PEAKLIFE

By Neha Mehrotra

Valentine’s Day is undeniably a special occasion to express your love for your significant other. While chocolates and roses hold timeless romantic charm, nurturing your financial well-being can deepen your bond and secure your future together, but taking care of your finances can help to solidify your relationship and financial future. After all, those who budget together stay together. The day is not just about going out on dates or love wrapped in gifts. It goes beyond that. It also involves planning your life together, which involves planning your finances together too. Recognising this, we’ve curated a selection of the finest financial gifts you can present to your partner. Take a look!

1. Buy a Life and Health Insurance Plan

Relationships need more than just love to survive; they also need insurance—health insurance, life insurance, term plans—any or all of them. What good is wealth without good health? By securing a life insurance policy, you ensure that your family’s financial future is protected, even if you’re no longer around to provide for them. On the other hand, health insurance serves as a vital tool for mitigating the risks associated with rising medical expenses. From routine check-ups to unforeseen emergencies, health insurance provides peace of mind, allowing you to prioritise your health and well-being without financial strain.

2. Make an Emergency Fund

Emergency funds are a wonderful financial gift to make your partner understand and start maintaining a rainy-day fund. This includes not only the basics like rent and utility bills but also loan EMIs, monthly contributions to investments such as SIPs (Systematic Investment Plans), insurance premiums, and any other mandatory recurring expenses that you incur each month. As a general rule of thumb, financial experts often recommend that an emergency fund should ideally be equivalent to at least three to six months’ worth of your salary. This provides a comfortable buffer to cover expenses in case of job loss, unexpected medical bills, or other emergencies without having to dip into your long-term savings or resort to high-interest debt.

3. Invest in Digital Gold

Instead of opting for physical gold gifts like bars, coins, or jewellery for your partner, consider alternative options such as investing in sovereign gold bonds (SGBs), gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or a gold savings fund. SGBs, issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the government, are available in denominations of 1 gram of gold or multiples thereof, with a tenure of eight years. Investors have the option to exit at the end of the fifth year on the interest payment date. Additionally, SGBs are tradable on the exchange, albeit with a lock-in period until they reach five years of age. Both gold ETFs and gold savings funds offer convenient ways to invest in gold without the hassle of physical storage or concerns about theft.

4. Invest in Mutual Funds and SIP’s

One of the best financial gifts you can give to your partner is encouraging him or her to start investing in mutual funds through the SIP route. SIP, or Systematic Investment Plan, is a promising mode of investing in mutual fund schemes. One of the key benefits of SIP is its ability to leverage rupee-cost averaging. With this strategy, you purchase more units of a mutual fund when prices are low and fewer units when prices are high. Over time, this helps to smooth out the impact of market fluctuations, potentially reducing the overall risk of investing in volatile markets.