Robert Kiyosaki, the famous American businessman and author once said, "financial freedom is freedom from fear." Indeed, most of us dream of doing something but end up not doing it simply because of fear. In financial freedom context, this fear is mostly the fear of not having any money left. The irony of the entire debate on financial freedom is that those who dream of becoming financially free need much more time whereas those who can enjoy that freedom today, don't do so!

So what's it's like being financially free? What's the definition? Well, there is no sure shot definition or formula for same but it all boils down to the below given conditions. Once these conditions are fulfilled, one could say that financial freedom has truly dawned.

No financial or social obligations/liabilities:
Before one even thinks of financial freedom, one has to become 100% debt free. There is no point of compromise on this important element. One has to be free of any outstanding debt including home loans and any kind of personal commitments. One also has to be free of any important obligations or life goals like the purchase of a home, child education, etc. Even if you are not free of such obligations, one has to make sure that these obligations are well arranged for in advance.

Right temperament for handling existing wealth:
Right temperament for handling wealth is perhaps more important than the temperament to create wealth. There have been umpteen stories of people who were rich but went broke due to their approach to managing wealth. One should have the ability to be patient, grounded, risk-averse, prudent and logical when handling wealth. Flaunting wealth and spending it on things that you do not need is a sure shot road to exhausting your wealth quickly.

Alternative / passive source of income:
Any activity of personal interest that also helps you earn a steady income is surely most welcome. Many of us choose to work even when we are surely financially independent and is indeed welcome. An alternative source of income could be in form of rent on any invested property or even any active consultancy or your own side business venture. An alternative source of income in addition to your primary income can work wonders for your financial well-being.

Adequate risk protection for any uncertainty:
When you believe you have everything sorted out, there is still one thing which you cannot control – uncertainty. There is a lot of uncertainty in our daily lives and it is not restricted to your job or business. The uncertainty can manifest itself in form of any eventuality to life and health of you or your loved ones. One should be 'adequately' protected for the same, at all times. There is no compromise to this important element since it acts as a safety net to avoid a hard fall to the ground in case of any unwelcome eventuality.

Adequate long term wealth invested in growing assets:
The need to have your investments growing helps you fight inflation and thus protect your wealth. It is important that your rate of wealth consumption is lower than that of wealth creation and also the net wealth growth is higher than inflation. In such an ideal scenario, your wealth will sustain you much longer and ensure you never run out of money. For this to happen, it becomes critical that you invest in an asset that creates long term wealth and delivers returns that are significantly higher than inflation. If your size of investments is small, the need to save in such assets, namely equity, becomes more prominent.

Family understanding and support:
A strong and supportive family environment is important for any journey of or towards financial freedom. Most of the times in a family setup, the decisions have to be taken in consensus. Often we also end up entertaining demands of others. In such a scenario, your approach and philosophy to life and wealth management may not be fully appreciated by others. When there is such a clash, it is bound to create ripples on your financial journey. You have to get everyone on board by educating them, showing them both the sides of any financial decision and making them understand all that is needed. This is a sort of teamwork which will ensure that not just you but your entire family acts like one on this journey of financial freedom.

Keep learning and developing your skills, knowledge and experience:
Continued learning in life has become much more relevant today. The knowledge and skills required to be successful at any job and business are rapidly evolving. Business models are being transformed, new businesses, jobs and careers are being invented almost at an hourly rate. The typical lifespan of most things has also shorted. Hence, irrespective of your position in life, it is important that we spend at least some amount of time in learning new skills and gaining relevant experience and knowledge.

How can we be free:
Having talked about the crucial conditions necessary for financial freedom, we now simply ask, how can we be financially free? Though a simple question, the answer is quite complex. The easy way to answer this would be to highlight the behavioural attributes that will take us there.

Vision: The vision tells us what is possible and helps us believe in that vision. The right vision would help us imagine a personal /financial position in life that we would aspire and dream to be. That vision has to come backed by a strong sense of realism that it is possible with the determination to achieve to not just dream but to achieve it.

