Article in Vogue India on inspiring women to take ownership of their finances

 

Aditi Kothari Desai is inspiring women to take ownership of their finances amidst challenging times

• PUBLISHED BY LINKEDIN 

APR 20, 2021 | 20:00:13 IST

Whether it’s a stumbling business, a messy divorce or the loss of a job, Aditi and her network of women financial advisors are helping fellow women take back control of their lives

When the pandemic took the world by storm exactly one year ago, economies were severely affected overnight. Markets crashed, people were left without jobs, incomes suddenly came down to zero, and thousands of working women were forced to juggle household responsibilities and an increased workload.  In fact, according to a study released by LinkedIn titled The Opportunity Index 2021, “9 in 10 women have stated they were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Source: LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021

Across sections, women were faced with financial insecurities. Investors noticed how many of them changed career paths, dealt with job loss, and restrategised asset planning. “It’s not just about earning your own money. It’s about taking care of it,” explains Aditi Kothari Desai, head of digital, marketing and sales and a Director on the Board of DSP Investment Managers. “Many began to stop their investments because they needed the money immediately or because they were scared. That’s a mistake,” she says in reference to the situation in 2020.

With two decades of experience in the Indian asset management industry, Aditi Kothari Desai is a force to be reckoned with. But her work goes beyond just dealing with sales, revenue and investments. Aditi is on a mission to educate and encourage people, especially women, to make their own investment decisions. “I want to create a movement,” she says. To do this, she started Winvestor in June 2012, an investor education initiative dedicated towards empowering women by enabling their financial independence. From conducting financial awareness workshops for women in corporates, to sharing educational videos and offering free consultations with experts, Winvestor encourages women to take charge and own their money. 

Today, Aditi talks to Vogue about her journey, inspiration, insights and observations, while her team shares some real-life stories where financial planning and a smart investment strategy helped certain women combat unforeseen difficulties brought on by the pandemic. Readers: take notes.

Aditi Kothari Desai

Making your own financial decisions

“I don’t know the actual number of women investors we work with who make their own investment decisions. Very often the investment will be made in her name, but the decisions are being taken by her husband.” Stressing on the importance of financial independence among women in the current climate, she says, “If you want to be truly financially independent you have to earn money and take care of it.”

It was Aditi’s mother who first instilled in her the need for financial independence.

“She always told me – never depend on your husband. You must earn your own money whatever happens.” 

Now, after almost two decades of working in finance, Aditi has realised that even today women are not making financial decisions for themselves. “I had friends coming to me for advice who were single, divorced or had just found themselves with a lot of inheritance money. I realised how important it was for women to learn how to take care of their finances themselves.”

Investments to the rescue amidst the pandemic

Sujata, a financial advisor associated with Winvestor says, “With everyone stuck at home, for the first time spouses began spending so much time together. With people losing jobs, they were scared about the future. But now, people are getting the time to sit and think about their financial decisions.” She brings up a client who was going through a divorce before the pandemic. “She and her husband had a joint business and he walked away with everything – including the company,” she says. “But together we worked out how we could build something to generate some income.” Steadily, over the next couple of months they were able to chalk out a financial plan that helped her get back on her feet. 

This is just one of the many stories of women who have suffered financially because of the impact of the pandemic and lack of awareness. Binoli Dodhiwala Jain, another financial advisor who has been associated with Winvestor for about five years, has seen a number of women through rough times in the pandemic. “One of my clients, a young, single girl, shifted to Europe for work before the pandemic. Post lockdown, she got a series of pay cuts until eventually she was asked to look elsewhere for jobs or return home.” The girl was unable to fly back because of the travel restrictions in place but at the same time wasn’t financially equipped to keep living in Europe without a job. That’s where the financial plan that Binoli had chalked out for her came to the rescue. “We sold some assets and used a part of her emergency corpus and that’s what helped her sustain herself in Europe. In fact, she’s still there, she hasn’t returned home yet – she’s managed to get through this with just a little smart financial planning.”  

Another one of Binoli’s clients who worked in the travel industry, lost her job during the height of the pandemic and had to return home to live with her parents. She had a few personal loans which she had to pay off and with the loss of income she was finding it hard to pay them off. Under Binoli’s guidance, she stopped her recurring investments and dug into her emergency corpus that had a good enough amount to keep her afloat. And eventually, the pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She switched careers – she became a life coach, started her own baking business and now, she’s once again restarted her investments and the focus is once again on rebuilding the emergency corpus. 

Expert Advice on Planning for Uncertainties

So how does one prevent yourself from getting in trouble when the markets are down or there’s an emergency? Aditi has a few tips up her sleeve.

Be patient, even in a volatile market

Aditi cites a Warren Buffet quote that says, Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy only when others are fearful. “The market is going to go up and down, there’s going to be volatility, but you have to wait it out. During the pandemic when the market was low, people began to panic. But here’s the thing – you don’t sell when there’s a sale, you buy!”

Stay in it for the long haul 

Another mistake people tend to make is thinking that investment should be short term. “You need to have short term and long term investments, and commit to investing for 10 to 15 years. The power of compounding is amazing – you just have to have some patience and you will see the returns.” Starting young can also help to keep you afloat in case of emergencies. With whatever little money you start off with, you need to start investing, she advises. 

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Another way to foolproof your investments is to invest in different kinds of funds. “Make sure you have a diversified portfolio,” Aditi says. “We tell a lot of women, just like you have different shoes for different occasions, you need different funds for different times.” 

Plan for contingencies 

With divorce rates unfortunately increasing it’s important for women to be able to provide for themselves. “If a woman is fully dependent on her husband and she is hit with this emotional event in her life, she ends up having to suddenly figure out everything herself financially.” Women also outlive men, statistically speaking, Aditi says. With life insurance policies and money earned via inheritance, women need to learn how to manage large sums of money so that they can provide for themselves in the future.  “You don’t want to be taken advantage of at a time when you’re grieving,” she says.

Ask for what you deserve

The truth is that although the general rules of financial planning are the same for men and women, there are unique challenges that could arise in a woman’s life that men don’t have to face. Women in the workplace can often be hesitant when it comes to demanding equal pay, negotiating a salary or asking for an appraisal. In fact, according to the LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021, 85% of women have missed out on a raise or appraisal due to their gender and 1 in 5 women have never negotiated a joining package or pay raises. When it comes to working mothers, 69% have faced discrimination at the workplace due to the familial responsibilites. 

Source: LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021

Aditi brings up the case of working women who decide to have a child, and want to take some time off beyond their maternity leave. “It is possible to take that time off and still have a passive income, if you plan your finances properly.” Aditi believes that the work from home culture will open up doors for more women in the workplace. With flexible hours and not having to commute long distances every day, it will create more opportunities for women who otherwise would not have been able to pursue careers. She brings up someone who works as a coder in her team. “She was coding till a few days before she gave birth!”

At the end of the day, Aditi believes that anything is possible with a little hard work. In today’s constantly changing economic climate, a woman has to have complete control over her money and be able to take financial decisions herself, through an educated and informed lens. She has started a movement that is only just brewing. Thousands of women still depend on their husbands and fathers to deal with their money, but Aditi hopes to change that soon.