If you were going to write an article attributing a certain characteristic to roughly half the world’s population — say, a few billion people — how much data would you gather ahead of time? For Marilyn Gardner of the Christian Science Monitor, the answer is apparently one single, solitary multiple-choice question.
To wit: in Monday’s Monitor, Gardner penned a piece headlined “Fear of commitment — to investing,” with the sub-head, “Although more are confident in handling their money, women remain challenged in making it grow.”
So what’s the basis for such a sweeping generalization?
Gardner focuses on a recent study by an economics professor at Agnes Scott College in Georgia. As part of the study, the professor surveyed 230 men and 247 women at a handful of different colleges and universities about their thoughts concerning financial investing.
One of the questions read as follows:
How would you characterize yourself?
-willing to take on very risky investments
-somewhat willing to take on very risky investments
-not very willing to take on very risky investments
-wish to avoid risk completely
Of the 477 individuals who answered the question, approximately 40 more men than women fell into the first two categories. In other words, within this small survey, limited to college-age students at seven schools — three in Virginia, two in Georgia, one in Tennessee, and one in Missouri — about 40 more men than women expressed a tolerance for higher-risk investing.
To judge by the rest of the article, however this data apparently applies to all women. Everywhere. At all times. Universally.
That’s quite a feat, even by the standards of newspaper trend pieces. But that’s not all.
Deeper in the story, Gardner introduces us to a financial expert named Jane Williams who offers this gem an of insight into the universal difference between men and women vis-a-vis their relationship to money. “Women see money as a pond or a lake,” said Williams. “When they dip into that pond, the level of the pond can start to be drawn down. They think of this as a finite source of security in many respects. Whereas men may think of wealth as a river running by. When you pull water out, the water will continue to flow.”
Perhaps someday Gardner can parlay that doozy of an anecdote into a book deal. We can see the title now: Men are from the Mississippi River, Women are from Lake Pontchartrain.
Gardner goes on to note that “it behooves women to map out a long-term financial strategy, and begin saving sooner rather than later.”
And who would help these cautious creatures to overcome their natural tendencies to invest in low-risk, low-return options such as savings accounts, bonds, and treasuries?
Financial brokers, of course!
Gardner proceeds to trot out a succession of financial advisors and experts who — shockingly — tout the wisdom of hiring financial advisors and suggest ways to “reduce the ranks of what one adviser calls ‘mattress investors.'” (That’s investment manager code for “people who don’t want to pay investment managers.”)
The article contains not a single mention of index funds — nor any mention of the various advantages of passively managed funds versus actively managed ones. After all, it’s passivity and timidity that are holding women back!
Yesterday’s article wasn’t the first time that Gardner has written for the Monitor about the supposed shortcomings of female investors. In November 2000, Gardner wrote a story in which she happened upon a financial expert named Julie Garella who believed that middle-aged women were actually doing a fairly good job of investing. “By contrast,” wrote Gardner, “Ms. Garella finds young women in the so-called Gen X group often more interested in ‘focusing on what Ann Taylor’s got on sale.'”
All the more reason to invest in a bit more research before writing a story consigning half the world’s population to the ranks of financial fools.
Felix Gillette writes about the media for The New York Observer.