Hello Readers!

Men all over the world think that they are born with the perfect knowledge of money management and women in their house have made their belief stronger by keeping themselves away from the household financial planning or expenses.

Even after they take an independent economic stand for themselves, they still think managing finances and investment is not their cup of tea, which is absolutely not correct. Women fear making mistakes, they fear out that they will commit one mistake and would lose their hard-earned money.

But dear women, it’s not only you who hold the chance of committing mistake while managing money, but men do commit mistakes on investment and money matters, in fact being a financial advisor, I can say that I have met more men than women and can tell you with authority that men really need your help in managing finances.

Men Commit Common Investing Mistakes!

Men have a kind of aggressive nature and they are fond of taking risks without preparing an alternate option to cover up that risk. They love to chase market trends and then invest their money in that trend without even tracking its record. For example, recently a few weeks before gold commodity was trending on Rs 55,000 per 10gm, most of the cool dudes might have invested in gold with the expectation that in some time it will touch Rs 1,00,000 per 10 gm. But what actually happened, the trend got down to Rs 48,000 for 10gm – a drop of 13 percent.

After this also they won’t stop, next they would look towards investing in bitcoin, with the dream that they will end up making good returns like Elon Musk, but they in all this hurry would forget that Bitcoin is not regulated in India and chances of it getting banned are very high. That simply means investing in bitcoin means a large amount of money is at risk in one instrument.

So basically, what men do is chase trends or invest money in hot deals, that too without balancing their risk. But what women do is we all know, they before taking a risk, prepare an alternate plan, in case of finances, they create their emergency fund first, and then take a calculated risk at their investments.

Men Consider Friends As Financial Adviser!

It is a fact that men take good risks, invest in the stock market, and remain busy the whole day checking stock prices and having animated discussions with their friends about it. But the wait is there a friend certified financial planner? No, they are not. In fact, the friends do not know better either.

Stock market investing requires a lot of experience and it’s never easy for a lay investor who has very little knowledge about the company, to generate long-term consistent returns. In this scene, they must learn from women, who take a calculated risk and invest in a mutual fund instead of a stock market where she gets access to many more stocks and tax benefits as well. Not only this they consider taking advice from the professional fund manager instead of consulting her friends.

Mutual Funds Are Confusing, And Returns Are Low!

Those who are fond of investing in the stock market, take it as the best and for them choosing the best suitable mutual fund scheme for a wide range of options becomes confusing. Instead, they take long-term insurance policies that the company provides as a good cover.

But employer’s cover may not suffice in case of a large health issue. Also, endowment plans and money-back policies offer returns not more than 4-5%, which clearly means, your money is going to lose its value in the long-term with the rise in inflation. Mutual Funds on the other hand come with lower costs and have given great returns in the long term.

Simple Products For Retirement!

Some day before I met a woman, she was a working woman and earned a good salary. When I asked her, what are her retirement plans, she replied, that’s too far away and the EPF will take care of our retirement.

I then asked her if she has calculated an approximate value for her retirement corpus, she had no reply. Then I told her if she has monthly expenses of around 1 lakh, then you need a retirement corpus of Rs 6 crore and EPF alone may not be able to cover that. That means you have to start investing more for your retirement. I asked her if she knows about the ways through which she can plan her retirement corpus.

Then she replied that she doesn’t know and will need to check with her husband. She told me that they have planned their finances such that her salary is consumed for household expenses and her husband's salary is all used for investment.

Then I asked her, don’t you have saved money in your name. And do you think it is good for your dreams? What if you want to start something of your own or do something on your bucket list? Would you be happy to ask for money from your spouse even though you are earning it? She replied, obviously not!

And finally, she asked me, how can she involve herself in money management for her family. Then I suggested to her, you are just a few steps away, take those steps and involve yourself in your family money management.

The first step, list all the expenses and see how they can be reduced. The second step, use a goal planning tool to figure out how much you need to save for financial goals such as children’s education, retirement, etc. The third step invests in simple products like mutual funds, for these goals. And the final step, keep your financial life simple and keep a check on documents. Remember one thing, you should be investing at least 40 percent of your combined take-home salary.

Basically, ladies do not underestimate yourself when it comes to managing your household finances and investments. And do not think that men know it all and will do much better than you. Men and women make common investment mistakes.

Remember one thing, the way you manage your household chores, your professional work, and your family in a so balanced way, you have to do the same thing in case of your family finances too!!

Happy International Women’s Day 2021!!

Keep reading for more updates on Mutual Fund Investment!!

For any kind of query you can contact us at Shri Ashutosh Securities Pvt Ltd., we are here to help you in any way possible.

Happy Investing!

(Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risk Illustrations are for example only, there is no guarantee of returns. Past performance is not an indicator/guarantee to future returns).