Introduction to Investments & Savings with Preetha Wali, Co-founder, Pay it Forward.
Alright, good morning everyone. This is Reshma Reshma here from Mums and Stories. Um we are a platform for mothers and children and um we as a platform, we do organize various initiatives uh among them Uh you know, since the time of twenty-twenty, we've been organizing events and uh in the pandemic, it is in the form of online events that we are carrying through. So, uh I have uh today as part of our online initiative. in fact, a couple of people, couple of moms women have shown interest in this particular event considering that A lot of women shy away from the topic of finance including me. So, I'm
slowly um moving aside. due to certain personal situations and when you know that, you know, you cannot shy away from it forever. You need to take responsibility for it. So, uh
this is for that. today, we have uh Preetha Wali. She is the cofounder and pay it forward and it's a great team where um They are involved in educating individuals on finance. So, hi, welcome to Moms and Stories. Hi, Reshma. Thanks for having me over Alright, so, first things first, um why did you even think of um uh you know, starting something like pay it forward Um uh many people, uh many women, men and women very uh you know, financially unaware. That's what you find
or is it In every household, one person takes the charge. So, actually, there are multiple reasons Reshma. So, it's uh starting with the why we started this entire uh you know, venture. Is that about five 7 years ago? Uh I had shifted to Bangalore and I was teaching the basics of uh understanding stock markets and things like that to uh women Then uh two of my friends and me we got together and we realized that we can reach a larger number of people if we work with the, you know, corporates and uh you know and we uh talk about personal finance more than just stock market because personal finance affects everybody, man, woman, and child, right? So, when we started doing a research for that, what we discovered is personal finance is a topic that a lot of women shy away from. for the reason that they
believe that uh you know, there are some stereotypes around it. So, it could be a very generic reason like the fact that you're not typically men have been handling a topic like this. It could be husband after that. after a certain age but
somehow, the reason the the fact that you know, women need to take charge of women need to be as proactive has never come forward for various reasons not to, you know, make a judgment on that but the point is what we found is women shy away from it. Women think it is difficult to understand. Women think I already have so much to handle because we multitask so much uh in our lives so they tend to shy away from it saying, okay, let me do it later or you know, someone else is managing. So, why do I need to write? Uh why do I need to take on one more responsibility kind of a thing. The other aspect is what we found is that a lot of women are the ones who face actually problems. If there is an issue
in the family, say for example, disputes in the family, um divorce rate, single mothers, and they are quite lost because they've not uh you know, they're not even aware of what is there in the family. It could be in the form of assets. It could be in the form of liabilities also which will come on you and you've signed off papers and things like that. So, we ventured saying that. Okay, let's do the session where we are explaining basics in a simplified manner because one of the reasons people say, oh, it's difficult to understand. There's so much
of number crunching or so so many aspects to a particular financial asset. So, we said, okay, we'll simplify it and we started uh you know, doing these sessions where we started having games in the sessions. So, when we were doing in person sessions, we play games to explain some basic concepts around personal finance and that got a lot of in a good reviews from women. So, when we were working with some of them were asked, why are you doing this? Only for women? Why not men that it is actually in me that uh you know, actually nobody teaches the men either.
If you actually look at it a man, it's kind of an understood role that uh uh he needs to take on uh trust upon by society and you know, the uh traditions and things like that as much as woman has to take on the motherly role kind of a thing which is we're just thinking about it. Yes. Yeah. Similarly, the man has been kind of given this and largely that continues uh and uh when we uh you know, kind of speak to them, we realize that people have told you where to invest as in like, okay, save tax by buying this particular insurance or this particular mutual fund what they've been told like, you know, okay, buy a house because it gives you some kind of you know, uh comfort but how many people have actually been told this is how you need to start and this is how you need to go in a financial journey. It's not a one off thing, right? It's like so the point is, how do you start? How do you uh you know, a plan for your life goals? All of us have such big dreams for ourselves, our families, our children. We also have such uh we have rising expenses everywhere. Nobody has taught you how to handle all that. So, when we broke it down, we realize everybody needs it.
