More women than ever are taking a seat at the investing table, according to Fidelity Investments.
Fidelity Investments’ 2021 Women and Investing Study was conducted “to gather insights into women’s attitudes and behaviors when it comes to managing their finances” and investing for the long term. The study findings show:
- 67% of women are now investing outside of retirement
- 50% of women say they are more interested in investing since the start of the pandemic
- 42% say they now have more to invest since the start of the pandemic
When women do decide to invest, they are realizing positive results and returns. Analysis of more than 5 million Fidelity customers over the last ten years finds that, on average, women tend to outperform their male counterparts by 40 basis points or 0.4%.
While these investing trends by women are encouraging, still only 1/3 of women see themselves as investors, and additionally:
- Only 42% feel confident in their ability to save for the long term, including retirement
- Only 33% feel confident in their ability make investment decisions
- Only 35% feel confident their non-retirement savings are invested appropriately
- Only 14% of women say they know a lot about saving and investing
Overall, women feel less confident when it comes to long-term financial planning and investing to grow their money and build wealth, according to Fidelity Investments.
Women who set financial goals, create a financial plan and take the following additional actions feel more confident in their ability to save for the future and make investment decisions to help their savings grow:
- Determine current financial status (net worth and cash flow)
- Pay themselves first, automate their savings and invest consistently a portion of every paycheck
- Select diversified investments like stocks, bonds, mutual funds or ETFs
- Take a long-term approach to investing
- Starting early and track progress regularly
- Making time to educate themselves about personal finance topics
Bottomline, 64% of women surveyed by Fidelity said that they would like to be more active in their finances, including investment decisions. Not surprisingly, the factors that holds them back include:
- 70% of women say to invest they would need to know more about picking individual stocks.
- 65% of women say they’d be more likely to invest, or invest more, if they had clear plan or steps to do so.
It’s never too late for you to get started setting financial goals, creating a financial plan and investing for the long term.
References:
- https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/about-fidelity/FidelityInvestmentsWomen&InvestingStudy2021.pdf
Keep in mind that investing involves risk. The value of your investment will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money.