Courage: Courage is of utmost importance as it helps you take life-changing, critical decisions at the right time. Most of us regret the things we haven't done and not the things we did but failed. Courage is what helps us fight through difficulties and rise above ourselves to realise bigger goals for ourselves.

Patience: Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are our dreams. One has to be patient for a decent period of time to realise the merits of good investments and the results of your plans. Jumping out of the boat before it has docked on the ports, is a mistake that many of us make in our lives. Having patience in life, not just in financial matters, also helps you live a wholesome life and enjoy it.

The reason behind investing is Fear and behind not investing is also fear. An investor invests because he fears he won't be able to meet his life goals otherwise. The investor does not invest because he is fearful of investing. Today we will talk about the latter, the bad fear, which hinders the investment process.

A crucial attribute that an advisor should work on, is understanding human psychology. The plain fact that what you are dealing with is a human being, explains the psychological significance. Humans base their decision making process largely on emotions, and you need to handle the investors' emotions with care. A major investing decision owing to emotions is “not to invest”. This decision can be based on a number of factors, and the investor's fear is a prominent factor, among others. Not investing will sabotage the investor's future, and it isn't good news for the advisor's business either. An advisor would have encountered many investors over his career who do not invest because they are too afraid of investing. And no matter how much gyaan on investing you give to them, or how good a salesman you are, things just don't work. He's adamant, “I am too scared, I don't want to invest”. So, how do we go about tackling such an investor? The solution to this dilemma is not an excellent sales pitch, but understanding the investor's psychology and helping him overcome the fear before advising him to invest.

The fears which haunt investors and keep them from investing are:

1. Fear of losing money: There are many investors who do not invest because they fear, they will lose money. And the fear of losing money is greater than the jitters one can get from watching the scariest movie ever. When the markets are high, these investors wonder what if the markets correct after they invest; if the markets are in the correction phase, then often a negative sentiment in the market don't let them invest. Such skepticism is often a result of bitter past experiences, warnings from friends and family, a timid nature of the investor, etc. So whats needed at your end is understanding the psychology, the root cause of the investor's fear and then provide a solution. You need to explain to the investor that if he does not invest, he will have to compromise on his life goals. And all investing products are not necessarily risky, so no point being scared of investing.

2. Complexity of the product: Sometimes the investor doesn't understand the product and thus stay away from it. Many investors do not invest in equities for instance, because they just do not understand its functioning. Lack of clarity has instilled suspicion and uncertainty among them, and this perception when extended over a number of years puts a highly resilient barrier to Equity's entry. So, in order to break the barrier, the advisor has to tame the investor's uncertainty by untangling the knots.

3. Wrong definition of enough money: “I do not have enough money to invest”, “I will not be able to continue investing”, “I will not win a war with such a small amount”; fear of inadequacy hinders many people from investing. What they need to understand is, there is no concept of “enough money” in investing, saving and investing is on the basis of a percentage of your income, no matter how small or big it is. The solution to such fear is “starting small”. A small SIP of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 can be a good investing kick off for such an investor, and as income increases the SIP amount can also be increased.

4. Emergencies: Many times the thought of a cash crunch during emergencies won't let the investor invest. People keep a buffer for unexpected future needs, they feel if they invest the surplus, they won't have anything left to feed the emergencies. If the advisor is able to gauge this fear of the investor, it has a very simple solution, an insurance cover against insurable risks and an emergency fund with high liquidity to meet other contingencies. Once the investor is done with providing for emergencies, there will be room for investing.

The above are some of the most common investing fears, which can only be dealt with once you are able to relate with the investor's mindset. You have to understand his psychology, help him conquer his fears and then advise him to invest.

