10 Money Beliefs Women Will Relate To
Edition 23- Things Women Say About Money That Are Quietly Holding Them Back
Welcome to Edition #023 of People Please!
My mission with this newsletter is simple but ambitious: to help 100,000 professionals shift from being ‘People Pleasers’ to becoming ‘Culture-Builders.’
In this edition, we’re diving into something even more quietly emotional than storytelling: money and more specifically, why so many women fear investing.
Because here’s the truth: Money isn’t just math. It’s meaning. It’s the stories we’ve been told and the stories we’ve believed about what we can and cannot do.
Too many brilliant women are sitting on financial sidelines, not because they lack ability but because they’ve internalised fear, guilt, and caution as financial wisdom.
They’ve been told investing is risky, complicated, or “not for them.”
But what if the real risk… is never even trying?
In this piece, we’ll unpack ten deeply relatable reasons women hold back from investing and offer a new way to think, act, and lead with money.
Because money isn’t just a tool it’s a mirror. And how we relate to it reflects how we see ourselves. Let’s begin!
Common Money Beliefs Women Hold and Their Real-Life Parallels
“At least this is safe. I don’t want to touch it.”
Parallel: Imagine an old sweater that’s itchy and outdated but familiar. You wear it saying, “At least it’s warm.” Then you try on something new comfortable, stylish, and perfect for you. Money is the same.
“Safe” is often just “stuck.” Growth happens outside comfort zones.
“See? This article says finance is risky, I knew it.”
Parallel: Ever googled a headache and convinced yourself it’s a brain tumour? We tend to seek evidence for our fears. Yes, investing has risks so does driving or switching jobs.
The answer isn’t avoidance. It’s learning how to do it well.
“I knew someone who invested and lost everything.”
Parallel: That’s like saying, “I knew someone who got food poisoning at a restaurant, so I’ll never eat out again.” One story doesn’t make a rule.
Instead of generalising failure, focus on learning what went wrong.
“I’ve always done it this way. Why change now?”
Parallel: It’s like refusing to upgrade your phone because your landline still works.
Yes, old ways feel familiar but they might also be limiting your financial growth.
New may feel unfamiliar, but it also means staying relevant and in control in today’s fast-changing world.
“What if I lose everything?”
Parallel: Like never learning to cycle because you might fall.
Training wheels exist. In investing, that’s SIPs, low-risk funds, and advisors.
You don’t avoid riding forever. Don’t avoid wealth-building either.
“He understands it better, I’ll leave it to him.”
Parallel: If you’re on a road trip and your partner’s driving, wouldn’t you want to know how to take the wheel in case he falls sick?
Financial dependence = vulnerability.
Even if you don’t drive daily, you should at least know how to drive.
“No woman I know does investments, so maybe it’s not for me.”
Parallel: That’s like saying, “None of my friends go to the gym, so I won’t either.”
You could be the one who breaks the chain and inspires others.
“I don’t want to prove them right.” so you hold back, just to stay safe.
Parallel: It’s like entering a math class thinking, “Girls aren’t good at this,” so you don’t raise your hand even when you do know the answer.
Each time you stay silent, the stereotype tightens its grip.
You’re not confirming the stereotype they are.
Refusing to play isn’t rebellion. Breaking the pattern is.
Your confidence won’t come before action. It will come because of it.
“I’m not good with numbers.”
Parallel: Have you ever baked a cake, tracked a budget, or split a bill? Then you already use numbers smartly.
Investing needs logic, not calculus.
You have the skills you just need the mindset.
“I messed up once so I shouldn’t try again.”
Parallel: Imagine your partner asks for their favourite dish. You overcook it once. Do you stop cooking forever?
No. You adjust the recipe, try again and succeed.
Same with money. One mistake doesn’t mean you’re bad at it.
Every smart investor has made a financial error. What made them succeed is they didn’t let it stop them.
Why Women Fear to Invest And How to Change That
Despite earning more and gaining greater financial independence, many women still shy away from investing. While saving comes naturally to most, the leap into investing is met with hesitation, fear, and self-doubt. This isn't due to a lack of ability it’s often the result of societal conditioning, internalised stereotypes, and the absence of safe, relatable learning spaces.
The Problem: Confidence, Not Capability
A 2023 DSP Winvestor Pulse study found that 80% of Indian women prefer saving over investing, with just 33% feeling confident in making financial decisions independently.
