Financial Advisors are like Doctors (and Vice Versa)

There are lot of similarities between doctors & financial advisors – including the process, advice, buying products & product manufacturers. Both the professions are counted as Noble Professions & this is the reasons I came to this profession. If you read My Story (interview for financial planning journal), when question was asked “What made you get into this profession?” I said – I read a book “The New Financial Advisor” by Nick Murray (he is most renowned coach for financial advisors in US) where he shared that financial planners do great work for society. He says ‘The whole population is sick. You have the power to cure it.’ You need hell lot of positive motivation to start your own business/practice 🙂

Satyamev Jayate

I always believed that financial planner/advisor work is as noble as doctors but things are not as simple as they look from naked eyes.

Two years back I thought of writing “Financial Advisors are like Doctors” but 1 year back something happened which convinced me to write “Doctors are like Financial Advisors”. Unfortunately I was not able to write both the articles but recent episode of Satyamev Jayate, which talks about deteriorating values & ethics in medical profession pushed me to write this. You can check the full episode of Satyamev Jayate here, to understand how ethics in this profession are sacrificed and to check how financial advisors are not behaving in expected manner – click here.

My part of the Story

Last year my mother met with a small accident & had a fracture in hand. We consulted a big doctor & he told it should be operated ASAP else there is a possibility that it will lose the complete strength. (we met this doctor with some close reference)   He also told that there are 2-3 type of rods & you should go for best one (swiz titanium plate) – budget was…. you can imagine. Luckily we consulted second doctor & he told there is no need for operation – he told that surgery is a product available with doctors – some time they push it even if it is not required. Still we have some good doctors – my mom is fine now. (total cost was less that 5% of what first doctor suggested & without operation)

How we got reference of the second doctor? One of my friends, who is also a financial advisor is having almost 150 doctors as his clients. After meeting first doctor it was easy for me to identify that he is unnecessary threatening us for operation. So I thought of taking a second opinion & called this friend. He told me that he is having around 10 doctors who are orthopedic as his clients. He told me most of them are just behind money & they will charge you a bomb. (all are his big clients) One of them is genuine & will definitely suggest you right solution – he is his small client & you can understand why.

Are we as an advisor following how doctor’s work or they are trying to mimic financial advisor in their profession. Clueless…

Why this is happening?

The reason here is now days few definitions are changing.

Rich means Successful

This we can blame to our society & definitely ourselves – these days we see rich people as successful. We feel people driving BMW are successful but we have no clue on whose bodies their foundation is built.

Agents/Advisors that are doing international tours by winning contest in insurance & mutual fund companies are considered successful – without realizing that this is because of your hard earned money.

Expensive means Better

A participant was sharing on the same show that son of her maid was died because she was not having enough money to buy medicines. Medicines that doctor prescribed were of Rs 400 but the generic version can be bought in just Rs 2. When outcome of both the medicines is same why there is a huge difference – this is because of branding & major part going in commissions. (30% to doctors, 30% to chemists, 30% to manufacturer & 10% is the actual cost)

Even investors are sold expensive products in shape of PMS (portfolio management services) or structured products and sometime combining insurance & investments. But when outcome is same why expensive product is bought – branding & exclusive.

Big means Best

Again a big misconception the biggest hospital is the best hospital or the biggest financial firm is best. One of the doctors from big hospital was saying “we are asked to push patients to get operations ASAP because this will increase the revenue”. So doctor is not allowed to take independent decision which will benefit the patient but on back of his mind hospitals revenue is having more importance.

Same thing happens with Relationship Managers of banks or national distribution house; they are not allowed to take decision according to needs of clients but wants of their employers. Clear Conflict of Interest. Some days back read a tweet “Wealth Management Divisions of Banks called WMD. Weapons of Mass Destruction.”

Should everyone be blamed?

Amir Khan talked lot about intention [NIYAT] & it is again very important link between both the professions. If infant falls from mother’s lap & dies – this will not be counted as murder as intent was not of killing. But if you throw someone from first floor it is a cold blooded murder. So if a doctor was not able to save someone in his operation, he is not charged for murder but what about doing things which are not required or are done just to make extra money.

