While international holidays are among the top aspirations of many Indians, given the expenses, not many can fulfil this dream. But these financial advisors have helped their clients realise this dream.
Anup Bhaiya, Founder of Money Honey Financial Services
I met a retired couple in 2013 who sought my advice on managing retirement kitty of Rs.40 lakh. Apart from monthly expenses and healthcare, the couple wanted to visit a foreign destination every year.
The couple had Europe, United States, Malaysia and Singapore in their bucket list. The couple would need Rs.5 lakh for each trip.
I advised them to set aside Rs.8 lakh from their retirement fund for international trips. I recommended a balanced advantage fund with a time frame of 4 years to complete the bucket list. The idea was to fund their trips with the capital gains and keep the principal amount intact for their expenses.
With about 14% returns in 5 years from the scheme, the couple made their first trip in 2018. After travelling to the US for the first time, the couple is now excited about the next trip in 2020.
Pratik Sepuri, iArista Artha Solutions, Mumbai
In 2017, I met a client who wanted to plan an international trip on his 11-year old son’s birthday. His son was very fond of Disney cartoons so he wanted to visit Disneyland, Paris.
He wanted to redeem his investments to achieve this goal. However, I explained to him that though the idea of surprise foreign trip was good but it would cost him key life goals like his son’s higher education if he redeems his investment.
I advised him to reduce his expenses and skip domestic holidays and weekend getaways to save money for this additional goal. I assured him that if he could manage to save Rs.18,000 per month for this, he could celebrate his kid’s 13th birthday in Paris if not 11th birthday.
I recommended investing this fund in liquid fund and short term debt fund as the goal was just 2 years away.
It has been a few months since they have come back from their trip to Disneyland and he has continued his SIP for some other trip.
Rajesh Kulwal, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
When I shared my photos of Singapore trip on social media, one of my clients approached me to help him visit Singapore with his family.
To start with, I have budgeted Rs.3.5 lakh for his first foreign trip. I advised him to start an SIP of Rs.14000 in ultra short term fund considering the short term nature of the goal.
Also, after our conversation, I came to know that the client used to take two domestic trips every year with his family. I asked him to skip one domestic trip each year to save money.
In less than two years, the client was able to save Rs.4 lakh for this first foreign trip. In fact,the client’s family took their first foreign trip in Singapore and Malaysia.
The family is now looking forward to visiting Europe after two years.