It's not just women. It's just that with women, it's in the front uh because you know, they don't they're not part of it largely but the good thing I'd like to leave with a small positive note that the younger generation, the women are also looking at personal finance. That's the good thing. What is the what are the first few steps that one needs to take? I'm talking about you know, I know a lot of stay at home mom stay-at-home women and they probably get a budget uh you know to run the household and stuff like that. They're not earning So, do they need to talk to a family member? The person who's, you know, the uh you know, breadwinner of the families that you know, I need to be investing in something like this. I need to be saving
my own personal money and this is not for entertainment but this is more for savings and how does one go about it? Uh so, there are again uh various aspects to it. So, first thing probably can be uh start by reading a little bit in case you feel under confident today, you're not sure as to uh you know, what exactly is say for example, an insurance product. How am I supposed to understand a complex product like an insurance, health insurance especially is very complicated, you know, so how do I understand but today in the day of Google, you can't say that you know, uh I don't understand and just sit back about it if you'd really want to know it's all over All out on on online and all of us have become much more tech savvy today. Thanks
to COVID, right? I mean, we're online today, you know, speaking like this and we've reached out to international audiences, all that. Thanks to COVID in a way you can see. So, you cannot today say that I don't have a way to know. nobody will tell me it's on your phone. You don't need to. don't even need a laptop. So,
first is learn a few basics at least even words which are thrown It does like understanding inflation, understanding what exactly is what kind of insurance is required. It will take time. You know, we'd unnecessary putting pressure on yourself that I need to read and immediately understand is not going to work. If you've never been uh you know, uh being in the field of finance or you've never taken an interest at all, start with something basic. Say
for example, start with an MD. India has most Indians have an MD 70% at least have a large chunk of the So, we are saying now start understand the first of all, do you, do we understand? It's actually a lot of us don't understand that by blocking our money and MD's, we might be actually losing out. We just think all the money is there. So, try and see what is it that she said, you know, let me just go and Google it now. What did she mean by saying even if I put money in the NF, I'm losing it up. Start there.
Start with some basic knowledge because many times if you just suddenly go and say, hey listen, uh just uh tell me where where are all our money? Where is it all the investments and it's a much longer process even if the husband or the or whoever wants to tell you it is a longer process to sit down and explain certain things to you. why they did something, the rationale for it or you know, maybe there was some mistakes along the way. So, first is to have that first step of knowledge. Second thing
is to try and sit down and have a conversation with the person who's managing the money saying, can you just tell me where are all the assets and liabilities? So, what has happened is if COVID, for example, is a good uh a good time to say that Now, you know, maybe the earning member has passed away. Uh maybe uh you know, there have been some you know, earlier times maybe there was an accident and uh you know, the person has passed away who's been handling the finances even if they're not the earning member, what we found is sometimes you don't even know the passwords and if you don't know passwords today, it is a tiring tedious and extremely frustrating process to access even a bank account. you know, and the second aspect is that a lot of us have loans, right? We've got home loans, We've got personal loans, all kinds of loans credit cards, so many payments, even we are due to pay our taxes. Also, suddenly something to someone. So, what what do I do at that point? If I don't know, there are these loans typically, what would happen if someone will come and take away whatever is there, right? Because the first person who has uh uh you know, who can utilize those things is the person you borrowed money from So, would I put myself in a situation where I don't know what is the big loan my husband has taken or my father or whoever has taken and what is my involvement there? Like if supposing the take away, then, what will happen to me But we always say, you know, I've got one of my favorite things is to say visualize yourself instead of sitting comfortably and thinking, you know, this is how life is put yourself in a tough situation. what IS people don't want to imagine in a negative situation. That's probably yes.
