A few days back, my close friend’s husband got infected with COVID-19.. Infection though detected early but he had to be hospitalized later.. She & kids tested positive too. She was frightened but kept her calm, fought the situation head on and with the grace of almighty, her husband is back home, children are also safe & getting back to normal…

The entire episode was horrifying in terms of health, medical costs, managing treatments and ‘managing finances’ in such demanding situation….

Thankfully, she new passwords of all their bank a/c logins & ATMs, had cash at home and could connect with health insurance provider to do the rest needful, got help from neighbors’, friends & relatives about supplies and they could get through this…

This got me thinking, what if something like this happen with a lady, unaware of ‘financial aspects’ of her family??

Often, ‘husband’ or ‘a man’ of the family takes care of finances, women though capable, get busy in managing other things. This happens with working women too.

Unfortunately if a lady with no idea about financial transactions, investments & insurance done by her husband gets caught up in a situation like this, it surely adds up to tensions & a mess.

Here are some simple things, dear ladies you can do, even today to make yourself prepared to avoid the pain during crisis situation.

• Get the records of your finances right..

Sit with your husband or ask the elderly person who is managing money aspects of your family to list down all investments done, insurance policies taken, loans given/taken, bank a/c details, contact details of your chartered accountant, insurance provider, bank officials, lawyers. If your husband is employed, then get contact details of his company’s HR personnel & senior officials too.

If you are working, then list down all such details for you as well. This record must include, nominations details for investments made & insurance policies taken.

Today, we use digital banking often. Get login IDs & passwords of all banks a/cs, investment a/cs like mutual funds, password of ATM etc

These records should be clear and kept handy for you, clubbed in a file or in an simple excel sheet on your laptop whose password is known to you.

If you are not tech savvy but major financial transaction of your house are done online, then learn how to do it.

• Iron out all the pending tasks related to your finances:

Due to busy routine or work load or due to mere negligence, we forget to ‘renew’ our insurance policies. Many a times, taking a policy itself gets delayed. We forget to add ‘nominee’ to our investments & assets.

Many such things can happen but can cost huge. So, get your insurance policies in place.

Check if the cover is sufficient, if not then increase it. Investments should be reviewed properly, check nominations, update bank a/c details linked to that investments.

Complete all the pending tasks related to your finances.

• Have quick money with you:

Today, it’s a need of an hour to have cash or cash equivalents with us. Have sufficient cash with you. List down all liquid investments like investments in debt mutual funds or FDs. Shortlist which investment can be withdrawn if the need arises. 

 Check if you can withdraw on your husband’s behalf & how. Connect with respective bank officials and investment providers like mutual funds etc to know the process in case of need.

If you have ‘gold’ with you, then check for your ‘bank locker keys’. Ensure you have a joint access along with your husband. In case of a need, you can get the gold monetized.

• Never underestimate ‘Insurance’:

Often insurance is seen as a cost, but it saves lot of pain & money if we are insured right.

‘Term Insurance’ is very very crucial. If your husband has got that, get it reviewed. Check whether its renewed properly, if the cover is sufficient for you & family, have records of its policy documents, premium receipts, insurance provider’s contact details.

Apply for additional insurance cover if not sufficient. Connect with insurance provider to know the claim process.

Along with term insurance, ‘Health Insurance’ is a key element. Even if your husband is getting ‘health insurance cover’ from his respective employer, get the ‘personal family floater cover’ for you & family with sufficient coverage.

Seeing at the cost of medical expenses, you should have right insurance cover. You can have a ‘super top plan’ along with a ‘base policy’ which will give same benefits, higher insurance cover for relatively lesser premium.

Please understand inclusions in the policy specially related to COVID-19, claim process, contact details of concerned officials, exclusions if any.

If you can’t apply for a personal cover quickly, then get all the process about making a claim, policy cover amount details from the concerned HR official of your husband’s respective workplace.

• Give basics about your personal finance elements to your grown-up children:

If you have grown up children with you, then they are your real strengths. Give them basic idea about your personal finance. Show them your file containing ‘records of your personal finance’ as explained above.

Give them a list of relevant contact details like ambulance, your family doctors, nearby hospitals, testing centers, people who can provide meal at your doorstep etc.

Give them ATM of a bank a/c where it has a minimum required balance sufficient to run home for at least 15 days.

 Or transfer sufficient balance if they have their own bank a/c.

Teach them basics of cooking, household chores so that even unfortunately if you are not available full time, they can manage on their own.

• Share minimum required information about your finances to at least two of your close friends or relatives:

Share basic details like how much cash you have with you, details of your health insurance & life insurance provider etc, with at least two of your close friends or relatives whom you have full trust. In case of need, they can do the needful, ca help your children if unfortunately, you both are not available full time.

• Get minimum balance available with you and details of personal finances right, when living in joint family:

If you are staying in a joint family, then many a times, elderly or men of the family are in charge of finances. but, this deadly virus is sparing no one and so we must be prepared.

Here, if you are living in joint family, then please ask elderly people to do the needful as mentioned in above points. Convince them that it’s a need of an hour and ladies of the family should be aware of the basics.

It’s a lady who becomes ‘Iron lady’ when her family & loved ones are in threat, but when she is armed with basic knowledge about her finances, she is fierce and faces the situation head on!

So, please take care of yourself, family & children and initiate the much needed change which is a ‘need of an hour’!