On April 19th, Neythri partnered with Sandeep Pandya, President at SP Asset Management to host “Money Matters 101,” a webinar to jumpstart our education in wealth management and financial planning. We covered a variety of topics from retirement planning to insurance and more during the discussion. Here are our key highlights:
On Wealth Management Principles
Wealth management is a marathon, not a 100-meter dash!
If you are looking for a wealth manager, focus on understanding an individual’s value system and whether you align with it.
Women should strive to be engaged and influential in discussions about wealth management; in his experience, Sandeep has typically found that 75% of financial decisions are made by men.
A great way for partners to stay informed is to create a joint email address or set up a Google Groups email to send all communications from the financial institutions they work with.
Plan to have one year’s worth of living expenses saved as an emergency cash reserve.
On Estate Planning
Cash flow is king (or shall we say ‘queen’?!). Live within your means. If you purchase an expensive home, remember that the carrying costs of that home can be tough to sustain.
The most important documents you should set up for estate planning are: a living trust/nomination, will, guardianship, power of attorney and asset list (consider creating an asset list in Google Docs so that you can edit it over time).
Mortgage rates are very low today, so this is the time to get a 15–30 year mortgage or refinance!
You may want to consider getting a Power of Attorney for your adult children so you can help in times of illness & emergency.
On Retirement Planning
We often prioritize saving for education funds for our children at the risk of our own retirement. Don’t overfund a 529 plan; the maximum you probably want in it is ~$100K
Roth IRAs are an amazing option to withdraw your savings tax-free. If you qualify for one, you should strongly consider maxing out your savings here.
If possible, make sure you have a strong family balance sheet before considering retirement. For a family living in the Bay Area, this might be ~$5M in liquid assets, not including the home.
On Insurance
Consider obtaining a life insurance policy to protect your surviving family from experiencing financial hardship in the event of your passing. This is highly encouraged for families who do not have ~$3–5M in balance sheet savings and/or are earlier in their careers.
Umbrella liability insurance is also strongly recommended.
That’s all for now! Much has been published about the gender gap in financial literacy — see here, here and here — so we’re excited to create opportunities for Neythri Members to deepen our financial acumen.
Author Bio Sruthi is an investor at ICONIQ Capital. She previously was an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Sruthi is a board member at Archbishop Mitty High School and is a co-founder of Neythri and Shakti Collaborative, a content platform focused on narratives of South Asian women. Sruthi holds a BA degree from The University of Chicago.
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