My take on 'How can women achieve financial freedom?'

What will it take to bring financial freedom amongst women?

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I truly believe in this ‘Give a woman a dollar, she will put it to good use; teach her how money works, and she will change the world!’

As per govt. survey, women constitute only 23% of labor force in India. About 70% of earning women don’t feel comfortable making financial decisions (around investments) etc. Even though most of us grew up seeing our mothers manage the expense budget very well (while her earning husband made the major investment decisions) – which btw meant our mothers were great negotiators, any money saved used to become their ‘earning’ or 'gupt dhan' as it is called in some places!?

So how does one even begin the journey of financial freedom for women given majority of women don’t earn, even if they earn, they have never managed money instead parking it with their husbands / fathers, have never felt the need to perhaps and as you zoom into Bharat women remain the bulk of the un(der)-banked population.

Had a chance to share my thoughts on this topic at the HT Financial Freedom Panel this independence day. Here’s my take on the same – happy to chat with folks interested in solving or solving this issue – it is an opportunity to create impact at scale!

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My 5Cs (thanks to my training at McKinsey!) for financial freedom for women

1.????CONFIDENCE – Start small, start early, make mistakes. Important is to start.

Blame it on lack of focus on financial / money management (which I consider life skills) in our education system or the systemic biases of our society which prevent girls / women from participating in any major investment decisions in the family. Well there are a lot of things going well for women - they are great at managing budgets (expenses), negotiating, being patient with investments!

We need to build the confidence or our girls to ‘earn’ and to ‘own their money’ and make decisions for themselves or participate equally in the financial decisions of the family. Start small, start early, make mistakes.

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2.????COACHING – Find your coaches, learn the skills, get help

I was surprised to see the diversity in women traders who dialed into a talk show with experts recently. One was a 45 yr old house wife in Noida who started trading with her savings; another a recent B.Com graduate from Tier II town in Orissa, who borrowed money from her father; and the third a 55 year old lady in Pune, who used to be an insurance sales person. The cohorts are baffling and will shun your biases around demographics. They had all learnt investing through YouTube, following finfluencers etc. The more you know about the topic, the more confident you will become! [ and please buying gold jewellery is not the only investment out there. Learn how to build a portfolio based on your goals and risk appetite]

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3.????COMMUNITY - Break the norm, build your community

This is a major disadvantage for women where managing money is not even a part of the conversations, whereas for men this is a ‘chat at tapri’ topic. ?I personally faced this. Most of my women friends have their husbands manage their money. I started discussing investing options, managing portfolio tips etc. with my male colleagues and got a financial advisor. ?

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4.????COMMITMENT – Don’t fall off the grid, investment over expenses

Set your goals, plan, stay disciplined. Your earnings are important for you, even if you feel your partner is the main earning member. Don’t give it up. It is not about earning more or less, it is about that independence and the freedom to make your choices!

So, stay committed through career breaks. Once you are off the grid and not in control of your financial decisions, it gets quite vulnerable! I have seen women start living a lifestyle that they can’t afford and hence become extremely dependent on their partners.

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5.????CHANGE – Change the conversation

We don’t need big tech solutions for this. It is a low-tech problem. Requires focus (of businesses/ startups) and women themselves. And if you feel you have achieved some degree of financial freedom, pay it forward! Look around you – your mom, mom in law, sister, sister-in-law, a friend, a team member. Bring financial freedom to at least 5 women around you!

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This is important for families, for society and for the nation. When women go out and earn, they build their identity and contribute to the nation. When women manage money, they change the world!

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Happy Freedom Day! Jai Hind.