Evolving Financial Behavior of Women

Gone are the days when men used to be at the forefront of everything. The world has changed, and that too for good. The positive changes have been majorly built on the foundation of breakthrough efforts and initiatives taken by women.

Women have been making waves, in whichever fields they have set their foot in; be it in the field of science, art, medicine, literature, community service etc. Their achievements have set a roadmap for girls and young women to pursue whatever their heart desires without any fear.

When it comes to the world of finance, women have emerged to be strong leaders and have made serious headway. Women have made various financial sectors and are performing well, giving men a serious run for their money.

What does the trend say?

After the initial meltdown of the Indian financial sector due to global recession back in 2008-09, the domestic financial sector has made a strong return. Indian Women have started investing more and take a keen interest in allocating their savings and available funds.

According to various surveys and studies, the number of women investors has increased considerably in India. Females in the age bracket of 18-25 have begun stepping into the world of finance and investing, which wasn’t the case before. This new-found confidence has surely fueled the investment bonanza going around, with saving and investing being the “new-cool” thing for millennials.

Indian women are climbing the charts when it comes to saving and investing, and it’s no longer a “men’s-only field”.

There is a clear difference between the investing habits when it comes to Indian males and females, with males taking more “risks” when compared to women, whereas women focus their investments on “traditionally safer” options to build their wealth for the long term. This trend has slowly been changing, where Indian women are slowly starting to explore investment options that channel away from traditional investing towards new avenues.

Most Indian women prefer to invest in mutual funds and stocks. Gone are the days when women generally invested in gold or kept their savings stacked away in some hidden corner of the home. Working women now consider investing in longer term options, such as Insurance & PPF (Public Provident Fund), and even the real estate sector. The investment done by them has shown a general increase year by year, with an average of 20% income allotted for the purpose of investments.

Financial journeys of our female members at FinMapp

Sharing some useful financial tips, Nitishi says that it’s important to allocate funds and invest for every working woman. This will give them a lot more freedom and flexibility down the years to achieve their goals.

Echoing Nitishi’s thoughts, Komal reveals that her formative years in financial planning were inspired by her family, especially her mother.

She made it a must to save and invest so that she could spend accordingly for her future plans for travel, education and more.

Crunching codes day in, day out is not an easy task which requires lots of logic and critical thinking and Sanjana is a complete ace. According to her, not only codes but having financial knowledge is critical.

She further explains that balancing the key aspects when it comes to investing is a must, but risks must be taken sometimes when it’s necessary.

Sharmilee, who deals with customers on a daily basis at FinMapp says that her habit of saving money came naturally to her at an early age. All grown up now, she is more involved in family finances and even gives advice to her family members and friends.

Himanshi has set her goals big and bright, and her advice to our female readers is that the monthly savings and investments should be planned in such a way that should be enough to build a retirement corpus.

Bottom of the line:

Women are strong pillars of modern society, and the financial world is one such area where they are going from strength to strength. The signs and stats only go on to indicate a better and brighter future when it comes to Indian women.

Some key takeaways and financial tips for Indian women:

– Build your personal financial identity

– Allocate funds for saving and investing without fail

– Avoid unnecessary expenditure

– Take some time out to gain financial knowledge

– Build a retirement plan

– Gauge risks and invest wisely

– Choose a health insurance plan for yourself and your family with great care