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Over your career as a financial advisor, you must have had answered to tons of and different sorts of questions. You must have observed that people ask a lot of questions when it's about 'money', and it's such a sensitive subject that it'll bring an introvert of the highest order to talking. These questions not only come up from your clients but from friends, acquaintances and even strangers. After all, they too are your prospective clients. Your profession is such that your presence is seductive, a relative's relative would barge in out of nowhere at a wedding, and a meteor would be thrown at you directly from the Milky Way. You'd be thinking aloud, “Bhai let me at least finish my gulabjamun, before asking for setting your finances right in 5 minutes”. People expect an advisor to be a financial guru, a powerhouse of financial information, and having an instant solution to all their investment hurdles.

We are prepared for such situations and questions from our clients, there are the same conventional questions; where should I invest for my retirement planning? Why should I invest in Mutual Funds, what's wrong with my FD investment? Why a modern insurance over a traditional insurance? The answers to these questions is your expertise, you have heard and responded to them time and again, there are definite facts and figures to support your contentions which are often enough to convince the client. However, sometimes the questions carry a surprise element, or something which you don't have an answer to. These fall under the category of 'difficult questions', and the motive of writing this passage is to acquaint you with these probable 'difficult questions' that you might face.

Here are a few questions which can put you in a dilemma, so be aware and prepare yourself for any pleasant or otherwise surprises.

Q What if you or the distributor or the fund disappear? Many clients are skeptical about the sustenance of the financial advisor or the distributor, etc. They have doubts about what if the advisor or the distributor close down the business unanticipatedly or what if they die. Whose doors will they knock for their money? The answer to this question lies the strength of the MF structure, the strict regulatory framework and an unblemished history. So, acquaint yourself with the structure and regulations and be ready to shove them at the client, when needed.

Q Share Market is a Satta. My so and so lost lakhs of Rupees in the market? How will I make money? May be the so and so was naive, he/she didn't invest in Equity Mutual Funds but in direct Equity, was mislead, fell prey to market sentiment, anything could have have happened, and the loss has struck terror in your client's mind. Familiarize yourself with the background, which when sculpted and presented well, will be the answer to the question.

Q You said the fund has generated 20% return on an average historically, why did I get 12% only? That 20% was historical, and history may or may not repeat itself. But if the investment is given enough time, it is capable of surpassing history.

Q How do the markets look like? Do you see they'll continue to upsurge or will take a U-turn? Or which one is a better stock A or B? You are not God, but you can't tell that to the inquisitor blatantly. The art here is to convey the oblivion in the most diplomatic manner.

Q On what basis do you decide I should invest in this product?

A whole lot of research, hard work, experience and continuous learning goes into ascertaining the wisdom to be able to determine what's right for the investor. On the basis of the virtues mentioned and conviction in the quality of the product you offer, you'd select the best option for the investor.

Q Technicals of a new product.

It can be a blessing if you know the answer, will give strength to your case, contrarily it may also lead to raised eyebrows if you don't have the answers. So, whenever a new investment product enters into the market, brush up your knowledge with the whereabouts of the product, even thought it isn't in your basket.

So, the above were some of the tough questions, among many, that your clients may ask. When you face a complicated question, make sure you:

> Clarify the question, so that you understand what the client is trying to ask, before you jump on to a fancy and elaborate response. May be the client doesn't intend to be tough on you, it's just his choice of words that may have worked the other way round.

> Use Examples, Once you know the question isn't a routine simple one, you need to go out of the box to convince the questioner. For this you have to support the basics with examples, facts, figures, data, etc. Examples and numbers work like magic to expose the eminence of the universal truth.

> In case you don't know the answer, don't hoax, tell them you will find out and get back to them.

> Use disclaimers, Most importantly use disclaimers, so that your contention doesn't backfire at you later. When you mention that equity generates superb returns, don't forget to mention the long term clause. Inform clients about the unpredictability, the potential loss that volatility can cause in short term investing.

The bottomline is, clients will be and should be asking you questions, some of them will be tough. So don’t be scared, rather prepare yourself with appropriate answers, which lies in the fundamentals of investing and the product, only the presentation required is different.