One for the ladies
This week we had international women's day. I hope you celebrated the best way you know.
On the weekend, I was reading about how women have less money in their Kiwisaver than men.
Straight away my assumption was that this would be because women take less risk, so are probably more likely to be in conservative funds.
I know a lot of males and have grown up as one and know that I can be pretty bloody reckless. So can a lot of my mates. A lot of them like taking a risk too.
My Sharesies account tells me 97% of my investments are high risk. It frustrates me. I can’t work out what the lazy 3% are because I’d probably sell them to take on more risk.
A number of women I've tried to help through business and other ventures often seem more reserved or risk-averse in their thinking. But, of course, this is just my observation and opinion.
This week I was talking with a lady who was considering changing roles. She was trying to make sense of a contract role that paid double their current salary.
In my mind I thought; take it as in 6 months they’d earn what they usually take 12 months to earn. They could save the extra and have 6 months off, or 6 months to find a new job if the contract wasn’t extended.
This person decided to stay in their job as they saw the contract as too risky. Part of this was due to having a mortgage. A good reminder that we all see risk differently and have our own level of tolerance.
Side note - this is also why I hated having a mortgage, because it makes you massively risk-averse and clouds your decision making. That’s the trade off of having a house, I guess!
Anyway, I didn’t want to just assume all ladies are risk-averse, as a lovely lady (my Mother) taught me that assumption is the Mother of all stuff ups.?
So I continued reading and learning. Straight away the report told me:
…women are far more likely to invest conservatively.
20% fewer women than men were in a growth fund.
Come on ladies, what are you doing? Don’t let the boys risk it all in Kiwisaver & blindly get taken further ahead. Of course, the boys don’t look so good in their risky funds right now, do they?
The story went on to speak with the co-founder of Hatch who I knew would have some good data as they’d know what gender their users are.
Hatch co-founder Kristen Lunman says women are starting to take control of their funds, but there’s a long way to go.
“Unfortunately part of the bias [with] women and investing that we've grown to accept is that we're not good with money, we spend too much, we're risk averse, the industry was built by men, for men, so women have felt excluded.”
Ladies, you might as well give up after reading those rules...gee whiz they will make you feel down & out.?
Remember?that a number of lessons ago we learnt that women make most of the financial decisions in a household?
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Let’s be honest, plenty of blokes probably wouldn’t even know their password to internet banking if it wasn’t for their lovely lady.
Be careful what bias of others you buy into & decide to own. If you have things that haven’t served you well when it comes to money, it is time to unlearn them. Don’t hold onto them because others have.
Ladies, if you do one thing by the end of this week, it should be to understand if your kiwisaver investment matches your risk profile and perhaps don’t decide this yourself, get some advice.?
There is a high chance you are making most of the financial decisions in the household too, but here is my challenge for you:
For two minutes,?stop?making decisions for?everyone?else?and write down 3 financial decisions you need to make for yourself.
It could be; how to ask for a raise in the next 90 days, how to invest for your kids, how to start investing yourself, whether you need insurance on your life or your partner's life, how to pay less mortgage interest, how to pay your mortgage off faster or how a rich person you know, became rich.??
Just pick one thing!?
You know there is a lot of fashion associated with shining light on ‘men vs women’ situations, but let's be real, we all need each other and we all love each other. So let’s work together and kick some a$$$$$!?
I don’t care if you are a male or a female, you are a human to me. If you need my help at some point and I can genuinely help you, I will try to point you in the right direction.
Thanks to those of you who have been tuning in to my 30 in 30 audio lessons this month. We are up to day 11 and have covered a lot of ground. You might enjoy my life-altering episode (#11) about quitting my job.
Go well,
Luke
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Did you know:?On average, women have 22% less than men in their KiwiSaver account.
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Chamber Hub Placement Support Coordinator
2 年Great advice, thanks for that Luke! I'm learning to pay off my debts faster and also have all my Kiwisaver invested in a Growth. I've found that by managing my finances I'd want to take more risk in future, for example purchase shares in AirNZ.
Financial Adviser and advocate for women's financial wellness; ensuring that your family and future are on the right track
2 年I like your suggestion that women prioritise themselves with taking some time to consider their own financial goals. There is definitely a lot of psychology and social conditioning to address though around why women tend to prioritise others and be more cautious. Fortunately studies show that when we do invest we tend to do better ??
Director - N B Chartered Accountants
2 年We see quite the opposite here. The females are risk takers, and when they can they are contributing a far greater % to Kiwisaver due to not contributing for some periods of their life for child rearing. We see females having less take home pay today (just another sacrifice) to ensure they don't slip too far behind there males counterparts when they are on maternity leave. I truly believe the government should contribute 3% of PPL to whom ever the parent is that takes it. As we know the success is driven by compounding returns... the child raising parent will always fall short
The People's Accountant
2 年Just a note - I was sent an email explaining how poor it was for me to use the word ladies. I didn’t realise this was offensive. As I have said above a few times I’m not expert on those topics ?? just out here trying to make a difference where I can and appreciate I’m not always 100% up to speed with sensitive subjects and what you should or shouldn’t say so to speak. Cheers!
Business Advisory Services
2 年Wonder if this conservative decision making also holds true with the 'quit your job' scenario, if more men than women quit their job with no job/venture 100% lined up.