Why is there a need for specific financial advice for women?

On average, women invest less than men. This is confirmed, among other things, by a study conducted by the Statista Research Department, according to which more than 8 million male savers invested in stocks in 2022, compared with just under 5 million female stock investors.

Women are more demanding than men with regard to their financial planning. At the same time, many lack confidence in their own success in the financial market. For this reason, Marmot, as an independent financial advisor especially for women, has made it its mission to encourage women to deal with the topic of goal based investing and retirement planning and to make more out of their money.

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Closing investment gaps - why it's so important for women

Despite the many advances toward gender equality, a lot of women are still convinced that men dominate the topic of investing. Most are insecure when it comes to investing and tend to rate their own investing skills and knowledge low. The lack of confidence in their own financial competence is one of the obstacles women face.

Another hurdle is the gender pay gap. Women often earn less than men for the same work and also have more downtime or part-time work due to raising children or caring for parents and parents-in-law. The result is a pension shortfall. Forward-looking financial advice for women can help close the gender investment gap.

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Are you pursuing specific financial ambitions? We can help you get there.

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Life stages: How do they affect financial advice for women?

Providing for the family and children still rests predominantly on the shoulders of women. As a result, their careers and earnings are linked not only to their own life stages, but also to those of their families. This often affects their entire career. Almost every woman goes through the following cycles in her working life:

Start of career:

Once you have completed your training or studies, hopefully your dream job beckons. At this stage of life, very few people are already thinking about old-age provision. Nevertheless, intensive financial advice for women is worthwhile right now, because everything that is invested at this time has a long time to bring a return. Even if the amounts invested may still be relatively small, the foundation for a valuable investment can be laid during this period. There is no such thing as "too early" when it comes to investing.

Younger women place a particularly high value on sustainable financial investments. Ecological and social factors are often more important to them than returns. Nevertheless, your good money should be invested stably and securely and generate profits. You will learn that sustainability and returns do not have to be a contradiction in financial consulting for women by our Marmot team.

Starting a family:

When the income of the parent raising the child is gone, money is a little tighter and thoughts of later mostly relate to the offspring. In this phase of life, women often make the mistake of thinking only about the future of their children and invest less in their own future. Often, male partners are then responsible for managing the family finances.

Women are usually less risk-oriented than men. Especially when there are children, financial security is at the top of the priority list. Nevertheless, we think it's particularly important that you don't lose sight of your own financial goals during this time either, and we'll be happy to advise you on this.

Career planning and a fresh start:

Once the children are older or have left home, many women enter a gratifying phase of reorientation. Some also start anew after a marriage breakup or separation. If the children take care of themselves, women can invest a significant contribution now at the latest in order to be able to maintain their standard of living later on. Financial advice for women can help here to achieve specific retirement planning or savings goals.

After a separation, women often deal for the first time with the challenge of how to invest their money profitably, especially in the case where men were the one taking care of family financial decisions. Many lack the knowledge and understanding of financial instruments and economic relationships to do so. Marmot's partnered financial coaches can help you gain solid knowledge on both basics or advanced investment topics depending on your interest or needs. 

Retirement:

Income in old age is usually lower than during full employment. But women also want to enjoy their lives in retirement. Lower pension income due to fewer years of payments, the longer life expectancy of women and the possible earlier death of their partner are specific challenges for women who want to be considered and secured in good time. You can seek advice from us at an early stage so that you are prepared for this phase and can enjoy it without worries.

In addition, it is particularly important at this stage of life to get an overview of your financial situation. It often makes sense to cut back on expenses that have become redundant, such as professional memberships, and to invest the money saved wisely.

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Financial advice for women covers all life cycles

In contrast to the conventional career of male colleagues, which usually follows a straight uphill path, women's careers tend to be characterized by a wave-like progression and include phases in which they have to cope with different income situations. Those who want to make financial provisions should therefore start financial planning early in order to be able to compensate for the phases with financial losses.

Financial planning must be flexible for women and take into account a possibly irregular employment history. Investments and savings plans can be adapted to different life cycles. In this way, women can reduce or also increase their savings rates - always in line with the respective financial situation. The earlier financial advice for women is started, the more the amount saved will increase, even if savings are reduced in the meantime.

Financial advice for women must take into account longer life expectancy

Women live an average of 5 years longer than men. That means they need to budget more money for the long after their careers are over in order to manage the overall higher costs of living and health care. Fortunately, women today are earning increasingly higher incomes as more women go to college and work in well-paying jobs. They can opt for a 3rd pillar of retirement security and protect their longer retirement with smart financial products. Investing money with a mix of long-term and short-term investments can be the foundation for financial independence even in old age.

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What is women-specific financial advice?

Women often earn less than their male counterparts and are therefore less likely to come into contact with the question of how they should invest excess money. When they manage their own money for the first time and make decisions about investments, the need for advice is therefore great. For those who do not have direct professional or personal experience with investment, their knowledge of the various asset classes or the financial market is limited. Financial advice for women helps to increase financial knowledge and build self-confidence in financial decisions.

Qualified and trustworthy advice at eye level is particularly important to our team at Marmot. In a relaxed consulting situation, all topics can be included openly and with understanding for every situation in a woman's life in financial counseling for women. Our advisors pay special attention to factors and considerations that are specifically important to women, e.g. sustainability and gender equality.

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Women's business: Motivating yourself to invest!

Women are easily discouraged from investing their money for the future. A lack of self-confidence in financial matters, the absence of female role models and the demonstrably lower income - there are enough obstacles. But women often achieve higher returns on financial markets - according to an analysis by ING Deutschland. The tenor: men invest more - women better. One more reason to do the same!

Women often invest differently than men and are more likely to seek information and advice before making an investment. On our technology platform, you can network with other female investors and learn from each other. This reduces uncertainty around financial issues. Together, it's easier to overcome fears about investing and increase knowledge and expertise. Try it out!

Ask us about our high-quality financial advice for women and master your finances smartly with the best financial products. Find out now how you are positioned financially and take our Marmot Money Makeover Quiz for free.