von Dr. Nikolaus Braun
Dear Sir or Madam,
During our open house event, we offered free pro bono consultations: Twenty minutes—"What have you always wanted to ask a fee-only advisor?" In total, we had around thirty conversations, some of them truly wonderful.
One aspect of these conversations pleasantly surprised me so much that I want to share it with you. Whether by coincidence or not, over the course of two days, I spoke with three women who all had one thing in common: Over the past few years, they have taken control of their financial affairs, started finding effective solutions, and, most importantly, begun asking really good questions.
Finding your way out of financial illiteracy through your own efforts
Take Katrin, for example. Despite the traumatic bankruptcy of her father and some awful experiences with pushy financial product salespeople, she now handles her finances with remarkable confidence. She got rid of her dysfunctional insurance products years ago and has been consistently investing in two or three broadly diversified ETFs—without letting market fluctuations make her nervous. Christiane shared an almost identical story—except, of course, for the bankruptcy aspect.
I was equally impressed by Andrea, who has also been following a simple yet disciplined approach to wealth building for years. Her main concern was how to ensure long-term financial security for her disabled daughter.
Do women have unique strengths in handling money?
Interestingly, all these women had a few things in common:
• In the past, they had made poor financial decisions—often due to misleading advice from shady financial advisors.
• They all found the strength and rationality to correct those mistakes.
• They educated themselves through neutral and reputable sources.
• Even more importantly, they avoided all the financial nonsense and hype that’s rampant on the internet.
• Despite having above-average financial competence compared to the German population, they remained humble—sometimes even a bit uncertain.
• Their questions revolved around how money could improve their quality of life.
They also stood out pleasantly from some (though only a few) of the male visitors during those two days: No chasing hot investment tips, no know-it-all attitudes, no half-baked financial theories, and no resistance to sound advice.
Of course, three people do not make for a representative sample. But what I observed with Katrin, Andrea, and Christiane closely aligns not only with my professional experience but also with findings from various studies.
Whereas men often fall victim to traditional competitive mindsets—or perhaps even their own testosterone levels—women are far less likely to feel the need to "win" at investing. And trying to beat the market simply because you believe you’re smarter than everyone else is one of the surest ways to fail.
Often, all that’s missing is a little self-confidence
In the end, I gave all three of them essentially the same advice—with only a few minor footnotes: Keep doing exactly what you’re doing. You should be very proud of yourselves. And stop doubting yourselves—you don’t deserve that.
Dear Katrin, dear Andrea, dear Christiane—thank you for making sure I left our open house event in such a great mood.
Best regards,
Your
Nikolaus Braun
Neunundvierzig Honorarberatung
P.S.: I welcome your thoughts at nachdenken@neunundvierzig.com.
02/11/2024
