Let’s Talk Stocks: How to Start a Women’s Investing Network

For most of my life, I’ve been a member of one book club or another. It’s a great excuse to discuss the craft of writing, but just as much, it’s a chance to catch up with friends, debate and discuss current events, and enjoy some good food and drink. In my experience, the best book clubs usually don’t focus on the actual book. They end up becoming a place where you can go to find community or a sense of belonging. The other day when we were supposed to be discussing a book, we actually ended up talking about investing, driven mainly by my job as CMO here at Robinhood.

I was struck by the fact that even though the internet has put a ton of free information at our fingertips, building wealth through investing still isn’t something people discuss casually, partly because there’s a taboo around it, and because the financial world can be complicated and confusing. And when these conversations do take place, it’s usually men driving the conversation. When it comes to discussing where, when and how to invest, everyone — especially women — should have a support system they can turn to for advice, consultation, and guidance. That’s why I invited the founder of the Stocks & Stilettos Society, Cassandra Cummings, to share how she started this group and to talk about why women should learn how to invest. The group’s self-described mission is “to empower African-American women from all socioeconomic levels to become more educated, comfortable, and proficient in financial investing.” With tens of thousands of members, Stocks & Stilettos Society is a great example of women supporting each other on their financial journey, whether that means offering informal advice to each other or pooling resources to form an investment network of like-minded people looking to learn more about investing. It’s just like a book club, though the reading material is a little different. Soon we’ll be able to get together in real life again, but until then, here’s how to start your own group and start talking about investing.

• Robinhood Learn has plenty of material on the ins and outs of investing

• Get a quick digest of the latest investment news every day from Robinhood Snacks

• Find out what Robinhood is up to on our main blog and our blog devoted to engineering

• Learn about portfolio diversification

Investment network refers to an educational forum only. It is not intended to provide investment advice or a recommendation of a strategy, account type, or to buy, hold or sell any security. All investments involve risk and loss of principal is possible.Robinhood and Medium are separate and unique companies and are not responsible for one another’s views or services. Links are being provided for information purposes only. By clicking a third-party URL or hyperlink, you’ll be accessing a third-party website. No monitoring is being performed of the information contained on the third-party website. Robinhood Markets, Inc. and its affiliates are not responsible for the information contained on the third-party website nor your use of or inability to use such site, and we don’t guarantee its accuracy and completeness. Robinhood is not affiliated with the Stocks & Stilettos Society.Robinhood Financial, LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer. Robinhood Securities LLC (member SIPC), provides brokerage clearing services. All are subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc. (‘Robinhood’).