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Women & Investing Take the Initiative |
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“If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself.”
Bet you heard your mother say that a million times when you were growing up. You probably still live by that bit of wisdom when it comes to your everyday tasks, chores and job if you are in the workforce. Traditionally, the one facet of a woman’s life where she had little or no control, knowledge or input has been that facet involved with finances, money and investments. The facts of life, post-90s style Enter reality. Women are now employed outside the home in record percentages. Yet, work history can be more erratic for women, who take time off to care for children and parents; and salaries and wages for white women are still only 76 percent of what men earned last year (according to a Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics study, Issues in Labor Statistics, May 5, 1999). In addition to these challenges, because women tend to live longer than men, many women will find themselves completely responsible for their own finances at some point in their lives. You can do it It should not be overwhelming. Just as with any other learning experience, there is a suggested sequence to follow that will get you from the beginning to the end – financial independence, in this case. 
First, don’t put it off any longer. Try taking a small step, such
as opening an automatic investment plan similar to the ABC
Investment Plan®1 in a mutual fund recommended to you by
someone whose financial judgment you trust.
Then, decide which financial goal is most critical at the moment and concentrate on achieving it. The type of goal – retirement, new home purchase, child’s education, vacation – and when you expect to reach it will dictate the kinds of investments and associated risks you may be willing to assume. You can go online at www.usfunds.com for financial planning tools to aid you in your selections, such as a one-time investment capital calculator and a retirement worksheet. Your third step could be to select a low-cost investment. No-load funds do not charge upfront sales fees; therefore, your initial contribution is fully invested. You may also want to look at expenses and other charges that could reduce the effectiveness of your contributions. Next, you may want to consider making regular contributions. To boost your memory skills, you could use the automatic investment plan approach. Once you have signed up, payroll deductions can be taken from your regular account each month to fund the purchase of additional shares. This eliminates the change of forgetting to write a check. Finally, because women on average are expected to live to an average age of 79, according to the Bureau of the Census, supplemental retirement income is almost a must. By all means, participate in any employer-sponsored retirement plan like a 401(k) or a 403(b) or consider opening an individual retirement account – either traditional or Roth. There is a wealth of information available about investing. To get you started, please call 1-800-US-FUNDS or visit www.usfunds.com for information on investment products, our funds, applications and prospectuses, including charges and ongoing expenses. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money. You can also visit usfunds.com to use our financial planning tools. 1A program of regular investing doesn’t assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market. You should evaluate your ability to continue in such a program in view of the possibility that you may have to redeem fund shares in periods of declining share prices as well as in periods of rising prices. |
