Over the past century, people around the world have begun living significantly longer lives. In India, the average life expectancy has increased from under 50 years in the 1970s to 70 today, as reported by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. This remarkable shift has a curious impact: it has transformed retirement from a short period of rest at the end of life into a separate financial phase that can last over 10 years.

While the importance of early and consistent retirement planning is well known, it takes on a whole new urgency as more women now play an active role in shaping their financial lives, whether through entering the workforce, moving into leadership positions, or coming into wealth through intergenerational wealth transfers.

When greater financial responsibility, longer life expectancy, rising individual autonomy, and changing lifestyles coalesce, they make a compelling case for retirement planning that is tailored to women. Despite this, many women are hesitant to prioritise their own financial futures, often because the process feels complex, or because other responsibilities come first.

But retirement is not a distant event that can be dealt with later on; it’s a critical life stage that requires active preparation and attention. In the sections that follow, I examine why retirement planning is indispensable for women and how they can take steps today to shape the financial futures they deserve.

Why Women Need to Plan for Retirement

While retirement is a challenge for everyone, it poses a distinct set of financial, social, and structural hurdles for women. From the way careers unfold to the roles women are expected to play within families, the path to retirement is often longer, less direct, and more precarious.

Longer life expectancy: Women, on average, live longer than men, which means that they must fund a longer retirement period. Key considerations include rising healthcare needs and expenses, potential need for assisted living, and inflation over time. Without sufficient planning, women face a greater likelihood of outliving their savings and becoming financially dependent on others.

Lower earnings and career breaks: Despite advances in workplace inclusion, the gender pay gap is estimated at around 20% globally, according to the UN. Furthermore, the primary burden of caregiving for children or elderly family members is placed on women, leading to career breaks. When these factors come together, they result in reduced retirement contributions, fewer compounding investment opportunities, and ultimately, lower long-term financial security.

Exclusion from financial decision-making: Women are often left out of long-term financial decisions made by families. In wealth-owning households, assets may be inherited or managed passively, without active planning around retirement. As a result, women may find themselves unprepared or uncertain about how to navigate their financial futures, especially if they are suddenly required to make decisions due to a spouse’s death or illness.

Wealth does not guarantee retirement security: With rising intergenerational wealth transfers and more women building careers, women today control more wealth than ever before. But if a woman has not been actively involved in structuring or managing her financial assets, she may lack the clarity and confidence to convert that wealth into a sustainable and secure retirement. Without a proper strategy, even substantial wealth can erode over time.

These unique facets of women’s lives highlight a critical truth: they cannot afford to leave retirement planning to chance. How should women plan for retirement?

In my experience of building HERitage, I’ve had the privilege of working with women across generations and backgrounds. Whether they are professionals, entrepreneurs, inheritors, or homemakers, women want to be actively involved in planning their financial futures.

For some women, that involvement may not always mean managing wealth directly or making every decision. But it does mean participating in conversations, understanding the options, and having a say in how wealth is structured for their goals, which includes retirement.

Some key principles for building your retirement plan:

• Build financial familiarity. A large percentage of women in India still have limited understanding of financial products and institutions. Building basic familiarity with financial tools makes planning less overwhelming and far more intentional.
  
  One of the core pillars of HERitage is financial literacy, enabling our women clients to make decisions that align with their values and aspirations across all seasons of their lives.

• Become financially involved. Many women today inherit or accumulate a significant portion of their wealth in the form of illiquid assets like land or residential and commercial property, both in India and overseas. In several families, these assets may also be held through structures like HUFs. In my experience, women are often not fully aware of the nature, purpose, or long-term relevance of these holdings. It becomes essential for women to understand what they own, participate in evaluating whether these assets continue to serve the family’s goals, and initiate conversations on restructuring if needed.
  
  
• Define what retirement means to you. Retirement isn’t what it used to be. For some women, it means shifting into something more meaningful, or more flexible. For homemakers, this phase could mean having the time to focus on personal goals. Having a clear picture of what your later years look like will guide how you structure your finances.
  
  
• Build a Retirement Corpus. The next step is creating a financial base that’s kept separate from other life goals. The approach will vary depending on one’s profile: professionals can leverage EPF, NPS, and employer benefits; entrepreneurs might need a more tailored strategy using structured portfolios; inheritors often benefit from ring-fencing wealth via private trusts or dedicated retirement mandates.
  
  Tip: As a general rule of thumb, a retirement corpus should aim to replace at least 70-80% of your current annual expenses, adjusted for inflation, for a retirement period of 20–30 years. This will vary based on your desired lifestyle, healthcare needs, and dependents.

• Account for healthcare. With increasing life expectancy comes rising healthcare costs. Women must proactively plan for comprehensive health insurance with adequate sum insured, contingency reserves for out-of-pocket medical or assisted living expenses, and critical illness riders or long-term care provisions if family support may not be available.
  
  
• Structure for control and continuity. Women should consider structuring their retirement assets in ways that offer both control during their lifetime and clarity in succession. This could involve revocable living trusts, appointing powers of attorney, or setting up systematic withdrawal plans for predictable income.
  
  As wealth advisors, we assist clients in designing structures that align with family governance, protect against future disputes, and enable seamless wealth transition.

• Revisit your plan regularly. Financial planning — for retirement or otherwise— is a moving target: your goals shift as your life changes. Life events such as marriage, divorce, career shifts, or health issues should trigger a review of your retirement strategy.
  
  If you work with a wealth advisor, annual check-ins with them can help ensure your plan remains aligned with your needs and evolving goals.

Final thoughts

For women, retirement planning becomes more critical given longer life spans, career interruptions, and evolving financial roles. Whether you’re earning or inheriting, the most important step is to get involved.

At HERitage, we believe that when women participate actively in shaping their financial lives, they are better prepared for every stage of their life that leads to retirement.