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Many women earn. What, then, stops us from being active partners in the financial planning of our families? Own your money.
All of us whether ‘working women’ or ‘women working for home’ are running an enterprise of their own – managing resources, vendors, making budgets, comparing, negotiating and making most apt and financially viable decisions for our office or household.
For some the fun lies in dealing with the daily maids and vegetable vendors and making optimum use of resources by negotiating some extra leaves of coriander against a buy, or cutting the salary of maid for an unanticipated leave and leveraging on it to make sure of improving productivity. Others doing all of the above and managing her own business or workplace with ease and making the best out of each.
We can do all that and more because we can multitask, our brains work differently as the researchers would put it. I would just say because we know it all – queen of our own fort, know our territory. A “who can do it but me” kinda attitude. We do what we do and we do it best!
But what majority of us do not do is to see the money from one end to the other.
Ladies, here’s some bad news. Our expertise ends where our interest ends. I was wondering: in spite of boom in women entrepreneurs and working women, why do only 1% or fewer among women have a will? Don’t we make any money? Of course we do. Don’t we save it? Saving is in our DNA – then where is the missing link?
The answer is simple. We find financial jargon confusing, boring, alien. So we keep our distance from it.
Lets analyse a bit… why? When we are so good in anything we put our hands on; we take back seat when it comes to managing our money. It’s the fear of the unknown territory. She has mastered the art of managing the household on what she received, and felt a sense of pride on saving out of the same and keeping it stacked in a cupboard and never bothered about inflation, interest rate or future planning. She was content in her small world where everything was under her control.
She graduated from running the household to becoming the financially contributing partner and running the household; but restricted her role to only that – never really got involved in planning and investing.
Demonetization successfully established, in every household, that no one can save like the women do. How much of the unaccounted money not circulating in the economy was stacked up in a rice box or under the fine silk saris.
Women who are working still depend on men to do their taxes, women entrepreneurs still depend on their male counterparts to plan the investments. Though 20% are women employed in different offices and 14% of total entrepreneurs are women, only a few could claim to be financially liberal or independent.
Also, we had been for a very long time missing out on a big part of gender disparity. As we are different from the other half of our race in many paradigms, we are very different in our needs and have different financial objectives which our other half may not be able to relate to….
We can not truly claim to be shoulder to shoulder with our men unless we shoulder the entire responsibility of the money we earn. Let the entrepreneur in you take saving to the next level, see the profits of reinvesting, plan on new avenues to add money, set objectives for the investments you make, get out and conquer new fort. Take decisions and own your money.
Charting new territories is not only important but the need of the hour, when we know we are better at budgeting, saving and are more organized, then why do we leave the most important task of charting out the financial future for yourself to your counterpart?
Lets be open to learning, experimenting, and seeking professional guidance. ladies take charge of your fort, get truly financial independent!
Published here earlier.
Image source: pixabay
Hi, I am Shaily Shah; after a good stint of 14 years in corporate life, trying my hands at something i really liked doing as a teenager; writing my heart out! Also, by means of read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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