--- title: Young Women Today Start Investing Nearly a Decade Sooner Than Older Generations description: Young women today open investing accounts at the age of 21, on average. That's much earlier compared to older women, according to Fidelity. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true published: '2022-03-01T20:26:47.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:16:20.000Z' section: Investing tags: - Gen Z - News - women word_count: 400 canonical: https://money.com/young-women-investing-accounts-earlier/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Young Asian woman sits at home on her computer watching her investments](https://img.money.com/2022/03/News-Young-Women-Investing-Earlier.jpg) When it comes to investing, young women today already have a leg up compared to older generations. New [data](https://s2.q4cdn.com/997146844/files/doc_news/2022/03/Fidelity-2022-Money-Moves-Fact-Sheet.pdf) from Fidelity Investments shows that women between the ages of 18 and 35 are [opening investing accounts](https://money.com/how-to-invest-in-stocks/) much earlier in life than their older counterparts did. On average, young women began investing in a brokerage account at the age of 21, according to Fidelity. Women currently ages 36 and older, by contrast, opened brokerage accounts at the age of 30, on average. That’s a difference of nine years. “We continue to see more women than ever investing outside of retirement accounts,” Lorna Kapusta, Fidelity’s Head of Women Investors & Customer Engagement, said in a statement. “In fact, our research shows more than two-thirds are doing so.” The surge in investing accounts among young women is accompanied by rising interest in investing activity among [young people](https://money.com/gen-z-rewriting-personal-finance-rules-real-time/) in general, thanks in part to a red-hot stock market that persisted throughout the pandemic (though the market has [cooled off considerably](https://money.com/stock-market-worst-month-january-2022/) in recent weeks). Apps that make [stock trading quick and accessible](https://money.com/how-to-use-robinhood-beginners/) have also helped more young people jump into the action. The same trend also held true for dedicated [retirement accounts](https://money.com/easy-ways-to-save-for-retirement/), according to Fidelity’s data. On average, young women opened [401(k)s](https://money.com/401k-and-401k-rollover/) or other retirement accounts at age 20, while older women opened retirement accounts at age 27. Of course, this new focus on retirement isn't exclusive to women: Gen Z investors as a group have been [opening retirement accounts](https://money.com/gen-z-saving-for-retirement-increase/) (and increasing their contributions to those accounts) at an increased pace recently. Because of the principle of [compound interest](https://money.com/what-is-compound-interest/?ref=/gen-z-saving-for-retirement-increase/), those extra years of investing in their 20s can translate to tens of thousands of extra dollars down the line for the younger generation of women. That’s especially important given the [persistent savings gap](https://money.com/average-retirement-savings-study/) between men and women, especially when it comes to retirement: one recent survey from Gold IRA Guide found that 49% of women have less than $25,000 put away for retirement, compared to 36% of men. According to Fidelity, 36% of older women said they regret waiting too long to begin [saving for retirement](https://money.com/late-start-to-retirement-savings-illustration/). But remember: even if you didn't open your first brokerage account at 21, it’s never too late to start [investing in stocks](https://money.com/how-to-invest-in-stocks/). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/young-women-investing-accounts-earlier/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Investments", "item": "https://money.com/investments/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Young Women Today Start Investing Nearly a Decade Sooner Than Older Generations" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/young-women-investing-accounts-earlier/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/young-women-investing-accounts-earlier/", "name": "Young Women Today Start Investing Nearly a Decade Sooner Than Older Generations", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-03-01T20:26:47.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/young-women-investing-accounts-earlier/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/young-women-investing-accounts-earlier/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:16:20.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Young Women Today Start Investing Nearly a Decade Sooner Than Older Generations", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/03/News-Young-Women-Investing-Earlier.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Young-Women-Investing-Earlier" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. 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