name box to narrow the list.

•     Sort: click the arrows next to Client Name or PAN to sort the list.

•     Number of goals: shows at a glance who already has a plan and who does not.

•     Rows per page and page numbers: use the drop-down at the bottom left to change how many clients are shown (20 by default), and the page numbers at the bottom right to move between pages.

•     Open a plan: click a client's name to open that client's goals.

•     Add Goal Plan: the button at the top right lets you start a goal plan for a client.

2. Creating goals (Goal Maker tab)

After you open a client, you land on the Goal Maker tab. The client's name and PAN are shown at the top, along with a Back button to return to the client list. The page has three tabs: Goal Maker, Map Asset and Goal Status.

Figure 2: Goal Maker with the seven goal types and the client's current goals

Goal types

You can plan for seven kinds of goals. Pick the one that matches what your client is saving for.

 

How to create a goal

1.   Open the client's plan and stay on the Goal Maker tab.

2.   Click the tile for the goal type you want, for example Education.

3.   A form opens below the tiles with that goal type already selected. You can change the type from the Select Goal for drop-down if needed.

4.   Give the goal a name that you and your client will recognise, such as "Aarav - MBA", and fill in the remaining fields.

5.   Click Save to add the goal, or Cancel to close the form without saving.

The picture on the right of the form changes with the goal type, so you can tell at a glance which kind of goal you are creating.

Figure 3: Retirement goal form

 

Figure 4: Education goal form

Figure 5: Vacation goal form

 

Managing your list of goals

Every goal you create appears under Current Goal as its own row. Each row shows the goal type and name, its Future Cost, and two actions:

•     Map Assets: jumps to linking investments to that goal (see the next section).

•     Bin icon: deletes a goal you no longer need.

The PDF icon at the top right of the page lets you download the client's plan as a PDF.

3. Linking investments to a goal (Map Asset tab)

A goal only becomes meaningful when you tie real investments to it. The Map Asset tab lets you choose which of the client's investments are meant to fund each goal, and shows how close the goal is to being funded.

Figure 6: Map Asset tab

The funding summary

Choose a goal from the Goal Name drop-down. The top of the page then shows where that goal stands:

•     Status message and progress bar: show how much of the goal is funded and whether it is on track. For example, a goal whose date has passed with an unfunded amount is flagged as Overdue.

•     Future Cost: the estimated cost of the goal on its target date.

•     Shortfall: how much of the goal is still not covered by the investments linked so far.

•     Invest Lumpsum: a one-time investment that you could suggest to the client to close the gap.

•     Invest SIP: a monthly SIP that you could suggest to the client to close the gap.

The goal's Target Date is shown just above the table on the right.

How to link investments to a goal

1.   Open the Map Asset tab, or click Map Assets on a goal in the Goal Maker tab.

2.   Select the goal from the Goal Name drop-down.

3.   Choose the type of investment from the tabs: Mutual Fund, Share & Bond, Fixed Deposit, Other Assets or Insurance.

4.   Find the investment you want. You can search by client, folio or scheme using the magnifier icons, and sort the columns, for example by AUM.

5.   Tick the checkbox under Allocate to this Goal (%) next to each investment that should fund the goal.

The table shows each investment's client, folio, scheme, current SIP amount and AUM. The Available (%) column tells you how much of that investment is still free to be linked to a goal, and the Goal(s) allocated to column lists the goals it is already linked to.

Splitting one investment across several goals

One investment does not have to fund only one goal. Once an investment is linked, the name of the goal appears in the Goal(s) allocated to column. Click it to open a small panel listing all of the client's goals, and type the percentage of that investment you want to give to each one.

Figure 7: Splitting an investment across goals

 

4. Reviewing all goals together (Goal Status tab)

The Goal Status tab gives you one table with every goal for the client, so you can see the full picture without opening each goal separately. A Total row at the top adds up the key columns for all goals.

Figure 8: Goal Status tab

 

 

5. Common ways to use the Goal Planner

Planning for a new client

Create a goal for each thing the client cares about, such as retirement, their children's education and a home. Open the Goal Status tab to see the whole plan on one screen and use it to guide the conversation.

Funding goals from investments the client already holds

Use the Map Asset tab to link existing mutual funds, shares, deposits and other assets to the right goals. The funding summary shows straight away how much of each goal is already covered.

Sharing one investment between goals

When a client has a single large investment and several goals, split it by percentage so that each goal gets its fair share.

Annual or periodic reviews

Before a review meeting, open Goal Status and look for red shortfalls. The Lumpsum Invest and Add SIP columns give you ready suggestions to discuss. Goals shown in green have a surplus, so those investments may be used for other priorities.

Giving the client a copy of the plan

Use the PDF icon at the top right of the client's page to download the plan and share it with the client.

6. Frequently asked questions

Which types of investments can I link to a goal?

Mutual funds, shares and bonds, fixed deposits, other assets and insurance. Each has its own tab on the Map Asset page.

Can one investment fund more than one goal?

Yes. Click the goal name in the Goal(s) allocated to column and enter the percentage of the investment that each goal should receive.

Why does an investment show 0 under Available (%)?

It means the whole investment has already been allocated to goals, so nothing is left to link.

What do the red and green numbers in Goal Status mean?

Red marks a shortfall, where the goal is not fully covered. Green marks a surplus, where the linked investments are expected to cover more than the goal needs.

How do I remove a goal?

Click the bin icon at the end of the goal's row in the Goal Maker tab.