Saving is extremely important as that provides you with stability in the future and helps you achieve goals such as buying a car, house or even paying back your debt. Women have, for eons, shown that they are very good at saving. However, they are just breaking into the world of investing. Here is how millennial women invest their money.
For years, the investment field was dominated by men, but times are changing for the better. In recent years, especially after the pandemic, the interest of women in making investments has increased. They also are superior in terms of performance to their male counterparts.
Fidelity recently conducted a study that showed the changed perception of women in the investment field. As per the study, more than two-thirds of women invest in retirement options now. The study was conducted on 1200 women.
As per the study, 42% of women have said that they were more interested in making investments during the pandemic. Also, Wwomen have outperformed men with their successful investment portfolios. As per the Fidelity data, over the last 10 years, women have outperformed their male counterparts by an average 4%.
What do women say?
As per the study, in the past year, every 1 in 5 women has said that they have taken the opportunity to invest in a new asset class for the first time. 63% of women invest their money in mutual funds or exchange traded funds (ETFs). Whereas, two-thirds invest in stocks and bonds. 50% of women invest in the Certificate of Deposits (CDs) and only 25% said to invest in any sustainable funds or ESG.
As reported further, with the new trend of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, around 23% of women have started to invest in cryptocurrencies and 22% have said that they desire to learn the technicalities of these digital assets.
Can’t women invest successfully?
The issue here is not that women can’t invest. It is the dilemma of investing with confidence, courage, and the image that women cannot invest wisely. Only 25%, which is just one-third of women, actually see and consider themselves as real investors. The reason is simply their lack of confidence in making decisions related to investment. In addition, as per the survey, only 40% of the women are said to have knowledge about investments.
Truth be told, it is not that women are not capable of managing finances because we have seen so many examples of women running CFO positions and also managing households. It is just about the confidence that they need in order to consider themselves real investors.
They are able to do long-term planning and manage finances with less money and saving for the family. Fidelity reported that more than 70% of women manage the budget of their houses very confidently. However, when it comes to investment only 19% of them could align with their target.
What can be done?
Every 7 out of 10 women reported that what they need is knowledge about investment options and stocks they should invest in. More than two-thirds of women said that they would invest more if they can understand the process step by step. Further, around 60% of them are planning to enhance their understanding of the financial market and investment.
The major challenge for anyone to avoid financial constraints, in the long run, is to manage their existing income, increase their income sources and have a goal for long-term financial planning. With constant persuasion and the desire to gain knowledge, we will see women in the front seat of investment soon.
It is all about encouraging them. Helping them understand the nitty-gritty of this field, letting them make mistakes and helping them learn from it. We need to strengthen our trust in women. They will feel confident and make investment decisions without any fears or hesitations!
