WOMAN AS A WEALTH CREATOR: IDENTIFY THE INVESTOR WITHIN YOU

 “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been. Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home. If you give her groceries, she will give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she will give you her heart. She multiples and enlarges whatever is given to her. So if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!”

― William Golding (a Nobel Prize-winning British novelist, playwright, and poet)

This quote points out towards one of the great characteristics of women – a multiplier. When we start the new account book in the beginning of a new financial year or whenever we start an auspicious or some good deed; we are used to write ‘Shree Sava’. Here Shree means Goddess Lakshmi and Sava in Gujarati means the amount of 1.25. This itself indicates that anything given to a lady, who herself is considered a form of Goddess Lakshmi, she gives you back manifold.

For many years, investing and family finance management had been considered a job of men in the family, barring some exceptions. But now the scenario has changed. More and more women are getting educated, they are coming out and take active participation to earn the income for the family, there is increase in financial literacy and awareness and technology has also advanced. Due to the collective effects of all these factors, now participation of women in savings, investing and managing finances for herself and her family has increased considerably. 

Today in this article, our focus is on why women can be good investors and their role as a wealth creator for family and for the society.

Since decades, women have proved that they can save for future, no matter how much less the income of the family was. It is known to all that women used to save and keep money protected in the grain jars and other places, and they used to be the ones who support the men in the house in the times of financial crisis, with that hidden savings. In almost all the cultures, we have the tradition to give gold and silver to the women on the auspicious occasions like marriage, and that is called streedhan, which remains under her control and custody only. The reason is the belief that these precious metals, if given to a lady, will be preserved in a better way. Women have the art of best utilization of limited resources, be it in the kitchen or in a corporate. It is rightly believed that if a lady of the house is smart and savvy enough, she can make her family prosper in the long run, even with the limited income resources.

But when we talk about wealth creation, only saving money is not enough. The saved money has to be invested wisely also. And to be a good investor, one does not necessarily require a degree in finance from a good institute or any professional qualifications or much more deep understanding of financial products. To be a good investor, one requires Patience, Discipline, Consistency and Wise decision making with a long term vision. All these qualities are innate in women. Women deal with any situation more patiently and with a balanced approach. They are more disciplined and focused in whatever they do. A woman is able to forecast what is good for her children and her family in the long run. She takes wise decision today, sometimes there are strict decisions also, for a better tomorrow of her family.

There are some more qualities which help women become good investors. women are a little risk averse. They take calculated risk and that too, with a back-up plan. This quality helps them to be away from taking haphazard decisions and unnecessary risk while investing. Women don’t hesitate to say that ‘This is not my cup of tea’, or ‘I don’t know anything about it so I am a bit scared while investing in this asset class’. Women seek help easily whenever required, if they believe that they cannot handle something. Women interact and network more, to keep themselves informed. This qualities of women are easily visible in any field, be it study, job, profession or in any other area where she contributes or participates.

Since women possess the above qualities innate, and they are capable of learning and grasping new things easily, they are and they can be good investors. 

If you look around, you will find that there are a good number of women earning on their own, managing their own money and also participating in managing family finances to some extent. But there are still a good number of women who do not participate in money management, either for herself or for the family. The possible reasons can be: in some households, still it is not considered desirable if a lady discusses about money or takes financial decisions. Women are not kept much informed about the income, financial assets and liabilities of the family. Her participation is not considered effectively in the financial decisions. Resultantly, women start believing that they have no role in managing the finances, except they should get the funds they require and it is something to be handled by the men of the house only.

Sometimes we see that women in the house do not even know where the men are investing, in which asset classes, what are the risks involved and how and when they can get that money back. This situation is very dangerous for the financial wellbeing of a family.

On the other hand, it is necessary for the women also to come forward, get themselves educate; understand the simple financial concepts like savings, investing, compounding; to develop the idea about the main asset classes like equity, debt, real estate and precious metals; to get knowledge about risk involved and caution required while investing, so that women participate in the financial discussions, understand the financial matters and help the family to take better financial decisions.

We talk much about inclusivity and equality of women in the society, but without financial inclusivity, women will not be empowered in true sense. And financial inclusivity of women does not mean that each and every woman should go out and take job, become a CFO in a corporate or manage lakhs and crores of rupees. The real financial inclusivity will be achieved only when each and every female of our society makes herself educated and aware about the financial concepts, makes herself capable and then allowed to give her impactful opinion in the financial decision of the family. That will put our society one step closer towards true gender equality and sustainable economic prosperity.

                                                            स्त्रियः समस्ताः सकला जगत्सु 

    (Women are the embodiment of completeness in the entire world)