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A crypto-enthusiast and stock-aficionado, she considers business to be an intellectual sport. She developed a knack over the concepts of finance, taxation and investment while pursuing her MBA in Finance, and went on to work with several corporate organisations such as Paytm, Groww, Amazon, CoinSwitch, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank to take that learning further. After gaining vast experience, the zestful Neha Nagar, Founder & CEO –TaxationHelp.in, decided to put it to good use to help others and founded TaxationHelp.in – a technology-driven platform, offering services that cover the legal needs of start-ups and established businesses.
Wanting to make use of the time she had at hand during the lockdowns rather than be idle, Nagar thought of creating easy-to-understand and unique content around taxation and government schemes and share it on social media. Soon enough, she started getting queries about investments, one thing led to another, and the rest as they say, is history. Today, she has a fanbase of close to 4.7 million followers across social media platforms.
Delivering content ranging from finance, crypto-currency and taxation to stock markets, trading and government funding schemes, Nagar aspires to extend and encourage financial literacy to all through social media.
We caught up with her to learn about her unique content.
Did you have a knack for finance or worked towards building your knowledge? Do tell our readers about the importance of building sound knowledge around finance, investments, and taxation.
In school, we were informed about chartered accountancy (CA) being a very prestigious and respected profession. Following that, I started exploring and became interested in accounting, taxes and auditing. Since I couldn’t clear the CA exam, I pursued an internship in finance, pursued my MBA and later worked at IIFL securities for a year.
We human beings tend to focus on earning more from our job, business or profession, but ignore the fact that we can make a lot more from our already earned money. Whatever we earn, we can grow that effectively to achieve our goals.
To achieve those goals, we must understand concepts like inflation and investing among many others. Understanding these concepts can save us a lot, annually. Savings will not make us achieve our goals, financial planning will.
Have you ever thought you are being taken less seriously because of your gender?
I have experienced the gender bias in finance world; women in general are taken less seriously. Some clients wouldn’t entertain a young woman talking about investment. Later, I felt it when I started my own tax firm; a woman giving lectures on saving taxes is not appreciated. But then I also found that if you focus on quality work, gender bias will not affect you. I soon realised, if that woman has confidence and consistency; people will accept her suggestions and advice sooner or later.
In your experience, why do you think women (even those who have been earning for long) have a mental block towards handling finance and turn to a male relative at home for help?
Yes, I have always felt that in our society. The earning capacity has got nothing to do with managing finances. Women often ask their brothers, husbands or fathers to manage finances. I come from a from a village and have seen women being dependent on men for finances. It’s the men who decide where to park money, where to buy a house or how to use money. We have been raised that way, asking for advice, permission before making financial decisions. It has been always there.
What’s the most essential request you have gotten on comments?
Explain concepts like inflation, compounding and how stock market works.
How do you handle trolls?
It’s difficult because I make most of my content on Instagram, where people want to get entertained. I have, however, learnt that ignoring negativity helps. I used to get upset and respond, but I know now that’s not the solution. I have started focusing on the positive comments and my journey ahead.
Does your gender form a hindrance in your social media audience taking your seriously for the field you work in?
Yes, it does. I receive such comments daily like “you should make dancing videos, leave finance on us”, “Why are you giving expertise if you’re not billionaire”, etc. There are comments on my voice, rather than attention towards information. Finance content was not a lot out there in 2020 so yes, since it being new to social media content, it did attract a bit of negativity.
According to you, at what age should financial literacy be introduced to children? How can one go about it?
In most developed countries, financial literacy is part of the high school/ junior college curriculum. Structuring financial lessons at an early age (14-16 years) will not only help children develop the right attitude towards money, saving, and investment, but also enable them to manage their finances efficiently and optimise the use of their resources.
What are your top tips to turn losses into opportunities?
We should realise what we have lost and then think of ways to move ahead. Like if some stocks turn out to be wealth destroyers, then we get some lessons here. One needs to know what wealth destroyers look like, and how not to repeat these mistakes again. Losses are opportunities to learn and grow. I have failed in making my career choices; I kept learning from all the mistakes because I knew where I wanted to go.
What should a person who is starting out to invest keep in mind?
One should keep their financial goals and risk capacity in mind. We start investing immediately after watching videos, but one must make a financial plan before doing so. When you invest, know when to stop and when to continue.
How can college students start investing when they can barely survive on their pocket money?
Investing isn’t about lot of money; one can start investing from Rs 100. If you are a college student, keep hustling for sources of income but also start monthly SIP of Rs 100 into mutual funds or stocks so that if you decide to start a business or higher studies, you will have some corpus ready.
Leave our readers with your topmost thought on financial literacy.
If we make and follow a financial plan, then we shall be financially free.
All images courtesy: Neha Nagar
Also Read: Focus On Building Professional Skills: Shreyasi Singh, Founder, Harappa
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