#TakeCharge Of Your Finances With The MoneyMile

In a pioneering move towards increasing financial literacy across the country, award winning veteran business journalist Vivek Law, leading financial journalist Mitali Mukherjee and well known certified financial planner Surya Bhatia launched The MoneyMile  – India’s first multi-platform personal finance offering.

Co-founder and editor, Mitali Mukherjee shares about The MoneyMile, the importance of empowering people for making mindful money decisions and educating them on  doubling their moolah. Mainly, how can we understand all about investments.

Early life And The Shift To The MoneyMile

“I’m an Army kid and I think if I were to number the things I’m grateful for in life, this would go right on top. 

I was a pretty focussed young adult and I was quite certain I wanted to be a journalist. So after college hours, I would work as an intern in a small News TV Channel, learning the ropes. 

I went on to study Television journalism at The Indian Institute of Mass Communication , where I topped the entrance exam and graduated as a gold medallist. 

So the last 16 years or more have been spent in various parts of the TV News Universe, where I’ve worked with the TV Today Group, Doordarshan and Network 18. 

My previous stint lasted more than a decade tracking and commentating on the stock markets at CNBC TV18. 

What stayed with me were the numerous interactions I had with investors and viewers who wanted to understand the world of saving better , but were often either ill-equipped or worse, ill-advised.

Money Mile & About Its Core Team

All credit goes to Vivek for thinking of building and creating a tool like this. He was convinced we needed to find a mechanism that reached out to as many people as possible - and we firmly believe digital has the power to do that, and create awareness about the financial choices people make and how they could be better informed. 

Vivek reached out to me, Surya and Sumit, and I think for all of us, the idea struck a chord in terms of it’s potential to empower so many people who may not have the money or acumen to access solid financial advice.

Financial Literacy In Indians, Especially Among Women

The optimist in me would like to think it’s changing. I think we have a long way to go though. 

There are so many working women who are expected to simply hand over their monthly earnings at the start of the month to the “family head”. Or women who are encouraged to “buy a pair of gold bangles “ with their savings. 

But financial education is not a privilege, it’s a right. 

Every woman has the right to make informed choices about her money and how she can save it, or use it, or get the maximum gains from it. 

It’s also important to understand that we need to put ourselves first with our financial choices too. And being wise about our money is a key cornerstone to a fuller life. 

I am very enthused by the number of women who have already reached out and said they’re excited about MoneyMile and want to know more about how to save.

What Holds Back Women In Taking Decisions About Their Finance

I wish I had an easy answer to this , unfortunately it’s not because of one particular reason or the other. It’s a socio - cultural setup, it’s perception about who handles money or is the decision maker about money in a household. And it’s also simply because they don't have access to the  right information. 

I think here’s where MoneyMile comes in and can make a difference. We want to first of all break a lot of myths about money and personal finance and second, we want good financial advice to reach out to as many people as possible, especially women.

Getting Outta The Trap Of “Gullak-Gold & FD”

Any basic search will throw up what options like gold and fixed deposits have given you in terms of returns in the last 5 to 7 years. Inflation adjusted, you could even have lost money on some of these choices. I think people need to be shown options and more importantly , they need to understand what these options involve. 

Finance and financial education tends to throw so much jargon at people, that they often panic even before they hear what the investment option is about!

We live in an age where information needs to be simple, MoneyMile is also going to be very video heavy, as we believe videos are increasingly the preferred option for people consuming information online.

I strongly believe if you empower the woman of a household to make the right financial choices, you have empowered an entire family. MoneyMile wants to use it’s insight digitally and also through various other mediums. 

The vision of MoneyMile is really empowerment and I am really charged up to further that vision with women from all walks of life.