Four Ways Women Can Become Better Investors
Women need to “connect” with investing because we live longer
Women now hold just over half of all professional and managerial positions, but investing skills and confidence haven’t kept pace. According to the research organization Catalyst, women now occupy 50.6% of workplace managerial and professional positions. Yet as investors, women still don’t get involved or they invest too conservatively, leaving money on the table.
- Education. Women growing up are simply not socialized as investors. 76% of women wish they had learned more about investing while growing up. Parents, get your daughters involved.
- Experience. Most women don’t take the investing helm when married.
- Fear. Some 90% of women fear “losing it all,” and even 48% of those with incomes exceeding $100,000 annually cite that fear.
- Adviser Disconnect. Most financial advisers are men, and they’re still geared to talk to men. Most advisers still talk in jargon. There’s still a “tendency to tell women what they want to hear, to comfort them, instead of talking about the opportunities in a situation.”
About 80% to 90% of women will be solely responsible for their finances someday, according to the National Center for Women and Retirement Research. Here’s a fun stat: 96% of men think that financially secure women are sexy. Perhaps because too many women can’t get finances the moral way.
For women who may still be reluctant to wade into investing waters:
- Think like a business owner. Business owners understand how businesses work and how to handle the ups and downs. Women are good at this in the business world.
- Buy businesses you understand. If inclined to buy individual stocks, this is a fundamental Warren Buffett value principle. As a woman, you probably understand some businesses better than your male counterparts — use this to your advantage.
- Get the right advice. Research shows that women prefer the help of advisers. Some 75% of women who rely on advisers are “more comfortable with investing.” That said, finding the right one is important — one tuned in to the needs of women.
- Follow role models. In business and in investing it always helps to find good role models and to study their actions and response to business and market stimuli. Buffett, an investor role model for years, is a great place to start.
