Significantly more men still invest their money in stocks and funds than women. Why is that? And why do women keep putting off the subject of old-age provision?
Disillusionment often comes with retirement: Financially, things are getting tight. The pension is not as high as expected. And often it is women who experience a nasty surprise. There are many reasons for this: Women often relate to money differently than men. Many are reluctant to deal with the topic. They repress what has to do with their own retirement provision – and often for years.
And something else can become a problem in hindsight: when women are employed, they are often in sectors such as retail or care, where the wage level is rather low compared to other sectors. “That means they also have less money to invest and of course they also ask themselves whether it is worthwhile to be there with small amounts on the stock exchanges,” says Anja Ciechowski from “Finanztip”. In addition, women still do most of the care work. “They simply have less time to take care of their finances, even though the need is actually much greater than for men.”
Fewer hurdles when investing
After all, many women now tick differently than their mothers or grandmothers. Ciechowski explains that this has a lot to do with new technical possibilities and with the fact that the inhibition thresholds have become lower. “I can now carry my securities account with me as an app on my smartphone and buy or sell it at any time of the day or night if I want to.”
And now you can also be there with small amounts. “This means that even if my income as a trainee, student or young professional is not that high, I can still get started on the stock exchange with just 25 euros, for example if I opt for an ETF savings plan.” Such an ETF is an exchange-traded index fund that tracks the performance of an index. This can be the performance of the DAX, for example.
Special funds are designed to appeal to women
And what is important to women when investing? Many say transparency in the products – and sustainability. And not only in relation to environmentally conscious strategies or good corporate governance, but also in relation to the topic of diversity, i.e. diversity in the company. “It’s about how the company motivates employees, how the company enables employees to work flexibly,” explains fund manager Lilian Haag from DWS, the fund subsidiary of Deutsche Bank. “It’s not just about women, it’s about men too.”
More transparency, more sustainability, better working conditions: there are banks that are now setting up special funds to meet such needs. The aim is to address women, to encourage them to think about their own financial situation and to become active so that any gaps in pension provision do not become too great in old age.
“Start is the motto”
Opinions differ as to whether there needs to be special funds for this. But one thing stands out, says Haag: “Women are usually more cautious when investing. They are more risk-averse. They are also more likely to say that they don’t understand a certain topic and therefore don’t deal with it, so just a little more defensively.” That doesn’t have to be a disadvantage, agrees “Finanztip” expert Ciechowski. “This proves to be more crisis-resistant and less susceptible to fluctuations, especially in difficult times.”
But what about the women who aren’t working much longer, who don’t have the opportunity to invest their savings over a long period of time? The independent financial advisor Elina Satschek doesn’t have to think twice: “It’s never too late. The motto is to start.” It must be clear: Fluctuations, including financial setbacks, are part of investing. It is important to have goals in mind, not to put everything on one horse, to spread risks. And then: Discipline, stick with it, even if it’s difficult.