Money Matters For The Young Professional

During my early years of marriage, despite the fact that I had a comfortable life, I decided that I needed to have a job, not so much for financial reasons but more to keep me busy.  My first job as a schoolteacher was a very satisfying one as it meant imparting knowledge to a group of young students - the financial remuneration was not much, but it did not matter! My new profession also instilled in me the need to have my own identity.  As the years progressed, I changed jobs and started climbing up the corporate ladder and also saw the beginning of my contribution towards the family expenses. Initially I grudgingly I thought of my money as only my money, to be spent on myself only, but then it started giving me a sense of accomplishment and more importantly it became a necessity.

In today's world, unless you are from a business family and even then, I think it is imperative for the spouse to work. Whatever income she may earn adds to the family budget and more than anything it also gives her an identity of her own. 

In the developed world DINK couples (Double Income No Kids) have been the lifestyles of upwardly mobile yuppies for over two/three decades. In our part of the world, young couples with equal educational accomplishment have also been playing 'catch up' not necessarily for only monetary needs but rather for professional satisfaction and recognition for both partners with similar levels of education.

It is refreshing to see how so many young women take up careers after the completion of their education; this has become the norm rather than the exception. In our country the social infrastructure of extended families and domestic help allows the women to continue with their careers after marriage and after having children.

It is essential that a husband and wife open a separate joint account where every month a certain amount of their remuneration is deposited. Once a substantial amount is accumulated it can be moved to a fixed deposit of a convenient tenure. Savings can be also invested in the various Government Investment Schemes, which give fairly high returns. In today's scenario banks have drastically cut down interest rates on deposits and our best options are the Government Bonds (Shanchaya Patras). Please contact your bank manager and he will be the best person to give you details of the various saving instruments, the tenure and rate. The other day I was told by my banker that they are not interested in deposits and in fact, encouraged me to encash my FD when it matured and move the money away! Gone are the days when you were literally flooded with calls asking for deposits.  

The reason why I think saving is imperative is that it will serve as a future nest egg for children's education or a medical emergency or even a much looked forward to vacation. You can open separate joint accounts for each purpose so that you don't touch one for the other.

We tend not to think of the future especially about children's education. This has become a major expense with school and college fees rising continuously. Moreover, if parents want to send their kids overseas for higher education, it is unthinkable unless they have made provisions for it. In the West, as soon as a child is born a college fund account is opened immediately and instead of relatives/friends giving gifts (in some cases very useless ones) money is given to contribute towards the child's future.

We can follow the same culture in our country and encourage relatives and friends to give monetary gifts at the time of the baby's 'aqikah', birthdays, etc. – this can go to the parents joint account designated for the purpose of education. I know it will mean breaking our social etiquette of not demanding the kind of gift we want, but it will be a very beneficial one. With the financial situation being the way it is, the purpose of a dual income is absolutely necessary because it prevents the burden on one person and more importantly it is a major help towards 'rainy days in the future'. At the national level, it will add to women's empowerment, an insurance against economic and job market uncertainties, recognition of professional worth of both partners making marriages stronger and adding to the national GDP. What could be a better win-win situation?