Ask the women! They’ll know what to do – they are multi-taskers, pro finders of lost items and known for their planning and organisational skills. Why else do you think creation was declared complete, with ‘Eve’? 😃

Here’s a phrase for you, ‘Avengers Unite’!

Experiment: What’s the immediate visual that pops up when you hear that phrase? We know what it was – Marvel superheroes, of course! That is the power of the mind when it has seen something over and over again, it accepts it to be true, therefore, making the connection for you.

We want you to think of the women in your life, when it comes to investment know-how, when it comes to advice on financial planning or even suggestions for a Credit Card, Home Loan or Personal Loan, should you have any questions. We want that connection to be immovable! We’re not saying the association doesn’t happen – we’re just saying it doesn’t happen often enough!

This International Women’s Day, we want to feature the strong women of Team BankBazaar! We have asked them to share some financial pointers that have worked for them, the practices of their day-to-day life and what they swear by when we talk money management. Feel free to pick up tips that you feel can work for you, some practical and not to mention, fun too!

Rati Shetty – Chief Product Officer

One of BankBazaar’s co-founders as well as its Chief Product Officer, Rati firmly believes in these 3 thumb rules.

1. Check your Credit Score regularly. This will help you catch any errors right away and help you keep a clean repayment track record and credit utilisation ratio. With a solid Credit Score, you will be able to avail the best of credit products whenever you need them – on your terms.
2. Have clear financial goals and use the right instrument for each milestone. For instance, recurring deposits will help you save for short-term goals, while equity investments such as mutual funds can help you build a corpus for larger, long-term milestones such as a house or retirement.
3. Don’t dip into your contingency fund until and unless there is a real emergency and keep saving consistently every month. Avoid the temptation to touch it just because you’ve run out of cash one month. If your expenses usually fluctuate every month, create a smaller savings fund – like a piggybank fund from which you can withdraw during those months when you have additional expenses, and deposit into when you have excess cash.

Additional Reading: Easy Hacks To Master Your Money This Year

Suchitra. A – Deputy Manager, Training

For Suchitra, the quote “Save money and money will save you” still rings true to this day! Although the journey is difficult, achieving financial independence is of utmost importance. She believes that investments are crucial and also help your money multiply. Here are 3 tips she swears by:

1. Invest in SIP (Mutual Funds) & stocks – Low risk, high returns
2. Crypto currency – High risk, high returns
3. She also gives some amount to her mother to save for her – She believes it’s the safest way 😝

Pro-tip: She splurges on her favourite luxury products with returns from her investment, so there’s no guilt about spending that extra money!

Sarita Povaiah – Head, Product Content, Design and Customer Voice

When it comes to worthy tips and learnings that help you take charge of your financial well-being, Sarita elaborates her take on the matter here:

1. Always have adequate personal health cover for yourself – This should be over and above the health insurance provided by your employer. Choose a plan that’s specifically tailored for women.
2. Don’t go grocery shopping on an empty stomach – When you’re hungry, you tend to splash out on far more snacks and food items than you need. It’s easier to stick to your weekly grocery budget on a happy tummy!
3. Automate your finances – Set up automatic deposits & investments from your savings account for the days immediately following your salary deposit date. You’ll enforce regular, disciplined savings & investments of a set amount every month and avoid giving yourself the opportunity to use the money on something that catches your fancy in the spur of the moment. Recurring deposits, SIPs or even sweep-in FDs will ensure that you don’t have money lying idle in your savings account, but rather have it work for you and increase your returns.
4. Automate your payments – Similarly, ensure that regular payments like EMIs, Credit Card bills, utility bills, allowances for dependents, etc. are all automated so you don’t have to keep track of different dates and payments. This way, you won’t miss payments (hurrah for your Credit Score!) and, will also have a lot less stress and more mental bandwidth to shower on the things that really matter.

Additional Reading: 10 Commandments for a Financially Secure Future

Nanda Padmanabhan –Asst. General Manager, Brand Marketing

Nanda, definitely has some laser-sharp shooters for us! Her detailed, comprehensive perspective is simply perfect when it comes to money management! We know you’ll find something just for you!

1. It’s a Goal! – Make a bucket list of things you want to do and by when. Calculate the amount of funds you will require to realise each of these and start a separate investment for it. You want to take a sabbatical in two years’ time to pursue higher education? Start putting away Rs.25,000 against it every month. Do not lump all your investments together in one bucket and draw out of it for every milestone. Doing so will amount to meeting short-term goals at the cost of long-term goals. So, set your goals, prioritise them according to your vision, and save towards each of them separately.
2. Snakes and ladders – investment laddering should be at the heart of every financial plan. Consider saving for your children’s education. For instance, a tax-free investment at 10-12% returns seems reliable. Say you start it when your child is four and it has a maturity period of 20 years. This means you’ll get the funds at hand when your child is 24. While you would get a good lumpsum at this point, the investment is practically useless in easing your life. Although you have a good investment at hand, it doesn’t do what’s most important – make your life simpler.

So, arrange your investments, so that you have regular liquidity along with compounding. Say you have Rs.5L to invest in an FD. Instead of investing in one FD of Rs. 5 lakh, invest in a series of 5 FDs such that one of them matures every year. So, every year you have Rs. 1 lakh at hand that you can either reinvest for the next 5 years or use in case you have some planned expenses coming up. This ensures you do not have to break any of your investments and lose out on the interest.

Prema Ojha – Manager, Legal and Company Secretary

When quizzed about her go-to financial practices, here’s what Prema had to say:

1. Short term investments –Always invest one portion of your salary in a monthly recurring deposit scheme with a public sector bank. The benefit, here, is that it automatically deducts a fixed amount from your savings bank account, offers interest on maturity and helps accumulate a larger amount in savings.
2. Invest this matured amount in a Fixed Deposit (FD) for a longer term. The purpose of this FD is to use this amount for a future emergency (if any) or as long-term investments
3. Long term investments – Invest in Real estate properties/Public Provident Fund scheme (PPF) / National Pension Scheme (NPS). These investments are more secure, reliable and promise high return on the investments.

Sridevi Kondaveti – Senior Project Manager

The ultimate multi-tasker, Sridevi is also quite well-versed about everything financial. This is what she had to say:

1. First and foremost, always prioritise clearing your debts. Irrespective of what you may have in mind – be it purchasing gold or a car, do not spend until your debts are all paid up. You will not only have a good repayment history, but also have peace of mind.
2. Invest in life insurance. This will ensure that your loved ones are taken care of when you are not around. Don’t buy insurance only to save on tax – think about the needs of your dependents and then choose an adequate sum assured.
3. Plan your monthly expenses. Whatever your modes of payment – card, cash, BNPL – keep track of every expense so you can maximise your monthly savings by having strict control over your expenses.

Malvika Singhal – Asst. Manager, Brand Marketing

Read on to find out what Malvika’s thoughts are on managing finances.

1. It’s easy to get carried away at the start of the month. Save before you start spending.
2. It’s never too late to learn about investing. You’ve got to start somewhere!

There you have it, almost a solid book of tips to make good financial decisions all year round! When in doubt – come back here and look again 😀 This International Women’s Day, think of the superheroes in your world, celebrate them and learn all things finance from them!

Note: This blog has been co-authored by Ruth Singh and Sanjana. M