Most of the women are aware that financial independence is a necessity and would spare no effort to save their hard-earned money. But a woman’s financial literacy and awareness is very much lower when compared to men. Financial literacy is the key to a woman’s financial stability.
The S&P Global FinLit Survey shows that 35% of men are financially literate compared with 30% of women and this is found in both advanced economies as well as emerging economies. Low levels of financial understanding have far reaching consequences as women are the literal backbone of the familial system. In most of the rural areas, women do play a major role in financial decisions, but the actual financial literacy levels definitely need to improve.
Financial stability is very important for a woman because
- It helps her to become independent
- Stability brings in peace. The more emotionally peaceful and stable she is, the better the relationships and the environment around her
- It improves her confidence and in general, self-worth
- Longer life spans make financial stability more of a necessity than luxury
To equip women with adequate knowledge and help her to take financial responsibilities, let us try to explore the avenues that she has:
- Education & Empowerment
- A woman has to take the initiative to educate herself; Take appropriate courses on personal finance and financial awareness
- Sites like Investopedia, Lynda.com, Coursera, Onemint.com are good sources for financial awareness
- RBI has financial Education Initiative programs available on their website that caters to everyone right from school children to NGO’s
2. Own your finances
- Take responsibility of the finances of your home. Sit with your spouse and understand your financial situation, if you haven’t done it yet
- Understand your revenues and expenditure
- Keep a record of your personal debt
- Make a budget
- Control impulse spending; Use credit cards for rewards or convenience and not out of necessity
- Stop borrowing
- Set aside money for emergencies, retirement, children’s education
- Pay overdue bills
- Keep track of your spending on a weekly or monthly basis
- Seek help from financial advisors/wealth manager
- Take care of your health
3. Help your children to understand
- Many parents worry about exposing children to money early as they want to protect their children from societal pressures. It would be a good idea to allow your children to handle money, as per their age, for at least a few of their needs. This will allow them to become familiar with money as everyday part of our life.
Financial literacy is an art that has to be mastered by every person to survive as well as to participate in today’s economy. It is not an easy task, but when mastered, it can ease a lot of burdens.
You may like to read other articles written by this author ‘The power of assertive communication‘,‘9 effective tips for writing a resume’, ‘Important interview skills to land your dream job‘, ‘10 Easy Tips to Staying Motivated‘, ‘Knowing yourself will lead to true success‘ , ‘ Goal Planning Tips‘ .
About the author:
(The author is a guest blogger at Her Second Innings. The opinions expressed are those of the author.)
You can reach our guest bloggers by mailing us at support@hersecondinnings.com.
Her Second Innings, helps capable women professionals to find their calling in their second innings. Women looking to get back to their careers, or needing advice to pursue alternate career to become financially independent
with us and complete your profile. Feel free to connect with us at
after completing your registration formalities, our career experts would be happy to have a conversation with you and assist you to take the
to gauge your current knowledge level to restart your career.
Disclaimer:
“This blog claims no credit for any images or content posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images and content on this blog belong to their respective owners. If there is an image or content on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it to appear on this site, please e-mail us with a link to said image or content and it will be promptly removed.”
