Germans are great at saving money. But put our savings habits into a gender context, and it no longer looks so great. It turns out that women lag far behind men when it comes to actually investing their savings, with only 13% of German women owning any stock at all. Why?
To begin with, women simply earn less than men – Germany has one of the worst pay-gaps between genders in Europe, at 18-20% – so women have less savings to invest in the first place.
By not investing any savings that they do have, women end up with significantly less to retire on – so Germany’s pay-gap spirals first to an investment gap and then into a retirement gap at the later part of life. Let’s not forget that women live on average 5-7 years longer than men…
Add to this the fact that women are not only more likely to accept a drop in income to care for children and elderly relatives than their male counterparts, but also that they also do a full hour and a half more of unpaid work every day than men do. You’re looking at an enormous financial imbalance that urgently needs addressing.
Andrea Fernandez is a Harvard Business School graduate who has worked in finance for many years at JPMorgan, Allianz Global Investors, and Liqid. During her parental leave she came up with the idea for Vitamin, an app that helps women take finances in their own hands and start investing.
In our latest podcast, she calls on all women to start investing – no matter with what amount. She argues that even 100 Euros monthly can grow into a retirement fund, if you start early enough!
So let’s close those gaps and start putting our money to work 💪💶
Speaker: Andrea Fernandez, Founder of Vitamin
Interviewer: Dr. Ricarda Engelmeier – Founder @MyCollective
Music: sponsored by @Michaelkadelbach
Photograph: Andrea Fernandez
Graphic & Production: MyCollective
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