Three reasons why women should start investing today Three reasons why women should start investing today Three reasons why women should start investing today

Three reasons why women should start investing today

Saxo Group

Summary:  At Saxo, our vision is to enable people to fulfil their financial aspirations and make an impact. As Saxo grows and we serve more clients than ever globally, we have a duty and responsibility both to our employees as well as our clients to ensure that we are supporting them to thrive and be the best they can be. In our view, investing is one of the ways for people to secure their financial future and be able to take care of themselves. As a leading Fintech specialist that connects people to investment opportunities in global capital markets, Saxo believes we can play a part to help people start investing and as a result of that also play a role in narrowing the gender investing gap. There is much research to confirm that, right now, fewer women are investing, compared to men. We want to be part of the solution by also giving women the tools, knowledge and confidence to trade and invest, and to make informed investment decisions. This article is part of a content series by Saxo's Women Investor Network (WIN), an initiative within the Group's wider diversity efforts, to encourage more women to get started and get better at investing.


A large part of the gap can be explained by lower labour market participation, which is further compounded by the wage gap (the ratio of the wage of women to that of men in a similar position), which globally is still an astonishing 37% difference.

 

To complicate matters further, according to a survey of Fidelity, women actually save more than men, but only for a small percentage. Women save around 9% of their annual salary and men 8.6% of their salary. The difference in annual salary for both groups, is actually the main cause for the gap and saving alone will not help enough to close it. On top of that, the average interest on savings account is much lower than the return of investing money in the stock market. Yet, fewer women than men participate in the stock market.

 

So here’s the picture: fewer women are in the workforce, and those with a job tend to earn less than their male counterpart, and even though they do save more, their savings are not giving the most returns. In short, by not investing, women are setting themselves back when it comes to taking control of their financial future.

 

There is more to lose by not investing, so why not start now? Here are three very real reasons why women should invest today.

 

 

1/ Women live longer, and need more retirement funds than men

While earnings for women are in general less than for men, according to the World Health Organisation, women live on average six to eight years longer than men. That means that if women want to have additional funds available at retirement, women need to have a bigger amount available than men, to cover for a larger number of retirement years.

2/ Investing is the only option if you don’t want your assets to diminish

With interest rates on savings at around 0%, and inflation around 3% globally, investing is not only necessary to grow your assets, but in the first place to avoid the diminishing of these assets.

Research shows that not participating in the stock market for retirement and other savings yields a welfare loss of 12%. With the interest rates around 0% or even negative figures, investing becomes even more important to grow your money than ever before.

3/ You work hard, so why not make your money work as hard as you do by investing?

One of the most important ways to take care of one’s financial future is to make sure your money is working as hard as you. By earning interest on a savings account, dividends from holding stocks or rent on investment properties, the money that you make by savings and/or investing in stocks or real estate is passive income, when your money works for you while you ‘sleep’.

In 2020, Saxo globally increased its new women investors by 354% compared to 288% for men – this is very encouraging. However, the split between female and male investors can be closed further. The investment gap is one that women can solve themselves, without the help of others, by taking action, today. Do your homework, make a plan and stick to it and you will thank yourself later.  This is a straightforward way to significantly improve the financial lives for women. 

 

The journey to build towards financial freedom is a long one and it requires attention, focus and determination. By investing regularly, we diversify our income streams with a supplement on our income or retirement. This will not only benefit ourselves, but also can benefit our loved ones. It will be full of challenges and the strategy has to be adjusted as our lives naturally evolve. But it is a very powerful, worthwhile and empowering journey to embark on, so start now.

Disclaimer

The Saxo Bank Group entities each provide execution-only service and access to Analysis permitting a person to view and/or use content available on or via the website. This content is not intended to and does not change or expand on the execution-only service. Such access and use are at all times subject to (i) The Terms of Use; (ii) Full Disclaimer; (iii) The Risk Warning; (iv) the Rules of Engagement and (v) Notices applying to Saxo News & Research and/or its content in addition (where relevant) to the terms governing the use of hyperlinks on the website of a member of the Saxo Bank Group by which access to Saxo News & Research is gained. Such content is therefore provided as no more than information. In particular no advice is intended to be provided or to be relied on as provided nor endorsed by any Saxo Bank Group entity; nor is it to be construed as solicitation or an incentive provided to subscribe for or sell or purchase any financial instrument. All trading or investments you make must be pursuant to your own unprompted and informed self-directed decision. As such no Saxo Bank Group entity will have or be liable for any losses that you may sustain as a result of any investment decision made in reliance on information which is available on Saxo News & Research or as a result of the use of the Saxo News & Research. Orders given and trades effected are deemed intended to be given or effected for the account of the customer with the Saxo Bank Group entity operating in the jurisdiction in which the customer resides and/or with whom the customer opened and maintains his/her trading account. Saxo News & Research does not contain (and should not be construed as containing) financial, investment, tax or trading advice or advice of any sort offered, recommended or endorsed by Saxo Bank Group and should not be construed as a record of our trading prices, or as an offer, incentive or solicitation for the subscription, sale or purchase in any financial instrument. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, would be considered as a marketing communication under relevant laws.

Please read our disclaimers:
Notification on Non-Independent Investment Research (https://www.home.saxo/legal/niird/notification)
Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/legal/disclaimer/saxo-disclaimer)
Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/legal/saxoselect-disclaimer/disclaimer)

Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG
The Circle 38
CH-8058
Zürich-Flughafen
Switzerland

Contact Saxo

Select region

Switzerland
Switzerland

All trading carries risk. Losses can exceed deposits on margin products. You should consider whether you understand how our products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. To help you understand the risks involved we have put together a general Risk Warning series of Key Information Documents (KIDs) highlighting the risks and rewards related to each product. The KIDs can be accessed within the trading platform. Please note that the full prospectus can be obtained free of charge from Saxo Bank (Switzerland) ltd. or the issuer.

This website can be accessed worldwide however the information on the website is related to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. All clients will directly engage with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and all client agreements will be entered into with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and thus governed by Swiss Law.

The content of this website represents marketing material and has not been notified or submitted to any supervisory authority.

If you contact Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or visit this website, you acknowledge and agree that any data that you transmit to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., either through this website, by telephone or by any other means of communication (e.g. e-mail), may be collected or recorded and transferred to other Saxo Bank Group companies or third parties in Switzerland or abroad and may be stored or otherwise processed by them or Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. You release Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. from its obligations under Swiss banking and securities dealer secrecies and, to the extent permitted by law, data protection laws as well as other laws and obligations to protect privacy. Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. has implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect data from unauthorized processing and disclosure and applies appropriate safeguards to guarantee adequate protection of such data.

Apple, iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.