Type “investing” or “financial planning” into any powerful search engine and the Internet surfer will hit pay dirt thousands of times. There’s a vast number of investment Web sites hawking their funds and services.
And because women are almost half the Internet population, many sites target the female investor, with tips, stories, personalized portfolios and hard-core investing information. In the past six months, two popular women’s Web sites – www.WomensWire.com and www.HomeArts.com – have launched pages that provide investing information.
A recent study from the National Center for Women and Retirement Research (NCWRR) at Southampton College of Long Island University, financed by Scudder Kemper Investments, revealed that today’s 33- to 53-year-olds are largely unprepared for retirement. This is particularly true of women.
Only 27 percent of the women in this age group have more than $100,000 in their 401(k) plans, compared with 43 percent of the men. And 27 percent of the women have not made financial plans for retirement, compared with 18 percent of men.
Some women’s investing sites aim at leveling the playing field for men and women by focusing on basics and how-to’s. Both popular women’s sites mentioned above offer several interactive “calculators” that allow users to easily figure out how much mortgage they can afford based on home cost, loan amount, interest rate and downpayment.
Users also can figure foreign currency exchange rates and college loan payments and get advice on buying big-ticket items like cars and computers, retirement and college planning, taxes, working and finances, insurance and estate planning, and lawyers and contracts.
Besides stories about financial trends and about how to create an investing club, the sites have the latest stock quotes and allow users to create their own portfolios.
The sites are particularly friendly for novice investors, providing a glossary of financial terms and information on where to find a stockbroker or financial planner, how to set up an automatic savings plan, how to buy a stock without a broker and how to buy a mutual fund . Each site offers advice from a financial planning expert on such subjects as stock options, debt, family financing and saving.
Meanwhile, some mutual fund and investment vendors are busy carving out niches for their female constituencies. Oppenheimer and Vanguard have targeted women in portions of their main Web sites, offering tips on getting started, case studies of successful women investors and background on investing options.
Other purveyors of investment options insist that women are no different from their male investor counterparts and have not targeted them specifically on their sites.
“We don’t look at investing by gender,” said Tom Taggart, a spokesman for Charles Schwab, in an e-mail interview. “Everything we develop on the Web, from the Asset Allocation Tool Kit, the Analyst Center, Mutual Fund OneSource Online, MarketBuzz, etc., is designed for every investor.”
Schwab is not alone. Fidelity, Strong and Janus also take a genderless approach to investing.
On the other hand, Kate Delhagen, an industry analyst for Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., said that “women remain a relatively untapped market for banks and brokerage firms, and on-line women — with above-average incomes and education — are a dream for Fidelity, Oppenheimer and Schwab.”
Also targeting investors in general are such top sites as CBS.MarketWatch.com, CNNfi.com,Yahoo.com, Excite.com and MSNBC.com. These sites offer a broad range of investing information for beginning, intermediate and experienced investors, while adding news and features about the stock market and industry performance.
THE BOOK SCENE
More in-depth information about women and investing can be found in these books:
“Every Woman’s Guide to Investing: 11 Steps to Financial Independence and Security,” Francie Prince, Douglas Nolan, 1996, $15
“Financially Independent Woman: A Step-By-Step Guide to Successful Investing,” Barbara Lee, 1998, $13
“The Financially Independent Woman : A Step-By-Step Guide to Successful Investing,” Barbara Lee, 1996, $18
“The Money Club: How We Taught Ourselves the Secret to a Secure Financial Future, and How You Can, Too,” Marilyn Crockett, et al, audio cassette and book, 1997, $18
“Savvy Investing for Women : Strategies from a Self-Made Wall Street Millionaire,” Marlene Jupiter, Elizabeth Tuttle, 1998, $24
“A Woman’s Guide to Investing: A Straight Talking Guide With the Information and the Inspiration You Need to Get Started,” Virgina B. Morris, et al, 1997, $15
“A Woman’s Guide to Savvy Investing: Everything You Need to Know to Protect Your Future,” Marsha Bertrand, 1997, $25
HOW THEY RATE
The Top 10 Business/Financial Sites
According to Relevant Knowledge, 1st Quarter, 1998
1 biz.yahoo.com
2 quote.yahoo.com
3 irs.ustreas.gov/prod
4 quicken.com
5 intuit.com
6 irs.ustreas.gov
7 investor.msn.com
8 quicken.excite.com
9 wsj.com
10 schwab.com
The Top 10 Business/Financial Networks
1 Yahoo! Business Network
2 Quicken Financial Network
3 Microsoft Investor
4 CNNfn
5 Excite Business Channel
6 The Wall Street Journal site
7 Pathfinder Business Magazines
8 Quote.com
9 USA Today Money
10 Infoseek Business
HOW THEY RATE
Listed below are some of the investment sites that have special appeal for women:
www.womenswire.com/money/: WomensWire has teamed up with Bloomberg to create this splendid, far-reaching site for the novice to the expert female investor.(star) (star) (star) (star)
www.moneyminded.com/index.htm: HomeArts Network has created a wide and deep site that reaches every aspect of investment and personal financial planning. (star) (star) (star) (star)
cbs.marketwatch.com: A broad range of information, from stocks, to personalized portfolio, to news, makes this site a font of information for the intermediate to skilled investor. (star) (star) (star) 1/2
www.finplan.com: Offers handy calculators to figure whether you can afford that home or college education, plus features on retirement, insurance, investment, personal finance and estate planning. (star) (star) (star)
www.personalwealth.com: Standard & Poor’s financial news site costs $9.95 for non-AOL members and $7.95 per month for AOL members and offers a variety of solid information. (star) (star) (star)
www.vanguard.com/educ/lib/plain/women/ptwomeninvest.html: While the women’s portion of the site is interesting – particularly its five-step plan to investing -Vanguard’s main site offers a wealth of investing options. (star) (star) (star)
www.oppenheimerfunds.com/planning/women.html: Oppenheimer has made a valiant effort to reach women by offering case studies of successful women investors and offering an accompanying Woman’s Guide to Investing, which can be ordered by calling 800-216-6115. (star) (star) (star)
