I joined Female Invest X Deborah Meaden of Dragon’s Den and The Big Green Money Show on a webinar about Sustainable Investing. Female Invest is a financial education and community platform, dedicated to empowering women to achieve financial success and closing the financial gender gap. Here’s a roundup of what I learnt on the Sustainable Investing webinar.
You don’t need to be an expert to get started…
- The market has given a 8% average annual return.
- You can use the Smartasset.com investment growth calculator to see how much your investment could be worth in the future.
- Inflation eats your savings and your money will be worth less in the future, so it pays to invest.
Before you start investing…
- Evaluate your financial situation- you need to make sure that you have cash in your budget to invest. Investing is a long-term plan and it only pays if you leave your money in the market for 5+ years.
- Think about your money persona- how is your money mindset? what money habits have you learnt from childhood?
What you can invest in…
- Stocks
- Real estate
- Cars
- Commodities
- EFTs
- Currencies
- Art
- Bonds
Sustainable Investing = Return for your wallet + Return for the planet
- Ask questions before investing
- Do your homework and make sure that you understand what you are investing in
- Ask about your pension fund and check the ethical and sustainably, is it ethical? is it sustainable? does it reflect my values?
- What are your rules?- fossil fuels, arms, tobacco, where do you draw the line?
- We vote with our money
- Money is a powerful tool to achieve empowerment
Look at the ESGS & Company Sustainability
- E- Environment
- S- Social
- G- Governance, who makes the decisions, values, stakeholders?
- Production: Look at the companies supply chain, production, materials, human costs
- Product: is it inherently sustainable, wind farms etc
- Mutual funds: An investment fund manages the companies within the fund and makes it easier for beginners
After their bestselling book Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, the founders of Female Invest are back, and this time they focus on impact investing. This book teaches you how to build wealth while creating positive change.
Questions to ask companies before you invest…
- What are you doing to be sustainable?
- If they’re not sustainable yet, is there a potential? Do they have a plan to become sustainable?
- Do your research- In an era of greenwashing, read the small print.
- Trust your intuition- Make sure it’s a company you really believe in
Every time you invest you vote for the future you want to experience.
– Female Invest
Tips and tricks to remember…
- Invest in companies that you understand- assess business model, industry and management
- Annual reports- check goals for sustainability and diversity
- Decide when to sell- when the stock has increased/ decreased, have a stop number in mind
- Diversify your portfolio- Geography/ Industry/ Company types, e.g start ups
- It’s important to care about your investment choices
- Sustainable investing- Change the world and plan for our financial future at the same time
Strategies to build wealth through investing…
- Buy & Hold– have a long time horizon of more than 5+ years. Despite fluctuations, the stock market has historically increased 8-10% per year on average. Always bouncing back.
- Invest often– Investing regularly, you can take advantage of dollar cost averaging.
How to get started…
- Decide how much and often you are able to invest.
- Decide, how much time you can dedicate to investing, am I going to put my money into a fund or learn about individual stocks?
- Create a trading account- choose a platform. Dedicate time in your calendar to create your trading account.
- Transfer your money- you can go as low as £20 per trade to get started with a small amount.
- Make your first investment. Watch your investment grow.
If you want to learn more about investing, head over to www.femaleinvest.com
