What Keeps Women From Investing?

Not what you may think. 

The fact that it is still a white male dominated field? No

Accessibility is also not an issue. Anyone can open a brokerage account with any firm in just a few minutes. You just need a checking account. 

Anyone can invest in their 401k at work (if they have that option) or open a high yield savings account. 

Investing is one of those things that men are not better than women at and vice versa.  The person that comes out on top is the one that invests not only money, but time. You don’t have to be educated in finance to invest, but you do have to do some research.

Most importantly it takes Confidence. 

Investing is not hard. Initially, it is scary and overwhelming emotionally, but after your first few investments it becomes fun and exciting. 

How can women develop confidence in investing?

Find a role model. They can be someone that you know in real life or someone that you have been following on social media or blog for a while. If you know someone that invests, ask them questions. Ask them to give you a mini-lesson on how to get started. 

Read articles, invest in a book, attend a class or hire a financial coach. These are all ways to increase your financial literacy on investing. The more you know, the more confident you will feel. Get your friends involved by starting a small investing group where you can all learn together. It doesn’t matter if you have debt, don’t make a lot of money or can only invest very little. There are no rules when it comes to investing. 

The best time to start is now. I know that you have heard that before, but it is true. Time spent not investing is money lost because of the compound interest. 

Why invest?

Whether you choose to invest in real estate, the stock market or a business, the reality is that those three investing tools have proven track records. 

Over the past 50 years, this is how these three investing tools have done. 

Stock Market: Increased in value in 40 of the 50 years by an average rate of 7% a year. 

Real Estate: After inflation real estate provides consistent 1.5% annual returns. Plus there are tax advantages that you don’t get with stocks. 

Business: The more your business pays you the more that it is worth. By working in your business the cash all goes to you. 

The hardest part about investing is starting. If you are completely new to investing, the easiest place to start is at work. Ask HR for the forms to begin investing in your work retirement fund. Ask what the match is and start there. While investing in your work retirement fund, be sure to also be building your emergency fund and paying down debt. It sounds intense, but it can be done with a carefully crafted plan.