Take The Reins Of Your Financial Future In Hand

What’s holding Indian women back from being financially independent? How can you break out of that mindset?

- Ritu Ailani

Almost every young Indian woman wants to be financially independent, yet so few are the gatekeepers of their own money. Their quest for financial independence often ends at getting a job, contributing to family expenses and spending on whatever they want – clothes, cosmetics or expensive coffee – without being answerable to anyone. The money left overused to be stashed away in steel almirahs. Today, it’s parked in fixed deposits. And both these are inept financial moves.

WOMEN COME LATE TO THE PAY PARTY

Private banker Sudha Wariar, Lead Executive Director for Offshore Investments at Torus Wealth Private Limited, has had over 20 years of experience working in the Middle Eastern market, and countless interactions with women from non-finance backgrounds, including at a recent webinar she conducted for Dheya Career Mentors on money management. Wariar observes that the reluctance to take charge of money probably comes from the fact that earning money, in itself, feels like such a huge accomplishment to women that they hardly think about what to do with it.

“Women have been fighting for the right to education and employment for centuries, while men have always felt entitled to it,” she points out. Women tend to hand over the custody of their money to the men of the house, assuming they will make wise decisions with it – as they seemingly do with their own income. “The problem arises when you’re not kept in the loop of things. It’s not about trust, but inclusion – the onus of which lies on both men and women.”

IT’S TIME TO REDEFINE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE