Smart finance for women

Financial tips
Money management tools

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While Mathematics may not have been everyone’s favourite school subject, that should not stop you from taking care of your finances. This especially rings true for women who make day-to-day personal or household money management decisions. In particular, as mothers play a major role in imparting good financial habits and knowledge to their children, they need to be well equipped with the financial skills to take care of themselves, their families and the future generation.

When creating a budget, be it for the household or for yourself, record all your incomings and outgoings so you can review your spending habits and identify areas to improve upon. You can use the Budget Planner or the IFEC Money Tracker app. There is also the Cut-back Calculator to help differentiate your "needs" from "wants" to determine how you can cut back on non-essential items to grow your savings and work towards your long-term financial goals.

As men and women in Hong Kong have the world’s highest life expectancy rates, it is important to have good money habits and proper financial management so that we don’t outlive our reserves. Whether you are single or married, retirement planning should be on your horizon in order to protect your hard-earned money for years to come. Take a look at the Retirement Planner to work out your budget and how you can start planning today.

To transfer some of the longevity risk, you may consider taking out an insurance plan that meets your needs. Women are susceptible to certain life-threatening illnesses such as breast cancer and ovarian cancer. To nip any illness in the bud, it is advisable to conduct a thorough body check once a year, and to consider some women-specific critical illness insurance schemes.

Investing is a way to protect and grow your money to counter inflation. Take time to study the different products and find ones that best suit your investment goals, horizon, and risk appetite. Meanwhile, stay on top of the latest investment scams which are increasingly becoming more rampant. Fraudsters always have different tricks up their sleeves, and they are quick to use them on unsuspecting people.

It is never too late to take control of your finances, and there are readily available tools, calculators and mobile apps to get you started on the right foot. IFEC’s suite of free personal finance tools covers money management needs from savings, debt management, family finances and more.