The Rio Olympics have culminated and athletes will now start preparing for the next edition in Tokyo in 2020. India closed with only two medals, a drop from the 6 medals we won in 2012. However, it was women power all the way for India with P V Sindhu winning the silver medal in badminton after fighting hard for gold while Sakshi Malik won the bronze medal in wrestling. Dipa Karmakar - the ace gymnast – may have won the third medal for India but lost her bronze medal match by a thin margin.

While woman have always proven to be better multi-taskers than men on all fronts – home, office, academics, entrepreneurship, science, technology and politics – they have now taken the lead even in sports despite it being a male bastion. The reason for this zeal is their meticulous and perfectionist approach, a key reason for women from ordinary backgrounds clinching success at premier world events like the Olympics.

These wins are just an example of how the traditional mindset of women playing second fiddle to men is slowly but surely changing. If a sport like wrestling can see girls like Sakshi Malik emerge champions, we can certainly do with more women champions in areas such as investments and household finances where men lead. Women need to come forward and adopt a more collaborative approach to their family’s financial planning process which includes goal setting, investment allocation and portfolio monitoring.

Traditionally, a women’s only investment was gold as most were home-makers. In case of financial distress they supported the family by either selling or pledging part of this gold holding. As women sought formal employment, they began investing in financial assets (mainly assured returns products like bank and postal deposits). Of late, they have, however, realised that (declining) interest rates are not keeping pace with the rising cost of their goals. Mutual funds have emerged as a lucrative investment choice which not only aim to beat inflation but also help to provide higher tax adjusted returns vis-à-vis assured returns products. Mutual funds offer the convenience of a Systematic Investment Plan or SIP which is like a (Good) EMI wherein one can invest even Rs.500-1000 per month and create wealth over the long run. Calcualte your returns using SIP calculator online. Within mutual funds, equity funds have historically provided higher returns though at a relatively higher risk. The risk can be moderated if the investment is held for the long term of more than 5 years.

Coming back to sports, India has no dearth of talent provided they are identified early and trained professionally. We need to start this process in right earnest for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and maybe even for the 2024 Olympics if we want to significantly improve our medals tally. Investments are no different. To have sufficient funds for long term goals like retirement and children’s education, we need to start early and save regularly in mutual funds.

Information contained in this article is not a complete representation of every material fact and is for informational purposes only. The recipient is advised to consult its advisor/ tax consultant prior to arriving at any investment decision.