Women are experts at managing the household and saving money. But they are often caught up in the collective well-being of their family. They rarely secure their financial future with life insurance or retirement plans. But if you are a financially enlightened modern woman who understands the unpredictability of life, you’ve come to the right place!
These are the 6 financial tips for women on building a bright financial future for themselves.
- Manage Income & Expenses Through Budgeting
It is vital to create a monthly budget for financial planning. Make a detailed list of your expenses, including groceries, EMIs, childcare expenses etc. Check if you can cut down on any payment to make room for extra savings for your future. If you are working, try to increase your income.
As a housewife also, you can find opportunities to earn via your education and talents. To increase your cash flow and limit your expense is the primary requirement for ensuring a secured financial future.
- Create an Emergency Fund
A financial emergency can cause an imbalance in your income and expenditure equilibrium. An emergency fund is required to combat unforeseen expenses like a vehicle breakdown, home repair, medical emergencies etc. If you are prepared for such unexpected events, your financial planning won’t get disrupted.
Ideally, you should have an emergency fund that can provide for your 6 months of living expenses. However, you can curate your emergency fund according to your individual needs and lifestyle.
- Have a Financial Plan & Goal
Women should have clarity regarding their financial goals and plan accordingly. It is crucial to have the clarity of vision to secure a financial future. Based on your financial goal, you can create an investment and saving portfolio. Try to make it as versatile as possible. You can create a mix of FDs, gold, equity, real estate etc.
To do that successfully, every woman needs to educate herself and her partner about market trends, various financial instruments, and investment options.
- Invest in High-return Schemes
There are various high-return saving schemes from government and private players to help you shape your financial future. One of them is the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna scheme which encourages financial investments for women from early childhood. Inquire about this scheme if you have a daughter. Other schemes are NSC, PPF, KVP, monthly and yearly deposits in the post office.
Chit fund is also a type of high return scheme which is based on collective saving. You can now start a chit fund within your circle through various online platforms.
- Get a Term Insurance
Term insurance not only secures your financial future. It provides security to your dependents and kids as well. This financial safety net works for your whole family in case of any unfortunate incident. There are various kinds of term plans. A term plan with a pension after the retirement age is considered ideal by many financial experts.
Some term plans give you your premium back after a certain age, and some don’t. There is a difference in interest rates in such cases. Weigh in all available options carefully.
- Make a Retirement Fund
Whether you are a working woman or a homemaker, you must plan for old age. A wise and systematic investment for your retirement empowers you to enjoy the same lifestyle without compromising in your later years. It’s ok if you can make only a small contribution monthly towards a secured financial future in your golden age.
What matters is these contributions should be consistent and well-planned. You can invest in schemes like term insurance and later in senior citizen’s savings scheme of government.
Final Thoughts
It’s time to break the misconception of only the man of the house being responsible for securing the financial future of the family. As a woman, you are perfectly capable of making wise and smart financial decisions for yourself and your family. Start grooming and educating yourself now!
Author Bio:
Aatish Khanna works with the Content Marketing team at Money Club – a digital chit fund platform that makes saving, borrowing, and investing your money more efficient. He writes on topics to help his readers understand processes so they can make better financial decisions. He’s the go-to person that his family, friends, and colleagues turn to for all their money matters. He loves to play board games and aspires to one day build his one finance-related board game and app.
