Get Started: Overcome Investorphobia!

A new survey of more than 2,000 young women aimed to discover the truth about what millennials do with their money. They are a generation with something of an image problem, seen as spending all their money on avocado toast instead of pensions. But the findings of the study were more than a little surprising…

It turns out that millennial females are dealing with pretty healthy budgets, and have the smarts to know that saving for the future is more important than splurging in the present. The high cost of living, crazy property markets and big student debts are actually making these young women pretty careful when it comes to their finances, with 70% checking their bank accounts once a week or more.

Their savings goals? You might think they’re to travel the world on private jets instagramming smoothies, but in fact they are: having an emergency fund, saving for a holiday rather than putting it on credit, and getting a deposit for a flat (actually the survey said house but who are they kidding). Good work, sisters!

So... what’s the problem?

Well, while the overall picture shows that while the motivation to save is strong, we can see the willingness to get involved in investing is not. These cautious young women are keeping their money in ordinary current accounts rather than making investments that could earn them more money. More than half of all the women questioned admitted that they would like to try investing, but are scared to try. And this reticence to feel like investing is “for us” is by no means limited to those born in the 21st century, as we know.

Beating the investing fear, step by step:

1. Know that you can do it. It’s not rocket science, we promise. You don’t have to be good at maths or love taking big risks to open a stocks & shares ISA.
2. Make use of your high street bank. You don’t even have to go in and talk to a real person: there will be loads of info on their website about getting started with investing, even covering the basics like different sorts of pensions and interest rates.
3. Remember, you can start small. You’re not going to invest more than you have to spare at the end of each month, so there’s no need to fear a big catastrophe.
4. Have fun! This process doesn’t have to be dry and boring: think of all the cool start-ups that need investors (but check out our recent guide to investing in new businesses to avoid any financial or social pitfalls). And believe it or not, when you start joining the personal finance club you will find yourself growing in confidence and even self-knowledge – you’re going to find goals you never knew you had.
5. Come along to one of our Vestpod workshops on Investing! There’ll be loads of help for beginners and you’ll usually find a discount code included in the newsletter:)