coming to that point saying a lot of it is around the negative situation which is why do I take health insurance? Because I might fall in. Why do I take life insurance? Because I might be no more. Why do I take an why do I put aside money for an emergency? I might face some difficult problem. So, these things are negative or why do I need to write a will? Because I'm a die all things which are negative and we are always thinking that that's it's not okay to discuss these negative things or to put them to the front but COVID has actually shaken us up. Now, if you see COVID has shaken us up and shown us how important it is for to be better planned. If nothing else, at least be aware. That is the first step
is what I would suggest to anybody including a person, people who've never uh kind of uh been a part of the financial decisions decisions come later. First is being aware of what all I have, what all I owe, what all I own, you know, what what is it that uh you know my life is going to be like 5 years 10 years 20 years down the line to think in that short, medium long term That would be my first edition. Alright. what about um you know, women who are working in offices uh outside homes. Do you find them? They are much more um financial savvy, tech savvy, tech savvy probably but financially aware. Do they do that or even in that even among them? do you find that a lot of people just aren't safe and just it it's it's there in the bank account and the rest of the decisions is for someone else. The partner in the at
home in one One word answer. Yes, you're right. That's the second part is correct. So, a
lot of women who are working also, again, I think uh some of it goes back to the fact that we multitask. I come back from work but I still might have to do something in the kitchen. I might have to take care of the children's homework or In-laws. parents who. Right. we are
multitasking and we are also uh you know, our life is different today, right? Different from earlier times when things were a little more uh cushy. I would say in a way, if you see it today, there's so much to So, what we want to do, we want to travel or we want to buy something or do we want to spend time just going out to a restaurant or doing so many things. The point is because I'm handling so many of this and I'm I already have the job. I'm saying it's okay. I mean,
uh you know, the man in my life knows what to do so he might as well continue doing that and I found in fact, uh I mean I don't want to say who it is but uh you know, there is a very senior senior level person in the field signs. Uh doing very complex math. Who said, oh finance is very difficult and I was like, you are cracking problems for the world and if you say that, what would happen to us and then I had to kind of say it's not mad. You have excel sheets. you have calculators for maths today, finance is not math anymore.
Finances, basic knowledge, basic awareness so that you know what to do and in India, one of the actually India uh I shouldn't say only in India but across the world uh if uh followed the what's happened in 2008. You'll know that across the world, people have fallen prey to a lot of miss people have fallen prey to uh you know, bad products bad. Uh they might have taken the wrong decision themselves or they would have been sold something wrong. So, all the more reason why I like or online scams. So,
it's online scams. The point is like there are a lot of people in the uh you know, a lot of everyone's trying to make money. Right. And a lot of It is about uh saying that, okay, Some products have been made. Maybe the product is not for you but the product is something that's getting me very high return. So, I'm selling it to you as an as a finance industry person is probably selling it to you. So, in a way, we say that actually we will not blame them. We will
blame you because uh or ourselves, we should blame for the reason that when there is Google and you can just tell the person, hang on. I know how to sign the paper yet. Let me read a little more about this. You told me ten points but they probably have ten more points. I need to know and I need to see if it fits what I my requirement is we always say, let's say a woman, I'm a woman, maybe we could be the same age.
We might have the uh you know, two kids too but our our goals and dreams are very different. Our financial situation is different. Our obligations are different in life. So, why
would you just go with someone told me to buy this XYZ, you know, so That's what I mean saying that. Be aware. I'd really like this conversation because I find myself absorbing so much. I hope um a lot of people out there uh get to understand that as well and watch it now and later as well. Okay, we before I go to my next question, let me just inform everyone that in case you have questions, please uh uh post it. Uh so we have over here
asking, I don't know whether you can see it. I'll read it out to you. Please enlighten us about investing in If risk outweigh benefits or otherwise.
