Palka Arora Chopra is the Senior Vice President of the mastertrust group. With over 12 years of outstanding experience in the financial services industry, her expertise goes beyond the traditional knowledge of the field and covers Equity, Research, and Risk Management. She has been directing strategies for multiple projects within the organisation. She has successfully uplifted the company’s commitment to cater to all kinds of customer financial goals with a human-centric approach. In addition to being a member of the senior management, she is also a writer and blogger with a keen interest in defining a simplified path to financial freedom for all kinds of investors, especially women.
‘Women should go beyond financial literacy. The objective for every Indian woman is to create financial stability.’
Financial planning, money management, and investments have traditionally been male-dominated in our society. Even with women doing well in all fields of life and becoming increasingly independent, their financial planning still takes a backseat and is primarily handled by the men of the family.
In today’s fast changing world, financial literacy for women is an important aspect of their independence, financially and otherwise. It empowers women to make independent decisions. During emergencies or unforeseen circumstances, she can take correct steps if she is financially literate.
Women are finally reclaiming their financial lives
When viewed from the patriarchal lens, finance has mostly been man-dominated, with women having little to no say in money matters except household expenditure. However, this story is changing, albeit slowly.
Today, it’s very important for women, regardless of their marital status — single, divorced, widowed or married — to take a much more active role in their financial lives.
In this fast-changing world, more women are taking charge of their financial lives in 2022 than they ever have before. From investing to applying for loans to buying shares, women are breaking out of their shells and becoming more experimental when it comes to finances.
Meanwhile, getting a better understanding about money takes work, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Equipped with the right attitude and education, women can feel empowered and make better-informed financial decisions.
Financial Literacy allows Women to Reclaim their Lives
It is very important for women to be financially independent and make good decisions to have a secure future. Women need to be financially literate to make decisions effectively. Financial literacy is the vehicle to gain financial independence as it is rightly said Knowledge is Power.
We can say financial literacy not only paves the way for overall economic stability, but it also provides an array of education aspects to help women overcome the devastating effects of economic abuse.
Women Leading from the Front
Women in modern world have differentiated financial needs – differentiated earning potential, career peaks, career breaks, longer life expectancy and a different approach & mindset toward financial planning.
It is thus imperative for women to take charge of their money through smart planning and investing best suited as per their needs. Also, the increasing availability of education, coupled with shifting roles in the home for women, is not only changing women’s lives but also reworking attitudes toward gender differences and equality.
Prioritise Financial Independence
In simple worlds we can say, financial literacy and women’s empowerment go hand in hand. Being financially literate can help achieve one’s life and career goals more effectively.
Financial independence serves as a major backbone during unforeseen circumstances. It is often noticed that women are often unable to leave abusive family situations or marriages due to financial dependency. Even for women on the career front, often their income is seen as pocket money and they are expected to take up additional responsibilities at home as well.
In the current times, women should gain financial literacy so that they can share responsibilities as well as make best use of their financial independence. Also, knowing about financial literacy and actually implementing it in your life are two very different aspects.
Women must imbibe the skills of budgeting, prioritising their finances, saving for retirement, protecting themselves and their families and get inculcate financial literacy to make better-informed decisions.
Strong Women, Strong Families, Strong Society
Ultimately, growing evidence suggests that increasing women’s access to and use of financial services can have both economic and societal benefits, illustrating why economic growth increases with greater access to financial services. Similar benefits result from the increase in female users of these services.
A more inclusive financial system in turn can magnify the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies by broadening financial markets and the tax base. While a higher percentage of women supervisory boards may contribute to financial stability, they would additionally contribute to an overall diversity of thought, which leads to better-informed financial decisions.
As they say, when money flows into the hands of women, who have the authority to use it, everything changes, for women, their families, and their communities. While millennials have emerged as more prudent in their approach with a positive shift in investment preferences, goals, behaviours and mindsets into various platforms simplifying and democratising access to new age investments, it is also important for the system at large to take steps that can bring women at par even in overall financial planning and literacy.
One of the aspects to making this possible would be to introduce financial planning and independence as part of an early curriculum and encourage women to handle their own finances. Women can thus have a deeper sense of security and prepare themselves for a financially secure life for herself and her family.