For many women in Ireland, the world of investing feels like a club for which we weren’t sent the invite. The language is often needlessly opaque, the jargon overwhelming and conversations are dominated by self-appointed experts. It is no wonder so many of us view investing as something confusing, risky or, at worst, simply “not for me”. But here is the truth: investing is far more ordinary than the jargon suggests. It isn’t a dark art; it’s a practical tool for self-reliance.

“In Ireland, only 26 per cent of women hold investments, compared to 44 per cent of men,” says Suzanne Berkery, senior portfolio manager at Cantor Fitzgerald. “That’s a significant gap in participation and it has real-world consequences for women’s long-term financial security.”

The roots of this gap can be psychological rather than financial. It is widely acknowledged that women often hold off on applying for promotions because they feel the need to tick every single box on a job description. Their male counterparts, conversely, are often happier to view the “step up” as a space for on-the-job learning. It turns out our approach to investing follows a similar pattern.

“One of the biggest reasons men invest more in the stock market than women comes down to confidence, not competence,” Suzanne explains. “Women often feel they need to know everything before getting started, while men are more likely to delegate to an advisor and learn as they go.”

A Skillset You Already Posess

If you can budget for a household, save for a deposit or plan a long-term family goal, you already understand the fundamentals of investing, says Suzanne. “At its most basic level, investing means using money you do not need today in the hope that it will be worth more in the future,” she says. Whether that future involves a comfortable retirement, helping children through college or a peace-of-mind fund, the principle is the same. “Investing is about letting money grow gradually over long periods while accepting that progress is not always smooth.”

Irish people are historically great at saving. There is a deep-seated cultural comfort in seeing a balance sit in a current or fixed-term account; it feels safe, tactile and certain. Suzanne points out that a staggering €170 billion sits in low-interest bank accounts across the country. However, there is a silent predator at the table: inflation. While your bank balance stays the same, its spending power shrinks every year.

“If prices rise by about 3 per cent a year – and current inflation suggests this could be as high as 3.6 per cent – and your savings earn close to 0 per cent, you are effectively getting poorer without even noticing,” she warns. “Investing is one way to fight back because it gives you a chance of better growth over the long run.”

Demystifing The Mechanics

To gain confidence in investing, it helps to pull back the curtain on what your money is actually doing. As Suzanne explains, when you invest, you are generally doing one of two things. Lending, in the form of bonds, is where you lend money to a government or a company. In return, they give you regular interest payments and a promise to pay the full amount back on a fixed date. Or you can own in the form of shares, which means buying a small piece of a business, becoming a partial owner. If the company grows, the value of your share grows. You might also receive a dividend, which is a slice of the company’s profits paid out to you annually.

“The risk with shares is that the company may falter and the value of your shares could fall instead of rising,” she explains. This is where the golden rule of diversification comes in. Suzanne describes it as the “umbrella and ice cream” strategy: if you own a business that sells umbrellas and one that sells ice cream, you’re covered whether it’s raining or shining. In other words, by having a diverse portfolio, it means if one investment is struggling, the other may be doing well, helping to balance returns.

Suzanne recognises that risk is what often scares people away from investing. “Risk is not the same as loss,” she candidly explains. “Risk simply means uncertainty. Share prices move up and down and no one can predict short-term movements with accuracy. However, history shows that diversified investments – held over long periods – have tended to recover from downturns and grow. Importantly, avoiding investing altogether also carries risk – the risk of your money steadily losing value in real terms as prices rise.

As Suzanne explains, both saving and investing are important, but “relying solely on savings makes it much harder to build wealth over time”. “Investing, when approached sensibly and patiently, is not an exclusive or overly complicated activity,” she says. “It is a practical tool that people can use to improve their financial future.” Approaching investing with the support of a financial advisor can add clarity and confidence, especially for someone who is investing for the first time. As Suzanne explains, “a good advisor can help you set realistic goals, choose suitable investments and avoid common (and costly) mistakes like taking too much risk, holding too much cash or reacting emotionally to market dips.”

A financial advisor can also guide you through Ireland-specific issues such as pensions and tax. An upcoming change in the Irish market is a new State-backed savings and investment scheme, expected to launch in 2027. “The proposed Personal Investment Account would act as a one-stop shop for investments, with a simplified tax structure designed to remove many of the current barriers, making long-term investing easier to understand and easier to start,” she says.

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, investing is not about becoming wealthy overnight or taking unnecessary risks. It is, as Suzanne says, about giving yourself options and security in the future. “It is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity as Irish households face rising living costs, longer life expectancy and uncertain State support,” she says. Once you strip away the jargon, you are left with a very simple, practical reality: investing can ensure your hard-earned money works as hard for you as you did for it.

Find out more about our wealth management solutions here.

This article has been reproduced in partnership with Image Magazine and was written by Image Magazine Editor Leonie Corcoran and Senior Portfolio Manager Suzanne Berkery