Women’s History Month: A Look at Women and Their Financial & Investing History

Published on March 26, 2020

Ever since the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s a lot has changed for women in America, thanks to spitfire pioneers who generated shifts in societal attitudes and pushed for legislative changes.

The National Organization of Women advocated for six measures to ensure women’s equality: enforcement of laws banning employment discrimination, maternity leave rights, childcare centers (so mothers could work), tax deductions for childcare expenses, equal and unsegregated education, and equal job-training opportunities for women in poverty. These all took many years to pass.

Eventually, as more women entered the workforce employers were barred from firing a woman because she was pregnant. More women began running for political office. No-fault divorce laws arose. Women began serving in combat, became astronauts, and sat on the Supreme Court bench. Moreover, they could finally apply for a credit card or loan in their own names.

Women in financial history

Women have been making their mark on the financial sector since our country’s early days. In fact, future First Lady Abigail Adams began trading in government-issued bonds during the Revolutionary War with strong results, and a woman named Victoria Woodhull opened her own brokerage house in 1870 with her sister; she also ran her own newspaper company and was the first woman to run for U.S. President.

Some more notable firsts in modern times:

• Isabel Benham was the first woman to work on Wall Street in the 1930s at R.W. Presspich & Co. and in the 1960s, became the firm’s first female partner.
• Muriel Siebert was the first woman to purchase a seat on the New York Stock Exchange in 1967 and the first woman to be appointed Superintendent of Banking a decade later.
• In 2014, Janet Yellen became the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve.

Women and investing

The women’s liberation movement notwithstanding, it’s been an uphill climb for women to take their rightful places in the workplace and take their seats at corporate tables. As of January 1, 2020, there have been 82 individual women in Fortune 500 CEO roles in total, with three serving as CEO twice.

However, more women are undergoing a new women’s liberation movement when it comes to their investment choices . . . and discovering they can take more control of their financial futures through self-directed investing.

Self-directed IRAs enable investors to better control their retirement savings by investing in alternative assets they know and understand. Although historically, women have taken a more moderate approach to risk, those who prefer to make their own investment decisions can open a new self-directed retirement plan and include non-publicly traded, alternative assets to build a more diverse retirement portfolio. These investments might include real estate, private equity, private lending, partnerships, precious metals or impact investments.

Self-directed investors also conduct their own research and due diligence about the alternative assets they wish to include in their retirement plans. They may already be investing in these assets outside of their existing retirement accounts. In fact, that’s how our founder and CEO, Jaime Raskulinecz, started Next Generation.

Next Generation’s Women in History

Jaime was a seasoned real estate investor who wanted to include real estate in her IRA; she discovered self-direction as a retirement strategy that would allow her to do so. As a pioneer in her own right, Jaime started a company in 2004 to enable more investors to include nontraditional investments in their retirement plans and Next Generation, a third-party administrator for those plans, was born. Continuing to build on her success, in 2017 she led the formation of its sister firm, Next Generation Trust Company, which now acts as custodian for all of its accounts.

Jaime and her partner Linda Varas, Principal of Next Generation, have always believed in the power of women in the workplace and our team is a testament to that. Jaime and Linda have cultivated a career-building environment for women (and men, too!), as you’ll see on our team page.

We are proud to recognize Jaime’s many professional achievements as we continue to educate more women on the power of self-directed investing. Want to take control of your future, today? Sign up for a complimentary educational session with one of our knowledgeable representatives. Alternatively, you can email us directly at NewAccounts@NextGenerationTrust.com or call 888.857.8058 to get started.