I didn’t grow up hearing words like “mutual funds,” “F&O,” or “capital gains” at the dinner table. My mother didn’t talk about the stock market, nor did she read finance columns. And yet she taught me more about financial security that I now enjoy as an entrepreneur.
A lot of women I knew never sat in on investment discussions. Never asked for financial advice. I am no exception, and honestly there are many like us.
My mother never spoke about returns, yet she could calculate EMIs faster than my father could pull out the calculator. She saved in gold, but never missed grocery bills. In retrospect, I now know that the little change she slyly tucked away every month was her SIP.
Little did she understand investment like we do today, but she still saved regularly so we’d never have to borrow. Growing up, I always assumed my father was the investor, planner, and head of our home.
But after running a business and managing money myself, I see things a lot more clearly. She had a better sense of money than most of us with finance apps ever will. Turns out she was the original portfolio manager of our home. We just didn’t have a name for it back then.
Here’s how she did it:
Gold Before Goals
During my wedding, I remember my father jokingly tease my mother. ‘You and your obsession for gold’ he said . She smiled and quietly went to her trusty Godrej Almirah, the one that mysteriously kept our family afloat more times than I can count.
It was her emergency fund. That cupboard which she brought from her parent’s home didn’t just hold jewellery. It held my school fees during a tight month. It held dignity, when things got rough and there was no one to ask.
Yes, we mock an Indian woman’s obsession with gold. But today, my frugal mother has won the big bet. Gold is at a staggering price of Rs.1 lakh for 10 grams!
She bought it to protect us. To hold value in her name, like we do with insurance. Quietly and consistently. At the time, I didn’t get it. But as a mother myself, today I understand that was strategy.
Gold wasn’t her indulgence. It was her way of saying, “If things ever get rough, I’ve got us.”
The Anti-F&O Mindset
When I first heard about Futures & Options a few years ago, I was intrigued. My friend introduced me to the world of stocks. You could make money off volatility itself. I felt like a child in a candy store, I had watched this world from afar but never had the courage to enter.
So one day, at the dinner table I discussed this with my father. From the corner of the eye I saw my mother eavesdropping, not a word, just a sigh. I knew she would refute the idea. So, I kept her out of it. Fast forward to a few months ago, I lost money but learnt a valuable lesson. One that my mother tried to teach me all her life. Stop chasing fast money.
I’m not against investing in the market or taking risks. It’s a great instrument if you have a deep understanding of market movement, risk tolerance and strategic planning. I had neither and nor did my mother.
She was never reckless. Not because she feared finance, but because she understood the cost of loss. Her calculations were her survival math, simple and real.
Real Needs Over Imagined Returns
I’ll never forget the year my father got a big bonus. He wanted to upgrade the car. My mother wanted to fix the leaking roof.
He won. The car came home. So did the leakages a week later. It was the first time I noticed the difference between spending and solving. For her, money wasn’t for status. It was for stability.
Today, when my daughter convinces me to upgrade my phone, I find myself investing in better tools for my business. Not because I don’t feel the itch, but because I grew up watching someone who knew the difference between desire and necessity.
Her voice stuck through the noise and now I pause before clicking ‘add to cart’. It was her small life lessons in delayed gratification that taught me to build a better tomorrow for myself today.
The Stash Behind the Pickle Jars
Oddly enough, this quiet money mindset trickled down generations. During my summer holidays at my maternal grandmother’s home, I saw something that stayed with me throughout my adulthood. My grandmother never had a bank account, yet she always had enough.
Enough to lend without interest. Enough to help without asking. She stored cash in old tins, stitched pockets into her sarees, and saved every ₹10 note she found untouched at the end of the week. It was her liquidity.
Today I may use Excel sheets and budgeting tools to manage my finances. But it was my grandmother who taught me that having a high-interest savings account to stash for my goals serves the same purpose.
Her quiet, low-risk fixed-income fund may not have given high- returns, but it gave her something more: to protect her family when they needed it most.
Children Before Portfolios
They didn’t have financial advisory. But they had advice passed down over chai.
Like the neighbour who put aside ₹100 every week, not for a mutual fund, but to ensure her daughter could buy her own scooty without asking anyone.
Or my aunt, who gave English tuition from home and used that money to slowly build a fixed deposit that paid for her son’s MBA.
They may not have known terms like “diversification” or “corpus”, but they knew what it meant to sleep well knowing their children were covered.
Today, we chase high returns. They chased stability.
And somehow, they always had enough, not because of what they earned, but because of what they prioritised.
Modern Tools, Ancient Wisdom
Today, I use SIPs, PPFs, digital gold, health insurance, and UPI apps. But my foundation was built by women who used envelopes, bangle boxes, and ledgers.
They taught me that investing isn’t about being aggressive. It’s about being aware.
That risk is not a sport. It’s a responsibility.
That wealth is not what you show. It’s what you save for others.
So while I track my investments with dashboards, I still remember the pickle jar.
And every time I pause before an impulse spend, I think of my mother’s lessons. That, right there, is financial wisdom. And it’s priceless.
Note:
The purpose of this article is to share insights, data points, and thought-provoking perspectives on investing. It is not investment advice. If you wish to act on any investment idea, you are strongly advised to consult a qualified advisor. This article is strictly for educational purposes. The views expressed are personal and do not reflect those of my current or past employers.
Sneha Virmani is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience. She is an alumna of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University (Economics & Psychology). Sneha specialises in storytelling-led content strategies and consumer education campaigns. Her work brings context and clarity, with a no-jargon approach designed to engage everyday readers.