Same with qualified financial advisor, if intention was to help clients but due to some reasons that thing is not achieved he can’t be hold responsible for that because he was working in your best interest. But if some advisor is having intent to mis-sell the things just to earn extra buck……………

Will love to hear your experience with medical doctors & financial doctors.

72 COMMENTS

  1. I can tell you horror stories about medical malpractices. I can also tell you horror stories about medical incompetence (some in the name of reducing expenses for patients) that affected my immediate family (it is like god is singling me out for irritating others esp. finance bloggers :))

    Wrt to financial advisory both issues, miss-selling and incompetence are topical.

    Will it make a difference if CFP certification implies the certificants should practice only fee-only planning and stop fee-based planning?

    It is franky depressing to see very very few fee-only planners. To me this sends out a wrong message about trust.

    Is medicine a noble profession? Is financial planning a noble profession? One of the most irritating cliches is how teaching is a noble profession (I hear that a lot .. you know why!). Nobility has nothing to do with kind of work done. Any job done with sincerity and integrity is noble.

    • “Is medicine a noble profession? Is financial planning a noble profession? One of the most irritating cliches is how teaching is a noble profession (I hear that a lot .. you know why!). Nobility has nothing to do with kind of work done. Any job done with sincerity and integrity is noble.” – VERY TRUE!!

      Nowadays it is hard to find “honest” Financial Planners working in Banks and NBFCs, and it is hard to find “honest” Doctors working for corporate/private hospitals. Reasons are greed and target pressure. Yes, doctors in private hospitals do have targets for expensive but unnecessary tests, expensive medicines, and surgeries. How many child births in hospitals are normal deliveries now?

      For Financial Planners and Relationship Managers working for Banks & NBFCs, the rule is “Either you kill (the customers) or get killed”. These companies sell most expensive products with highest commissions, and those horrible insurance plans. And if you don’t push these products, you will be thrown out of job in no time.

      Very strict regulations and monitoring is needed in both the sectors. The need is URGENT!

    • Hi Pattu,

      I agree with you “Nobility has nothing to do with kind of work done. Any job done with sincerity and integrity is noble.” But I was talking with perspective of profession & not what we can do in individual capacity.
      Soldiers Vs Police, Doctors Vs Engineer, Teachers Vs Media – every individual & every profession is important for the society but there is huge difference between how society looks at these professions. Hope you agree…

      • I understand what you are saying. My point is social perceptions are wrong. From sweeping to stock-broking every profession influences many lives. Individual behaviour alone can determine nobility.
        ps. This is a minor matter. I was expecting an answer to my question above.

  2. There are horror stories in every field…. every field has good people & bad people..& mind you , no field is an exception… I am myself a doctor & let me assure u its not all bad as portrayed …. there are still a lot of good ones around…just like there are so many good financial advisers giving genuine advice. The bottom line is to identify these… and we are always entitled to second or third opinion ( even with financial advisers). I would love to live in a perfect world where everyone wud perform their duties conscentiously; there would be no place for any suspicion then….
    But then things ar’nt as we wish…
    …& wht was shown was just one side of the story….

    1) They didnt talk of the Drug regulator-pharma companies nexus….

    2)Its the duty of DRUG CONTROLLER to bring all life saving drugs under price control ( subsidising) …& majority of the current ICU drugs are out of it for obvious reasons….

    3)Aamir Khan talked abt generic drugs…i can tell u of the most common & efficient antibiotic- the MRP of the generic is almost 3 times compared to a branded company selling the same drug…& one is never sure of the right concentration in generic…and the chemist makes a wonderful profit. Cheap & reliable generic can be made available by the Government, only if it shows the desire…but thts wht lacking….

    ….anw, i may be diverting, bt i felt the need. The bottomline is we need to be aware…be it any field….& we will always come across good people just our very own like Hemant….

    • Hi Sameer,
      Thanks for sharing this & be frank even I agree that there can’t be perfect world. And I can also share that doctors saved my life 2-3 time if not more 😉
      But point here is world is becoming a materialistic – when I was child my grandma used to say “sunar to apne maa ke sone main se bhi kata katata hai”. Now I think this applies to every profession.

