On the 108th anniversary of International Women’s Day, FrontFundr, Canada’s number one investment crowdfunding site has commissioned a survey to understand gender parity in personal finance for women, and the results aren’t good
Only 12% of Canadian women aged 25 - 65 feel that they, personally have Financial Equality, where wealth is distributed equally. 29% of women in the same survey felt they had Financial Independence. Financial independence is not only a source of confidence but also gives women the credibility to participate in important matters of decision making, for themselves and their families.
45% of women surveyed believed personally they had none of Financial Equality, Financial Independence, a plan for retirement or enough savings for retirement.
Christine Bhatt, Finance and Accounting Manager for FrontFundr said, “On the 108th anniversary of the first International Women’s Day, one would have hoped that Financial Equality would at least be in our grasp.”
Canadian women outlive Canadian men by nearly four years. This means they have to support themselves for longer, and typically women have a shorter period in the workforce due to child or elder care. One could argue this means that women don’t need Financial Equality but Financial Bias, to create greater wealth in a shorter period of time to sustain them for longer. Part of the solution can be investing in private companies as US data shows private equity has had an average annual return of 10.64% over the past 10 years vs. 6.9%/annum for S&P 500.
Instead, women invest in the safe haven of cash, a statement supported by 52% of those surveyed. It is recommended to keep 2-6 months of cash on hand. But with high-interest bank rates in Canada at around 1% and inflation hovering around 2%, longer-term savings in the bank leads to a loss of money in real terms.
Women need to look to inflation beating investing, and for those that do, the outlook is rosier. In FrontFundr's survey, 69% of the women in the survey who invest, rarely or never change their investments. It’s been said that Warren Buffet trades like a woman, by taking a longer-term approach to investing, and this longer-term approach is, as he has proved, more successful for growing your savings. Investing is not get rich quick and there is always a degree of risk.
But the challenge is getting the time to invest. 32% acknowledged they should take time to look at investing, but simply don’t have the time. In the survey, the women responded that they liked online investing because of the convenience and ability to invest any time of day, not just office hours. This is where online investing, such as investment crowdfunding can be part of the solution. It allows people to review on their own schedule, and to ask the questions they need to.
#IWD
#BalanceforBetter
FrontFundr is an online investing platform that empowers Canadians to find and make direct investments in the private companies they believe in - and become stakeholders in their future. FrontFundr’s online exempt market dealer (EMD) status plus its modern technology lets users across Canada easily invest in innovative growth businesses in under 12 minutes and starting from $250.
Private equity has had an average annual return of 11.8% over the past 10 years (vs. 6.9%/annum for S&P 500). Equity Crowdfunding increases access to the private market for many Canadians shut out before. Sources: CVCA (2017), TMX (TSX:X) (2017), OSC (2017), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) (2017): FrontFundr Team Analysis (2018).
Invest in the Future. www.frontfundr.com
Interviews and media appearances from members of the FrontFundr team in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, en Français are available.
For more information: Victoria Bennett [email protected] 403-589-7992
For more content and Six Step Guide see: https://www.frontfundr.com/BlogPost/six-steps-to-achieve-financial-gender-parity-this-iwd
