Be it homemakers or working women, they have many reasons for not getting involved in finance and investments. But the most common one is – Don’t understand, too complicated, my husband/brother/father handles it for me, they know it well. Well, don’t blame you, it can be intimidating, but don’t let that discourage you from handling your finances.

According to me, articles, news and views about the business, economics and finance mumbo-jumbo that is all over newspapers and TV should not concern you at all. So it’s okay if you do not understand any of the jargon that is given there. Leave all those technical details to professionals like your financial advisor, fund manager, stock brokers, etc.  who are handling your investments.

All you need to understand is Yourself! What you want, what your aspirations or goals are, what would you like to do in future, how much can you invest regularly, how much risk you are willing to take and such.

The investment journey in a way helps you discover yourself! Who would have thought that!

Once you know yourself well enough, the investment journey becomes simpler. So you may think how? Firstly, I would recommend hiring a Financial Advisor who can help you with choosing the right investment products. It’s their job to help you understand your investment needs and guide you through your financial journey. That done, you need to spare about one hour every quarter to monitor and review your investments. Fix a specific day every quarter with your Financial Advisor to discuss your investments. Surely, you can do that much, after all you have worked hard to earn that money! These meetings helps in two ways, firstly you are in control of your investments and secondly you will see that you get more comfortable discussing your investments after a few meetings.

So how do you review your investments? You need to answer these questions

  • Have you understood everything about the investments that your advisor has recommended
  • Are you comfortable with the investments suggested by the advisor
  • Are these investments within your risk taking capacities
  • Are they growing as per your expectations
  • Are they taking you towards your aspirations

If the answer to the above questions are yes, great, you’re on track. If there’s a discomfort about any one of the above questions, you need to immediately flag off your advisor. You’ll need to once again discuss various options and put it back on track.

The other common reason that people give is that someone from the family or friend circle invested in Mutual funds, stocks etc, and lost money. Surely that could have happened, but then that’s probably because they didn’t understand themselves well enough!