Chicks with stocks
Marie Engen has always looked after her family’s finances. In the early 1980s, when she was raising two boys, she took a job at a bank in Calgary and eventually worked her way up from secretary to Certified Financial Planner. Yet when she met with other professionals to talk about her insurance, her mortgage or her investments, the guy on the other side of the desk usually ignored her and spoke directly to her husband.
"Research suggests that financial literacy is lower among women"
“There were occasions when people were a little rude,” says Engen, 57, who now works part-time in merchandising. “I would make a point of saying, ‘You know, I’m going to be making the decision here, so please direct your comments to me.’ ”
It’s not realistic to expect all women — or men, for that matter — to be as savvy and confident as Engen. But when it comes to finances and investing, there’s a significant gender gap. Research suggests that financial literacy is lower among women: A 2008 American study found fewer than one in five middle-aged, college-educated women could answer a simple question about compound interest, compared with more than a third of men. And an RBC survey released in February revealed that 31 per cent of Canadian women have not started saving for retirement versus 21 per cent of men. That’s a troubling statistic, especially since women live longer and may need to put away even more than their male partners.
“It amazes me how very competent women say, ‘I can’t do that. I’m not good at math. I don’t understand money,’ ” marvels JoAnne Anderson, a financial adviser with The MoneyPower Group at Raymond James in Mississauga, Ont. “Women have power around this,” she insists.
In fact, they have several qualities that serve them well when it comes to managing money.
Women don’t take stupid risks
Just about all the research on investing and gender suggests women are less willing to take risks. A recent example: A survey released last fall by BlackRock Asset Management Canada found 21 per cent of men described themselves as very aggressive investors, compared with just nine per cent of women. As a result, women are more likely to hold conservative guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) and bonds and less likely to invest in stocks.
