Women are Investing More—and Alternative Assets are Part of Their Retirement Strategy

Published on March 10, 2022

NASA scientists. Corporate CEOs. Medical directors. Winning investors.

Women are roaring more loudly than ever, making history and headway as leaders in their fields . . . and winners in investing. Although women have been considered more conservative or less confident than men when it comes to investing, the Fidelity Investments’ 2021 Women and Investing Study revealed something different. Released last October, the study showed that women edged out men slightly in their investing performance from 2011 to 2020. The study also showed that:

• Two-thirds of respondents are making investments outside of their retirement savings and emergency funds, a 50% increase since 2018.
• Women want to take proactive steps towards their financial planning and investing – 90% said they are ready to do so through 2022, and 62% were interested in boosting their knowledge of financial planning and investing.
• Nearly half of women reported they have $20,000 or more in savings aside from their emergency reserves, and many are holding cash more than $50,000 or $100,000 (more on that below).

That is a lot of money that could be invested in alternative assets. Interestingly, women are doing so in increasing numbers—and more so than men. Intelligent Partnership cited another study of high-net-worth women that showed women allocate 27% of their assets to non-traditional investments; men are only at 20%. Plus, over half (55%) said they had increased their allocation into alternative assets over the prior year.

Women investors for the win!

Some reasons why women are doing well with their investments—especially with alternatives: they are doing their research, conducting their due diligence, and investing with goals in mind. Moreover, they understand the value of a more diversified retirement portfolio that provides a hedge against stock market volatility (and inflation—a very contemporaneous concern). This trend is not new: in 2014 it was reported that 60% of women were interested in including alternative assets in their portfolios, over 47% of men. Do we call that women’s intuition or investing smarts?

Invest in those alternative assets through self-direction

Circling back to our note about the $20,000-$100,000 that women are holding in cash—yes, liquidity is important and it’s good to have cash on hand—but imagine how far those dollars could go when invested in alternative assets through a self-directed IRA. As a custodian and administrator for self-directed retirement plans, and a woman-owned business, Next Generation encourages women to continue doing that research into nontraditional investments, make their investment plans, and consider opening a self-directed IRA.

Funding a self-directed IRA opens so many doors to alternative investments that build retirement wealth—without direct correlation to the ups and downs of the stock market—and provides a tax shelter for your investment gains. Women who are already investing outside of their existing retirement plans can open and fund a self-directed IRA, and include those investments in a tax-advantaged account. Real estate, private equity, ESG investing, precious metals, and cryptocurrency are among the many alternative assets these plans allow.

Woman power = investment power

As a self-directed investor, you make all your own investment decisions; the self-directed retirement plan administrator executes the transactions based on your instructions and holds the assets. You grow your portfolio with the same tax advantages as regular IRAs, but with a much broader array of investment options.

Why not turn what you already know and understand into retirement wealth you control? If you’d like to learn more about this retirement strategy, you can schedule a complimentary educational session with a Next Generation representative. You may also email us at NewAccounts@NextGenerationTrust.com, call 888-857-8058 or text 848-233-4076 for answers to your questions about how to get started—and join the growing ranks of female investors who are turning conventional thinking upside down!