The fact is that women (generally) lack confidence with investing.
Why? Because a lot of money and their financial security in retirement is at stake. We all know money is power, and women won’t be equal with men until we are financially equal with men. Getting more money into the hands of women is good for women, but it’s also good for their families, as well as for the economy and for society as a whole.
One of the key facts is that women who invest outperform their male counterparts because they make better choices about risk… According to a survey done by Kiplinger in 2020 to gather insights into women’s attitudes and behaviors when it comes to managing their finances, and more specifically investing. On average, women earn 4 basis points more than men annually. That can add up to even tens of thousands of dollars over time. According to the same study, 67% of women are investing outside of retirement, this stat is up from two years prior in 2018 that 44% of women were investing “outside” of retirement. This means we are taking a seat at the investing table!
Additionally, 42% of the women interviewed reported having more to invest than what they had since before the start of the pandemic. 1 in 5 women report making first-time investments in new asset classes in the past year. Also, 9 in 10 women plan to take steps within the next 12 months to help their money work harder and grow. Taking an interest and following through with it will be the change we need to be the change we want to see in our lives. Here’s a fact I love to share, Today women control a third of the wealth here in the US, which totals 10 trillion. By 2030 women will control as much as 30 trillion in financial assets, a significant transfer of wealth.
The study showed that in terms of making the money ‘grow,’ 64% of women would like to be more active in their finances, including investment decisions. So what’s holding them back? 70% of women say to invest they would need to know more about picking individual stocks, and 65% say they’d be more likely to invest (or invest more) if only they knew what clear steps it would take in order to do so.
Moreover, 77% of the women in the study believed that if they had a Wealth Management professional to help them invest, they’d be more confident about their financial future. 71% said once they set up a financial plan they felt more confident!
All this to say, the gap is shrinking quite a bit, and women of all ages are becoming more confident now. Many would aargue that the pandemic has played a role in the increase in confidence among women with the last couple of years having been as challenging as they were. For women who wanted to improve their knowledge of financial things like investing, debt management or retirement planning, there were many ways to access the information online in a way that didn’t mean revealing they were novices, and they took advantage. You can too!
It’s perfectly okay to start small — such as investing only $100 a month — as long as you get started. Start by spending some time learning about the things that will help you reach your goals, whether that’s through learning about savings, debt management, budgeting, or any other financial topic. Remember, “knowledge is power,” you just need to take the first step.