you want to take it. Okay. Yeah. So, I can uh so, equity is something that a couple of aspects to it, Okay? So, equity is something uh which we say uh is that first get your foundations in place and then get into direct equity. if
you're talking about investing in the stock market, there are certain basics that you require in your financial planning which has to start with the protection layer which is about having an adequate emergency fund. uh having a safe COVID is a good reason why we all know we all need emergency fund, right? Suddenly, there were job losses. Suddenly, there was a lock down and suddenly like, you know, there was so much uncertainty and today, expenses have shut up and maybe you know, uh pay cuts also have happened and things like that. So, we are saying first, get your foundation in place and then move to the equity markets unless that's the job you're doing which is you're a trader and and you're a person who's in the market because equity markets requires some basic understanding and the basic understanding is what again, what that has a few basics that you need to know, then you can work from there and second point is, if your basics are in place and I just want to have fun no matter what, POS come out, let me let me put in money or there's a cryptocurrency. I want to put the money all that is second step. So, if you want
to do, I'm not saying not to do what we never say no to anything. Only thing we say is you think through whether it's just the time for you. I Will you be okay if there's a loss? For example, cryptocurrency fell by. I think $10000 once, can we have that equity markets fell by 30% last year in March? Are we okay if a stock uh you know, we put in ten 10010 thousand becomes 7000, are we okay? we need to ask because stock markets are like this, right? So nothing wrong with putting but yes if I've got my emergency fund, my insurance, all my uh you know, required amount of investments then I can go. I don't mind losing that 3000 Rupees then it's approach a financial planner or they attend the workshop from you and they can do it on their own. How I Suggestion is to first get those basics right from either a financial planner or by attending our sessions or even reading online or there are enough YouTube videos also about it. What is the first
thing you require which is an emergency fund? Second thing, it requires insurance. So, things like that. It's all there online. So, once you know that of the second way of investing, if you're like really, you know, getting kind of uh you know about the stock market and you want to invest is we take out a percentage that will not pinch you. So, today, I have 10 thousand. If I
lose uh you know about 10 thousand, I don't mind it. If I lose 5000, I don't mind it. So, let me just put that money but not touch the basics. Let me know. Dig into the basics. That
is the crucial part but unfortunately, what's happening is without this basic planning, a lot of people are getting into this because they're getting driven by what's in the news in the on on the news. What could be the current rate? What? like III mean? There's nothing wrong with tomato. There's nothing wrong with the IPO. I mean, there's no uh uh what is it for me Is it for me is the question that you should ask? That is what I would suggest to you also mention the blogs which I found very interesting considering 20 years ago probably, you know, gold was considered such a good investment property. It's still is I'm I'm not sure on that but you mentioned it as it's more of ornamental. Uh you know and
uh also on housing as well. A lot of people get into this debt uh you know, to working professionals uh you know, husband and wife both are working and they get into this both these investments little bit if you can highlight whether it's good, whether it's should be done in a limited quantity or how does one go about it Uh So, uh so there's gold in this housing you're speaking about, right? So, first is about gold. I'll say gold in India is uh a very ornamental investment as of now, right? All of us want to wear it largely. We want to
wear the thing or we buy at weddings to pass it on to the in laws or daughters and things like that. So, that's just changing. There are other ways of investing in gold and uh you know, you can invest through a gold bars and things like that. So, be clear what you're buying the gold for. So, if it's on Until then, just stick to that.
Second thing is, if you're looking for returns, uh of course, there are much better returns from other investments. So, look at what the returns are. What are you investing that money for? So, that is we we tell people in our sessions that always look at it. There is a short-term expense you have that is a medium term expense you have and there's a long term short term can be something like buying an iphone. The next iphone being
launched. I want the iphone so that's my short term median term could be like I want Go. finishes. I want to go on this
long holiday or I want to uh you know, probably buy something and long term can be either owning a home or child's education for example, child's education we know is an 18 year old thing that you need to pay for school 18 years but at eighteen, you have, there's a lump sum and of course the famous uh or the ignored much ignored by women aspect is retirement. It's today 3040 years that we need to plan for retirement and unlike earlier times because life expectancy has gone up today forget about the retirement because it's not part of a conversation, Reshma, it's not part of a conversation, right? And again, it goes back to someone else's planning for me. So, I don't need to think about women, outlive men. That's something we forget. So, saying
basically, that's the first is what I need to do is understand what am I buying this goal for? If you want to wear it, wear it. That's it And by chance, anything happens. Yes, it is there to send but it's not and not to be looked at as an investment when you buy an ornament because I'm making charges and various things when you sell it, what happens and GST and stuff like that. So be clear on and that is true of any investment actually, when you're putting in money into anything, just be clear what you are doing it for a second aspect when it comes to real estate, what we say is real estate is uh uh uh a global dream for everybody. We discovered through our international sessions that in other countries too. Everybody wants to own a home. Okay. And
