With a user-centric online platform, a city-based entrepreneur promises to connect women with experts who will help them achieve their financial goals.
Photo for representational purpose. Picture Courtesy/iStock
Before joining the corporate world, Shagun Bhasali, 30, ran her own PR firm. In the course of five years of managing the company, she found it particularly challenging to look at the financial aspect. “My father would tell me to learn basic terminology but I never did it. Then during the lockdown, I decided to figure out how to make finance easy for people. I also discovered that there was a huge market for it, especially with women who either shied away from finance or didn’t have the appropriate means to do it on their own,” she recalls.
So, in May last year, the Parel resident started an Instagram page called Miss Piggy Banks (MPB) where she’d demystify financial terminology with relatable examples — think, understanding investments as beauty products or Bridgerton characters (Simon Basett, the beloved Duke of Hastings can be compared to bonds, which take forever to mature).
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Shagun Bhansali
On IG, Bhansali began to receive many queries from people asking her to connect them with financial advisors, which led MPB to evolve into a full-fledged online platform with a website dedicated to helping people connect with experts. Once you log on to the website, there’s a simple three-step process to follow: you can browse through a curated list of certified experts, send them a message (free of charge) to vet their approach and figure out their fees, and wait for them to reply. “Advisors at banks and big corporations charge a hefty fee. If you have only a lakh to invest, you can’t shell out Rs 20,000 on advisory. I have people who charge between Rs 500 and R1,500 for one consultation, and that too it’s a sliding scale,” Bhansali informs.
Currently, there are 12 experts on board but Bhansali reveals that eight more will be joining in May, and the goal is to keep adding advisors every month. Because of the tough times we’re living in right now, MPB is also offering select sessions every week with experts for free advice.
Log on to misspiggybanks.com
Pro tips
Ankita Narsey, a financial advisor who is also listed on Miss Piggy Banks shares the following hacks to investing:
. Educate yourself about different investment avenues so that you are aware of all the available options before you pick an investment product — be it gold, real estate, equity or fixed deposits. Understand the pros and cons of each asset class.
. Set short-term as well as long-term financial goals. Short-term goals can entail buying that piece of jewellery you’ve been eyeing for a while or going for a short vacation. On the other hand, building a retirement corpus for yourself or starting your own business could be a long-term goal. Once goals are set, product selection becomes easier. If you want to park aside surplus money you can consider liquid funds. If you are thinking of retirement then PPF and Flexicap equity funds could be your go-to options.
. Start small with a recurring deposit. It’ll help you save every month and at the same time you’ll get a marginally better rate of interest than your savings bank account.
. What are your options if you are nearing 30 and want something not too risky? If your investment horizon is more than seven to 10 years, I would strongly recommend large cap equity funds or large and midcap funds for a medium risk appetite. Considering the age of 27 to 30, it is very hard to ignore the benefit that compounding equities can provide.
Also check out
Miss Manage — a financial literacy platform for women that unpacks the basics of finance.
Log on to missmanage.com
CA Rachana Ranade is a Pune-based chartered accountant, teacher and popular YouTuber who has a website dedicated to a variety of paid finance-related lectures and courses.
Log on to rachanaranade.com
The Finance Box is a venture to help empower kids, teens and adults to manage their money, by offering customised workshops.
Log on to thefinance
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