Women selflessly take care of their children despite any hardship they may be going through. They are our first teacher, friend, confidant and much more and for this we should try to dedicate each and every day to them. Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May honouring motherhood. Flowers, cards, chocolate, clothes and jewellery are some of the gifts that you would give your mother on this day, they no doubt are wonderful and will bring a bright smile on your mother’s face. To add more value and thoughtfulness to this, why not include some financial gifts that will last beyond that day.

• Make her financially tech savvy – Introduce your mother to the digital world of financial banking.  Install the mobile app of her bank, teach her the ease of net banking, online shopping (albeit after cautioning on how to safely pay for them) or an app to do her budgeting – track all her bills and expenses and savings. This will make her independent and self reliant
• Mutual Funds – Explain her the nuances of investing in Mutual Funds and as per her requirement can fund an investment in a balanced mutual fund scheme that is open ended and she can redeem it (subject to exit load and taxation) when she wants to fulfil any of her wishes or in time of need
• Start a SIP – Systematic Invest Plans came into existence much later, our mothers’ are the pioneers of SIP, they judiciously saved money from household expenses every month with a goal in mind and managed achieve it, be it a new saree for herself, her mother or mother in law, new shoes for her children, a dance class, a million things like these. So a SIP that can be funded by you and your siblings would be a good gift for her
• Starting a Holiday Fund – Our parents spent most of their time meeting our needs and desire putting their desire on the back burner. Now is the time to pay back by funding for their dream holiday. Even if it’s a part of it, it will help them to go on the vacation sooner than expected.
• Medical Insurance/Health check up – As she ages, medical coverage is important; ailments kind of become her new guests. This will cover a lot of expense and not deplete her savings. If she already has one, then sponsor the yearly health check up for her which is very important and mandatory to keep track of her health.
• Help her realise her passion – Your mother may have cherished a dream of doing something – like learning to paint, starting a online cookery class or yoga class, sharing her knowledge on gardening, learning to sing or playing an instrument. You can either fund her class or help setup the online classes for her, the joy that you will share with her will be priceless.

These are some suggestions that can make this Mother’s Day all the more memorable. There are no words that can express your gratitude to your mother but these gestures convey the same feelings. Making her financially independent can give her the confidence to achieve or pursue her dreams.