investing

4 Common Investing Mistakes Women Make (And How to Avoid Them)

woman-865111_640Today we have a guest post from Listen Money Matters to help you avoid some common investing mistakes. Enjoy!

Women are different than men in more ways than just appearance and emotions. We act differently, talk differently, and think differently too.

Because we do think differently, we also tend to mange our money and invest differently. As a result, there are at least 4 common investing mistakes women make.

1 Not Asking for an Explanation

As women, we sometimes won’t ask for the meaning behind investment terminology we don’t understand because we are afraid of looking dumb or weak. As a result, we simply don’t invest at all.

Women need to know it’s ok to ask questions. Men weren’t born with all of the answers either. They had to learn it just like the rest of us. So go ahead and ask away.

2 Letting Your Spouse Handle Everything

Ladies, this is not a good idea for a couple of reasons. Statistics show that women live longer. As a result, at some point we are likely going to end up managing our own money at some point without our spouse. The next time your husband says he wants to do it so he can take care of you, remind him that most likely he isn’t always going to be there to do it. Yes, it is an unpleasant reality, but it’s more than likely true. If he cares for you, he will want to make sure you are secure and taken care of even if he isn’t there to do the taking care of part.

And don’t forget that you may actually be a better investor than your husband anyway!

3 Not Taking Enough Risk

Unfortunately, there is still a gender pay gap when it comes to how much men make vs women in the same jobs. Some sources say the gap is as much as 22%, others say only around 8%. But one thing that is agreed upon is that the gap still exists. This means over time, as women, we have less money to spend and invest than our male counterparts. Unfortunately when it comes to buying goods and services, we don’t get an automatic discount simply because we are women. So, how are we going to make up the difference? You might have guessed the answer to be investing, and if you did, you are correct. But in order to do that, we have to get over the hurdle of not taking enough risk in our investments.

But how do we take more risk comfortably? The answer is through educating yourself about investing so you can wisely invest in areas that provide a greater return. But you should also continue to diversify your investment portfolio in order to ensure success in your investing.

4 Waiting to Invest

Women sometimes wait to invest. We wait for a lot of different reasons. However, waiting until you aren’t as busy or until it’s the right time or any other excuse is costing you precious retirement income you can’t get back. Don’t wait. Start investing today.

Even though women think differently and invest differently than men, we can still have success in our investments. In order to do so, we have to get past these 4 common investing mistakes today so we can give ourselves a better tomorrow.

Kayla is a personal finance blogger in her mid-20s who loves to write about money topics of all kinds.

1 Comment

  • I gotta say…I really strongly disagree with the author on this. Men tend to be more willing to take risks than women, which means that their overall returns in the stock market tend to be better. The best model is when two people recognize their strengths and weaknesses and adjust accordingly.

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