Diversify everything, everywhere. (All at once.)

What a month that was. March 2023 will be remembered as the month with the swiftest bank collapse in US banking history.

By now, most of us have read about the what, the who, the how, and the why leading to the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Despite turmoil in the banking system — which also included the failure of Signature Bank and the rescue of Credit Suisse — the Fed raised interest rates another quarter of a percent in its continued plan to combat high inflation and tame a hot economy. And investors evidently shook off all of this news, as all three market indices gained for the month and for the first quarter of the year.

SVB’s failure underscores just how important diversification is when it comes to managing risk and investing under uncertainty. I’m not just talking about diversifying savings over $250,000 by spreading it across multiple banks to eliminate risk. When it comes to investing, unfortunately, there’s no such thing.

Investing is inherently risky. And as investors, it can be daunting to identify and understand the many kinds of risks across our portfolio. We can’t eliminate it — if we want returns, that is — but we can mitigate and manage them to help achieve successful outcomes over the long term.

The way to do this? Diversify everything. Everywhere. (“All at once” optional.)

Dr. Sylvia Kwan, she/her

Events @ Ellevest

Investing, Part 1: How it All Works: You don’t have to know all about investing when you start — but this workshop will get you caught up on some of the concepts, like diversification and compounding. 📚

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“I put my tax refund straight into my growing emergency fund. Makes me feel safe and protected — by me!”

— Elle Raiser @the.stitch.spinster on Instagram last week, when we asked about your recent money wins. Nobody takes care of us like us. 💪

Links to love, love, love

• “If the goal is simply matching the success of white men without reimagining the world that privileged it in the first place, the whole enterprise is a dead end.” Whew, this whooole Anne Helen Petersen piece.
• If you have a full-time job and are struggling to make ends meet anyway, you might’ve picked up a side hustle recently. If so, you’re nowhere near alone — 50% of US employees have, too.
• The Tory Burch Foundation just launched a tool (called Funding Finder) to help women founders connect with loans, grants, and other ways to access capital based on what they need. 🙌
• If you had to guess, how many millionaires do you think there are in the US? A fascinating survey recently found that we tend to overestimate the size of small groups like this (and it is super small).
• Some great tips for women of color in this advice column on how to get your white male boss to stop with the well-meaning microaggressions — including calling you “sis” (barffff) — without burning any bridges.

Working with a financial planner will change your money game.