Fear Keeps Millennial Women from Investing in the Markets

While Millennial women are very responsible with their budgets—with 70% reviewing their bank accounts once a week or more frequently, and 53% having an emergency fund—56% do not invest due to fear, according to a new study by SoFi and Levo League.

The top two reasons that Millennial women gave for not investing are they do not know where to begin (25%) and they are paying down debt (25%). In addition, 25% of Millennial women say they find investing to be “a total mystery.” Nonetheless, 57% of these women have the means to invest, i.e. after paying bills, they still have extra money each month.

If they were given a $10,000 bonus, Millennial women say they would use the funds to pay down debt. Among those who are investing, 85% said it is to achieve stability, and 81% said it is to be able to pursue outside passions and interests.

“There is an incredible opportunity to increase the level of comfort and education around investing for Millennial women,” says Libby Leffler, vice president of membership at SoFi. “Our study with Levo shows Millennial women are financially responsible; paying down debt is a major priority. However, being financially responsible is also planning for the future.”

Survey results are based on responses of 2,050 women between the ages of 18 and 34 earning an income of $50,000 or more a year.