The latest HMRC ISA figures show:
• Just 18% of women invested their ISA, compared to nearly a quarter of men
• Women investing their ISA rises on previous year – from 14% to 17%
Laura Suter, personal finance analyst at investment platform AJ Bell, comments:
“Women are great at saving, and at every age group more females are saving into an ISA than men. The latest figures show that 5,543,000 women subscribed to an ISA account compared to 5,141,000 men in 2016/17, the latest year this breakdown is available for.
“However, for women the bulk of this money is still sitting in cash, rather than being invested. Around 80% of females saved their money into a cash ISA, compared to 72% of men, while 17% of women subscribed to a stocks and shares ISA, compared to 24% of men. The rest did a combination of the two.
“Females also have less money in their ISA account, thanks to getting lower returns on their money as they are sitting in cash while interest rates are at rock bottom, rather than investing it. The top paying easy-access cash ISA at the moment is paying 1.46%, which is lower than the current rate of inflation, meaning that it is losing money in real terms.
“There are encouraging signs though, as more women have invested their ISA than the previous year, with the figure rising from 14% to 17%, alongside a similar drop-off in the number saving into a cash ISA. It’s understandable that many people find taking the first steps into investing daunting, but if you take small steps into investing you can build up confidence over time. What’s more, a number of studies have shown that women are actually better investors than men, generating higher returns, which is a great incentive to get started.
“A good first route for a first-timer is to set up regular investing. This means that you commit the same amount of money each month to buy investments, which can help iron out the ups and downs that can be experienced with stock market investments, but it also allows you to dip your toe into the markets with a small amount of money initially.
“The onus is also on the financial industry to make investing more approachable for everyone, particularly women, and to cut through the waffle and baffling jargon in order to make it easier for everyone to invest their money.”
