This archive report was first published on 6 July 2021.
As Caroline Matu, an investment banker and CEO of Net Worth Investment Consultancy, notes, investing is the art of assigning money in activities or assets that increase in value over time and give you a positive return with the aim of growing your money.
With various investment opportunities available to women, shares and stocks, treasury bonds, treasury bills, and unit trusts are popular options. Shares or stocks represent ownership of a fraction of a corporation or company, while treasury bonds involve lending money to the government or a company for a long term (2-30 years) for a return or interest.
For a beginner, unit trust investments are a good place to start, as most firms allow you to invest whatever amount you have and as often as you would like. This gives you the discipline to put your money aside and build a lump sum that you can later use to invest in other more capital-intensive opportunities like real estate or treasury bonds.
According to Matu, the returns on unit trusts are better than what you get keeping your money in a bank account. If you don’t want to put your money away for too long a time, treasury bills, unit trusts, and bank fixed deposits are all good options.
Looking for a good long-term return? Treasury bonds, shares, and real estate are good options. Real estate requires you to have a lot of money, but treasury bonds and shares would accommodate you even if your funds are limited.
The minimum investment for bonds, for example, is Sh50,000, and the coupon is anything between 10 to 14 per cent depending on the tenure. With as little as Sh5,000, you can start your journey to investing in shares.
Matu emphasizes the importance of women taking control of their financial decisions, citing that most women outlive their male counterparts by 5-15 years. This means that you will have many more years to suffer poverty in your old age if you don’t put your finances in order.
Plan ahead and invest wisely for your future. Stop delegating your financial wellbeing to your spouses and children. Several studies have shown women to be better financial managers than men, and Warren Buffet advises never depending on a single income, instead investing to create a second source.
