Wealth Creation for Women: Why Some of Us Overlook Financial Planning

Are you a smart, educated, perhaps working woman in your late 20s to 30s? Have you thought about your financial goals and your financial future? 

Do you intend to always work at the same intensity as you are today?
Or are you comfortable asking your husband or your parents for money if you decide to scale back? 

Let me tell you a little about myself and why we’re having this conversation today.

Financial Planning Strategies for Couples: How My Husband and I Manage Our Finances

I’m a 35-year old mom to a 3-year old child. My husband’s job is one of the highest paying ones in India so when we decided to grow our family, I decided to scale back on the number of hours I worked.

This decision was made purely on two factors - if I was going to have a child I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him or her. In my profession, I could never match my husband’s earning potential. So, biology apart, the natural choice was that I would be the default parent and my husband would be the primary bread-winner. 

Today, my husband looks after a majority of our finances - from the house EMI, electricity and maintenance payments, car loan and maintenance and our son’s school fees. I pay for all household expenses like our house help, groceries, our child’s books, learning materials, get-togethers with friends and family etc.

I’m comfortable with this balance because of one reason alone - I do not have to ask my husband for money or wait for handouts before I buy something for myself, decide to go on an impromptu girls’ night out or choose to pay for a nice vacation for my parents. 

But what happens when I do not want to work anymore? Either because I don’t get another flexible job after this one or my child needs me more so I can’t manage both work and family or any other reason. Will I stop pampering myself? What if my husband finds it burdensome to look after the big payments and investments and to also accommodate my essential (but not critical to him) needs?   

Financial Planning for Women: Achieve Personal Freedom and Financial Independence

Most of my female friends, me, my cousins and sisters are alike - we do not want to be dependent on anyone else to maintain and enjoy ourselves. But there’s one big difference that I began to notice between me and them - I had a plan to cop out, but they didn’t.

A lot of my friends are in high-powered jobs. Some are moms, some aren’t. Some don’t work but are comfortable with whatever financial arrangements they have going with their spouses. Most shop at Zara every month, go out of their way for their kids - be it for learning and development, social exposure or extra-curricular activities.

They all take resplendent vacations and love to post on Instagram about their exclusive lifestyle. But 99% of these women haven’t planned for the next curveball that life might throw at them. 

What if they lose their job? What if an unexpected personal demand stops them from working?  What if their husband’s business starts going through a sudden decline? What if their families or spouses are able to provide food, safety and shelter but little else tomorrow? What will they do then? 

Will they stop having fun? Will they stop meeting their friends for lunches and outings? Will they stop wanting the same things for their child? Of course not. Then why not have a plan. 

Why Smart, Educated and Independent Women Forget to Plan for Their Financial Future?

Women in India and in other countries of course are often not taught enough about wealth creation and financial planning.

My own parents were extremely empowering with their two daughters. They encouraged us to pursue our every dream. The focus in our family growing up was academics and extracurriculars so that you could make a life for yourself, find a partner and settle down.

What happens beyond that? Well, nobody discussed that.  

Even for incredibly liberal, educated and borderline feminist parents like ours, the unspoken assumption really was that we would get married anywhere between 25 and 30 and then we’d figure the rest out with our spouses. 

And this is sadly the case with most of the women I know. We’re told we can strive for the stars, we will one day find our dream partner and we can have it all. But we’re not told to plan financially for any of it. We’re rarely taught about financial planning, investment, wealth creation and building a nest egg for a point in our lives when we wouldn’t want to or be able to work and actively earn money. 

And that’s why today, at Project Better, we’re talking about financial planning and education for Indian women.  

We’re going to be doing a whole series on this subject in the hope that this may inspire at least 5 other women and more than anything create much-needed discourse on the subject.