  3. Can u pls throw some light on “social investing” (rangde,millap) it would be really nice social service on ur part if you enlighten ur regular readers and spread the word.

  4. Hi Hemant
    A very good and timely article. Already a lot of doctors have condemned the episode.You have rightly said many more articles can be written on this topic.

    • Hi Anil,
      Doctors have condemned but I think everyone know this reality – may be in bits & pieces. Even few of the facts were shocking for me including basin test.

      • Hi Hemant
        I have many of my close relatives including my sister in the profession and I know the reality. If I share my experience it will need many articles. I have myself been a victim of many unethical practices of doctors.

  5. Dear Hemant

    Nice to read your article and you have raised many important points. I am myself a distributor of Financial Product and know the inside of this industry. When we compare Financial Advisors as Finanical Doctors, it is right but to compare Fortis or Apollo or any other corporate hospital to Bank is not correct.

    I am not trying to say that Doctors in such Five star hospitals do their job with utmost sincerity but the fact is that they still are Qualified Doctors and they too know the fact that they have to have their own individual good will also.

    But the fact is that Banker or other so called Institutional Advisors are more or less fit for nothing. The point is that the guy who is advising in Corporate Hospital is having a Degree that proves that he knows his job, but be a Wealth Manager or so called Relationship Manager, there is no minimum qualification which is required.
    The guys who are relationship manager have only one job – Meet Targets at whatever cost, may me at the cost of Financial Destruction of any innocent person.
    Also I am not saying that only Independent Financial Advisors are good to deal with but at least there is some sense of responsibility and longivity is there with them. For investors, it is necessary to see whom he/she wants to be their Financial Advisors. I know it is tough to find unbiased Doctors and also unbiased Financial Advsisors.
    But at the end, it is always – BUYERS BEWARE..

    • Hi Ashish,
      I fully agree with you – its not easy to become doctor but anyone & everyone can become financial advisor 😉

  6. Hi Hemant,

    Yes very true. From my personal experience, I have seen doctors change by time. We have our family doctor since last 12-13 yrs. Everytime, any of our family member gets ill we used to go to him and he used to cure us with some good medicines which are not expensive at all. During those days he had a clinic. Since last couple of years he has earned so much money that he built his own hospital and now he has become very commercial. He is not treating us well. He is giving a lot of expensive medicines which are not curing us well and instead they are side effecting us. So since last one year we have stopped taking any medical attention from him and we are still in search of a good family doctor. Money is something which changes the nature of a most of the people including doctors.

    • Yes my experience is also similar. As long as a doctor has a small clinic it is fine. The moment a doctor migrates to a large hospital you can not hope to get good attention from him/her. Large hospitals are like five star hotels.

      • I too agree with what Manoj & Anil has mentioned.
        But the pitty lies in the fact that there are still many people who believe that bigger the hospital, better will be the service. May be Big hospital name adds to the status of so called High Class.

        And you are also right when you say that “Money is something which changes the nature of most of the people including doctors.” On this I want to share my experience.

        My doctor gave me good news last year with a shock. She said, ” I am sure you are expecting a child but I am not sure whether the child is in right place or not. So we need to operate you and check if the child is at right place.” If this was not enough to shock me she added one more statement to this, ” I will operate you and just see if Fetus is at right place we will close the stomach else we will do leproscopy, it is just 45K-50K which you need to spend”
        I still dont believe that the doctor was treating me like a drawer in her almirah which she can open and close easily.

        Thank God good doctors also exsist and after taking second opinion I was told to wait for 10 days and only ultrasound could do for which the first doctor wanted to operate me.

  7. Hi Hemant,

    Nice article and i think on this topic there can be an endless debate.

    I will not hesitate to use the word “Jholachaap Doctors” for such advisor/agent who are enjoying on the cost of dreams/goals of individual.

    I completely agree that both the profession are noble and many things are similar but again its all about NIYAT.

