Women May Be Better Investors Than Men
Stash — a leading online brokerage — recently conducted a survey1 that shined a light on just how much better women may be at investing than men, myth-busting what so many people have assumed about women investors for so long.
Just a few statistics that will turn your head on the subject:
When the Dow Jones and S&P 500 fell in the spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, female investors held onto their investments at higher numbers than men. Male Stash users were 17% more likely to panic sell during this period.
Why is this a big deal? Historically, those who invest for the long term — rather than panic selling during market dips — can come out ahead over time, and given the market’s recovery since early 2020 that has proven true yet again.
On the flip side, women were more likely to buy investments during the 2020 dip — taking advantage of the lower share prices. Women Stash investors were 10% more likely to buy investments during the 2020 market drop. They were also 63% more likely to increase their retirement investments during this period. And, they were 10% more likely to invest in ETFs rather than single stocks — showing that they thought about creating a diversified portfolio which can help manage risk.
Here’s the thing, while the data supports that women may be better investors, women still lag behind men when it comes to investing in the first place.
The wealth gap — with women owning about 32 cents for every dollar owned by men according to a study — is one of the biggest issues facing women today.
In other words, women can win when they invest, they just need to do it in higher numbers.
So let’s make a pact here and now that we are going to make it our mission to close the gender wealth gap together. Whether you are getting off the sidelines and investing for the first time, encouraging a woman family member or friend, or strengthening your investing know-how here are some steps you can take to crush the gender wealth gap once and for all.
Just do it.
The data says it all: Women can be great investors, they just need to do it. No matter how much money you have to spare — $5 or $1 million — don’t wait another day to get started. Stash is a platform that can make it easy to start investing and can take away much of the guesswork that people come up against when they first start.
With Stash, there are no minimum balance requirements — start investing with as little as $5. They also offer fractional shares. For instance, Stash users can invest in large, well-known companies like Amazon, Walmart, Google, and more with just $5.2
Stash also makes sure its new users get the help they need. When you create an account, Stash provides guidance to help users build their portfolio from scratch. It can suggest a list of ETFs specific to a user’s indicated risk tolerance, even pointing out which investments will diversify a person’s portfolio.
Make a habit of it.
Winning at investing typically means starting as early as you can, and investing often which can allow you to take advantage of the power of compound interest. Stash can make building this habit super easy with its automated investing feature known as Auto-Stash, so you can take a “set it and forget it” approach. Users can set up recurring money transfers into their investment account.3
Get educated.
Education is key to closing the wealth gap. Studies have shown women lack confidence when it comes to investing — even though they may actually make better investors. One key to closing that confidence gap? Education. Stash is all about teaching — helping those new to investing learn how to invest and those with some experience to invest more knowledgeably. Its wide-ranging educational materials can be easily accessed through the app (or the Stash website), and it even provides tailored advice to each investor based on their personal finances, investing goals, and risk comfort.
Start closing the gender wealth gap today and learn more about investing. You can start with Stash.
Feature Illustration: Laura Caseley For The Money Manual
*Sponsored by Stash
Chop it up to unfair stereotypes, but for too long women have had the reputation that they are just not as good at investing as men.
Well, according to actual data on the subject, that’s pretty much complete bupkus. Yeah, we said it.
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