Women's day special: Empower the investor in you!

Over the years women have typically become savvier financially, irrespective of their role, they take care of finances finance from handling household expenses, planning for her child's education, emergencies etc.

Here are some tips for various ways for women to save and invest some money.

Margaret Thatcher famously said, "If you want something said, ask a man if you want something done, ask a woman!"

With International Women's Day round the corner, for once the limelight would start to beam over the women in your life. They don multiple roles -- as a student, homemaker, career women -- we aren't talking about the Mother, sister, spouse for now.

Over the years women have typically become savvier financially, irrespective of their role, they take care of finances finance from handling household expenses, planning for her child's education, emergencies etc.

Here are some tips for women and how they can save and invest some money.

The Student

As a student, saving and investing is probably the last thing on your mind. You probably think a good pair of denim is a worthwhile investment. Rightly so! But it isn't making you any richer. There's no shortcut to getting rich but investing in a disciplined manner helps.

Since you are young, you cannot resist dabbling in equities, but making a quick buck is only a myth! If you lack the expertise or time to research stocks and invest -- start an SIP (systematic investment plan) in an equity mutual fund, you can start by investing as little as Rs 50 per month.

Often dubbed as the 'thankless job', it is probably time you pulled up your sleeves to create some savings and indulged in some benefits.

You probably are too caught up in your household budget, it is time for you to put down all your expenses into a piece of paper and work out areas where you could typically cut costs. Here are some tips to do them:

• Inflation has spared none, you can use food items which are priced relatively lower (without compromising on quality)
• Cut eating out costs, fuel expenses, club subscriptions
• Go green by limiting your electricity usage, reusable bags etc.,
• If your children goes to tuitions, evaluate if you can do away with it by sparing some of your own time
• Network within your neighborhood to check if there are any earn-from-home opportunities

It is not just enough to cut expenses, it is time to invest such savings some where -- you can choose to invest in gold in the form of mutual funds, exchange traded funds; gold coins too should do fine.

If you have built a sizeable amount, then you can even set it aside into a fixed deposit which can be used for funding any of your financial goals at a later date.

With financial independence, come great responsibilities: the need for appropriate financial planning. The first step to successful financial planning is optimising on taxes. Here are some key pointers to enable you to put your money to efficient work:

• Use your exemptions, tax-free perquisites, deductions appropriately
• Chalk out your financial goals, align all your investments inline with goals
• Diversify across avenues, have a little bit into equities as well depending on your age and risk / return profile
• If you plan to build a house, avail a home loan, this can help reduce your tax liability
• Avail a health cover -- this will provide tax break u/s 80D (maximum: Rs 15,000 per annum)
• Hedge your life risk -- evaluate your 'human life value' and avail a life cover (deductible u/s 80C which has an overall limit of Rs. 1 Lakh)

It is time for you to empower the investor in you!