part of the investors fund managers also start chasing the better options thus pushing up the prices obviously this does not mean they can get the highest return in the last quarter bhandari saidin general the advantages of financial planning are numerous the first is you can give direction to your financial journey said sumeet vaid founder ceo ffreedom financial planners another advantage is there is a singlepoint contact for all your investments rather than say buying a mutual fund scheme from one an insurance policy from another and bonds from your broker when you have a financial planner you have a onepoint contact for all your needs while making a financial plan involve you family also remember that having a financial plan is your responsibility and not that of your financial planner vaid addedthe way forward how to go about tax planning for 201213identify a financial planner best qualified for the job if required get references from friends acquaintancesinvolve your family members who understand the implicationsset a deadline for executionwrite down everything review periodically and stick to the plandos donts of tax planningcommon pitfalls of investing in a hurry to save taxa person with low risk profile invests in a fund or policy that carries high risk invests in a new policy every year not knowing that paying the yearly premium for a policy taken in the previous year can also save tax buys a policy that gives low return but the agent gets a fat commissioninvests in multiple products aggregate sum invested being more than what is required to get the maximum tax benefit availableenters a marketlinked product at a high price since everyone is rushing to invest and money managers keep deploying funds misses out on investments that offer higher posttax returns than the ones which save taxes but offer lower posttax returns on a net basisthings to remember while making a financial plandont look at it only as a yearly exercise to save taxes see this as part of your and your familys longterm financial planningget a financial wrapper prefer to have a single financial advisorplanner to help you with all your investments rather than different person selling different products to you your tax and financial planning is not only for you it is also for your family so involve your family members during the planning stage it enhances financial bonding within the family tax and financial planning is your responsibility and not the responsibility of your financial planner so get fully involved in the exercise ask questions and at times may be you can even agree to disagree to get the best out of the situation