The women in our country are a force to reckon with. Women in old times had the tendency to manage the funds of an entire household by themselves. They had their own system of keeping accounts on the expenses and the income that their breadwinners brought home. Today, they occupy key positions in various corporate and government organizations. The need to manage finances however, remains the same. Our growing economy understands this need and provides various means to accomplish them. Investing for women requires special planning as they play many different roles in today’s walk of life. A single parent, for example, may not invest in the same way as an unmarried woman due to various social and economic constraints. Let’s look at various investment options for women in various stages of life:
The Bachelorette
Early 20s are a magical time in a person’s life. You are either working or studying, or maybe you are doing both part-time. There is so much to explore, new things to try, and bold risks to take. There is no pressure to plan for your kids, financially speaking or even think about anything other than becoming independent financially. This is the perfect time to start planning your investments to build up a comfortable corpus for the future. Short-term financial goals include planning for your higher education. Traditionally low-risk investment vehicles like Fixed Deposits, Liquid Mutual Funds or Fixed Maturity Plans work in your favor as compared to volatile markets like Stocks, Equities or regular Mutual Fund plans. In the long run, when you intend to buy a car or a house, different mutual fund schemes like Debt based mutual funds or Equity based mutual funds work up to build a substantial amount of funds for the same.
The Married Professional
This implies that you are already juggling between the herculean task of managing a household and the pressure of professional work. Time becomes an essential commodity in your life and you might not be in a position to make informed financial decisions. Minimum to limited risk investments that manage themselves are a good choice given your situation. Taking the help of a financial adviser will also help save some time at a limited cost. As a breadwinner yourself, you need to plan for your kids, liquidity for emergencies and other goals such as Real Estate or a vehicle. Investment options such as PPFs and NPFs, Gold, Fixed Deposits and investments through a financial adviser such as balanced mutual funds (Equity + Debt) should help you remain independent financially.
The Homemaker
You may not have a fixed source of income in this case, but you have time in your favor. Managing your family’s budget could easily accomplish your savings goals, while at the same time you can study the stock market to find the right market for your money to make more money. For homemakers, simple and mid-to-low risk investments include gold mutual funds, actual gold in the form of jewelry, recurring deposits of the Indian Post and hybrid bank accounts that provide impressive interest rates.
Among the most important investments that you make no matter which role you play, be it of a mother, a daughter or a wife, is life insurance. For investment options for women or anyone, the thumb-rule with life insurance is that you start as early as possible to insure your financial future along with your child and family.
Note: I produced this article for Prabhudas Lilladher Private Limited, a leading Stock Broking Firm in Mumbai.