Happy Women’s Day! 5 smart money goals that every woman should have

Women are gifted to be born with the ability to manage many things at the same time. Modern women run their homes, manage workplaces, look after their children and more significantly manage their financial matters. However, the new age women should now look beyond managing household expenditures and small savings and instead focus more on their personal finance as well. Women are now actively involved in investment decisions, taking loans, opting a credit card of their choice and its repayment mode making them independent from their parents or spouse. The need of the hour now is for women to have their own money goals and to be financially independent. Let’s check out five smart money goals that every woman should have:

1) Invest first and spend later

Most of us often mark out our expenditures on priority from our income and then use the left-over for investment. Contrary to this, women should have a smart goal to invest the money first and thereafter use the remaining amount on various expenditures. This will enable them to accumulate big corpus in the long term. 

2) Work on a mutual financial goal with her husband

Post- marriage, couples often find it difficult to manage their financial goals and one of the main reasons behind it is the lack of a mutually agreed upon financial goals. Therefore, what is required is regular communication between both partners over financial matters, and women taking the lead in case of a lull. Both should contribute to such financial goals on the basis of mutual understanding. By setting mutual financial goals, women can contribute her income share in the fulfilment of family’s requirement and can easily distinguish between personal financial objectives from the mutual objectives. 

3) Maintain a good credit score

Financial discipline is very important for women if they want to accomplish their career goals. Maintaining a good credit score is nowadays essential to get credit, such as home loan, car loan, personal loan, etc. Like a disciplined borrower women should chalk out a goal to repay loans on time, pay credit card bill without delays and avoid instances which impact the credit score. Even after the marriage, if the husband’s credit score is falling short of eligibility criteria to get a loan, then the wife with a good credit score can step in as a co-borrower and improve the chances of loan approval. 

4) Manage tax efficiently

Tax efficiency is an important part of personal finance. Women should have the goal to file the income tax returns (ITR) on time. Managing the tax efficiently can save lots of money for women taxpayer. Healthy ITR record can help a woman to improve the chances of the getting a big loan for business or for personal purpose. Women should also focus on selecting appropriate tax saving investment plan and ensure a fine balance between risk and return expectation. 
Also, all working women should discuss the salary structure with their company and try to shape it in a way that tax outgo is minimized.

5) Invest strictly as per financial objective

Women must identify their financial goal early in their career. They should start investing money at an early age and it should focus strictly on their long-term financial objectives. It is crucial for this objective to consider aspects related to short and long-term requirements. The return expectation should be adjusted from time to time as per change in age and risk appetite. Goal should be financial independence and a solid retirement plan.

Besides, women also need to have other money goals like maintaining a contingency fund, buying a health insurance, accumulating funds to plan regular vacations, maintaining records of all financial transactions and their documentation and lastly never hesitate in taking calculated risks. 

The objective for women is to secure their financial future, for which smart moves is always preferred. Finally, never ever shy away from seeking an expert’s advice when the going gets a bit confusing. 

(By Adhil Shetty, CEO BankBazaar)