We've all heard the saying, "It's not what you earn, it's what you keep," but unfortunately, many women think the opposite is true. In reality, it's more important to focus on investing than earning. The incredible compounding power of investing can help you increase your wealth. Investing versus earning is the kind of question that is often asked by people who haven't yet made a lot of money. But as your income grows, a very different question starts to dominate your thoughts: how much is enough?
As you become increasingly more successful, saving and investment becomes more important than earning because it gives you financial freedom and options. You want to start a business, create an app, travel around the world, maybe even write a book one day. Take some time and look at your bucket list. How many of these goals can you actually achieve without investing? Not many I bet. Thus, it is imperative to not only understand the importance of investing but take action on it.
Women have unique financial needs and challenges
Often, the main source of income for women is their husbands' salary. Financial planning for most women is about taking care of all family expenses and ensuring that everyone, including children's education, is taken care of. Women have to make additional financial choices due to circumstances like a longer life expectancy, the likelihood of being a single parent, and unpaid caregiving responsibilities.
Investing also gives you the power to take career breaks and not be worried about finances. Women tend to take more breaks than men, after marriage, when they have kids or even when the spouse is transferred to a different city. Reasons are many but these breaks are less stressful when you are financially secure. If a woman has a baby or quits her job for some reason, she won't face financial pressure to return to work immediately if she has investments.
Financial Freedom
You can't always rely on someone else and investing gives you that financial freedom. It is a passive income. If you are not investing, you have to work harder to earn more money. Once you start investing, it creates multiple streams of income for you because there are a lot of options available in the market today such as Mutual Funds. Investing your money also gives you an advantage over spending it. Investing also gives you more freedom to live the life you want. Investing also helps protect women against inflation because the returns from investments beat inflation every year whereas your expenses are increasing every year due to inflation. The risk of inflation is very high for women because we live longer than most men and hence require more money for our retirement years.
Simple and handy tips
· Take benefit of discounts; don’t feel shy to bargain
· Avoid temptation of chit funds, deposit schemes or any kind of fast money. None of them can create wealth. Choose the power of equities with the safety of mutual funds.
· Stay disciplined and avoid procrastinating investments. Invest first & spend without guilt.
· Be involved in financial decisions & status of family finances.
· If you have dependents, your insurance should be enough to replace your earnings.
· Avoid the lure of easy debt or personal loans.
The bottom line
Women are apparently better savers than men when it comes to investing. But even as Indian women appear to be doing better than their male counterparts in managing personal finances, saving and investment still remains a low priority for them. Do not procrastinate. Remember, the earlier you start investing, the sooner you will be prepared for achieving your financial goals. Depending on the financial situation, risk profile and time horizon, women can choose multiple investment products to grow their assets in a timely manner. Women… it’s time you take on the reins and show the world who the real boss is!
Happy Investing!
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