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6 Investing Tips for Women

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How to Take Charge of Your Financial Life

Women face unique financial challenges when compared to men. On average, women live four to five years longer than men, and married women outlive their husbands by an average of 14 years.1 This means women face higher lifetime living expenses, medical costs and long-term care expenses.

In addition, women often take time out of the workforce to care for children and/or aging parents. This means their average lifetime earnings are less than men’s.

Because of these challenges, women often need to take a different approach to investing and managing their finances. The following tips can help.

Tip #1 – Find an advisor you can trust.

A great way to build an investment strategy is by working with a qualified wealth advisor. Look for an advisor who provides the following:

  • 100% of his or her services as a fiduciary advisor – It’s important to ensure your advisor serves solely as a fiduciary, meaning he or she is putting your best interests first.
  • Independent advice free from conflicts of interest – Your advisor should operate independently of any fund managers, insurance providers and other investment products. This is a great way to ensure there aren’t conflicts of interests in the products and services your advisor recommends.
  • Low-cost, tax-efficient strategies – The long-term impact of tax liabilities and investment expenses can mean the difference between achieving your goals or not. Be sure to choose an advisor who proactively looks for opportunities to lower your expenses and minimize your taxes.
  • An approach based on rational, science-driven, academic research – There’s a lot of misleading financial data out there. Your advisor should have the knowledge, background and experience to get to the facts and develop well-researched solutions to the challenges you face.

Tip #2 – Establish clear financial goals.

One of the best ways to achieve your specific financial goals is by having a financial plan in place. A solid financial plan can serve as a blueprint to guide all aspects of your financial life, including investment-related decisions.

Work with an advisory team that has a wide range of experience across various financial planning topics and can create a custom, comprehensive plan incorporating a wide range of financial strategies to meet your needs, including:

Tip #3 – Develop a diversified, long-term investment strategy.

Your wealth advisor will work with you to establish a diversified investment portfolio that spreads out your investment risk and helps ensure you’re well positioned to weather any future market volatility. Your investment portfolio should be:

  • Customized based on your specific financial situation, your goals for the future and any challenges you may face
  • Diversified to incorporate a wide range of asset types, industries and sectors
  • Composed of a wide range of low-cost, tax-efficient, transparent investments that have a high probability of being the best performing asset in the space

Tip #4 – Invest for retirement.

Retirement planning is especially important for women given the challenges they face — time out of the workforce, the gender wage gap, a longer life expectancy, lower Social Security benefits, greater healthcare expenses in retirement, etc. You’ll want to:

  • Ensure various retirement accounts (401k, 403b, traditional and Roth IRAs, etc.) are working alongside other retirement benefits (pension, Social Security, life insurance, long-term care insurance, etc.) to help you save
  • Implement tax planning strategies to optimize your savings and maximize your retirement income
  • Develop a tax-efficient retirement withdrawal plan
  • Establish a monthly retirement income to achieve your lifestyle goals

Tip #5 – Prepare for the unexpected.

It’s important to prepare for unexpected setbacks by saving three to six months’ worth of living expenses in a short-term, liquid emergency fund. Not only can this emergency savings help cover unexpected expenses but it can also prevent the need to sell out of your investments at inopportune times, thereby locking in portfolio losses.

If you don’t already have an emergency savings account, make a plan to set aside a certain amount each month to begin building one up.

Tip #6 – Protect your wealth.

To protect the assets and investments you’ve worked so hard to build, it’s important to have a variety of risk management strategies in place. Your advisor can help you choose and implement an appropriate mix of the following:

  • Disability/income replacement insurance
  • Life insurance
  • Long-term care and health insurance
  • Car insurance/home insurance
  • Umbrella liability insurance
  • Specialty insurance for business owners

Are you ready to take charge of your investments? Creative Planning is here for you. Our experienced professionals serve as fiduciaries to clients, providing advice that’s always in each client’s best interests. We understand the unique challenges you face as a female investor, and we’re here to help you navigate them. To get started, schedule a call with a member of our team. We look forward to getting to know you.

Footnotes:

  1. https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/wealth-management-insights/women-financial-planning

This commentary is provided for general information purposes only, should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice, and does not constitute an attorney/client relationship. Past performance of any market results is no assurance of future performance. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

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