    I am using this phrase ” FP’s are financial doctors” from past 1 year and surprisingly 2 out of 5 are not ready to accept it. These are mostly either CA or Agents.
    Recently got a chance to meet one famous doctor couple (eye specialist running their own eye hospital), while discussion i came to know that he is MDRT club member and is enjoying every year an overseas trip. I was surprised by this, a doctor busy into his own profession is also selling insurance and Mutual funds. When i asked him about the same, he said “Mehengai k is daur me ye sab karna padta h.” And this not a single case, there are 3 more such cases in my city.

    “You can even add now one more category with agents/advisors who enjoy overseas trip. 😛 :P”

    A private bank has started giving financial planning service to their existing clients. It was very surprising to know that most of the RM’s dont even know about CFP or The concept behind financial planning. They are just selling insurance and MF to meet up their target.

    Governing bodies are not regulating the way they had to do it. Be it into medical or some other.
    Will love to see if Amir Khan do one episode on Financial Sector.

  8. situation is going to get worse in coming years because of the incompetent doctors coming out of medical colleges.
    just see the senario 55% seats go for reservation so even the underving candidates who score just 30% marks in entrance exam get selected happily my question to the government is will god give you reservation when you go to such doctors.
    on other side of spectrum there are many who pay huge donation and get into private college just on the basis of money without any ability or desire to treat patient there main purpose to extract money.
    so only very few docs who are coming out of colleges are good and some of them finally go to US,UK,australia leaving a handful of good doctors in India.

    also funny thing politicians are fully aware of this fact otherwise why they have to run to other countries for treatment?

    just imagine if this trend continues what will happen in coming years—–poor healthcare service even if you pay lots of money.

    • India claims to be IT superpower but its medical facilities are just next to african countries.
      A lot of the blame for the sad state of the Indian health care should fall on the series of corrupt health ministers and the colluding Indian Medical Council…….. Majority of the private Medical Colleges are run by the Politicians and thus they have a vested interest in keeping the government and regulatory agencies out of the health care.
      When a doctor comes out of this private medical college after spending 1.5 crores ( 50 lakh for MBBS and 1 crore for MD), he has to indulge in unethical and corrupt practice to get his investment back. Is there any other way for a doctor to earn more than 1.5 lakh a month other than by supplementing his income from commissions and referrals? Charging 200 rs to see a patient will not get him there…
      Over the years we have heard the argument that the country needs more doctors and that the government just does not have the money to build new medical colleges. It was never a case of lack of money, but it was always the vested interest of the private medical college lobby to keep goverment out. And the end result is that now some states like karntaka, kerala, maharashtra and tamilnadu has more doctors coming out of their private medical college than is needed for the population and is even more than that recommended by the WHO.
      Well then if you create this setup where doctors are coming out with a mandate to get a returns out of their 1.5 crore investment then the blame should also fall on the people responsible for creating this system…

      • remember the example of Dr.Ketan desai most corrupt doc in India and he was the chief of Medical Council of India for many years.
        MCI charges crores of rupee from private colleges to give recognition and in turn these colleges collect the donation from students.
        so the corruption is embedded in the top order of the system itself which is passed down to the colleges and then to the doctors

  9. one more thing just count the number of medical colleges built in last 10 years and compare this number with the number of enginerring colleges built in the same time. i am sure you will be surprised.
    we Indian are hell bent on IT ignoring the medical field completly not to say the govt.

    • I agree that a large number of engineering colleges have been established during the past ten years but very few of them are really of good quality. We need a large number of good medical colleges and hospitals.

  10. Dear Sir I salute to your thoughtful.

    I agree you point of view .

    If you want too be work with loyalty in India it cant possible because lack of awareness .people want to heard . I will get money double in five years in ulip.

    Indianian investor tend to buy right thing but wrong reason.

    Sir I respect you more bt you speak honestly when you wasn’t in financial planing sector .Did you do all these thing.

    Means be a make a profit not loss to others .

    Dont do profit yourself and harm to others .

  11. Hmmmmmm
    After reading this article i can say till now i have not done anythin wrong as per my knowledge.
    There are some good advisor and i can proudly say i m 1 of them.
    To Hemant;
    Let me tell you not all the advisors who mis sell get trip abroad. Only handfull number of them get those who do it in bulk.
    Some ppl specially who r selling insurance they arent aware that they are selling a wrong product (Endowments) b coz they r made to beleive that these plans are gr8 by their sales manager.

