PEAKLIFE

“The reality is that women, especially mothers, are among the most financially aware members in the family . . .”

With her startup Good Good Piggy, Purva is a pioneer in the children’s online banking and wallet space within India. As the country’s first disruptive EdFinTech start-up for pre-teenagers, Good Good Piggy is positioned as a digital piggy bank and behavioural rewards platform, which doubles up as an investment channel to form good financial habits while contributing towards the financial security of its beneficiaries. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we share some edited excerpts from an insightful conversation with Purva, where she highlights the importance of involving the entire family in financial discussions. The full version of the interview appears in the March-April edition of PEAKLIFE magazine.

Children across genders, especially young girls, are not included in financial discussions from an early stage. What is the ideal strategy for preparing them to achieve financial wellbeing in the long term?

While parents today are giving importance to STEM subjects, I believe financial management, especially digital financial management, should be given equal or more importance as it is a life skill which shall impact not only the kids’ long term wellbeing but the family’s life trajectory as well. Studies suggest that in terms of brain building, money personality is set in kids by the age of seven, so the discussion must start immediately when the kids understand number concepts. It must become dinner table conversation to an extent that it is not just in theory but practice. I believe financial literacy is only successful when it is applied. To enable this, we have reinvented the oldest financial literacy tool, the piggy bank, into a digital piggy and habit builder which doubles up as an investment channel to build ‘good good kids’. The platform facilitates good habit formation and future financial security for kids, alongside providing parents with a platform to connect with and reward their child through an integrated range of investment opportunities.

With your strong background in finance, are there any differences you observe in the way women, especially mothers, approach financial decisions in families? If there is scope for improvement, where does it lie?

It is very interesting, but the reality is that women, especially mothers, are among the most financially aware members in the family when it comes to expense control or opening accounts for their children in the banks at an early age. However, it is also true that they have their own invisible lines set when it comes to taking initiative about learning advance and complex money management solutions and financial products. Women might be the breadwinners, with both parents working these days, but planning the money into investments is often left to the male counterpart. According to me, there is high scope for improvement when it comes to breaking these stereotypical boundaries about finance and women. Finance as a subject is very gender neutral, and it should be a responsibility for both men and women equally to be aware and advance in their learning curve when it comes to money management decisions.

As we hopefully move from the pandemic stage to the endemic stage, what are the most important financial lessons for families to take away from this experience?

This pandemic has taught many people the value of developing long-lasting and sustainable financial footholds for their families. According to me, some of the key lessons to take away from this experience lie in the way one approaches the money management equation, especially savings, spending, and investment. Firstly, all families should be encouraging saving, no matter how little, and starting early in the journey. It can start with a piggy bank for your young one and be a systematic saving plan for yourself. Secondly, focus on diversification when it comes to investments. During the pandemic, people regretted putting all eggs in one basket. Thirdly, keeping life simple and cost-effective might be a sustainable way when it comes to long term financial wellbeing.