Last week I had the chance to share my perspective at the beautifully organized She Invests event hosted by Erste Group in Vienna — first in a keynote, then on a panel with supervisory board member Caroline Kuhnert, platform specialist Christine Bachler, board member Maximilian Clary and finance expert Olga Miler. A strong line-up, and one that showed just how much thinking about the future and making smart financial decisions matter right now.
Here are my main takeaways:
💶 The past guarantees nothing about the future.
Just because an investment performed well in the past doesn’t mean it will keep working. Our biggest thinking error is usually extrapolating from yesterday, or today, to tomorrow. What looked safe yesterday can disappear tomorrow — Kodak being the obvious example. And what’s hyped today may well be irrelevant in twenty or thirty years. My advice: keep the big picture in view instead of chasing short-term trends.
💶 Get past the negativity bias.
When everything looks bleak, plenty of people think: “I may as well spend my money now.” But what if things turn out well? Working through several possible futures deliberately leads to better decisions and better long-term security.
💶 More confidence with technology, and fair financial arrangements.
Women should be bolder about getting to grips with technological trends. And talk through fair financial arrangements with your partner early. Having provided for yourself means staying calmer in a crisis, having more professional flexibility, and making better decisions over the long run.
💶 People still make the difference.
Technology can simplify saving, analyze data and create transparency. But in emotional or critical moments, you still need a real person to talk to. As we discussed on the panel, the data is unambiguous: portfolios belonging to customers who combine digital tools with personal advice perform better. Which is what makes hybrid solutions convincing — Erste Group’s George app, for instance, where you can still reach an actual human in person or by phone when it counts.
A bit of a shame that George is only available in Austria.
The full event write-up is here.
Many thanks to Monika Sternathova and Lesly Alfaro for the invitation and for such a great event.
Here’s the full video:
Photos: Marlena König
