Passion for fintech

Oct 12, 2025

Overview

While the world is going gaga over AI, my mind was on importance of financial services and why everyone needs to be financially literate. I had the opportunity to work in this industry in the US for 7.5 years and it really helped me manage my own accounts. Many countries might have the same type of investments although their names are different. For eg: Fixed Deposit in India is very similar to GIC in Canada. You also have organizations like FINRA in US, CDIC in Canada and IRDAI in India.

Manage your finances!

Picture Source: Canva

Observations about financial services

  1. A study says that women outlive men. So, it is important for women especially to understand finances.
  2. Besides, women tend to be out of the workforce for a few years because they tend to be caregivers, maternity leave and so on.
  3. Women get paid lesser than men for the same position in the same company. As of 2019, men still get paid 10% more than women. So, women are at a disadvantage.
  4. In the last few years, there has been lay-offs in companies like Meta, Apple, Google and IBM. So, that’s why it is important to ensure that you have money that will last your family for at least 1 year (at a minimum for 6 months). Having fixed deposits (i.e. GICs) will help your family. Laddering is a great idea so that you can withdraw money at any time.
  5. Investments like mutual funds and ETFs are great but the timing of buying and selling is important. You might incure a profit/loss based on when you are buying/selling the investments.
  6. Debit/Credit cards - Check the transaction on the account. Did the debit/credit transaction register correctly.
  7. Cybersecurity is very important on your website/mobile. Ensure that the url of the website starts with “https://”. Enabling 2FA/biometrics for your website/mobile app is important. Check your account regularly.
  8. Setting your beneficiaries is also very important because your hard-earned money shouldn’t go into the wrong hands. Regardless of country, there is enough evidence that there are conflicts due to this. Although the concept is morbid, it is important to discuss.
  9. The good thing now is that you can do your taxes and statements online. Right from your work, personal accounts, retirement accounts, children’s accounts, you can access the tax forms online.

Final Thoughts

Men tend to be “the” handler of money and investments in the household. But women should also to do the same.

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