Top 5 Investment Tips for Millennial Women
There is a growing trend of financial independence in modern women, which is one of the most positive and empowering trends, leading to the inevitable step towards a truly egalitarian society. There are several reasons behind this claim and the first one is the fact that the likelihood of having a bachelor’s degree in women is far greater than that in men. Sadly, other than making an investment in a 401(k), the vast majority of women are reluctant to become investors. Here are several investment tips to help millennial women make this crucial and decisive step.
1. The wage gap
At the moment, there’s a statistic about the fact that women invest about 40 percent less than men. One of the reasons behind this is undoubtedly the wage gap, which ensures that the majority of working women have about 20 percent less to invest than their male counterparts, to begin with.
However, what the majority of people don’t get is that even though this is a setback, it’s not an obstacle that you won’t be able to overcome. First of all, if you start investing (and saving) sooner, you can have your investment return exponentially outgrow those of people who invest more but start years after.
2. No longer a boys-only club
The next particular problem that we need to address is the fact that, in the past, the world of investment was seen as a boys-only club, which is something that discouraged a lot of women from participating.
At the moment, however, the majority of these trades and investments take place in the digital environment, which means that it’s actually quite gender-neutral. All the broker interactions and platforms are automated, which means that they make no difference between the gender of the owner of the account.
3. Diversification of portfolio
Another important tip for millennial women is to never put all their eggs in a single basket – regardless if you’re aiming to secure your future, amass the initial capital for your entrepreneurial project or secure a steady passive income. No matter how reliable or promising, any trend can shift its course at any time.
This is why the only way for your investments to be safe is for you to diversify your portfolio. Learn to invest in stocks, bonds, index funds, ETFs and buy commodities. Check out how do etfs work and why it’s a good investment. Other than this, you can find a reliable peer-to-peer lending platform and other stock alternatives to invest in some startups, as well.
4. Get tech-savvy
There are so many options for those who are willing to become more tech-savvy and explore all the options that are available to them in the digital world. For instance, if trading on the foreign exchange market is something that piques your interest you can gain a substantial advantage over others in the industry.
You do this by securing lower spreads, getting faster execution of your orders, enjoying superior safety of your funds and much, much more. The customer service is also something that you need to look closely into when searching for the right platform.
5. There’s no right or wrong answer
The very last thing worth understanding is the fact that there’s no formula that’s 100 percent effective in your particular scenario. For instance, about 32 percent of millennial women invest about $1-100 on an annual basis, while only 5 percent of them invest more than $5,000 per year.
Sure, the latter gives far superior results but you can’t just observe these things in a vacuum. What you need is to calculate the appropriate amount (relative to your income and lifestyle) and commit to it in the long run. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll reach your goals.
Conclusion
The very last thing you need to understand is that in order to become an efficient investor, you need to have the right kind of intrinsic motivation. Needless to say, intrinsic motivation requires you to have meaningful goals. In other words, setting your investment goals is a great point as any for you to start.
Salman Zafar is an ecopreneur, consultant, advisor, speaker and journalist with expertise in waste management, waste-to-energy, renewable energy, environment protection, conservation and sustainable development. His geographical areas of focus include Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe. Salman is the Founder of EcoMENA, a popular voluntary organization based in Qatar. He is also the Founder and CEO of BioEnergy Consult, a reputed consulting firm active in biomass, waste-to-energy and waste management segments.
Salman is a professional environmental writer with more than 350 popular articles to his credit. He is proactively engaged in creating mass environmental awareness in different parts of the world.
Salman Zafar can be reached at salman@ecomena.org or salman@bioenergyconsult.com
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