Happy Mother's Day: Here are best financial planning tips for single mothers

Financial planning should not be a priority only for male members in families. But it is equally important for female members as well. A female member can also provide a financial umbrella to her family by planning wisely and investing smartly. 

When it comes to single mothers, they can easily fight financial challenges and support for their children's education, health, development and overall financial success. 

Certified Financial Planner, Pooja Bhinde, told Zee Business TV, "A single mother has responsibilities like planning for children's higher education, health, marriage, her own retirement planning, insurance, house and so on. The habit of depending on other family members should be broken as being a mother you know better, what's best for your children than others. ''

1. Budgeting of cash inflows: Budgeting is very important as it tells you about your income and expenses. ''Avoid unnecessary expenditure and get an income source. If you are a working woman, make sure you keep a track on your monthly budget. If you are a housewife, make sure you get a work from home and plan for cash inflows,'' said Bhinde.  

2. Get a term insurance policy: Having a term insurance policy is highly essential. Being a single mother, you owe your children a sole responsibility and therefore should have a planned policy in case of any unfortunate incident in life.

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3. Plan for future goals: You need to invest in various assets like equity, debt, deposits, gold/real estate (in case of surplus). ''Each asset class should be invested with a vision or a need in future. For example, for a short term goal of education, holiday trip, car etc, you can go for a debt or hybrid or multi-cap mutual fund. While for needs like higher education, marriage, you can invest in equities like large-cap funds,'' said Bhinde.  

4. Maintain an emergency fund: Life is subject to risks involved with health, financial trouble etc. So it is better to have an emergency fund to meet any unfortunate situation like a major health issue, accident, job/business issues etc. 

5. Consider equities for long term needs: Equities are riskier in nature but have the ability to give better returns in future. ''You can start with SIPs or lump-sum mutual fund investments and start investing for long term needs. Mutual funds, if invested for longer periods usually fetch returns between 12 to 16 per cent, depending upon the fund category and market behaviour,'' said Bhinde.

6. Invest in government aided schemes: There are a number of government-aided funds for single mothers, widow women. Also, invest in government schemes like Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, PPF and various other schemes to earn decent returns with no risk at all.