No fail ways to Maximise your Earnings

Lady, just by being a woman, chances are that you earn less than a man in the same role as you! This is called the Gender Pay Gap and is a proven statistic. As a country, we rank 108th in the Gender Pay Gap and earn about 20% less than men (Source World Economic Forum- 2018). With the COVID crisis, this is set to increase even further. So we have no choice but to “up” our quotient at least 1.5 times!  Worried? Don’t be because we got you covered! Read on..

Employed Professional

Negotiate the right pay-Benchmark with peers within and outside the company. Are you at par or if below then why? Women normally don’t ask for a raise. An interesting study published in Harvard Business Review also highlights the fact that half of the men had negotiated their job offers as compared to only one-eighth of the women.

Build your brand and Career Path-Continuous consistent quality work will raise your value. Charting a clear career path with defined milestones along with indicative bonus, incentives and raise is a good motivator. If your organization doesn’t provide it, ask for it. 

Be penny wise-Opt for EPF, Mediclaim and any other benefits that your company offers. An Insurance premium that your employer subsidises help greater risk cover. EPF(Employee Provident fund) is a good investment tool that helps build a corpus for retirement. 

Be Tax efficient-Discuss with HR the most tax-efficient structuring of your package. Larger organizations do not give this flexibility, but smaller/boutique companies are more open to personalized salary structures. 

Self-employed

Stay Lean-When the going is good, we tend to build a lot of flab in terms of costs. Make reducing overheads a continuous process. There is always space to cut costs.

Lower Fixed costs-Structure as much of your costs as possible into a variable model. This helps in greater productivity and efficiency and also reduces burden during cyclical downtrends. 

Capital Management-Have an ideal debt-equity ratio and stay as debt-free as you can to save on interest costs. Working capital management by effective measures like inventory management, variable pay structures and lower overheads will ensure larger margins.  

Thumb rules for everyone 

Build multiple income streams – invest and diversify your money to add to the main income

Upskill – Enhancement by way of education, courses and seminars will keep you ahead of the curve and hence greater opportunities.

Spend and save efficiently- at LXME, we call this being “Smart and Samajhdaar”. Remember every tiny drop makes an ocean. 

Do an appropriate asset allocation with some investment in Equity – Over a long term period, an addition of equity by way of mutual funds of direct equity has always given a higher return on your portfolio.