Why Women Earning Six Figures Still Don't Invest

A survey of 25,000 American adults published at the end of September found something unexpected. Among people earning $100,000 or more, women were twice as likely as men to have no investments at all: 38% against 18%.

"Our data complicates that," said Yasmin Marinaro of KashKick, which ran the Financial Habits Survey. The usual assumption is that the gap closes as women earn more. It doesn't.

The numbers

• 65% of women have no investments such as stocks, bonds, funds, property or crypto, compared with 49% of men.
• Only 7% of women feel very or extremely comfortable investing, and that barely changes with income. Men's comfort rises from 15% to 25% as they earn more.
• Even among people who already invest, 12% of women feel very comfortable, against 25% of men.

Why this matters inside a couple

In several of the households I interviewed, money was split in a way that looked fair and wasn't. The man owned the investments, the insurance and the tax return. The woman ran the everyday: groceries, school, birthdays. Nobody decided that. It just settled.

Day-to-day money is work. Long-term money is power. The person who manages the groceries knows where every euro goes this month. The person who manages the investments knows what the household will own in twenty years. I wrote about that split in Managing the Money.

The women in Become My Papi who gave up their own income for a generous partner rarely lost money in an obvious way. What they gave up was harder to see: a salary with their name on it, arriving on the twenty-eighth of every month. One of them asked me to write clearly that nobody took anything from her. She had built her life on resources that were never quite hers. That story is in Quit Your Job, I'll Take Care of You.

A few questions for couples

• Who knows what the household owns, and where?
• Whose name is on the investments and the pension?
• If you split up tomorrow, what would each of you actually have?
• Could the person who runs the monthly money also take a share of the long-term money?

None of this needs suspicion. It's the same reason you write the date at the top of a page: so nobody can tell you later it didn't happen. For more on money and power in couples, see The Secret Account and Money Is the Top Stress for Couples.

Source: KashKick Financial Habits Survey, 25,000 US adults, September 2026, released 30 September 2026.

Questions people ask

Do women invest less than men?

According to KashKick's 2026 survey of 25,000 Americans, 65% of women have no investments, compared with 49% of men.

Does the investing gap close for high earners?

No. Among people earning $100,000 or more, women were twice as likely as men to have no investments: 38% against 18%.

How should couples share long-term money?

Make sure both partners know what the household owns, whose name is on investments and pensions, and what each would have if the relationship ended.