How to make the most of your yearly bonus

It is appraisal time. Incentives, bonuses and arrears are here. Women love spending hours dreaming about how they are going to spend the windfall. But they give little thought to how they can invest this bonus or an increase in our pay packet.

Times have changed and women have certainly become smart with their money. Nowadays women want to invest in financial instruments, accumulate and create wealth and plan for their sunset years. They want to save for their children's education and marriage, shouldering the responsibility of an earning member. But they don't want to miss out on shopping, gifting or vacationing.

A typical woman, suffering from overspending, needs an expert financial advisor. But first and foremost you should draw an investment roadmap and then set aside some amount for your own consumption.

To begin with, one should sacrifice typical women tendencies of swooning over the solitaire ring on your friend's finger. It may not be a great value addition to your assets. Instead you can park your money in a liquid fund and start the STP (Systematic Transfer Plan). With STP you can invests a lump sum amount in one scheme and regularly switch a pre-defined amount into another scheme of your choice.

Also you can start investing in New Pension Scheme. If you are going to be a mother, you can save that money for the hiatus that motherhood brings along.

As a thumb rule, one should try to clear pending debts like car loan, personal loan or credit card outstanding. Accordingly, you can choose a mix of equity, debt or a combination of both instruments. Thumb rule would be save at least 50 per cent of your income, rest you can plan to splurge on your Zaras and Guccis.

It is said that women tend to live longer than their spouse, hence it becomes all the more important for them to save their money in those instruments which can enable them build corpus for the life time. The nature of expenses is different for different age groups. If you are young and your goals are a decade away then you can invest in mutual funds through STP with 90 per cent equity and 10 per cent debt in your indoor Tracking.

A Photographic Exhibit of Mothers and Daughters,” hangs in the MacDowell Gallery at Reid Hospital in Richmond and will be shown at other sites throughout the year. The exhibition is presented by Girls Inc. of Wayne County, in partnership with Susanna Tanner Photography and sponsor Reid Hospital & Health Care Services.

“The title of the story came to me one day as I was thinking that these images have captured each pair ‘As They Are’ at this moment in time. Right now. Photograph them next year, and the image and the thoughts expressed in text may be different due to growth, experiences, maturity, etc.,” Tanner said.

The image of 17-year-old Richmond High School senior Roshni Brahmbhatti and her mother Neena Brahmbhatti resonated with Tanner because her daughters are teens. Madison Tanner is 15 and Kennedy Tanner is 13.

“It made me think I need to do this with my kids,” Tanner said. “I appreciate the honesty that those people gave in the moment. They (Roshni and Neena) posed together so naturally.”

The Brahmbhattis were volunteers at the Girls Inc. mother-daughter event, serving as representatives of India among booths about different countries and cultures around the world. They were so busy talking with participants, they didn’t realize they, too, could have a portrait taken until nearly the end of the event.

“We didn’t give it a second thought,” Neena said. “They are really nice. I don’t have any of Roshni and myself. We would have never thought to do a photo shoot.”

Roshni said she and her mother are so busy, or they’re spending time as a family with her brothers Kunal, 19, and Parth, 13, that mother and daughter don’t get to spend enough time together. The photograph captures a rare shared moment.

I‘ve wanted to sign up for a Sam’s Club membership for a while but was waiting until I could score a good deal on one. In February, we signed up for a Sam’s card through my husband’s employer. Sam’s was offering a $25 gift card to employees who signed up for the Advantage Plus membership. We paid the $100 up front for the membership and received the $25 gift card.

I love gift cards, and was thrilled at the idea of going on a shopping spree at Sam’s. But how would I recoup the extra $75? I’m not a fan of paying to shop, especially since I get many things free or close to it when I combine a coupon with a sale. Sam’s doesn’t take manufacturers coupons, so I knew that wasn’t an option to help me get the best deal.

Even though I have had the membership since February, I hadn’t used it. I wasn’t quite sure what I could buy at Sam’s that would be a better deal than I could score with my coupons at other stores. I turned to the other savvy shoppers on the Savannah Savvy Shopper Facebook page for their advice.

Here’s the question: Do you have a Sam’s Club membership? If so what do you find great deals on that you couldn’t beat by being a savvy shopper and combining a coupon with a sale?