  12. Nice article Hemant.
    I myself is a doctor & agree that there are many Doctors who are not doing their practice honestly.But i must tell you that i also know many doctors who are honest,caring & trustworthy.
    In every profession you will find these to kind of peoples.
    But only b’coz of some bad zholachaps whole doctor community should not be defamed.
    I think One thing that Government should do is to keep a strict MRP for each kind of drug of any brand so that every medicine will be in reach of poor.
    Also Mediclaim+Insurance should me made compulsory by government on cheap rates.
    If government takes only rs10 from 120 crore indian people.it can surely provide medicalim & insurance to every people.

    • Paritosh, I think you are spot on..According to me.. Government should make medical insurance compulsory may be name it something like medical tax depending upon the salary of a person and it should cure every member of the family of that earning person no matter how serious the disease or injury is. Every City or town must at least have around 5-10 such kinds of hospitals which is run by government and it should cure all types of surgeries or diseases or any injuries. The government already takes Rs. 200 as Professional tax. Even if Govt takes Rs. 500 as Medical tax and in return it cures all kinds of major diseases or surgeries then I guess every person will be happy.

      • The government needs to establish more hospitals and medical colleges and can raise funds by some sort of tax which should be broadbased like service tax but it should not be limited to only salaried people.

  13. Prescribing and buying generic medicines in India is dangerous as the pharmaceutical industry in India is not very well controlled. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can start a pharmaceutical company in India and the quality of the drug
    given by the chemist is not ensured as even the generic drug may be spurious . Prescribing branded drugs will go a long way in ensuring quality even though at a cost. Your illness will be cured.

    • I do not understand why the quality of a generic drug is inferior to branded drug. If generic drug can be spurious then why a branded drug can not be spurious. If the quality of generic drugs is poor then why some state governments are promoting these drugs and why these are not banned.

      • Anil, I think its the psychology of a human being which is quite understandable. If any of my family member gets seriously ill and I have Rs.1000 which is the cost of the branded drug then I will surely go for branded drug instead of taking a risk by buying a generic rug which will cost only Rs. 300. Till date no one has proved that generic drug is better than branded drug but branded drug has been proven better than generic drug time n time again. Poor people do not have any option..So they have to go with generic drug if its available at their location.

        Having said that, I think someone like Baba Ramdev has done a tremendous job with his Ayurvedic medicines which has done wonders to many people’s lives. It has cured a lot of dangerous diseases like Cancer, Diabetes, TB, Asthma and many more at a very affordable price which even poor people can afford with ease. Its very simple methodology..keep doing yoga regularly and keep the diseases away.

        • Hi Manoj
          Even in branded medicines for the same salt combination price of some brands is two to three times the price of other brands. Has anybody proved that the costly brand is better?
          If you watch TV ads you will know that Ayurvedic medicines are also not cheap.

          • Hi Anil,

            There are quite a few Ayurvedic medicines that are cheap and a few that are reasonably expensive but they are still cost way to less that the alopathy branded medicines. I agree that Ayurvedic brands like Himalaya or Dabur are reasonably expensive but someone like Divya Pharmacy of Baba Ramdev are providing medicines of very good quality at a very low cost. Many of my friend’s family members got cured by those medicines. The total package of the Cancer medicines and diabetes medicines cost less than Rs. 10000.. No alopathy branded medicines can cure at such less cost. You will be amazed to know that the total package of the paralysis medicines is just Rs. 1500. Along with that Patanjali doctors do not charge anything from the patients for the treatment. The only costs are from the medicines.

            • I have no information regarding Baba Ramdev’s medicines. So I would not like to comment on that.Even in the case of Ayurvedic medicines most people like to buy medicines of popular brands which cost a lot.
              Throughout the day practically on most popular TV channels I see advertisements of medicines like Sandhi Suda. I do not know how effective these medicines are but these are quite costly and being promoted by Govinda and Jacky Shroff.

