INVESTING

Why do so many women leave money decisions to men when statistics show they themselves are often better investors? On the 50th anniversary of women being admitted to the London Stock Exchange, we look at how to get started

by JENNIFER HOWZE

My financial world imploded when I was in my late forties. I was living with my husband and two children in a four-bedroom home. We had a manageable mortgage, I was debt-free and was even saving a bit every month. Then I found out my husband had a gambling addiction.

Instead of the comfortable existence I thought we'd created, we were teetering on a mountain of debt (more than six figures). My savings evaporated. Over the coming years we split up, sold the house, and I moved into a two-bedroom flat. Just when I thought things had levelled off, the tech business I'd founded ten years earlier collapsed. My sister had to reassure me that if I couldn't pay the rent we could move in with her.

This was not supposed to happen. I'd always been careful with money, living to a budget and saving up over time. However, my approach had not insulated me against unexpected crisis. To be honest, it hadn't even insulated me against changes in the economy; even before the divorce I'd seen my savings decline as interest rates sunk.

I'd always thought of financial planning and investment as a boring necessity and left 'money things' to my husband, an accountant. That was his thing more than mine, I told myself. I'm not alone in that. Yet women need to invest: we live longer, so need more money to last us through life; we typically earn less than men and take more career breaks so may have smaller pensions and fewer savings. Investing is one of the most important ways to build wealth. Stock market-based investments tend to do better than cash or savings over the long-term, according to the Governmentbacked moneyhelper.org.uk.