the stock market crash happened in 2008 was very much linked to the real estate market, Right. So, we are saying that. yeah, it's nice to own home but what you need to ask yourself is a few questions like, first, first question is, is, how old am I? If I'm in my 20s, a real estate loan is going to uh you know, kind of be there with you for 2025 years. So, are you taking on a loan a little too early for a house which when you are in 20s, your life is not set as yet, right? You might go abroad. You might just
move a city. you might get married and have one more person. You might have two kids you might decide to have parents over with you in love with you? Is that how enough for you? house is not a liquid asset but you can just sell and go buy another one. You don't do that, right? So, you're saying and you can't do that also with all the paperwork involved, it's a big process rather than you can't do it. So, saying that when I'm a little more settled in life which is usually we say when you're around 3540, between 35 and 45 is when you're a little more sure of life. So, I know how many kids I want to have. I
know it's city I want to live largely at least. Okay. Uh I know whether my parents are going to be dependent on me, they're going to move in with me. My in laws are going to move in with me. All these, if I have a job here, say for example, we are in Bangalore. If I'm living in North Bangalore, if I find it in Borgata Road, when I'm in my 20s and I have a house in North Bangalore, it's going to be a nightmare for me to travel all the way there. So, when I say that people say but I want to uh you know, take it up as an investment, you know, I'll get good returns. Have you checked
out the returns Have you actually weighed out this? I'm paying this much rent and this is how much my interest is. Have you weighed out The rental yields are just two to 3%. You'll get more money more than FD. and you're also paying interest which is don't be a killer even though interest rates have come out. So, it's not that not to say don't buy or nothing. Just ask yourself
questions whether it is the correct time for you. Can you afford that loan? Do the math. Don't do it in your head. Put it on the paper. There are
enough Excel sheets online apps online. Do the math and check if the house if you are ready to a house because it's a 20 year commitment not because of anything else. There are so many additional expenses.
Reshma, we know, right? Something will be leaking somewhere. Then, you'll have some maintenance issues and other additional costs that we don't account for. Put all that down. So, we explain this a
little more in detail and take a more informed decision. That's the only thing Don't get driven by either the industry or the finance. The fact that interest rates are low now, let me run and buy it. It's what situation you are in which is more important. not what
situation the industry is in. That's the question. Do more research rather than just planning in your head and uh working out and the planning. So, we find that see it's like, why do why do we have advertisements? It's it's not only for a product to be for you to be aware of a product, right. It's to lure you to buy it. Yes. Correct it. So, if I'm trying to uh you know, I do a lot of uh you know, advertising and I do marketing and I'll do everything to try and convince you you need this product. So,
we all What the youngsters say. Four more thing. They don't mind. Everybody's going for it.
Let me also go. But we are the ones paying the AMI. everybody's not paying it. So we get driven by looking at say a beautiful ad of I mean, I also want a lovely house which has a garden and maybe a swimming pool and you know, uh all these ads which have you know a little uh family which is running around in the garden. The kids are playing around and you know, there's a little dog also cute looking all that. It's advertising. That is their job but is it time for you to actually uh I mean, are you in that situation? Are you someone who can actually keep paying off that uh EMI? Are you someone who's not going to move from here and say, okay, listen, this is my final house. Some of
those questions will help us say, okay, if not now, maybe 5, years later, I'll buy it. So, when you say that the other thing you can do which is a good thing that uh you know, uh people uh in our sessions we say it and some people have said that's an excellent idea is start putting a Just assume you've taken the loan and you have to pay off 10 thousand every month. For example, start putting aside the same 10 thousand into a RFD or into some investment. So, when you do that, you are also right and the first few years are a killer when it comes to the interest rate for paying off your home loan. So, think of it that that you just need to be a little bit blunt when you buy a house and it's not something you can do like that How do people out to you for a workshop or anything. Is there
any meal that you can share Yeah, I am. It's basically Preetha at PIF Services.in. Uh so and also my LinkedIn. Uh
shall I just put it in the chat box? Sure. Yeah. So, I'm I'm I'm on LinkedIn So, anyone can reach me on uh uh LinkedIn at Preetha Wali is my LinkedIn. Uh I So, anyone is welcome to write in and uh you know, we organize kitchens for all. questions, please do ask. I do have a
couple of more questions about Rita my lashes, stepping it out. I don't know if it's scam or probably I can't see it. it. Okay. Probably we can view it later and then that's not a problem. We can come in later on it. Okay, Coming to my next
question. What would be the basic things that one needs to know? Um like bank accounts. If a will is done or registered. one of the things that one needs to have a checklist on If one is really, you know, planning I need to know about the family with the finances.
