Topic > Investment Habits of Indian Women

Women may be astute savers, but they are generally not active investors of the money they save. Dependent financially and socially on their husbands, they often leave all investment decisions to their spouses. They often shy away from options such as stocks, often make no effort to understand stock market trends, and consider stock market investments to be very volatile in nature, therefore risky. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay With increased financial literacy, however, women, at least in metropolitan cities, are moving beyond the traditional saving options of fixed deposits, PPF, post office savings etc. to insurance, mutual funds, bonds, stocks and even real estate. Most women investors prefer to invest in insurance products because the premiums are small and they prefer postal savings mainly to be able to withdraw small sums in times of need. Furthermore, women differ from men in choosing the asset class in which they want to invest. They usually consider their money safe in physical and financial assets. In recent times, the preference of women investors seems to have shifted from equity capital to debt capital. Women's investment patterns also vary with age and demographics: Younger, urban-raised women appear to be more knowledgeable about the choices available to them than their rural counterparts. Kuntal Agrawal (1993) noted that husbands make crucial financial decisions about family income, savings, and investments, regardless of their wives' income, education, and profession. Pandey Ranjana (2000) in their study found that majority of women are not involved in savings and credit decisions of their families. Kulwant Sing (2004) found that women in senior level positions nevertheless made their own investment decisions. For some strange reason, the researcher also found that women in the public sector were consulted more often by their husbands on investment-related matters than women employed in the private sector. Other researchers have found a higher level of awareness among working women about the types of investment options available to them. She found that her sample of working women are motivated in their decisions by factors such as capital appreciation, safety, liquidity, speculation, tax savings, etc. However, this section of women also prefer simple and conventional trading procedures while investing their money. Neelambika Pattanshetti (2012) found that women's saving and investment activities largely depend on their social and economic status. The researcher found that short-term training courses help boost their confidence and motivate them to make better investment decisions. The training could cover a careful study of the industry, the position of the company you want to invest in and the company's present and future prospects. A woman investor must know how to read and interpret a company's financial results. Venkataraman (2004) concluded that the psychology of women investors is also vastly different from that of men. Women are attracted by the idea of ​​obtaining maximum returns, that is, they are often more ambitious than men, and many use the savings from their secret accounts to invest in gold, jewels or silk saris, without their husbands' knowledge. Surely the ones toowomen prefer to invest in post office programs. Interestingly, Archana Sinha (2004) found through her research that women tend to spend almost 90% of their income on the family and only 10% on their personal needs. Confirming this finding, Rajkamal and Ruchi Jain (2005) found that, contrary to popular belief, working women tend to spend less on their own needs than on family needs compared to non-working women. Indian women's investment decisions are largely governed by their financial goals, employment status, age, time horizon and, most importantly, risk appetite. Amol Agrawal (2010) found that women generally lack the skills to make profitable investment decisions compared to their male counterparts. Women investors must develop logic, rationality and emotional stability as investors, otherwise the result could be stress, anxiety and financial difficulties. They must accept the fact that no investment is free from all risks. The key to surviving the crisis is to identify the risk, evaluate it and then make an investment decision. Market-related investments are cyclical in nature. The fear of a downward movement in the stock price should not cause acute anxiety and hinder the investor's decision-making process. Above all, they must develop patience and control their emotions. Women investors would do well to remember that when stock prices hit bottom, it's usually for a short time. As soon as prices start to rise again, he should sell and cut his losses. Ultimately, he must develop the courage to take some risks and the confidence to back his decisions with a sense of responsibility. Developing this type of attitude would protect it from capital market turbulence. Why do personal financial planning? There are many benefits of personal financial planning. Some are listed below: Helps you make wise choices about the use of your limited financial resources throughout your life. You can exercise greater control over your finances by avoiding debt, bankruptcy, and dependence on others for your financial security. Family security resulting from well-planned and effectively managed financial affairsA stress-free life and freedom from frequent financial worriesFinancial planning can be a simple six-step process if you are able to:Properly assess your current financial situationThis would require careful consideration of your current household income, savings, living expenses and debts. Make a list of your current asset and debt balances to get an idea of ​​where you stand before starting your financial planning efforts. Identify all your major financial goals for the future. It could be a daughter's marriage, children's education, etc. The purpose One of the purposes of this exercise is also to learn to distinguish between essential expenses and luxury expenses. There is a huge difference between needs and wants. Also, be specific about what goals you want to achieve and when. For example, instead of wishing for a “steady retirement income” or wanting your children to attend “good” schools, you need to quantify what “stable” and “good” mean. to you, so you'll know when you cross that finish line. Identify alternative financial resources to draw on during an emergency This is critical for a secure future. While several factors will influence the easy availability of alternative resources, it's important to do a real check. Considering all possible alternatives will help you make better decisions. Your final decision will also dependby your current life situation, your personal values ​​and your current financial condition. All of these factors will influence your final decision. Develop a watertight financial action plan Before taking steps, you need to re-evaluate all your long-term and short-term plans. Set measurable goals. Your priority will automatically come into focus and the right plan will emerge. Continue to review and modify this plan based on changing life conditions. Financial planning is a dynamic process. You will need to regularly take stock and review your financial decisions. Changing personal, social and economic factors change, as should your financial planning. As mentioned above, women investors tend to limit their choices in terms of investment assets. Restrictions arise from past conditioning and life circumstances. Identifying these restrictions will improve their investment prospects and give them more confidence. Liquidity is often a major concern for women. They need the certainty of knowing that an asset class can be sold easily, during the emergency, and still get a good price. They should be informed of the ways and means of disposing of their assets at short notice. Armed with this vital information, they can be encouraged to allocate a certain fixed portion of their investment portfolio to liquid assets. Women's specific investment needs also vary with age. Retirement, housing and children's education, as well as many other factors, would change their priorities and require corresponding adjustments in their investment portfolio. Most women investors, like their male counterparts, have their own investment styles: some have a greater appetite for risk than others and could easily be lured into making speculative investments. Others prefer the safety net of bank deposits, not realizing that the value of this portfolio risks eroding with inflation. Investing style varies based on age, personality, personal experience and financial circumstances, to name a few. For example, a woman approaching retirement, who may have very few financial responsibilities, may still be risk averse, if she has already faced many of life's ups and downs, and become a conservative investor. This is what makes every investor – man or woman – unique in their investment style. Most women investors would find themselves somewhere between these two extremes and may be persuaded to take on a calculated amount of risk, with the expectation that they will be rewarded with higher returns, over a period of time. The idea behind developing good financial planning habits such as saving, budgeting, investing and regularly reviewing finances by women early in their lives is to prepare them to deal with unfortunate events and unexpected events in life and being able to handle emergencies. That said, financial planning is a common-sense approach to managing finances to achieve life goals. Done wisely, it can secure someone's future. How to incentivize saving and investment Creating more opportunities to acquire various forms of financial assets is an important prerequisite for increasing a country's savings rate. This can easily be done by expanding existing banking facilities and offering attractive interest rates. Price stability also induces greater savings. This can only happen when inflation.