Harmanpreet Kaur: The Game Changer

When people think of today’s youth, they often consider them as restless, irresponsible and given to excess. But does the reality match these stereotypes? Not always. Positive stories about young people do exist—consider, for example, the entrepreneurial whiz kids who’ve surged into the world of start-ups and made it big. Today, it’s the youth with their self-assurance, business sense, technological know-how and lifestyle decisions who are demonstrating how to live life in the 21st century. They all have dreams or goals—that pot at the end of the rainbow—and the tendency to start every project with a vision and a plan. Just like Harmanpreet Kaur who has drawn acclaim for her historic innings of 171 runs against Australia in the semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup.

At 28, Harmanpreet is already an inspiration for India’s youth, and is firing many a dream. The secret to her success perhaps lies in her early start. As a little girl, Harmanpreet would practise for hours on end. The first cricket lessons of her life were always against the boys in the streets, and she would sweat it out with her dupatta neatly tied around her waist. Thankfully, her incandescent batting stood her in good stead and brought her success way beyond expectations—fulfilling first, her dream of wearing India’s iconic blue kit, and later, adding the history-making innings to her name.

Many have compared her innings in the semi-final to some of the best in India’s ODI history. Remember Kapil Dev's 175 innings against Zimbabwe in the Men's World Cup in 1983? Yes, as historic as that! Not that Harmanpreet has achieved anything less in the past: She was the captain when her team won the Women's Asia Cup T20 tournament. And now, she’s all set to receive the Arjuna Award from the president of India!

However, there’s one more major ingredient in her recipe for success that cannot be missed: careful planning. Harmanpreet says, “You cannot succeed by simply thinking or having a wish. For that, you have to think, plan and work responsibly.” Indeed, having the right plan is something that she does diligently, not just before entering the cricket pitch, but on the financial front too.

The youth have it made. They have their entire lives ahead of them and sufficient time to plan for retirement. The trouble is that few actually plan. Harmanpreet is one of those few. She learnt the importance of saving while growing up, and around five years ago, began putting aside some money every month to buy a bigger house for her family. She reveals, “Earlier, the house we lived in was small. I always wanted to buy a bigger house for my parents.” Her entire family, she says, had already pictured where they should be living in their fantasies. She says, “My family had in mind how their dream home should be; for starters, there had to be an ample garden area and parking. So I began saving money to buy our dream house. Now, we have that house.”

It’s good to know that Harmanpreet is achieving her financial goals, and has started early enough. Any other financial goals she is looking to achieve in the future? She reveals, “My father and brother are crazy about cars; we are saving money for that. At the end of the day, the goal is to save enough money so that the dreams of the entire family can be fulfilled.” In just her 20s, Harmanpreet is a responsible individual, and already setting the right example when it comes to managing finances. Who’s helping her navigate the tricky waters of personal finance? She states, “While I am fairly knowledgeable about how to manage my money, my family, especially my father, as well as my CA help me with financial planning.”

If you're lucky, like Harmanpreet, your parents would have taught you financial planning while you were growing up. If not, keep in mind that the sooner you learn this fine art, the sooner you'll find it easy to keep your finances in order.

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Don’t miss this video of our exclusive interview with Harmanpreet Kaur: