Mother's Day: Give her the gift of financial security

Chances are you've picked up your negotiating skills by watching your mother get the better of sundry salesmen during your childhood. Chances are the poker face that you employ while bargaining has its roots in your mother's mannerisms that you watched and learned from when she was getting the best bargains for your household.

So on this Mother's Day, why don't you gift her something that she will truly appreciate -- a financial health check-up.

Sit down with your mom and go through this checklist with her:

1. First and foremost, ensure that she has some money set aside to be used for emergencies. If your mother is old-fashioned, odds are she would rather have this money handy in the form of cash rather than rely on a quick trip to the ATM.

2. Old age and health issues go hand in hand this would be especially true of our parent's generation since they would have lived by the code of doing everything for us and ignoring their own comforts and thus their bodies would have suffered quite a bit of wear and tear. Get your mother to do a complete health check-up if it's been more than a year since the last one. Simultaneously, ensure she has adequate medical insurance that covers surgeries, hospitalisation and other related expenses. If not, get her one and the sooner the better; before any health complications set in or she crosses 60.

Illustrations: Uttam Ghosh

3. Look at where money for her living expenses is coming from. Remember that women tend to live longer than men. Try and see if this can be secured/ protected in some way. If your mother is dependent on your father, ensure that their finances are set in a manner that in the event of your father's death, your mother's needs are secured with ease and minimum effort. Make your parents write up a will. Get them to verify the nomination details on both their investments and assets.

4. If your mother has money of her own, make sure that it is invested well and not just sitting in a bank account. Although you may have problems in getting her to put the money in anything even remotely aggressive look, at options where she can get the best returns with least risk, and enough returns to at least beat the inflation!

5. If she is working or earns income through property or some other asset, take a look at her taxes and ascertain that she is availing all the benefits that accrue to her as a woman and/or as a senior citizen.  

6. If she already has a person who helps her with her finances, a financial advisor, a personal banker or an accountant, just accompany her on one of the discussions to verify the credibility of the advisor/banker.

Last but not the least, set some time aside for her on this Sunday.