The title says it all.

Women. Women with money. Women with money and ready to sink it anywhere with the hope that the money works for them.But really, isn't that is the whole point of investing, making money work for you and you put your feet up on a stool and sip martinis all day all night? Of course it is not easy to get there.

Last week I was privileged enough to attend an event at the Art Caffe, Westgate Mall, dubbed ‘Introducing the Academy of Women Investors’. It was sort of a launch of said academy. I was pretty impressed to see that women are taking up proper investments and seriously too if I may add.

This Academy is the brain child of Investment Manager Margaret Kiege who is also a consultant. She specializes in Business Management,  Real Estate, Property, Shares and general investments. I myself am quite interested in investments and investments opportunities and I have been investing for about four years now. Further, I plan to base my final year project on creating new investment options in the Nairobi Stock exchange…eeeh, viable? I dunno yet, I’m still in the research phase.

Now, there are some things this lady told me that struck home. I share a few with you:

• Generally, women know how to plan their finances better than men, especially those who run homes.
• Women are in chamas for a reason. and it’s not necessarily gossip.
• Women are cowards who love IPOs and steady salaries.
• Women don’t like researching a lot.

Most of these are true if we generalize women and their habits. However times a-changing and one form of steady income followed by NSSF payments are not enough anymore. We are become accustomed to very luxurious lifestyles but our meagre pays are not going to cover those costs properly. What more S&L are on our case with 15% interest on mortgage payments, Gucci and Versace are becoming must haves.

What if the Mr. bails on you? We really never hope for that but our men are the ones who are doing the bulk of the making of the cheddar and if they get tired of you, you have nowhere to go to.

So, women must wake up and do some serious investments, and the earlier you start the better.

The Nairobi Stock Exchange may be Greek to you or it’s volatility unappealing, the process of acquiring property and speculating may be trying on your patience and you must really love your shoes and random drinking plans but you need to set aside a few of your moneys to multiply.

Wake up women, we are from Venus and we can do the impossible, including investing. I don’t think you need to be a CFA or have a business or finance degree to make  of a lot money. I am planning on standing next to Oprah and the Queen. It is not imprudent to want to be wealthy and successful and we can definitely make it on our own.

Investing has another plus, it is FUN! I think it one of the most enjoyable activities around and the good thing about doing fun things is that you put more heart in it.

I am the lucky few who has a relevant background especially when it comes to investing in financial instruments but for those of you who are interested but definitely not savvy in this area, umm.. I think this academy calls out to you. I personally don’t think it’s the thing for me coz there are particular aspects of investments I am after and may not be touched on in years to come. It’s not like a school you enroll at full time, they’ll have a monthly ‘class’ or field experience starting January,expos and seminars. It is a good starting point if you plan to have a portfolio of assets and investments in future.If you are interested just lemme know.

Meanwhile, I am rather preoccupied with Mauritius and what it has to offer. I plan to make a reconnaissance visit sometime next year and evaluate the prospects of investing there.

Further, I am jazzed with a few very young Venture Capitalists I came across recently; hard to believe but they are my age and they are doing amazing things. They told me they mainly fund SMEs hmm… I hope to have a ‘one day in the life of a twenty something year old VC’ soon and maybe I can partner with them in future.  I do plan on investing my own monies soon as my main life line and I am pretty blessed to have such people thrown into my life.

2011 is a big year, in my opinion, for business and money making and I shan’t be left behind! Je wewe?

This post is from Leo Mutuku, you can read more at her blog here and follow her on twitter here