March is Women’s History Month, when we can reflect on our past and celebrate the contributions of women to social and political change. If we look at those changes through a financial lens, it’s a month that reminds us that financial empowerment has always been central to women’s progress.

For much of history, women were excluded from formal financial systems. Until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, women in the United States could not even obtain credit without a male co-signer. Yet despite these barriers, women built businesses, managed household economies, formed savings networks, and quietly sustained communities through wars and recessions. Their strategies still offer women today powerful lessons for how to build wealth.

Financial independence is power.

Even when laws restricted them, women found ways to generate income and manage capital. Women like Madam C.J. Walker, who built a haircare empire in the early 1900’s. She reinvested her profits into manufacturing her product and training and creating opportunities for her sales agents. Her focus and smart reinvesting made her one of the first self-made female millionaires of the century. Today, that lesson translates to educating yourself on financial literacy and prioritizing ownership of assets, investments, and opportunities.

Collective economics creates opportunity.

Historically, women formed mutual aid societies and savings circles when banks excluded them. In the early 1800s, Rebecca Gratz, a Philadelphia philanthropist, founded the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances (1800), one of the first women-run charitable financial aid organizations in the United States. Modern equivalents include investment groups, angel networks, and community-based funding. Wealth doesn’t have to be built alone. Gratz’s work shows the value of purpose-driven finance, using resources to support education, community, and long-term security, which is as relevant in philanthropic and impact investing today as it was in early American charitable institutions. Women leading, advising, and stewarding financial initiatives can create durable change that benefits not only individuals but entire communities.

Long-term thinking wins.

Research shows that women often outperform men in investing, largely because they trade less and invest more consistently. Historically, women managed finances with patience and long-term stewardship. One remarkable woman from the Gilded Age who exemplified these characteristics was Hetty Green. She was known as the “Witch of Wall Street” due to her stern frugal demeanor. Green followed a “buy-low, sell- high” strategy and was one to pay attention and seize any opportunities that arose. She is noted as saying: "I buy when things are low, and nobody wants them. I keep them until they go up and people are crazy to get them. That is, I believe, the secret of all successful business.” Green clearly understood the power of compound interest, and her focus on regular modest gains of 6% a year and frugal living made her fortune more durable than the likes of some of her peers who repeatedly earned larger sums on more extravagant deals but also went bankrupt through excessive spending and high-risk investments. Today, we can take Hetty’s example, and apply her discipline, patience, and consistent, unemotional investing strategies. Adopting those traits can benefit anyone’s financial outcomes.

The shift from past to present is powerful. Previous generations fought for access. Today, the opportunity is to scale wealth, invest capital, and close generational gaps. Women’s History Month reminds us that financial strategy, resilience, and collective action have always been part of women’s leadership. The question now isn’t whether women belong in finance, it’s how we leverage history to build what comes next for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/money/Hetty-Green

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rebecca-Gratz

https://www.biography.com/business-leaders/madam-cj-walker

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