The 15-minute financial health check for professionals
Twelve questions, one score, three concrete next steps.
Most professionals we meet are doing fine on paper — earning well, investing a bit, owning a flat or two. They also have a nagging suspicion that something isn't quite right. They can't articulate what.
This 15-minute check is the framework we use to find the biggest gap in someone's plan. It's the same framework we walk paying clients through in their first session, distilled into 12 questions you can answer yourself.
There are no scores to game, no products to push. Just an honest look at where you stand on the dimensions that actually matter over a 30-year wealth-building career.
1. Income coverage
If your monthly take-home stopped tomorrow, how many months could you survive on your liquid savings (bank, FDs, liquid mutual funds — not real estate, not equity)?
- Under 3 months — you're exposed. Build emergency fund before any new investments.
- 3–6 months — adequate for stable income. Build to 6 if business or variable.
- 6+ months — healthy. Consider deploying excess to long-term investments.
- 12+ months — too conservative if you're under 50; opportunity cost is real.
2. Term insurance adequacy
Term cover should be roughly 10–15x your annual income, plus outstanding debts. If you earn ₹20L, with a ₹50L home loan, you need ₹2.5–3 Cr of pure term cover. Endowment, LIC, ULIP — none of these count toward this number.
3. Health insurance reality check
Employer health insurance vanishes the day you leave the job. Always have a personal policy alongside. Recommended: ₹15–25L family floater + ₹10L super top-up. Premium for a family of 4 in your 30s is typically ₹30–50k/year — minor cost, enormous protection.
4. Tax regime fit
Did you actually run the math on old vs new tax regime this year, or did you copy what a colleague said? Run both calculations explicitly using your actual 80C usage, HRA, home loan interest, and NPS. About 40% of professionals who switched to new regime would be ₹50k–₹2L better off in old.
5. Asset allocation drift
What's the actual split of your investments today across equity, debt, gold, real estate, and cash? If you've never written it down, do it now. Most professionals are massively over-allocated to real estate (60–70%) and cash (15–20%), with too little in equity for their age.
Rough rule of thumb for asset allocation: (100 minus your age) percent in equity, with the rest split between debt and gold. A 35-year-old should be 65% in equity. Most aren't.
6. Direct vs Regular plan check
Open one of your mutual fund holdings. Look at the scheme name. Does it say 'Direct' or 'Regular' (or nothing — which usually means Regular)? If you have ₹20L in Regular plans for 20 years, you'll give up ₹15–20L to distributor commissions silently. Move everything to Direct via Coin, Kuvera, or MFCentral.
7. ESOP / RSU concentration
If you work at a tech company and have ESOPs or RSUs vesting, what percentage of your net worth is in your employer's stock? Anything above 15% is a concentration risk — your income AND your wealth both depend on the same company. Sell vested RSUs systematically; redeploy.
8. Tax harvesting status
Have you harvested your ₹1.25L LTCG exemption this financial year? If not, you're throwing away ₹15,625 in tax savings annually. Compounds to ₹15–20L over a 30-year investing career. Set a recurring March 15 reminder.
9. Will and nominees
Do all your bank accounts, demat, mutual funds, EPF, PPF, NPS, insurance policies have current nominees on file? Have you written a will? 70% of professionals haven't. Without a will and aligned nominees, your spouse can face 6–18 months of legal process to access funds in an emergency.
10. Goal projections
Pick your top 3 financial goals (retirement, kids' education, home upgrade). For each, do you know: target year, future cost adjusted for inflation, monthly SIP needed, current trajectory? If not all 3 are mapped, you're flying blind on the goals you care most about.
11. Debt vs invest balance
Are you paying more than 30% of take-home pay in EMIs? Anything above 30% squeezes your ability to invest, and almost guarantees retirement compromise. Above 40% is dangerous. If you're there, focus on debt prepayment over new investments.
12. Spouse briefing
If you were incapacitated tomorrow, could your spouse: access all bank accounts, know every advisor and account number, understand the financial logic of your investments, and act on your retirement plan? If not, write a one-page continuity document. This single deliverable matters more than 90% of investment decisions.
Three concrete next steps from this check
- 1Identify your single biggest gap from the 12 questions above. Don't try to fix everything at once.
- 2Block one Saturday morning in the next 30 days. Open every account, calculate your actual net worth, asset allocation, and savings rate. Write it down.
- 3Pick the lowest-effort, highest-impact fix from your gap. Examples: switch Regular to Direct (1 hour, saves ₹15k/year), buy adequate term insurance (2 hours, saves your family ₹2 Cr if needed), file a will (₹15k one-time, saves your spouse months of pain).
This check identifies the gap. Filling it is the work. If you want a second pair of eyes on your specific situation, the Auris Wealth Planner runs the math in 60 seconds, and a 30-minute call with Ashish is free for the first session.
The biggest mistake most people make is doing more — adding more SIPs, more apps, more accounts — when what they need is doing less, better. This check is designed to find the one thing that, fixed, changes everything else.
Ready to apply this to your situation?
The Auris Wealth Planner turns this framework into a personalised plan in 60 seconds. Or book a free 30-minute call with Ashish.
Col Ashish Bhardwaj
Founder of Auris Wealth. Ex-Indian Army (20 years). NISM-certified Investment Adviser. Writes guides like this one for Indian and global investors who want clarity, not products.