Regardless of their culture, nationality, ethnic origin etc. women have traditionally been homemakers and men the money-earners of the family. Other than the knowledge of some basic money saving techniques while running the household, women were not really savvy of the complex financial world around them. But now, with the changing socio- cultural scenario of women having to take up the role of bread-winners of the family and divorces being at an all-time high, a woman needs to set up herself as an independent financial entity and for that she needs to equip herself with more financial knowledge than mere domestic budgeting skills.

According to Ginita Wall, co-author of ‘It’s More Than Your Money – It’s Your Life!’, “A lot of women believe that wealth is a four-letter word. They are particularly afraid of the negative reputation that wealth has — power, greed, corrupt connotations.”

When it comes to money, women have the lesser share and during divorce, most often, the settlements are not done fairly. Here are certain tips that women should follow to empower themselves financially.

• Establish goals – Ask a woman how much she expects to see in her bank account after the coming 5 years, most probably you’ll get a blank expression on her face. This is because conventionally women were not the major financial planners of their households. The men usually do that. But if you are a single woman you should be able to plan your monetary goals clearly.
• Know The Ins and Outs of Financial Operations – women run households and they show good management skills with the money that is given to them for spending. But women are seen to be lacking in knowledge of managing long term assets. In the event of a divorce or other situations in which a woman has to independently run the finances of the household, she has problems. For example, making profitable investments for the growth of assets is an area that she might not be very comfortable with. Consulting financial experts, taking up a financial literacy course and using online financial tools will help in improving the financial literacy of women using which they can take up long term decision regarding their finances.
• Prepare yourself for divorce – This is for women who are conventional home makers. Your husbands might be providing you security at the moment and I wish that divorce should never happen to you. But you never know the future. If such a situation happens what are you going to do? Even when your relationships are alright even before you get married you should think about independent survival and what you are going to do if you face such a situation. Always try to keep a job handy so that you constantly keep earning some amount or the other. Plan for an independent house and lifestyle in case you might have to face that emergency that most of us would want to avoid. Above all never take your spouse for granted.