Do
women have different attitudes to investing? Should they? The author
of the Woman's Money Book, Vivienne James has come up with some
interesting answers ...
All
changed, changed utterly
Women's attitudes to investing are changing rapidly. Dramatic
social change and longer life expectancies have dramatically altered
family structures - with major implications for women's investing
patterns.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures tell us that forty percent
of Australian women will never marry. Forty-three percent of marriages
will end in divorce. And that women outlive men by an average
of six years. The combination of these trends explains why 80%
of women will spend a decade of their lives on their own. Today,
women focus more than ever on achieving financial success. They
are saving and investing for long periods by themselves.
This Business of Risk
Our research tells us that women do have a more
cautious attitude to investment. They're more likely to invest
in a bank than in shares or managed funds. Some suggest this is
because women received less financial education when they were
young. And because many women interrupt their career to have children,
they have less certainty of income than men.
There is no right investment approach. For many
women, the lifestyle issues mentioned above make a conservative
approach perfectly reasonable. However shares generally provide
better long-term returns than cash. So women may be limiting their
long term options by not taking a little more risk.
However, attitudes to risk are changing, and rapidly. According
to the OECD, women are starting their own businesses at twice
the rate of men. And our research reveals that young women invest
at an earlier age than men (65% of people who
buy houses between the ages of 20 and 24 are women).
The number of women investing in shares is also increasing rapidly
- share ownership amongst Australian women doubled to 36% between
May 1997 and November 1999.
Seekers after truth
The one overwhelming fact about women and investing is that women
are thirsty for information. Women seem more worried about "making
a mistake" than men. So they are much more likely to seek information,
compare investments and seek advice. Which is a good idea, whatever
your sex.
