On Women and Investing

I have read in several different places that women tend to become so paralyzed with indecision and the need to have exact information that they never invest at all. I definitely fit in that category. ING Direct makes it very easy to invest in both IRA’s and, through Sharebuilder, other non-retirement investments. Let me say right up front, I’m a fairly meek investor. All of my investments are in various index funds. I feel safe putting my money in index funds and, most importantly, they, and the ease of investing with ING, got me started. The main thing is - START!

Another paralyzing thing for me was some advice that I read several years ago (and several times since) to pay off your credit card debt before you start investing. On paper it makes sense. If you are paying 15% interest, for example, on your credit cards and only earning say, 8% on your investments, it makes more sense to first put your money towards your high interest debt and then, when that debt is retired, begin investing. That made so much sense to me that I put off investing in anything. Several years later I still had some credit card debt and no investments! Now I am paying down my credit card debt, funding my retirement account and investing. Several years from now if, heaven forbid, I still have credit card debt, I will also have investments and a retirement account. Sometimes what seems sensible, doesn’t work.

What’s your strategy?