As the mother’s day has already been celebrated last Sunday me emphasis and analyse role of Indian Women in Financial Planning.
Present Situations
Though time and again we have been appealing, through various platforms, the importance of active participation of women in the financial planning and execution process. But the appeal seems to have been falling on deaf ears. Based on my interactions with women married as well as unmarried, I have gathered a firm impression that all financial decisions including investment decisions are made by the fathers and husbands. This is in spite of the fact that more and more women are joining the work force and even are leading business groups. Indian women have started earning decent money and thus becoming financially independent at least on records. There are many reasons for the same including the historical reasons of the Indian society being patriarchal. This needs to change looking at the changing environment around us.
Advent of new financial products
Traditionally the Indian have been investing in traditional products like land, gold jewellery, life insurance and bank fixed deposits. Since the making and maintaining such traditional investments did not require any major analytical ability, there was nothing which the
Indian women could have contributed earlier but with the advent of new financial products like mutual funds, which need to be actively monitored and reviewed, the women has to be actively involved in the planning and implementing stage of the financial plan for the family.
Nuclear Family form of gaining currency
With the old Indian tradition of joint family coming to almost an end due to various reasons like rapid urbanisation and new generation not joining the family business and opting to take up employment in far away places including abroad. Due to this situation, the parents are most likely to spend their old age alone themselves, it is more important that the Women in India start taking active interest in finances of the family at all the stage. In the eventuality of the spouse passing away before her, financial literacy and actively participated in all the stages of the financial planning and its execution will come handy to her to manage the life and finances properly and confidently.
Role the Indian Women can play in Financial Planning
Since the household expenses in Indian household are generally managed by women, it is she who can give proper inputs about the actual house hold expenses which need to be factored into in the various facets of financial planning like investment planning and retirement planning. She can also help the family in planning for the contingency funds which the family may need. Her active participation in financial planning process will convince her the futility of investing in gold jewellery and thus channelizing the investments to more productive avenues and thus help bettering the finances of the family.
So I am confident that that it is overdue that the Indian women take equal part in the financial planning of the family for her own interest as well as the interest of the family.
Author is tax and investment expert and can be reached at jainbalwant@gmail.com @jainbalwant
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