36 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE^ 10/2019INVESTINGISTOCKPHOTO.COMHow to Be a Confident Investor
MONEY SMART WOMEN Janet BodnarAFTER I WROTE A COLUMN
about building financial
confidence in young girls
(“Money Smart Women,”
May), I received a note from
a reader telling me how she
had tackled that challenge
with adult women. “Some
years ago,” wrote Marga-
retta Paduch, “I realized
that the female executive
directors of a number of
nonprofits in which I was
interested ran highly suc-
cessful enterprises but hadn’t
a clue about their own retire-
ment finances.” So Paduch,
a dedicated individual in-
vestor, launched a series of
monthly lunches to intro-
duce the women to investing.
A few months ago, she re-
ceived an e-mail from one of
the women, who was about
to retire. “She said that she
had been reviewing the in-
vestments in her organiza-
tion’s pension plan with a
broker,” wrote Paduch. “Not
only were the investments
among those we had re-
viewed, but she also under-
stood everything the broker
was saying.”
Research by consulting
firm Kantar shows that
women are comfortable with
everyday financial transac-
tions, such as banking and
insurance, and even with
longer-term borrowing, says
Kantar’s Audrey Looker.
“With mortgages, for exam-
ple, women like the idea that
they can talk to friends andneighbors who have mort-
gages and ask questions of a
broker,” says Looker.
But when it comes to in-
vesting, their confidence
sags. “Women say they wish
they had had more college
courses on how to make
smart decisions about where
to put their money,” says
Looker. And because most
money topics are still tabooamong women, “they can’t
bounce ideas off each other.”
It also appears that women
may expect too much of
themselves. “What we hear
is that women think they
have to be an expert to be
meaningfully involved with
their finances or even to
work with an expert,” says
Carey Shuffman, head of
women’s segment strategy
at UBS. “All they really need
to do is be aware.”
As a result of this miscon-
ception, women are often re-
luctant to take the first steptoward investing, which be-
comes a vicious cycle. “The
longer you delay learning,
the harder it is to dip a toe
in,” says Looker.Conquer your fears. So how
do you take that first step?
Start by using your spouse
or partner as a sounding
board (or a trusted friend if
you’re single). Each of youbrings financial instincts to
your relationship, and to-
gether you can work as a
team. When UBS surveyed
women who were divorced
or widowed about the fi-
nancial challenges of being
on their own, nearly 60%
said they wished they had
been more involved while
they were married. In fact,
more than half said they
would have done fewer
household chores to find
more time for finances.
Make things easy on
yourself by participating inemployer-sponsored retire-
ment accounts and other
automatic investing plans
and by using one-stop prod-
ucts such as target-date mu-
tual funds. You can always
branch out once you feel
more confident and curious.
Take advantage of oppor-
tunities to educate yourself
in a comfortable setting.
“The workplace is a very
successful arena in which to
connect with women,” says
Lorna Kapusta, Fidelity’s
head of women and invest-
ing. Fidelity works with
thousands of employers to
sponsor lunchtime webcasts
and seminars (plus similar
events at Fidelity branch of-
fices). The workshops create
a “judgment-free zone,” says
Kapusta. “When we get to
the question-and-answer
session, the floodgates open.”
When I was working on
this column, my husband
asked me what had helped
me to feel comfortable as an
investor. Quite truthfully,
I said that it was years of
reading Kiplinger’s. The
magazine’s stories helped
me settle on an investment
strategy that works for me:
a core of index funds spiced
up with a few of our favorite
actively managed funds.
How about you? How did
you become a confident in-
vestor? I’ll be happy to share
your experiences. ■You don’t have to be an expert. Start with your employer’s retirement savings plan.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR AT JBODNAR@
KIPLINGER.COM