As we near the end of each month, many of us look at our wallets with guilt and regret. We wish we had saved some of our hard-earned money instead of spending it all. The importance of investing, budgeting, and saving money has gained a lot of popularity among GenZers and millennials. However, despite pursuing degrees, many of us lack basic knowledge in finance, leaving us feeling lost in a world where financial literacy is becoming increasingly important.
Thankfully, Sayali Rai and Niyati Thaker have created FinCocktail, a community dedicated to contributing towards financial literacy in India. Sayali, who holds a BSc degree in Finance from NYU Stern School and an MBA in Finance from Babson College, worked as an investment analyst for Citibank. Meanwhile, Niyati is a BBA from Kingston University and has completed all three levels of CFA, with a career at ASK Wealth Advisor.
It was during a dinner with friends that Sayali realized just how clueless her girlfriends were about personal finance. Inspired by this, she decided to start FinCocktail with her childhood friend Niyati. As the name suggests, FinCocktail is a mix and match of a variety of financial concepts, ranging from basic investing techniques to financial news and different ways to build financial assets. The financial portal offers free content on social platforms like Twitter, Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube. They also offer personal financial consultations, webinars, and seminars.
To demystify finance among youth and encourage them to build a varied financial portfolio, FinCocktail follows a simple approach for their content by raising questions like “Should everyone invest in gold?” and “How many EMIs are too many?” and answering them for the audience.
In an interview with currentMood mag, Sayali from FinCocktail shared how financial literacy is relevant at the moment and how one can kickstart from the basics. With their user-friendly approach to financial literacy, FinCocktail is making finance accessible to everyone, regardless of their educational background. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, FinCocktail has something for everyone, and their commitment to financial literacy is truly commendable.
cM – How did you develop your expertise in personal finance and what motivated you to become a finance influencer on social media?
Sayali – After getting my degree I worked as an investment analyst. I decided that I want to get out on my own and in the midst of figuring out I decided to go ahead and start this page. Niyati has been a wealth advisor for over five years. Honestly, we had no plan of being finance influencers, we just wanted to spread knowledge. We realised that there is a massive gap in the kind of knowledge that investors should have and what actually exists. Our content gradually evolved into influential resources as people resonated with our expertise.
cM – What are some common misconceptions or myths about managing personal finances that you often come across on social media, how do you debunk them?
Sayali – There are a lot of myths about personal finance, especially around the investment opportunities that are available for all of us. We are not taught how to do tax planning or inculcate basic discipline in terms of investing in our lives. I think FinCocktail debunks them by trying to tell people how important it is to involve finance in their day-to-day routine. It is not a one time thing, it is rather something that you have to do constantly and consistently. One needs to understand how crucial time is and how one can compound their wealth overtime if they save and invest in a disciplined manner.
cM – What are some effective ways to improve one’s financial literacy in today’s digital age?
Sayali – Well, we have this great podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube, called ‘Happy Hour’ with FinCocktail, where we have created a roadmap about everything in finance that any beginner should know. In this day and age, there are lots of people creating content on finance. I would advise the readers to make sure that whichever source they choose, ensure that it is a credible source. A little research might help. Finance is a topic that no one can know everything about. It is very much layered and nuanced. You have to keep learning and updating yourself. So even for 5 minutes, if you can read something everyday related to finance, any news article will also work. But yes, from a credible source of course.
“One needs to understand how crucial time is and how one can compound their wealth overtime if they save and invest in a disciplined manner.”
cM – If there is one financial piece of advice you could give our readers, what would it be?
Sayali – It’s very important to not blindly follow advice from anywhere, be it influencers, financial advisors, and especially your relatives. I would advise readers to not listen to everybody. You have to make your own decisions because every single person is different in their financial predicament and situation. You have to pick the right steps for yourself, you have to formulate a plan according to your budget and needs. If one person invested in a financial asset and made a lot of money, it might not work for you because of timing and predicament. The financial goals, liquidity requirements, and risk appetite are different for everyone. Do all your research but make your decision solely on the basis of your requirements.