Sir, – Your “Me and My Money” article (Business, June 5th) contained the following quote about investing in the stock market: “It is something I would like to do in the future but only once I have done some research and understand the options more clearly.”
This illustrates a commonly held belief among millennials (my generation), but especially among women: the stock market is a trap for the uninitiated and investing requires huge time investment. Lack of knowledge and lack of confidence are frequently cited as the biggest barriers to investing.
On June 13th, I noticed a headline that could only reinforce this reluctance: “Most stocks – in Ireland and beyond – are flops”. While it’s factually correct, and the short article did allude to market indices, the first impression is enough to do the damage.
Investing is one of the most effective ways to build wealth, even more so in an inflationary environment where the value of cash savings erodes. Stock picking is indeed a very risky game but it is not the only one: diversification through broad market indices over a long period of time has a completely different risk profile, and is key to long-term financial prosperity. Irish millennials reflect a global trend of young people missing out on it.
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I can only echo the sentiment of Dawn Bailey’s article (Business, May 22nd): “Financial literacy should be taught in schools to give everyone the skills to succeed in life”. – Yours, etc,
CLAIRE O’BRIEN,
Madrid,
Spain.