Women Holds a big influential position in family’s financial matters by being a home maker and supporting money management from backend or even by working and participating in family’s cash flows. Active participation by women in family’s finances is very much advisable and needed, not only for the family’s betterment bt also for her self independence and confidence (Read : women and Money management). Below are some of my thoughts as to how a women can participate and help self and family in having a better financial future.
1. Budgeting:
You know what the most important part of any financial planning is? No its not Investments, but spending. Any financial plan can fail if there’s no control on one’s spending. And this is where women can do wonders. Where women are often labelled as spendthrift, they also have one inherent quality of following and sticking to spending budget.They can control and influence the spending behaviour of all the family members. How much pocket money to be given to kids, how much to spend on groceries , clothes, dining out etc. all these gets managed very well when woman is the incharge.
And this is no different if Woman is working. Believe me its in the DNA.
According to a survey in U.S., women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everthing from autos to health care. And I am sure the things are not much different in India. So go ahead, help yours and your family members improve their spending behaviour by following a strict budget, so you can have surplus money to save towards your other goals.
2. Insurances :
When it’s a question of securing family’s financial future, you can’t ignore power of insurance. You have to make sure that you and your husband are adequately insured with Life and accident insurance cover. Thogh Money can’t repair the emotional damage but surely will take care of family in case of any unfortunate happening to you or your husband , and money will definitely be neede at that point of time. So be practical.Your personal life insurance is more important when you are working and have financial dependents. Also it is important to have adequate health insurance coverage for complete family. Please understand that a small spending on health insurance can save your savings towards next year vacations and other important goals.
3. Building own tax file:
You can also help yourself and your family in saving considerable tax payments by having or building your own personal tax file. If you are working, then you already have a tax file. You just have to build strength in this by savings and investments. You can also create your tax file by receiving marriage gifts in your name , and also by receiving gifts (if any) from your parents in your name and through cheque. It will further enhance when you receive some inheritance from your parents or their HUF. This way you can also have control on your own money. Do make sure to file regular income tax returns. The recent separation case of Hrithik Roshan and suzzanne khan after 17 years of togetherness has given my this thought more strength that every woman should be independent and confident in life. Emotionally you may not be able to handle such situations, but financially you should be always prepared .You never know what life has in it for you.
(Also Read : Tax Planning tips for young couple)
4. Participate in investment decisions:
I have seen women keeping themselves away from investment planning and leave such decisions to the male members of the family , be it father, brother, husband or son. But this is not right. This is a general view that women are very conservative and they don’t like number crunching which is required in making investment decisions. But I don’t buy this argument. I have observed that once a woman understands the importance of learning and making investments and the reasons behind it, they are easy to put into discipline than their male counterparts. A family’s financial plan will never derail if a woman is on driver’s seat.
5. Securing Retirement Years:
Retirement is a very sensitive goal . On one side you have to take care of your health and on the other you have to manage your expenses from whatever savings you have. Women should ensure that they have joint bank account, investment accounts, d’mat accounts, Mutual funds etc. with their husbands and all accounts should be having proper nominee. You should also be aware of all financial records of the family i.e where the money is being invested and documents are kept. You should ensure that you and your husband has a properly written WILL and know what’s the process to execute the same.
You are educated, you are intelligent…so what stops you from taking financial decisions. Believe me you will be a good support to your husband once you start showing interest in family’s financial planning. And due to some cultural changes in our society it becomes more important for women to get into money matters as soon as they can.
And by the way, what are we here for ? We at Good Moneying will keep helping you being good with your money.
Do share your thoughts and comments.
