While there are ample ways to earn money, there is only one single rule that matters –there are no shortcuts to building wealth. Not only do you need to start early.
But also have to be prepared for continuous and monitored investing to ensure that your fund grows at a steady pace.
As a general rule of thumb, any individual should start saving for the future in their 20s. However, that doesn’t always happen. Thus, most people tend to start investing during their 30s.
However, the 30s can be a tricky time to start building your portfolio, as you may have goals and responsibilities that may spike up your financial burden. In such a situation, you should focus on building a comfortable nest.
While this rule applies to both gender, however, it is considered critical for any woman to create a comfortable buffer to avoid any uncertainty and ensure financial security for herself and her loved ones. That being said, here are the best investment options for women in their 30s.
Equity Funds:
Equity funds form one of the most popular and stable kinds of investment options to get started with. An equity fund is a mutual fund that primarily invests in stocks. Also known as stock funds, equity funds aim to produce high yields by investing in the shares of companies of varied market capitalisation, thus generate higher returns as compared to debt funds or fixed deposits.
How the company’s performance results in profit or loss decide how much an investor can make based on his shareholdings. For both mid-term and long-term goals, equity-based funds are considered an excellent option. As an individual, you may choose to take either the most preferred route of a systematic investment plan (SIP) or opt to invest in bulk.
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PPF & NPS:
Public Provident Fund (PPF) is considered one of the best retirement investment policies available in India, as it offers tax-free benefits, all the while providing a steady interest income. It is a risk-free savings option where you can deposit up to Rs 1.5 lakhs a year, and earn 8% interest. The interest keeps compounding annually and credited at the end of every year. Although with PPF there’s a clause of lock-in period for 15 years, it provides long-term stability and decent returns at the end of the tenure.
Another investment strategy that you can opt for is the National Pension Scheme (NPS). It is an amalgamation of equity, government bonds, corporate bonds, liquid funds and fixed deposits. Not only it provides tax-free benefits under section 80C, but also you can claim an additional tax rebate up to Rs 50,000 under Section CCD (1B). Additionally, NPS also provides the option of investing in equities, depending upon your risk appetite. The 1-year market return for Fund option E is around 9.5%, while the same for 5 years is 11%.
ULIP:
Another investment strategy that every 30-something with dependents can opt for is Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP). ULIP is a mixture of insurance along with investment. The objective of a ULIP is to create wealth, all the while providing life coverage where the insurance company puts a portion of your investment towards life insurance and the rest into an equity or debt fund or both, that match your long-term plans. These objectives could be retirement savings, kids’ education, or other significant events you may wish to put something aside for.
Additionally, under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, ULIP qualifies for tax deductions. They provide significant returns as well. ULIPs likewise offer the choice to change the allocation of the fund as and when needed. As compared to other investment instruments, you don’t need to have much information about the market or the investment instrument that you are putting resources into, making it an ideal strategy for novice investors.
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Other Investment Instruments:
Another great strategy to build your investment portfolio is by investing in other debt instruments such as bank fixed deposits, small savings schemes, bonds, and debt mutual funds. While it’s not a smart move to gorge on such low risk, low returns options, an ideal portfolio will have a place for them to guarantee an income at fixed interims.
To plan for unexpected events, the first thing you ought to do is set up an emergency fund, a corpus that can deal with 3-6 months of expense. You can put this cash in a liquid fund as it provides better returns over money in a savings account.
Conclusion:
Asset allocation is the key to financial empowerment. Hence, taking some time out to invest is considered prudent for any individual, especially women. Ideally, your allocation to debt funds must be equivalent to your age.
This implies, that to understand what portion of investment should be in equities, subtract your current age from 100. Hence, the investment portfolio of a 30-something woman should comprise 65% of equity funds while the remaining 35% should be in debt, insurance, and cash.
However, that doesn’t mean that one-size-fits-all policy –your ideal asset allocation will reflect your risk appetite and goals. Consequently, if you have many short-term goals, then you cannot risk investing a massive chunk of fund inequities.
In such instances, you may think of exploring alternative investment funds like invoice discounting to gain high returns in a short period. Companies like KredX provides investors with a unique opportunity for low-risk, high-returns investment through its invoice discounting platform.