She Talks Money: How Women Can Take The Plunge To Strategise Finances

Gone are the days when women would save stacks of cash in their cupboards that would pile up there without giving them any returns. Those were also the days when gold and property were the only two methods to plan the future financially. But today, women are getting into stocks, mutual funds, investing in startups, turning old ancestral property which would otherwise be dead asset, into boutique hotels or renting them out to not only organize their current financial situation but also to map their future better. The number of women who have started their journey into financial planning may be small, but it sure is growing.

The most daunting and apparently risky of all the many options available to invest money are stocks and mutual funds. It takes definite push for women to understand or even consider these options as fair means of investments. And today, it is of utmost importance that women take their financial planning into their own hands and understand what would be the best option and gives the maximum returns.

"It is very important to know your equity horizon & investment to know which mutual fund to park your money in" - Deepti Bansal #shetalksmoney #Lucknow pic.twitter.com/VHS28qvSeL

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeopleTV) February 28, 2019

At SheThePeople.TV’s flagship program, She Talks Money presented by SBI MF held in Lucknow on February 28, we discussed what the necessary steps are that women can take to increase their financial knowledge and finally take the plunge into planning:

• Reading up and researching on maintaining a good balance between debt and equity, studying which are the high-performing funds and which are the funds which have performed well over time are some ways women can kick-start their journey into better investing their finances, said Jyotsna Kaur Habibullah in a panel discussion at the programme. “Taking sound financial advice now that we have good financial advisers available at the click of a button. We women think that we are superwomen, but we can actually take the right advice when it is required particularly when there are other women experts out there to tell us what to do to save better,” she added.

• When it comes to learning platforms, entrepreneur Riddhima Jain suggested mobile applications that we can download and do an extremely affordable course to learn the basics of financial planning. “There are certified trainers and mentors on the app and one can study at home to sort their investment out. Financial advisers gain expertise over the years and now there are certified courses which can make the whole process easier and less daunting,” she said.
• Reading the business page of the newspapers is what women miss out on the most, pointed out business consultant Aparna Mishra. “We read the city news and all the other pages of the newspaper but generally skip the business page, which is so important. We should watch the business news closely to follow the trends to understand about the various companies and their performances better,” Mishra said.
• Financial consultants Dipti Bansal and Banita Jain stressed the need for consulting professional to ensure planning. “Tell your adviser the actual financial health issue you are suffering from and seek their advice and that would sort you out quicker than any self-learning can help you out with. But one must know the financial terminology to understand what the adviser is talking about,” said Bansal.

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