Helping my mum start investing (aged 70!)

International Women’s Day gives us a great reason to take stock of where we are when it comes to AJ Bell’s Money Matters campaign. And this year’s theme, Give to gain, couldn’t feel more apt when we’re talking about women and investing.

For so many of us, feeling confident with money isn’t something that just clicks one day. It tends to build gradually, through learning, being able to ask questions without feeling embarrassed, and having practical tools that actually make sense. What all of our research has told us is that when women get the encouragement and information, they understand the need to take charge of their finances, and the benefits go way beyond what’s in the bank. We’re talking independence, choices, confidence, security… the stuff that makes everyday life feel a whole lot more doable.

Even with all the progress we’ve made, a lot of women still feel like investing is “not for people like them”; that they need a big pot of money or spend hours poring over the distinctive pink pages of the Financial Times before they can even think about taking the first step. Cash seems safer somehow, more familiar. But with interest rates falling and the government keen to push more people towards Stocks and shares ISAs, many women are considering their options.

My mum is in her late 70s; she’s a massive fan of the Cash ISA and has always been pretty savvy when it comes to picking the best interest rate available. But last year she noticed that the rates on offer looked a little lacklustre compared with what she’d got used to. Although she has a pension (that was set up by my dad) and despite hearing me talk about the benefits of investing, she just dismissed it as something that simply wasn’t for her. She’s not looking to build up her wealth over a particularly long-time horizon, she won’t be contributing regularly but she did want the money she made from downsizing her home to work as hard as it could.

Helping her open her AJ Bell Dodl ISA, talking her through the difference between a fund and the kind of stocks and shares dealing that my dad used to do underlined why this campaign is so important. My mum did find the process intimidating, but all she wanted was straightforward, practical guidance. No jargon, no judgement. She didn’t really understand the difference between saving and investing or how inflation could easily erode her cash pile. She had no clue what kinds of investments exist, but she managed to pick up the basics pretty quickly.  

And of course she had a couple of early wobbles. It wasn’t exactly great timing to start her investment journey a couple of days before Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements which saw global stock markets stutter. But markets rebounded and she stopped logging onto her app more than once a month to check on her investment growth. Her confidence has blossomed, and she now wishes that she’d acted earlier but she’d always felt awkward talking openly about her finances, even with her children.  

Her experience is common, especially amongst women who didn’t have online articles or podcasts to learn from whilst they were starting their financial journeys, and it’s been so empowering for me to see first hand how confidence turns a “can’t do” into a “must do”.  

Because women typically live longer and often step out of work at certain stages, long-term planning becomes even more important.

Money confidence and life confidence go hand in hand. Give to gain is such a strong reminder that when women are given knowledge, support and practical tools, the return isn’t just financial. It’s control and the ability to make choices on your own terms. And if you’ve been thinking about investing but don’t know where to begin, starting small is absolutely enough. AJ Bell Dodl is designed to keep things simple, with clear options that help you start investing at a pace that feels comfortable.

Because the most important step in investing isn’t having everything figured out - it’s taking that very first step.