Fidelity’s U.S. study (2021) showed that only 30% of women see themselves as financially knowledgeable, even though they outperform men by 0.4% annually in investment returns.
NSE data from 2022 revealed that only 18% of retail investors in India are women, highlighting a large gender gap in participation.
But the issue isn't just numbers. It's the narratives. Women fear loss, fear judgment, and fear confirming stereotypes that say “women aren’t good with money.”
The Solution: What Women Need to Start Investing
Tailored Financial Literacy: Not textbook-heavy jargon. Women need simplified, contextual knowledge explained through stories, analogies, and real-life goals.
Behavioural Nudges: Use psychology-backed interventions: start with micro-investments, show instant feedback on gains, reward consistent saving.
Visible Role Models & Safe Communities: Create peer groups, share success stories of everyday women investors, and encourage open conversation without judgment.
Reframe Fear as Growth: Instead of “What if I fail?” ask, “What could I gain?”
Financial literacy is self-care. Financial freedom is self-respect.
Be Your Own Lakshmi - A Self Care Financial Literacy Program for Women by Be.artsy
Equipping women with personal finance skills is not just a nice-to-have, it’s foundational to building secure, confident, and future-ready professionals. When women understand money, they don’t just manage their salaries they make strategic life and career choices. That’s why long-term employer investment in financial literacy programs is critical. It leads to measurable, lasting impact on both individual growth and organisational resilience.
Take Be Your Own Lakshmi (BYOL)—Be.artsy’s flagship financial literacy initiative, now also a Harvard Business School case study. BYOL equips women to take ownership of their financial lives, building not only confidence but also a sense of control and long-term independence. It lays the groundwork for women to step into leadership with clarity and conviction.
Forward-thinking companies must prioritise programs like BYOL, not just to check the DEI box, but to genuinely equip women with the tools to make informed, strategic decisions that impact both their lives and the business.
Case Study Highlight: BYOL’s independent training saw over 450 paid participants from 92 cities across India, the UAE, and London: demonstrating strong demand and a universal need for personal financial health.
Be Seen - An Advanced Financial Freedom Program Driving Self-Respect for Women by Be.artsy
Be Seen is not just an advanced financial freedom program.
It’s a turning point in how women see themselves and how the world sees them.
While Be Your Own Lakshmi equips women with strong personal finance skills, Be Seen goes further into strategy, systems, and societal impact. Women learn to decode how macro events: geopolitical shifts, economic policies, and global trends; directly influence the investment and insurance industries, the national economy, and their own financial decisions.
They begin to see how economics shapes everything from commodity pricing and claims behaviour to long-term wealth creation and financial autonomy.
But knowledge alone isn’t the destination.
Be Seen is equally about power, presence, and voice.
As women understand the systems around them, they begin to own their strategic voice, in boardrooms, meetings where they’re outnumbered, and even in conversations where they’re not in the room but must still be represented.
Women learn to communicate with clarity, influence with intention, and lead with confidence. Because financial freedom isn’t just about money. It’s about self-respect, strategic lifestyle choices, and the ability to shape one’s own narrative.
Through Be Seen, women don’t just participate in decisions, they drive them.
They don’t wait to be invited, they take the seat, speak up, and stay remembered.
Be Seen is not a skills program. This is a visibility movement.
This is how women rise- with insight, influence, and intention.
“When women rise financially, families, communities, and entire economies rise with them.”
— Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF
Best | Shikha Mittal | Founder, Be.artsy
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Why Trust Be.artsy?
Over the past 15 years, I’ve collaborated with 450+ organisations across 48 industries, designing and delivering culture & learning and developing programs impacting over 500,000 professionals through my enterprise, Be.artsy. which I founded in 2010 in Delhi, India.
The impact of Be.artsy’s work led to it being documented as a Harvard Business School Case Study. Be.artsy’s work has been widely featured in national and international media outlets including Forbes India, BBC, DW Media.
From small beginnings to global impact, Be.artsy has led the way in using learning programs to drive revenue. We're not just in the business of training, we’re in the business of Trainings with ROI!
Today, we go beyond learning to deliver measurable impact.
For other business inquiries, please reach out to Be.artsy’s Growth Manager at adarsh@be-artsy.com.