Someone once said women are stupid to think of themselves as equal to men, they are far superior. The fact that women are better multi-taskers, more emotionally intelligent and focus better on the broader picture is not much realized even today. The independence of a woman is still considered secondary in the millennial world and financial independence is even worse.

If you look around and observe, you will find that despite the lack of opportunities and denials at most fronts, women are better financial planners and decision-makers. There is no denying the fact that it is because of a woman’s mental ability and flawless financial planning that a household never runs short of things be it the month when taxes are deducted from the family salary in huge numbers. Investments are a no different game; women have always excelled this genre too. Be it keeping money at interest at a local patwari in the old times or investing money in a more sophisticated platform in advanced avenues like mutual funds, gold, etc in today’s times, women make great investment decisions. Here are a few insights to boost the investment decision maker in you;

Identify and prioritize
The first thing to do when you start financial planning is to identify your financial goals. Yes, saving and investing are good habits but you must know what re you saving for in order to plan your investments with best returns. Your goals can be anything from buying your favorite car to your child’s education or retirement planning, irrespective of what they are, make sure they are there.
Once you have identified what your goals are, prioritize. Make sure when you invest as per your goals, your child’s education is funded before your retirement. Prioritizing your goals is important as it will guide your investments throughout.

Do not make decisions based only on NAVs
However, luring it may buy mutual funds at a lower NAV, do not rely only on this factor while buying funds. When you are narrowing down on which mutual fund to invest in, do a little more research regarding the past year returns, the fund house, the company and how consistent has the company been in paying out a dividend to its investors. These factors will give you a broader picture of the fund and help you make a better-informed decision.

Do not forget your risk-profile, investment period and return expectations
While you make the selection, do not forget these three things- risk profile, investment horizon and return expectations from the fund. If you are a low-risk appetite person and want to invest for a short-term, go for debt funds. if you are a moderate risk appetite and have a considerable tenure of investment, equity funds are best. This is because equity funds perform best over a course of time.

There is a difference between direct and regular funds
When you go towards investing, you must know there are two ways about it. Either you can invest in the Direct plan or the Regular plan. When you invest without the guidance of any advisor, it is called direct investment. If you invest through the guidance of an advisor or planner, that is a regular investment. The direct plan involves a lesser expense ratio ranging up to 1% whereas regular plan involves a higher expense ratio but it is managed actively by a fund manager.

There is a difference between growth and dividend plan
Like a regular and direct plan, there is a difference between growth and dividend plan. When you choose the growth plan, the power of compounding works in your favor. Since the returns you earn are added back to the principal amount and the returns get compounded over.
While in the dividend option, the returns are paid out to the investor at regular intervals of time.

Mode of investment
Again, there are two ways in which you can invest money- SIP and lump sum. If you have enough surplus money to be invested, you can go for a lump sum investment. One drawback with a lump sum investment is that if your fund faces a bad day, the whole amount gets affected.
Another way is the SIP way which is a systematic investment plan. SIP allows you to make investments at regular intervals and lets you start small. You can start investing with as small as Rs. 500.

Reviewing your portfolio
The last and final thing which needs to be taken care of after diligently selecting the funds is that you must review your portfolio at least once in six months. This will keep you in touch with your investments and financial goals.
Also, you will be able to make better decisions regarding the non-performers in your portfolio.