Women & Finance: Your Journey to the "Financial Destination"

Women have 10 types of financial identities. A woman can reflect more than one trait in her perspective of money. Before we start going in-depth, here are the 10 types of financial identities:

Slow and prudent
Quiet, adaptable and sacrificial
Stylish and flamboyant
Prudent & aggressive diversity
“I’ll live day-to-day and let my husband handle it”
Secretive & flamboyant
Sacrificial daughter, mother, and wife
Smart & competitive 21st century
Explorative – ONE life, live it UP!
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In this article, I will be explaining one of the financial identities of a woman and that is “slow and prudent”.

Slow and Prudent

Keeping it slow and steady in a world promising “instant wealth”

Experience is a big role in shaping the mindset and this lady likely comes from a family that worked to their bones to get through hard times. It can also be a dramatic scenario where the family lost everything: due to natural causes or wrong decisions. This situation(s) would prompt them to be very cautious with money thus creating a locked mindset that “money does not on grow tree” and every penny must be accounted for.

The careful mentality reflects in her habits where she requires reassurance through money or is likely to equate her emotional quotient with the amount of material wealth in her possession. As her security comes from money: her perspective is long-term. Knowing that she will always have a stash in the event of a crisis.

Therefore, she does not account for short-term rewards she will have a lot of hard cash in long-term assets that appreciate such as property or diamonds to bequeath to her children and she is gratified by that prospect.

Types of Approach

To achieve her financial destination, the slow and prudent woman has been found to adopt different pathways; mostly depending on her environment. While her patience is admirable, the downside is she sometimes lacks awareness of the different types of investments out there and believes Fixed Deposit to be the safest.

i) The simple lady is usually in the village and works hard. She keeps her money in the tin can; hidden under the bed or is part of the”kutu” community where people in a group contribute XX amount every month and members take turns to take home the bounty. However, these methods offer no security in events of catastrophes or theft and do not experience growth.

ii) The city slick lady has a stable career which translates to a possible financial path in Fixed Deposits. She is taken up by guaranteed structured products that are locked down by time and providing her a steady return-of-investment (ROI) of 5-8%.

iii) The well-trained lady has gained exposure from looking at how people in other parts of the world view money. She might have a vested interest in different countries through Fixed Deposits or property. While returns from such investments are profitable; it takes a great deal of understanding as offshore products and extremely complex to navigate and many have gotten stuck in such endeavors.

Suggestions for the Slow and Prudent

If you are this lady, patience is definitely your virtue and you appreciate the value of working hard as you see the fruit it bears. How then, do you ensure that your finances (and yourself) remain healthy?

i) Reward yourself. It can be a daily pampering at home with good facial products or a luxury spa treatment once in a few months. Or plan for an annual vacation with your family and friends. Many women in this financial pathway category tend to put themselves last and also may lack spending family time due to her mindset of “I have to work and give my family a substantial nest”. It is rare for a slow and prudent woman to go for mid-term investments that are less than 5 years as she believes in growth through time.

ii) If you are looking into diversifying investment with regards to time, the most ideal is one that is 6-12 months where you can put in the money with little or no risk and know that it will not be bounded for a long period of time. You can think of it as an “emergency fund” and for investments longer than 12 months, make sure your money works harder.

iii) Have a basket of variety. Property is always at the top of the list but the market is not resistant to crash. Think about buying art pieces, antiques, jewellery, even designer items to add value to your treasures on earth.

iv) Many women have lost it all when they placed deposits in different countries. Enticed by the high return rates; they neglected to check on the protection policies in that country. Don’t let it happen to you and in Malaysia, you can direct your queries about deposit protection to Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM). The organisation protects investors’ policies and deposits in the event of an institution’s failure and you need to make sure the bank you are depositing with is a PIDM member. You can visit their website for more information on the latest criteria for guarantee.

While you can read articles about financial management, it is always beneficial to speak to a licensed financial advisor who will be able to help you identify your financial personality and recommend the optimal routes for you. As men and women have differing outlooks on money, it is an effort to find an accredited female financial advisor in Malaysia.

Should you wish to connect with one, you can contact me or read “What Successful Women do with their Money’ to learn more about the financial advisory ladies of Malaysia.