Why Women Need to Invest

why women need to invest

Why Women Need to Invest…

So, why do women need to invest anyways?

To make our money work for us, instead of us working for money.

Easy to say, right?

Basically, if we don’t do it for ourselves, we should not anticipate that others will do it for us. Whether they be our spouses, government social security or company pensions. Sounds grim? Allow me to go on…


Besides this point, there are a few other stats to bring to your attention. Although not all women are the main breadwinners of their family, they control a large portion of the financial decisions that go on in a household. (See debatable stats here) I am of the opinion that those stats are higher particularly if there are children in the household. We yield much of the responsibility of where and how the family income is spent, and therefore should not shrug off our responsibility to wise fiscal management.

Another, but rather sad statistic here in Canada, is that women are more likely to be in ‘low income after tax’ in the later stages of life compared to men. Although the reasons vary for why this is (I can only assume – job type, no pension, child rearing), this stat would hopefully provide more reason for women to invest.

Financial Goals

Generally speaking, as women, we also tend to have different long term goals when it comes to saving and investing. Through my observations, many men tend to focus on #FIRE, or financial independence retire early. That’s not a bad thing, but for most women that might not be the primary concern. I can’t speak for all women, as there are plenty of women interested in #FIRE, however, I am more concerned about the well being of my kids and our quality of life. In my mind, sometimes I think to myself… “Why would I want to retire early? I’m already at home all the time! Let me afford to do something enjoyable.”

As well, I can’t emphasis enough the importance of wanting financial security. Let’s face it, life happens and someone has to deal with it. For example, instead of posting this article yesterday, DH was at the emergency all day for septic bursitis… fun. No limbs lost yet! Real life means a disability, job loss, sick kids, temporary illness, bereavement, care of the elderly… and much of this falls on our shoulders. It also makes our financial situation more precarious. These situations greatly impact our current and future income as women.

So, heck yeah… I want more security and an enjoyable life.

And nothing brings security or being able to afford ‘divertissements’ (French for fun+entertainment) like consistent and varying streams of income. Passive income streams other than working, such as the dividend income I speak of so often that can come from owning stocks (more on this later in Part 3).

When it comes to income, the media likes to talk about the ‘wage gap.’ I’m not here to debate whether it exists or not for women. However, there is no wage gap in dividend investing. The best dividend companies give raises and do not discriminate against individual shareholders because they are women or men.

I could go on about Canada’s pitiful income growth (Rob Carrick wrote an interesting article), inflation and our current purchasing power but I’ll leave that for another day.

If you are a fellow gal reading this, please consider saving and investing as a means to achieving whatever your longterm goals might be. 

Happy investing,

Join me for Part 2 next week where I will discuss ‘Why You Should Start Investing Now‘ and not wait.

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