So, what is it that they need to go about? Okay, so, first thing is to start off by understanding what are the assets and liabilities like I said and second step is also and along with it rather not second step is to understand what is the income in the family and what is the expense So, income would be, it can be just you have not just a salary or a business income but it can also be something in terms of uh you know, maybe you rented out a house and you're getting the rents and things like that, right? Dividend, dividend income, and things like that. First, being aware of the income and the uh you know, expenses, expenses ideally, it might sound like a boring exercise but if you do it once or twice and you at least get a perspective on what what is it that you're spending on? Where does your interest lie or where does your uh uh where is the leak in the ship? Okay, saying that you know you see one that uh you know, my partner likes to take all of you pre COVID. We all went to the theaters which were in the malls right From the time you park your car, the expense kicks in, right? Till the time you unpack that car. So, the popcorns and
the movie to get everything actually can work out. A family of four can work out some two K plus two K plus. Yes. Yeah And there are movies releasing here and there for the movies for the kids, movies for the parents. You know, things like the family movies and so many things. It's not nothing wrong with it. I'm just saying be
clear that where your expenses are. Is it an entertainment? We eat out a lot today or we call in our tomatoes, right? So, is that a large chunk of your expenses? So, what is it? You you just need to know. It's as simple as that. So, what are your main expenses then move to see where do I have an emergency fund? So, like again, what I said in the beginning, picture yourself supposing that is an emergency situation. Say that is a job loss. Let's take the worst case scenario. One of
the worst case scenarios which is a job loss. If there's a job loss in the family. So, even if I'm not the breadwinner, let's see it as a job loss, what will we do? Our children's school fees are not going to stop. Our rents are not going to stop are EMI. don't stop. We have to eat food. So, there has to be that
money which lets you continue life for a few months, right? Because you don't know when you'll get the next job or even if somebody's between jobs for example, maybe two 2 months later is when you are taking up your new. now, what do I do for 2 months? So, what do we, I mean, is it a 10 months of emergency fund or 6 months? How do we say earlier? we used to say three to 6 months but COVID has shown three to 6. months is a very short period. Actually, right now, it's COVID is raging for almost 2 years now, one and a half years plus. So, we are saying ideally uh depending also on the industry. the
person is in say for example, airline industry, hospitality industry took a beating sadly of people lost their jobs there. A lot of people had to take pay cuts across many industries and we also know of companies we've worked with where there have been a very big cuts where things have concerned. It's a small businesses had to shut down. So, we are suddenly a business shuts down. what would you do? So, ideally, we say about eight to 12 months today while it's sounding like a large number. If you start going at it today saying that okay to 12 months of my monthly expenses, That's a lot of money. Yes, it is a
lot of money. but think of it like we call it like, you know, the freedom money or the uh you know, the money saying that something goes wrong. I don't need to, you know, get flustered or run and take a loan which can be even more disastrous or keep swiping my card by credit cards. Loans are very high interest rates are very high. So saying instead I have something to fall back on.
So, Dene actually is a good time to understand how women were actually prepared with an emergency fund. If you don't go all that money which came out of of uh you know, all the children in the household. We already are a little bit more careful by saying that what if something happens? I have something somewhere to uh use it. Maybe the child needs to be
rushed to the hospital and you know, the husband is not there So I have that money to take it. Something like that has probably made us put it away, right? So, saying that is your emergency fund. So, have an emergency fund then look at insurance again, that's a protection Insurance is not an investment. We keep kind of you know, uh You know, like a stock record saying it's 100 Times Insurance is not an investment.
