True love story and a lesson learned.
My mom wanted to be a doctor. It was this ambition that brought her and my dad together back when they attended college. They both had a passion for medicine, and would study for countless hours in order to be accepted into medical school.
Fast forward several years and my dad is a surgeon, while my mom has put aside her medical ambitions to be a homemaker. Life takes over, just as it has for generations of women in the years preceding my mother’s story. And in similar fashion, my mom made sacrifices in order to pursue a different dream, that of raising a family.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing family over professional ambition, but many women must make the sacrifice to put certain parts of their lives on hold in order to foster another. My mother was very happy with her choices.
The problem with this story is that love does not equal respect.
My mother was very qualified, but she wasn’t given equal footing when it came to decision-making in the household. She truly believed that would never change. Then, one day my aunt suggested a simple trick to her: start managing the household finances.
After mild consideration, my mom suggested this idea to my dad. He was shocked. Although he didn’t shoot down the idea he didn’t exactly embrace it. The conversation was rocky at first, but it set the stage for what was to become a series of talks my parents held about their financial future. With each discussion, my mom became more confident about making financial decisions for the family.
They both understood that managing finances is a lot of work, especially for a family usually without money for bread and milk by the end of the month. But that is exactly why it worked out. With my dad working from 4am to 8pm in the night, it wasn’t possible for him to have the diligence and the levelheadedness.
My mom had the discipline and attention to detail that was perfect for this responsibility. She just never had the opportunity to contribute before this.
One simple change, managing our household’s finances, improved my mom’s standing in her little world.
We had a very loving family, don’t get me wrong, however, it was this lesson that illustrated an important life lesson for me.
Love and respect are two very different things. Love is given; respect is earned. I saw that even from members of my family, one must earn respect.
Though the financial world is still heavily dominated by men, it’s sobering to know that it’s a scientific fact women are better at managing money. At least they are in no way worse.
Women make better traders at banks. They also make better portfolio managers at hedge funds. This has nothing to do with smarts learned from books and everything to do with discipline and following through to the end of an endeavor. As you might’ve imagined, success in financial management and investing is a result of hard work.
With this (and many such valuable lessons) from my mother and aunt, I went on to build my career in the financial industry. I was fortunate I got the career I wanted to have. Over time I realized that while financial institutions are getting better, none of that wisdom is being taught to personal investors.
From this inequity, qplum was born. qplum is an online wealth management platform that gives individuals and families the best trading strategies, the best data-science, and an honest approach. qplum is my effort towards helping everybody else use what I have learned in a very profitable trading career.
qplum helps mothers and fathers learn how to manage their family’s money wisely. Whether you simply have a few extra dollars to invest, or you’re ready to take the next step toward financial freedom, qplum was built to meet your family’s growing needs.
The rules to follow today are the same what my mother used:
- Manage finances as a family.
- Keep as much money as possible invested. Don’t let it languish in a bank account earning next to nothing.
Taking the first step is easy with qplum. We help you measure, plan, and ultimately invest so that you can make the most of what you have earned.
