International Women’s Day: Celebrating Women in Investing (March 8, 2024)
March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day earmarked to celebrate women’s incredible achievements on a global scale. In honor of this special day, the EP Wealth team is celebrating women in the world of investing and hope to empower other women to gain confidence to start investing themselves.
According to one recent study, only 26 percent of U.S. women invest in the stock market. In part, this is due to the wide-spread belief that women tend to be more risk-averse than men. As women start to believe in these kinds of beliefs about themselves without further context, it can cause them to take little to no financial actions. In reality, while there are natural tendencies for each individual, there are studies that show there is no typical woman investor. Instead, a starting point could be assessing an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and forming a foundation of what is personally meaningful to her.
We hope we can do our part to reverse this trend and encourage more women to start investing their money. Not only can doing so help women achieve a more secure financial future, but the process of understanding investments can empower one to reach their personal goals.
Where to Start for Women Interested in Investing
If you’ve never invested your money, taking the plunge can seem like an insurmountable task. That’s perfectly understandable. Start by debunking many of the money lies you may have been told.
Although taking the plunge might seem intimidating, doing your research and being willing to reach out for help are great first steps to achieving more financial confidence. If you need a little more convincing about why and how you should start investing, check out these tips from our very own Lynn Ballou, a Certified Financial Planner™.
And who knows?
Maybe you’ll love investing so much that you decide to pursue it as a career. Women are transforming the financial industry simply by bringing their unique perspectives and strengths into the mix, and we at EP Wealth are always looking for talented women to bring on board.
In addition to the cut-and-dry upside women bring to the world of investing, a number of new initiatives—such as Girls Who Invest—are emerging with one goal in mind: ensuring that more and more women rise to prominent positions in finance.
Ready to Start Investing?
Since 2016, EP Wealth has been committed to helping women get more control over their finances by investing their money in a way that they’re comfortable with through our Investing in Women initiative. We also have many resources available to you on our website to further equip and empower you.
To date, the EP Wealth team has been dedicated to helping women develop more financial skills, including:
- Partnering with the YWCA to bring financial literacy to groups of women
- Speaking at Financial Advisor Magazine’s Invest in Women conference
- Speaking at Charles Schwab-hosted women’s panels
- Hosting events and panels for female business owners and other local women’s initiatives
- Sponsoring the South Bay Women’s Business Association Conference
If you’re thinking about beginning your investing journey—or you want to take your current investments to the next level—contact an EP Wealth advisor today, or see if you qualify for a free Financial Health Assessment. We look forward to hearing from you!