      • Generic drugs can be manufactured by quality companies and unheard of companies. How does a Doctor ensure that the generic drugs given to a patient is from a good company or not?

      • “If the quality of generic drugs is poor then why some state governments are promoting these drugs and why these are not banned.”-Rightly said Anil.
        Also will like to know why Govt also don’t ban poor returns investment Products??
        As we all know the market is full with these types of Well emotionally advertised
        insurance+investment products & zholachaps investment advisors.

  14. I have friend who is budding surgeon, i have had this talk earlier as well as we are close friends on whats churning the ethics of medical profession. His view and i agree is that a lot money and time is invested, 5yrs basic MBBS and compared to my 4 yr eng degree. Advanced medical surgery degree in a first world country (cost and hardwork). When they complete this cycle the age of doctor is just about 35yrs old and they are in need to catch up with peers who have invested less money but are earning more, mostly true if compared in IT.

    Also in working IT class Medical Insurence is available for good amount so the not much thought is given to increase self understanding of the medical symptom. Today second opinion has become a norm i think when the patient is advised for a surgery.

  15. Dear Vimod

    There are lot of fool people (Not pointing at you) and pvt companies are capitalising on their psychology.
    I have worked with pharma company in quality control department and lots of my friends are still working with a most reputed pharma company of India in quality control department.
    So dont think if it is costly then it has quality.

  16. I am sad due to the fact that people see Aamir’s programme!
    For 2 reasons! One is that people need this show to think about issues! Second is this show is just another means to make money.No problem in making money and no problem in using people’s emotion!However it is sad if people do not understand this!

  17. Morale value has erroded in all the fields today. It is affecting significantly the public when done by teachers, doctors, financial planners etc. in the mentioned order. Un able to get cure for the past 20years for my mother in modern medicine (they could not diaganose the problem she had!!!) I started studying Acupuncture where she got some remedy and today she is almost fine for the past 5 years with my treatment though I am basically a mechanical Engineer!! (I am also helping hundreds of people to get cured during my free time). Similarly, I got misguided by mutual fund agents (I am a mutual fund investor for thast 12 years) and finally started investing with online platforms for the past one year for which I went through lots of research for my financial planning. (The same way I studied Acupuncture ofcours through an doctor but not an allopathic )

  18. Hi Hemant,
    i am an awe reader of most of your articles, but frankly this artiicle of yours hurts me,i have watched amir khan show,but frankly most of the veiws are one sided,his talk represented less than 10% of the doctor faternity,for example am from andhra pradesh where he said most of the villages young woman have got there uterus removed and are facing difficulties due to that,frankly what he said was true and situation is even worse,but most of the so called operations are done by non-gyaenocologists who are not qualified like B.H.M.S,ayurvedic,m.b.b.s, and worse R.M.P doctors ,the true fact which amir khan missed,he said doctor gets 30% cut on all medicines he prescribes frankly i am yet to come accross a doctor who takes it in my 10 years of practice,yes doctors who own pharmacy will get 20-30% margins which is genuine nothing wrong about it but no pharmacy guy pays directly to doctor just for prescribing,the real problem is in the niyat of our entire sysytem not doctors alone,for evey bad doctor there are 10 good doctors who will be saving lives of patients evey minute,we are the most sleep deprived stressed out community in this country.Compare the pay cheques of a resident here who receives on an average 10000 to 15000rs per month to pay cheques of residents in us or uk which is 50-70000 us dollars per anum which is 10-15 times what a resident earns here and frankly the person in india works 10 times more than what the person in us works,so problem is in the system ,unfortunately here veihcle which is a non productive commodity in long run has mandatory insurance but for citizens health insurance is not mandatory,make health insurance be made mandatory for every citizen,let govt pay for insurance of all white card holders,let gov increase GDP for health ,then see how the system changes….blaming doctors in that show is just like saying every heroine has to sleep with casting couch to get a role,which is not true most of the times…

    • Hi Dr Suman,
      I am extremely sorry if this article hurt you but I have not written this post to pinch anyone. I can also understand the sacrifice, hard work, health hazards, sleepless nights, family problems that doctors undergo for the sake of their profession & health of patients.
      But still we can’t say show was a white lie – there’s no smoke without fire.

