Most women are fearful of managing their money. We were taught as girls that men or boys are good with numbers and we are good being homemakers. We are good at being homemakers, but we can also be good with managing our own money.

Start out small. Do you have a budget? Have you incorporated savings into your budget every month? Have you started an investing program for yourself?

Keep it simple. If the stock market frightens you, a lot of new investors buy mutual funds. I believe you should know what you are buying and to focus on investments that you understand. This is why I like real estate. That said, real estate investing is not for everyone. Keep your strategy simple in the beginning.

Contribute consistently. The key to wealth building is not to just keep saving but to reinvest savings on a regular basis. If all we do is put the money in a money market account, it will actually lag in growth or be behind. Take your monthly savings and reinvest it every quarter.

Over time, no matter what investment type you elect to build a portfolio, history shows that markets rise over time. I am talking decades not months. Be prepared to hold for the long term!

This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Women Only. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.