Why Women Need to Invest

There’s nothing like that feeling of empowerment and freedom.

Even though I’ve always known there have been financial disparities in the wealth system, it wasn’t until my 30’s that I truly realized why it’s so important that as a woman I invest. 

If you know me you know I teach financial literacy to create empowerment and freedom. To improve our health. To live the lives we deserve. But as a woman, it goes a little deeper. See, women have not always had the rights we have now. Even now we are still fighting for equal rights. Still fighting for equal pay. Still fighting for recognition of our unpaid labor. Systematically we have a long way to go, and we will continue to push. We have no choice but to keep pushing.

In the meantime however, what we can control is what we do with our paychecks. And every time I send money into my investment accounts I feel a sense of empowerment. A sense of independence, and even self-love. This may be a bit extreme, but I even feel a slight sense of rebellion. Like “Heck yeah! This system was not built with me in mind but I don’t give an F, I’m still going to invest and create wealth! I will take up space in your system!”

If you’re feeling pumped, keep reading to learn why it’s so important we as women take up space by investing to create wealth! 

Reason #1

Wage gap- women get paid less than men

It’s no secret that women get paid less than men. We all know it and we've all seen the stats. As we continue to fight for equal pay, now more than ever it’s so important we put our hard earned paycheck to work. Saving is great but investing is better because your money is actually working for you. The rate of return when you compare what your money makes in a savings account versus an investment account is HUGE!

Reason #2

Women live longer

Statistically, women live longer than men. As a Latina, I’ve seen it in my family. My great-grandmother lived to be 97 and my grandmother is sprite and healthy. I will probably live a very long time as well. For this reason, we must prepare to live that long, expensive life. I don’t know about you but in retirement I want to either maintain the quality of life I have now or live even more comfortably. That requires us to invest. 

Reason #3

Women juggle work and family

Women typically take on multiple roles juggling a professional workload and a caretaking role. As the caretakers we are more likely to take time off from work to care for young children or even our elders. As noble as this is, we lose out on earning potential and contributing to our retirement accounts which means our net worth also stays stagnant. If you anticipate at any point you will need to take time off of work to take care of others, I highly recommend you maximize your contributions while you still have income. 

Reason #4

Women are less likely to ask for a raise or negotiate salaries

Gals, I’m guilty of this too and I’m working on it. The part of me filled with self-doubt has not asked for what I’m worth and I know for a fact I’m not alone on this. This puts us in a situation where our earning power is less than men. So at whatever rate we’re at now, let’s contribute a portion and invest. And don’t forget to ask for that raise! 

Reason #5

Protection

Lastly, let’s talk about protection. Even though we may be in healthy and loving relationships, it's important we maintain some kind of account to ourselves in case anything were to go sour. After all, we are human and so are our partners. We can’t control what other humans do or feel, only ourselves. So let’s be prudent and take care of ourselves financially by having our own investment accounts. 

So what are you waiting for? Ready to invade the historically male dominated investing world and invest? Let’s do this!