Over the years, in my journey as CFP® Taresh Bhatia, I have learned something simple yet powerful—it’s not lack of income that derails people’s financial plans, it’s lack of clear priorities.
You can be earning ₹50,000 a month or ₹5 lakh a month—if you don’t know what to focus on first, your money will scatter into different directions like water on a slope. But when you have a system for deciding priorities, you start feeling in control.
Today, I’m going to share the 4 exact methods I use with my clients to help them set their priorities right and build a financial plan that is both practical and stress-free.
1. The Pareto Principle – Focus Where It Matters Most
The Pareto Principle (or the 80/20 rule) says: 20% of your efforts give you 80% of your results.
A client of mine, a senior IT professional in Gurugram, was spending hours each week researching the “best” mutual funds, chasing 0.25% extra returns, and negotiating tiny discounts on utility bills. But he had no term life insurance, no health insurance for his family, and no emergency fund.
When we applied the Pareto lens, he realised these three actions—term insurance, health cover, and emergency fund—would secure 80% of his family’s financial safety. We implemented them first. Only then did we fine-tune his investments. Within 3 months, he told me, “Taresh, I feel like I’ve gone from financial chaos to calm.”
How You Can Apply This:
• Identify the high-impact moves: In most Indian households, these are insurance, debt clearance, and long-term investing.
• Automate them: SIPs, automatic bill payments, and policy renewals remove the chance of forgetting.
• Stop sweating the small stuff: Don’t spend hours chasing tiny savings while ignoring life-changing actions.
2. The Eisenhower Matrix – Decide What Deserves Your Time Now
The Eisenhower Matrix divides your financial tasks into four boxes: urgent & important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither urgent nor important.
A young couple I coached was always “too busy” to start their SIPs. They were constantly paying late fees on bills (urgent & important) and handling small admin work themselves (urgent but not important).
We sat down and placed their tasks in the Eisenhower Matrix. They realised planning their retirement fund (important but not urgent) was getting postponed for years! We scheduled those sessions first, delegated the admin work to their bank’s RM, and automated bill payments.
Six months later, they were investing consistently and had zero late fees.
How You Can Apply This:
• Urgent & Important: Pay EMIs, renew policies before lapse.
• Important but Not Urgent: Start your SIPs, review your will, update KYC.
• Urgent but Not Important: Delegate—ask your bank, accountant, or trusted family member to handle routine tasks.
• Neither Urgent nor Important: Eliminate—stop checking your portfolio daily or watching random finance reels without action.
3. The Focus Circles – Align Money with Your Life Values
Before we talk numbers, I always ask: “What matters most to you?” Because money without values is like a GPS without a destination.
The Focus Circles framework starts from your core values, moves to your goals, and ends at your daily tasks.
One of my clients, a single mother from Delhi, told me her top value was family security. She wanted her teenage son to have a debt-free higher education and a safe home. We mapped her goals:
• Build a corpus of ₹25 lakh for education.
• Buy a small apartment outright in 7 years.
We then worked backwards to daily actions:
• SIPs in a balanced mutual fund for education.
• Aggressive loan repayment strategy for the home loan.
Because each daily task connected directly to her deepest value, she stayed motivated even when markets dipped or expenses rose.
How You Can Apply This:
1. List your 5 top values: family, health, freedom, contribution, etc.
2. Link goals to values: Education fund = family security. Retirement corpus = freedom.
3. Break goals into actions: Decide the monthly SIP or debt repayment amount that aligns with each goal.
4. The Decision Funnel – Cut Through the Noise
In the information age, our biggest problem is not lack of advice—it’s too much advice. The Decision Funnel helps you filter financial actions through 4 steps.
A businessman I coached was overwhelmed with investment “opportunities”: real estate deals, startup pitches, stock tips from friends, even a crypto mining offer.
We used the Decision Funnel:
1. List All Options: We wrote down everything.
2. Filter by Goals: If it didn’t match his retirement or child’s education goal, it went out.
3. Assess Urgency & Importance: Real estate with a limited-time offer went into “needs deeper research”—not instant approval.
4. Evaluate Effort & Resources: The crypto mining idea failed here—it needed tech skills and time he didn’t have.
At the bottom of the funnel, only 2 options survived—a tax-saving ELSS SIP and a debt repayment plan. Both directly boosted his financial health.
How You Can Apply This:
• Step 1: Write down all money-related decisions on your mind.
• Step 2: Strike off those that don’t align with your long-term goals.
• Step 3: Check if they’re urgent and important.
• Step 4: Keep only the ones you can act on with your current resources.
My Final Word
Whether you’re a couple starting your financial journey, a working professional juggling multiple goals, or a retiree managing your savings—clarity of priorities is the foundation of financial success.
Use the Pareto Principle to focus on what matters most, the Eisenhower Matrix to manage urgency, the Focus Circles to stay aligned with your values, and the Decision Funnel to cut through noise.
When you set your priorities right, your money stops working against you—and starts working for you.
👤 CFP Taresh Bhatia
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ | Founder – The Richness Academy
Helping Indian families live richer, freer, happier lives with smart financial planning.
📞 Contact Me: WhatsApp/Call: +91-9810127906
📧 Email: taresh@tareshbhatia.com
🌐 Website: www.tareshbhatia.com
The author of this article, Taresh Bhatia, is a Certified Financial Planner® and advocate for female empowerment. For more information and personalized financial guidance, please contact taresh@tareshbhatia.com
He has authored an Amazon best seller-“The Richness Principles”. He is the Coach and founder of The Richness Academy, an online coaching courses forum. This article serves educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consultation with a qualified financial professional is recommended before making any investment decisions. An educational purpose article only and not any advice whatsoever.
©️2025: All Rights Reserved. Taresh Bhatia. Certified Financial Planner®
Subscribe Now for Upcoming Blogs!
📢 Join free live webinar —
Couple Finance Formula™ Register here
