Advice for Women Investors from Top Financial Advisors

This article was originally published in Investopedia by Erica Lee see full article here.

Women tend to have a different relationship with money than men. This difference is often demonstrated through the gendered financial literacy gaps, with women lacking the same personal finance knowledge as men.1 Plus, people with higher levels of financial literacy often exhibit greater wealth, better retirement plans, and greater chances of participation in the stock market.1

We asked five women from the Investopedia 100 Top Financial Advisors list to share their experiences with financial planning strategy across genders and offer advice for women and others who hope to improve their relationship with money and take charge of their finances.

Cary Carbonaro, CFP, MBA

SVP & Director of Women and Wealth, Advisors Capital Management, LLC | Florida

In Carbonaro’s experience, women are often not socialized into making financial decisions for themselves, and they instead rely on male relatives to take care of personal finances. 

However, she said this relationship is deeply flawed and often unsustainable. “Women have three strikes against them: the fact that they live longer, the fact that they make less, and the fact that they, out of the workforce, are often taking care of kids and parents. They call it the good daughter penalty,” Carbonaro said. 

With her female clients, Carbonaro has seen a greater sense of ownership and emotional attachment to money, which causes them to favor safer, more conservative investments. To women and others with financial anxieties, Carbonaro said, “Don’t be afraid of the market. Because if you have a long term view, you’ll be fine … Don’t look at your accounts when it’s a huge red day or you know that the market’s down.”