Emergency fund is not an investment. They are both in case something happens and we have to be uh uh prepared if the breadwinner is no more. There is life insurance. if something happens, health doesn't have to be the reason but pre-covid say dangle from a child to an old person. anybody could get from a rich to we all know of So, Dan is something which can be uh uh you know, a in a hospital can be able to where am I going to get the money from? I might dig into it uh uh by swiping my credit card instead, I have insurance. So,
saying health insurance is a must for everybody in the family but uh the uh other aspect that I'd like to bring in here is a lot of people have life insurance and they think that is more important. Life insurance is only if you have dependents unfortunately, lot of people buy life insurance for the children and you know, the members who are not earning in the family life insurance is only if you are the earning member and if something happens to you, uh the the family might suffer Life insurance is for the family. If I am no more but health insurance is for all So, that's the next step that I would suggest Then put down your goals. What's my short, medium, long term goal One big mistake we make is not to account for retirement. Like I said, life expectancy while the headlines tell you it was 5 years more than 70 years, men and 75 years women but if you just look at uh maybe your grandparents or something like my grandmother passed away last year, she was ninety today.
9095 hundred is a is a given also sometimes, right? We have better health care. We've got maybe some money to take care of ourselves and so we are living longer today. So, saying the fact that plan for a good thirty 40 years or so because if you have more money, you can pass it on to whoever you want to when you're not but when you're eighty and you don't have money, what do you do? That's a question to ask yourself again, What would you do if you don't have money at eighty or ninety? You become dependent. The other thing is to be aware of your rights. There are few things as women, we are not aware of our rights and we think, you know, the law will be on our side so things will work out. That is not
true. There are cases where if you've signed somewhere for example, There's nothing much you can do about it. You sign that you're educated. you
signed it. So, the court is going to uh probably take up for the person who took the signature from you. Divorce cases going up. Why not know my
legal rights and the other important aspect is if I know uh like this is one of our favorite sayings is when uh when you educate a man, you educate a man when you educate a woman, you educate an entire generation because women tend to pass on. So, if you get to know you can inform by only your daughters, even your sons about it because even sons might not be aware. So, things like that. There's there's a
lot more Reshma I can keep talking about this the whole day but yeah, this would be the first steps Alright, Coming to my last two questions. If somebody had to give something, you know, that was one again, another article or blog. I don't know about you where appended or something like that. I read where you're
saying that you know, It's not just a gift. Why not think of something like a mutual fund or SIP or something like that. So, uh if one has to go for the first basic savings or anything you're saying today that please reach out. Is that the first
step? Yeah. Yeah. Read up and there even if you don't read one of my favorite ways of listening uh of knowing what's happening because II like to understand where you are. There's a lot in the finance industry and I don't know a lot of it. I know only the best So, I like to keep you know, you already listen to the videos. There are many good videos on YouTube. So, listen to those videos. So, like when I'm
cooking, I like to leave the uh you know, the YouTube channel on and I'm listening to that when I'm doing some other work. I'm I'm listening to it. So, there are enough good videos which I'll explain. So, that would be the first step and like you said about the point on uh gifting. So, we are telling people today instead of gifting uh you know the the traditional way of gold and the house and all nothing wrong with that. Please continue
doing it. Why not put some money into insurance when your child turns eighteen, put some money into insurance or to eighteen or twenty, maybe the child is first. Uh my son has got his first job. I want to give him something. Let me put some into an account where uh you know, it will help him. I buy him a mutual fund. I buy
him say uh maybe it could even be one of these uh PPF or any such thing which will help him later. How much would anything else help you when you give up iphone today? I don't It's it's a temporary thing Again, not to pass judgments on people who do that but just to say, just think a little uh a long-term. think more differently from the traditional ways then it's a good thing. So, you go for a wedding, a very close friend's daughter's wedding, okay? Your son's wedding Why would you want to give just a little uh you know, maybe a gold rings or something instead give a give a mutual fund. they can continue
paying it. You have the SIP method where you can pay every month or every quarter so they can continue paying Kickstart. an SAP for them. That's that's
the uh uh little change that we're trying to do. You can give even goal but at this also so that they start they start their uh uh you know marriage uh life on the right foot because everybody needs to start investments very early, right? Absolutely. Right From knowing whether um you know you as the woman of the house you you are mentioned as the nominee in the bank accounts and so many things so much to be aware of. I think this you
