She criticizes capitalism - and also gives investing advice: ‘It’s better to participate than working until we die’

A former investment manager is teaching women to build wealth through investing, arguing that participating in the financial system is a necessary path to independence despite its flaws [1]. Her online course has been taken by more than 25,000 people [1]. Amanda Holden, who earned a six-figure income in investment management by her early 20s, founded the educational platform Invested Development after a brief hiatus [1]. Her approach combines practical financial literacy with a critique of capitalism, which she calls a catalyst for inequality [1]. Holden’s book, 'How to be a Rich Old Lady,' serves as a guide to easy investing [1]. She advises a diversified strategy using low-cost index funds containing global stocks and bonds [1]. Holden frames the choice starkly: “You are either providing labor to the system or you are investing, and you are an owner of capital in this system” [1]. She argues participation is pragmatic, stating, “It’s better to participate by gaining our own capital than working till we die” [1]. Her 15-part course urges students, “Don’t let worry or the weight of lost time talk you out of starting now!” [1]. This philosophy of leveraging the system for personal security echoes strategies used by prominent investors, though from different ideological poles. Billionaire George Soros, for instance, built his fortune by exploiting value discrepancies in capital markets, a practice rooted in his theory of reflexivity [4]. Conversely, the libertarian economic principles of Milton Friedman, which championed free markets and influenced decades of policy, provide the intellectual backbone for the system Holden encourages her students to navigate [3]. Addressing ethical concerns, Holden personally uses ESG (environmental, social, and governance) index funds that screen out fossil fuels and weapons manufacturers, but acknowledges the inherent contradictions in shareholder capitalism [1]. The tension between critique and participation places her in a contemporary lineage of financiers who operate within a system they also question, similar to how Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist with a net worth of $27.5 billion, has funded political causes that challenge established institutions [2].