Should you be a housewife?
So many young girls in their 20s and early 30s are faced with this question about 6 months into their pregnancy. It is not an easy question to answer, but answer they must!!
Take a typical girl who has had a nice happy childhood. Her dad met all her financial requirements (no problem picking money off dad’s purse for any purchase). Then they graduated (they shared all the bills with their friends – girls or boys). Then they got a nice job and told dad “Here dad this perfume, shirt, watch, tickets to Singapore, ..car….is for YOU, and I bought it out of MY earnings”.
Then came marriage.
Then came life with a new person. Very nice, very understanding. A complete sweet heart. However she is Independent. She will NOT ask him for money (dammit I earn as much as him or more than him!).
For the past 5 years she did not have to ask anybody for any money. She just swiped her card. She just went to the ATM.
She bought gifts for her dad, mom, sis, friends. Attended friends weddings. She flew to Cuttack, Lucknow, Bhilwara, – to attend weddings.
Now she is pregnant. Should she stop earning?
Who will pay for that gift? For that phone she thinks her Dad deserves? For that ‘little’ cousin who is graduating next week? For that servant who has been working in her mother’s house for 22 years?
Will she ask her husband? The question is not whether he will give. The question is will she ask?
Will it be as smooth?
Create a source of cash flow. Make sure when you are working you save money. Say Rs. 1 million or at least Rs. 500,000 – girls this is a MUST. Keep it in a Long Term MIP…in the growth option. Whenever you need money do a smart withdrawal. If you think it is dipping ask your beloved husband to top it up.
Let us say it had Rs. 1 million. You could easily withdraw say Rs. 6k a month. or about Rs. 70k a year. Use it ONLY, ONLY, and ONLY for your personal whims and fancies. You will feel comfortable that you are using your money. Remember NOTHING from this should be spent on buying gifts for your kid, husband, house, etc – that is his responsibility, right?
Now let me wait for the brickbats from the guys.
MRHDK2012
Good one Subra!
You are encouraging people to go for advanced level of thinking.
akshat
Should one do lumpsum or SIP investments in MIP ? Currently wife has a lot of FDs but income is below taxation limits. How do FDs compare wrt to MIPs when no taxes are involved ?
subra
even if there are no taxes bonds are better than fixed deposits because at this point in time the bonds are slated for some decent appreciation over a longish period of time…say 3 years.
accounting wise bond funds are easy – you do not have to worry about TDS going into different Asst. Years…
tks
from the reading of the subject line, it looks like the objective of the article is to help one choose (being a housewife vs. working). However, the content relates to what one should do if one wants to be a housewife. Nevertheless, the idea is fantastic! This way, one does not have to answer qns regarding silly purchases… frequency of refilling the deposit can decide how smoothly this will work (different men have different thresholds)
Srinivas
>>If you think it is dipping ask your beloved husband to top it up.
I thought the point was to be independent. Do you mean taking a loan from husband?
Abhi
Poor husband!! He will never receive a gift till children are old enough to earn. And supposedly wife is pregnant now so it means waiting at least 22 years for a gift. LoL
If only all wives would follow this. Mine and most of my friends wives belong to a different category – no kharcha from wife account and ALL the kharcha from husband’s account including her trips and her father’s gift.
I don’t mind though as I don’t see it as my or her money. It is all our money and as long as we stay within our budget, it doesn’t matter whose account gets debited.
subra
of course being independent. If she is paid a fair salary for doing her job as a ‘wife’. Say 50k a month? She cannot work at home ONLY and be financially independent, right?
Cooldatingguy
Partly i agree to this. however this way we are creating ego “wall” between husband and wife, as such many such disagreement exists without this.I view it in slightly different angle, if my wife asks me anything within her limits, I will be more than happy to give her. but at the same time it should not be “Fizool” kharch. this will ensure the bond between husband and wife become stronger as each day passes. and i as husband will feel very happy that my wife is with me all the time rather than she buying some expensive gifts to her ‘xyz’ friend from her kitty without knowledge of husband – after all husbands remain with wives for life and not friends or relatives.
Srinivasan
Subra Sir,
How did you arrive at Rs.50000 per month for wife for a house role ? This seems too high amount. What if the husband earns only Rs.20000 per month?. What if the wife even if she works 2 shifts outside home, can’t earn more than 20000 per month. ? A cook is available for Rs.5000/- or less per month. A cleaning maid is available at Rs 1000/- per month. Sex, you may argue is a favour from wife to husband. But I would say, a woman also needs it and enjoys it. So no charges for sex to wife. (Mind you – A prostitue is available from Rs 1000/- to few lakhs per day. A husband doesn’t/can’t do sex all 30 days a month.) Subra sir, you are a hard core feminist 🙂 and mighty biased against men 🙂 . I believe you do not have a boy child 🙂
Deepak
Hi Subra, Good one.
By withdraw do you mean that wife has to sell some units of MIP very month to get a “monthly salary” or you meant dividends every months.
Thanks
Deepak