Women achievers like Indu Bhatnagar prove that age is no bar. See how she overcame her challenges to become financially independent and a financial wizard at 80.
Age is no bar for women achievers like Indu Bhatnagar, a charming 80-year old lady who overcame her challenges with grit and determination to become a financial wizard at 80.
Most women are complaining about fine lines, crow’s feet, wrinkles, dry skin, aches, pains, loneliness and depression at 80 years. While these are normal signs of ageing, they shouldn’t become a spoke in the wheel of a normal and happy life.
Eighty-year old Indu Bhatnagar can give most people a run for their money in the way she has created a healthy, happy lifestyle to live life king-size. This lady achiever epitomises both grace and intelligence and lives life on her own terms, keeping her interests alive.
While there are many women achievers in different fields, Ms Bhatnagar has proved there is no age bar to become a strong, independent woman.
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Overcoming Life’s Challenges With Grace
It was Maya Angelou who said, “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter defeats. So you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
Indu Bhatnagar is a charming 80-year old lady of grit and a female achiever who has donned several hats to navigate her life with elan.
This octogenarian lady lives by the axiom, Carpe Diem (Seize the Day), which means one should enjoy life while one can. No one knows what life holds for you. She has seen it all and faced all of life’s vicissitudes with grace and wisdom.
Nature threw curveballs at her in the form of a husband battling a grave illness as she entered her sunset years. Although her husband passed away at the age of 57, his untimely demise didn’t break her.
Instead, it made her even more determined to face the challenges of life head-on. She picked up different hobbies, did social-work and also joined several clubs to work for the benefit of society.
Living Life On Her Own Terms
Ms Bhatnagar has held the portfolio of the President of Sociocultural Association of East Delhi, a society with 110 active members ranging from homemakers to professionals.
Presently she is an active member of the All India Council of Women’s Development that works for the upliftment of rural teenage girls by teaching them ways to solve their day-to-day problems.
These girls come from a conservative background and find it difficult to share and solve their issues with the help of their parents or siblings, so the Council holds workshops to counsel them.
Eminent doctors give them talks on wellness to help them lead a happy and healthy life. Along with this Ms Bhatnagar is an active member of the Managing Committee of her residential colony.
While her husband was alive they stayed in Mumbai in a company house and once the girls were married the couple shifted to Delhi to build their own house.
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Learning How To Invest Money And Grow Wealth
Her husband was an engineer by profession and started his own consultancy but lacked the business acumen to be successful in his venture. Soon he was engulfed by grave health issues and Ms Bhatnagar stepped in to stem the flow of their dwindling finances.
She started reading about financial investments and financial schemes and found that she had the ability to multiply her finances. It was during this period that she lost her husband and now fell on her the responsibility of surviving alone.
She wanted to live life on her own terms instead of living with her children and had the Midas touch to make her money grow.
She first started investing in bank fixed deposits through cumulative means in which one earns an interest and money multiplies. Since these cumulative deposits were taxable, she turned to equity investing through various mutual funds.
She invested in mutual funds according to her risk appetite i.e. 60% in fixed assets and 40% in equity to multiply and take advantage of the booming market. Today she is happy and content, as these investments have given her a comfortable lifestyle and income with sizable savings.
Presently she has a portfolio of mutual funds of large-cap, small-cap and multi-cap funds, and boasts of having hybrid and arbitrage mutual funds which balance money according to the market ups and downs.
She keeps abreast of the daily equity stock watch, Sensex jumps and drops by reading financial magazines and newspaper articles. She believes mutual funds are the safer route to enter the share or equity market.
Financial wizard, Indu Bhatnagar is proud of her excellent investment skills, and rightfully so. She gave us some insights into investing wisely to double our money and shared various schemes where one can invest as she has done.
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Indu Bhatnagar’s Tips To Invest Wisely
Investing in mutual funds can fetch better returns as compared to bank fixed deposits along with tax savings. The market has all kinds of mutual funds where one can invest one’s finances but she recommends investing according to one’s risk-taking appetite.
Here are some of Ms Bhatnagar’s investment tips:
- Large-cap funds are with less risk less gain
- Mid-cap funds have medium risk gain
- Small-cap funds have a high risk and high gain
When there’s a boom in the markets, one should invest only in debt funds and not in equity. One should switch to equity through a systematic transfer plan (STP).
Balanced funds are financial instruments in which the investment is automatically balanced in equity and debt markets. Ms Bhatnagar has invested in a 60:40 ratio and is happy with the returns she gets.
Both equity and debt funds comprise short term, medium terms and long term funds as needed.
- Bond funds come under the debt funds category
- Indexation terms are good for taxation purposes
- FMPs are fixed maturity plans for different periods
Arbitrage funds are a very safe bet for one’s investment to grow within a time span with minimum risk.
She also recommends investing in SIPs or systematic investment plans in which one can invest in the equity market monthly and recommends drawing money from one’s bank account and purchasing units of that mutual fund according to the NAV (Net Asset Value) of the equity market.
Indu Bhatnagar is a true SHEROES woman and epitomizes the words of J. K. Rowling who said, “Anything is possible if you have the nerve.”
Ms Bhatnagar leads a disciplined life, following a healthy regimen that includes a morning walk, meditation, eating meals at proper times, reading, listening to music, learning Reiki and social networking.
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish,” said Michelle Obama, and this is true of Ms Indu Bhatnagar, a unique woman achiever in the world.
Woman achievers like her are an inspiration for all women who want to become financially independent, as she learned how to manage her finances independently as well as found the time to follow her passions.
Author bio:
Preeti Talwar has a PhD in Zoology and has donned several hats from working as a Research Associate, Proofreader, Creative Writer, Edu-advisor and Content Writer. She has 6 years of content writing experience under her belt and is published on LitGleam magazine, The Countrysquire Magazine, Uk20, Different Truths and other national and international publications. You can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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Hats off to the grand lady ! Age seems to be just a number for her .. much learn from her -and also gain from financial acumen.
Also kudos to Preeti for this beautiful write up .