know, topic can go on and on. Probably. anything you want to say as a, you know, message in the before we wind up for everyone. Yeah, actually, there's a lot I'd like to say but I'll just try and stick to two three points which we typically hear from uh during our sessions which people are not immediately aware of that. I would request people after I speak to them after I mention the points to definitely go and chat with the family or just Google first probably go and check the definition of a nominee. What would if I ask
people uh to say who's the nominee to answers would be that the nominees, the person who inherits the asset. that's not true In a lot of cases, it is not true where a nominees person who only is a custodian which basically means that the person if I I'm I'm uh the bank once a person is no more. the account holder is no more. I'm passing on the money to the nominee so that's the nominee passes it on to the legal Es It does not mean the nominee is getting the money. Oh, okay. Yes. So, in a lot of assets,
that is the uh that is one of the um uh laws I could say are you know, systems are still to be fine tuned to uh you know, be much more investor friendly than we think uh laws as well as uh some of the things in the finance industry. Second thing, uh besides nominee, I would say go and check your insurance papers in case you've put anything unknowingly That is a mistake. It could be something as silly as your door number is wrong. It could be something
your other card number is wrong. Something as small as that, a spelling mistake that is enough for you to, you know, have a huge headache running around trying to get your money. There are times if people have lied on the farms, they don't get the money. Say you've been putting money for 10 years and you've got a decent cops in your insurance when you go 10 years. You might not get it because probably you have lied in the form saying, okay, I will, my premiums will go down. So, let me just say,
there's no diabetes in the family because I don't have diabetes now but it's a digital world. in and insurance companies can find out and they will find out before they give you money especially if it's a larger chunk. They're definitely going to wonder why you're taking the jump. So,
they will do their uh uh their background checks and say you like to us. So I'm not giving the money back to you. So, you not get it back or you might just end up getting back a small sum or you might just be running around for it and say, for example, if the person is no more in the family, you're grieving already. Why would you? I mean, how And they have a time period within which you have to go on and put in the papers and on. Yes. What a day can you just put yourself in that position and see what a headache it is for us? Might as well put down everything. All
the details, check out details because many times we just sign off the papers without uh you know uh checking the details. We tell the agent, okay, you fill the fill the papers. Uh I'm fine because I know you well so I feel it for you. You don't do you just sign the paper but the thing is, once you've signed the paper, you're you're uh you know, you have to run around between the insurance company and you and the insurance company. It's no longer the agent there. So,
that's again, the other point I would request people to go and check and the last point is even women required to write a will. It's very easy to write a will. You can sit here and write a will for the simple reason that if you Will you pass on your assets to the people that you you want to pass it on to? So, say for example, if you don't write a will, it goes as for the succession act. If you're a Hindu Hindu succession act, if you're a Christian, it's a Christian Otherwise, if I want to write, I will say supposing, I want to give something back to my parents because COVID times. now, anybody, anything
can happen, right? So, I want to give something to my parents. How do I give it to my parents? I to write a will for that. Otherwise, women, typically, most things get passed on to their husband's side. So, you need to check. You need to check all that.
Also, there's a lots of lots of ifs and buts around it. It's not so black and white like I said it but this is just too, I'm saying it to just kind of caution. you saying if you're no more, your assets need to be passed on what you want. Maybe
I want to give something to my friend. I want to give something to charity. All this will not happen if I don't have a will you. not to be registered. not required but if
you're expecting a dispute, it's always better to register it. You can just write it with your hand and you know, have two witnesses and there are two, a couple of ifs and buts around it. Once you complete that, it's all online. You can go and check that you need two people as witnesses and things like that. Once you check it,
it's as simple as sitting down here and writing the bill but the thing is that if you uh you know, expecting some dispute or if you uh you know, just for safety sake just to prevent any um you know, any kind of a kind of hanky panky. It's better to register it. That does not mean people can't dispute it.
Dispute will happen but it just makes it that much tougher because it is registered things like that. Yeah. Alright, Thank you so much, Rita. This was a very informative. Thank you for taking time for moms and stories and talking to us and I hope um if anybody has questions, if they have one last question, they can ask me or if you're wanting it for now and uh We've mentioned it on the comments as well. You can reach out on the Email lighting. Thank you. Thanks.
Thanks. Thanks, Reshma. Thanks everybody. See you all. Bye. See you.
2021-08-02 16:58