    • Hi Dr Suman
      I would like to share my experience. My wife was having pain in her ankle for which we consulted a specialist.During our first visit we carried all the X Ray reports which were done on the advice of the hospital where my wife was undergoing treatment.The doctor glanced at the X Ray reports but told us to get fresh X Rays done again from a radiologist of his choice.
      Even the radiologist who did her X Rays was surprised at the number of X Rays suggested by the doctor.When we showed the X Rays the doctor said that everything was fine. He told us to come again as an injection had to be given to get rid of the pain. After giving the injection he told us that he was not 100% sure that one injection will provide the relief and that two more injections will have to be given, He prescribed certain medicines which were available only in his pharmacy. My experience is that most of the times the medicines prescribed by the doctors are available only at drug stores attached to their clinics. The doctors routinely advise the patients to show them the medicines after purchase to ensure that medicines are of the brands prescribed by them.They also get the information from the chemists regarding the medicines sold by them.

      • Ah! I can’t tell you the number of times I have faced this “My experience is that most of the times the medicines prescribed by the doctors are available only at drug stores attached to their clinics.”

        I run around the city in search of the prescribed medicine only to find out that it is available only in the adjacent medical shop. Even other chemists say it on face, sir please try in the chemist shop next to the doctor’s clinic, it must be available there.

        So Dr. Suman, may be you are a noble person doing a great service to the Indian community and I respect all noble doctors for that. However, reality for a common person is very harsh and you need to see it from their eyes.

        May be you should try visiting a random city where people don’t know you and visit a random doctor with a common problem like headache and share your experience with us.

  19. Guys please move on from this topic! People have picked a small comparison in Hemant’s blogg! Even he would not have expected or wanted people to discuss medicine in his blogg! Can we move on and discuss finance please 🙂

  20. Hello Hemant,
    One of the LIC agents today approached to sell Jeevan Anand plan. He pitched 10 Lakhs Sum Assured @ Rs. 70000 premium per annum for next 15 years. Stating that death benefit would be Rs. 10 Lakh (SA) + All premiums paid till the year of demise + interest
    Maturity benefit : 10 lakhs(SA) + 10.50 lakhs (premiums) + Interest around 6%
    Although I am convinced not to buy this plan as I am getting 50 lakhs cover from Kotak e-insurance @ Rs. 5700 per annum for next 25 years, still I request you to please guide what would be actual interest on this plan after 15 years.

    I checked and could not find any article on Jeevan Anand.

    • You made the right choice by deciding not to buy this policy. Term insurance is any day better.

      • Thanks Vivek. But I am interested to understand the true picture of this policy. If anyone could guide about Jeevan Anand please.

    • dear nishi it is a clear way of misselling nothing is mentioned abt premium will be pay back in the brochure of jeevan anand in benfit illustration also the return r not guranteed and the bonus are also not guranteed u may plz check this on LIC website

        • I have a feeling that Nishi has alrady bought this :-).
          No worries even if you have….:-) joking
          Any ways even if some body has bought this policy,it would be wiser to surrender this.One can reinvest in good MF and book profit later.
          Am not sure why educated people even think of buying LIC. Why do you want to waste time in understanding LIC products……They have clearly said it in the name…LIC jeevan Anand….Not your jeevan hehehe

          • Nops…. your feelings are not true Prem.
            Instead I am gathering information to convince my brother-in-law who is adamant to buy this plan over term insurance. The premium calculated by agent is Rs. 70000 annually and I want to save him from this trap. 🙂
            I am a regular reader of this blog so I would not even think of buying such plan.
            I am fully convinced with Hemant to keep investment and insurance separate.

            And you last statement is too good ‘They have clearly said it in the name…LIC jeevan Anand….Not your jeevan’ 🙂

            Regards,
            Nishi

            • Hmmmm.
              Changing people sticking to LIC is a herculean task.I know it by myself trying to educate my friends.It takes ur time and energy.
              I changed one of my friend by asking another friend of mine to pretend as a financial consultant.You can also try the same probably 🙂 Dont mind to play that role if it helps to save 70k per year of a poor chap. You can also work out the compound interest
              of a bank FD in an excel and prove that it is better than this LIC.
              Any help please let me know.I will be more than happy to help if I can save a guy.

