First Things First
Sequence before selection.
A household’s financial decisions depend on one another. Money needed soon changes how much can be invested for the long term. An income or insurance gap changes what the household can afford to risk. The order of the work makes those dependencies explicit.
Establish the facts. Then decide the order of action.
First Things First connects the assessment to the recommendations. The full method applies to the Comprehensive Plan; narrower services apply the parts within their scope.
Know the numbers
Establish income, spending, assets and liabilities.
Know the capacity
Measure what your finances can absorb.
Fix the income
Structure cash flow and address high-cost debt.
Cover the catastrophe
Size Term Cover and Health Cover.
Park the short money
Separate the Emergency Fund and near-term spending.
Allocate the long money
Set the mix within your risk capacity.
Fund the goals
Give each goal its funding plan.
Review and defend
Revisit the facts and agreed decision rules.
A quick opinion never overrides this order.
Foundations first. The Financial Health Check measures Emergency Fund · Term Cover · Health Cover first, each as in place or a gap, followed by Cash flow · Debt · Net worth · Goal funding · Portfolio. Under the Comprehensive Plan, the Portfolio Blueprint addresses Foundation gaps and high-cost debt before new investment recommendations.
Measure, then advise. Step 1 measures; it does not advise. Advice begins only after the Risk Profile Report is signed. Step 3 · Goal Mapping establishes the goal arithmetic before the portfolio is audited. Step 5 · Portfolio Blueprint turns the assessment into recommendations and an Action Plan in First Things First order.
Risk Profiling
Capacity sets the ceiling. Tolerance shapes the guardrails.
Capacity describes the loss your financial circumstances can absorb. The assessment considers when money may be needed, income stability, dependants, the emergency buffer and remaining earning years.
Tolerance describes your comfort with losses and uncertainty. It is assessed through scenarios and past behaviour. Each decision-maker answers separately, and the answers are discussed together.
High tolerance cannot justify risk beyond capacity.
When capacity is higher than tolerance, the plan needs a pace and decision rules the household can sustain. The Risk Profile Report records both axes and is signed before advice begins.
Step 4 · Portfolio Audit
Seven lenses on what you already own.
The audit examines the holdings and evidence you provide. The Portfolio Audit Report states its scope, findings and missing information. Recommendations and the position-level Action Plan follow in Step 5 · Portfolio Blueprint.
01
Overlap
Where separate holdings repeat the same underlying exposures.
02
Cost Drag
Charges and commissions that reduce what you retain.
03
Allocation Drift
Changes in the asset mix and the risk it carries.
04
Dud Holdings
Positions whose original reason for ownership no longer holds.
05
Tax Inefficiency
Tax costs and avoidable churn that warrant examination.
06
Concentration
Dependence on a small set of companies, sectors or sources of income.
07
Orphans
Holdings without a link to a mapped goal.
For Portfolio Advice, Horizon & Liquidity Fit replaces Orphans. It examines whether holdings fit your Investment Objective & Horizon, including when you may need to withdraw money. This service does not include Goal Mapping.
Goal Map · illustrative example
Give each goal a cost, a date and a funding figure.
In the Comprehensive Plan, Step 3 · Goal Mapping turns an event-based need into a funding calculation. A goal has a cost and a date. The Goal Map records the assumptions, the money already allocated and the remaining funding requirement.
| Goal | Year | Today’s cost | Corpus needed | Already saved | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daughter’s education | 2038 | ₹25,00,000 | ₹68,40,000 | ₹8,00,000 | ₹18,600 |
Assumptions: calculated in 2026. Education costs assumed to rise about 8.75% a year; investments, including the amount already saved, assumed to grow about 8.8% a year. Both rates are illustrative, not forecasts.
Illustrative figures only. They are not a return promise or a personal recommendation. The figures depend on the calculation date and assumptions; actual costs and investment outcomes may differ.
Step 7 · Review
Revisit the plan when the facts change.
The Comprehensive Plan includes a year of reviews. A review checks whether the plan still fits; it does not require a transaction.
Quarterly
Quarterly Check-in
Check goal funding, allocation drift against agreed bands, open actions and changes in the household. Record the position in a written Quarterly Check-in.
Annual
Annual Review Report
Restate net worth, contributions, goal progress and the financial health assessment. Reassess the Foundations, refresh the risk profile and revisit the Portfolio Blueprint.
When life changes
Event Review
Revisit the plan after a material change such as marriage, a child, a job change, an inheritance or a health event. Reassess the Foundations and the effect on risk and funding needs.
Implementation and Review are included in the Comprehensive Plan. Portfolio Advice ends with the Portfolio Blueprint. Clarity Consultation ends with the Clarity Note.