Investment Planning

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In general usage, a financial plan can be a budget, a plan for spending and saving future income. This plan allocates future income to various types of expenses, such as rent or utilities, and also reserves some income for short-term and long-term savings. A financial plan can also be an investment plan, which allocates savings to various assets or projects expected to produce future income, such as a new business or product line, shares in an existing business, or real estate.

In business, a financial plan can refer to the three primary financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement) created within a business plan. Financial forecast or financial plan can also refer to an annual projection of income and expenses for a company, division or department. A financial plan can also be an estimation of cash needs and a decision on how to raise the cash, such as through borrowing or issuing additional shares in a company. While a financial plan refers to estimating future income, expenses and assets, a financing plan or finance plan usually refers to the means by which cash will be acquired to cover future expenses, for instance through earning, borrowing or using saved cash.

Long term incentive plan or LTIP is a type of executive compensation that typically comes in the form of performance shares or matching shares of the company. These plans were used heavily since Regulation 162(m) passed, which made performance based compensation deductible; however, upcoming changes in the Securities and Exchange Commission's executive compensation policies may change this practice. A high-yield investment program (HYIP) is a type of Ponzi scheme, which is an investment scam that promises an unsustainably high return on investment by paying previous investors with the money invested by newcomers. A Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) is a vehicle offered by mutual funds to help you save regularly. It is just like a recurring deposit with the post office or bank where you put in a small amount every month. The difference here is that the amount is invested in a mutual fund. The minimum amount to be invested can be as small as Rs 100 and the frequency of investment is usually monthly or quarterly.