              Regards
              Prem

              • Thank you Prem.
                I convinced him already, and now he might opt between HDFC Click 2 protect OR Kotak e insurance.
                Both are term plans with as little premium as Rs. 5K-6K per annum.

                Regards,
                Nishi

                • Ok Nishi….
                  Hope you have advised him where to invest the surplus after taking the term plans.
                  How much coverage does this HDFC or Kotak gives for 5k
                  I believe religare -iterm plan offers the best rate if u buy it online.Next comes Aviva I believe

                  Regards
                  Prem

                  • Cover is for 50 lakhs I believe.
                    And most important why I suggested these two as the CSR of these companies is better than those mentioned by you.
                    Low Premium should not be the only reason to buy a particular insurance plan, this is what I learnt from this blog. 🙂 So suggested the same to him.

                    ALso I have shared the details of this blog so that he may learn about “what to do with remaining amount avialable as surplus/savings”
                    Regards,
                    Nishi

                    • Not quite sure if one should think too much about CSR
                      As long as one is legally correct,no body can play around with your term cover.Can they?
                      Any ways I dont know much about how an insuraance provider can mess this up.Please share me if you have a knowledge

                      Regards
                      Premjit

                    • Not quite sure if one should think too much about CSR
                      As long as one is legally correct,no body can play around with your term cover.Can they?
                      Any ways I dont know much about how an insuraance provider can mess this up.Please share me if you have a knowledge

                      Regards
                      Prem

                    • well done nishi tfl guide is so far is the best personal finance guide i have ever seen the next one which always came to my mind is onemint.wht impressive abt onemint is tht whenever u have any topic in ur mind u can find tht on onemint.

  21. honorable Sir ,

    Till now only 200 planner working in india as a independent.

    Its started as on 2001 .

    You consider lack of awareness to government.

    government also should ban a new financial adviser And necessarily to learn NCFM MODULE where he can do justice what is the best and favorable for his client .

    I read a book of IC 33 .

    In books they clearly mention insurance is not a investment.
    other side of book they mentioned child plan retirement plan fulfill client goal.
    So Actually they don’t completlly agree insurance is only for protection .

    So why they do fancy advertisement on t.v like this is the best retirement plan, child plan.

    Why IRDA not prevent this .

    As far as i know there is no retirement plan in insurance industry who aid you in retirement.

    They only misleading customers .

  22. Hey Manish, I dont know whats the issue but I was unable to reply against your above comment.
    Just wanted to thank you and share that I checked onemint.com by Manshu.
    Indeed the content is useful but I am still a fan of TFLguide 🙂

    The only suggestion to Hemant is that he must put a search button so that in case we need to search a particular topic we may find it in one click.
    However, if not possible it is good this way as well 🙂

    Regards,
    Nishi

    • yaa i m fully agree with u whenever i want to read the particular topic there is no search button.it would be nice if hemant sir add this box so we can search the topic very easily.the overall blog is so attractive and beautifully created by hemant sir tht any layman couldn’t find any excuses to leave this blog.i think the simplicity and the creativity of this blog makes it a unique and very different from others.i came across the certain blogs but they were not as good as tfl.

  23. Hi Hemant,
    We appreciate the efforts that you have been putting in to advice people on their investment front.
    Will be glad if you can suggest me the best option for the below.

    I would like to invest 1.5lakhs per month for the next six months into a good fund/others to earn a good return than the bank fds after 2+ years.
    I dont mind if there is a high risk involved but can you please suggest a good fund/other for this.

    Based on the inputs on the site, i zeroed down on the below two funds, can you please suggest the best option or any other for the above requirement.

    SBI Magnum Emerging Busi (G) Fund
    Reliance Equity Oppor – RP (G) Fund
    Reliance Banking Fund (G) Fund.

    Thanks & Regards,
    Nagaraju V

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