A Handy Guide For Women
To Manage Finances At
Every Stage Of Their Lives

While women have donned every major role in their lives – daughter, sister, wife, and mother – with grace despite several challenges when it comes to finances, the picture is vastly different. More often than not, they allow their male counterparts to take charge and dictate their financial position.

However, as women continue to conquer new frontiers, it’s imperative for them to manage their finances independently. Also, as women are the ones who sacrifice careers for family commitments, they need to be at ease with monetary matters.

Let’s see how you, as a woman, can be in command of your finances at different stages of your life without hiccups and embark on your journey towards financial freedom.

Young and Single

Being in early 20s and having just started your career gives you more flexibility to take risks. This is the opportune time to invest in equities to accumulate funds for goals such as buying a house and marriage, among others.

Systematic investment plans (SIPs) in equity mutual funds not only instil a disciplined savings habit but also help you stay invested across market cycles. Also, aggressive investments through SIPs can help you build a decent corpus for your future needs, including retirement, should you need to take a sabbatical later.

For short-term goals such as buying a car or going on a vacation, you can contemplate investing in fixed deposits and liquid funds. Amid everything, make sure to avail health insurance as any medical emergency can dry up your savings in no time. Also, buying a health plan is easy on pocket when you are healthy.

Married and Working

This is a challenging phase as you need to juggle between professional and personal commitments. While it's a good idea to have a joint account with your husband, don't close the single account that you had before marriage. While you can use the joint account to share for common household expenses, use the single account for personal use.

Also, take an active interest in investments made by your husband. It will give you a holistic understanding of where you need to contribute and what is rightfully yours. It's advisable to avail a term plan if you are planning a family so that the proceeds can be utilised for securing the future of your dependent child, in case of any untoward incident.

This is also the right time to think and build the sizeable retirement corpus to remain financially independent in your golden years. Investing in the National Pension System (NPS) is a good way to do so.

Homemaker

When you turn into a homemaker, you active source of income dries up. Therefore, it's vital to utilise the corpus you have built for this phase judiciously.

Keep discretionary expenses to the minimum and if you are earning through part-time jobs, you can contemplate investing a part of it in non-cumulative bank fixed deposit that pays interest on a monthly or quarterly basis as per your choice.

Overnight funds can also be a good option as they are one of the safest categories of debt funds that invest in securities maturing in one day. Note that in case of overnight funds, returns are secondary. Readily accessible, it safeguards your from investments from credit and interest rate risks.

Retirement

This is the phase when in all probability you would have addressed major goals. Your children in all likelihood have settled. Utilise this time to do things you missed out earlier and bank on the corpus you have built for retirement to address your needs.

Also, it’s in your best interest to avoid investment in risky instruments and opt for vehicles such as Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS). Make sure to have a Will in place to ensure smooth distribution of your estate.

In Conclusion

Along with these, a regular review of portfolio ensures your finances and investments are as per your goals. Doing so also allows you to plug the gaps with ease.

Source: Nuvamawealth.com