Why women should start planning their future today
Some women have told me they would rather talk about death than discuss their retirement planning."
While speaking at the 2025 Advance and Rothschild & Co event, Barbara Birchler highlighted both the discomfort many women feel around retirement planning and the structural realities that make the topic particularly daunting.
Women continue to face a number of structural and demographic challenges when it comes to long-term financial planning. They earn less on average, are more likely to take career breaks for childcare and often return to work part-time. Combined with women’s longer life expectancy, these factors create pension gaps that become increasingly difficult to close and can ultimately weaken financial security in retirement.
Despite this reality, many women hesitate to engage with their retirement planning, often due to a lack of confidence in financial matters. As shown in the VorsorgeDIALOG Study 20251, women frequently rate their financial knowledge lower than men; not because they lack the skills. Rather, they are more aware of existing knowledge gaps. And this awareness is already the first step toward meaningful change.
The AXA Pension Monitor2 shows that many couples still avoid key financial conversations. Two‑thirds, for instance, do not talk about separation or divorce and the associated financial consequences. Pension gaps caused by childcare responsibilities are also seldom addressed within families. As a result, many women are left navigating their long-term finances with limited guidance.
Understanding how the system works enables better decisions and empowers women to take ownership of their financial future. To achieve this, they need clear, practical insights and advice that truly reflects their personal situation.
1 Study conducted by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences
2 Report conducted by the Swiss research institute Sotomo
Our recommendations for key life stages
1. Beginning your career
Your professional journey is an exciting new chapter. A steady income opens up fresh financial possibilities, but also new responsibilities.
Keep track from day one
Keeping your finances organised by maintaining a simple overview of income and expenses and by completing your tax return carefully, helps you stay in control of your financial situation. It is also important to review which risks should be insured, such as household, liability, or legal protection.
Invest in your 3rd pillar
Regular contributions to the 3rd pillar help you grow long-term savings and reduce future pension gaps. A simple step with a significant impact over time.
Avoid mixed insurance-savings products
We advise against 3a combination products that mix savings and insurance. Keeping them separate ensures transparency, flexibility and often a better financial outcome.
2. Managing family finances
Moving in with a partner, setting up joint accounts, getting married or planning a family come with long-term financial implications, requiring clear communication and shared responsibility to keep your finances on solid ground.
Marriage and financial clarity
A marriage contract can be useful. It helps clarify pension entitlements or childcare responsibilities, especially when one partner reduces their workload to take care of the children, for example.
Understand the impact of part-time work
Reduced working hours can lead to gaps in state pension contributions, lower pension fund deposits and reduced 3a savings. To compensate shortcomings, you can consider:
- Additional pension fund buy‑ins to close gaps
- Maximising 3rd pillar contributions (CHF 7'258 in 2026)
- Building a family investment plan to offset future pension shortfalls
Check how your pension fund defines your insured salary
When workloads change, the coordination deduction (CHF 26'460 in 2026) becomes crucial. If it is not insured or not adjusted for part‑time work, your insured salary and therefore your pension benefits may drop disproportionately. Ideally, the employers either insure the full coordination deduction or adjust it proportionally to the level of employment to prevent unnecessary pension losses.
3. Navigating life transitions
Life transitions such as divorce or a career break often bring earlier financial decisions into sharper focus.
- Was a marriage contract in place?
- Were pension entitlements divided fairly during part‑time periods?
- Have you evaluated the potential impact of a sabbatical on your pension strategy?
Regardless of past steps, now is the time to start your retirement planning — the earlier your start, the more options remain open.
Create a holistic financial plan
A comprehensive financial plan can map out scenarios such as retirement timing, capital versus annuity withdrawals, mixed models or phased retirement options, creating clarity and structure.
Review your vested benefits arrangements
If you are considering a sabbatical or any extended career break, review where your vested benefits will be held and how they will continue to be invested. Ensuring they remain in a suitable vested benefits account can help maintain continuity in your pension strategy and avoid unintended gaps.
Rebuild and refocus your long-term strategy
As adult children become financially independent, new financial capacity is freed up. This is an ideal moment to rebuild savings and pursue long‑term financial goals with renewed focus.
4. Approaching your retirement
The steps taken throughout your fifties create a solid base for what comes next. In your early sixties as retirement moves from a long-term goal to an imminent milestone, it becomes essential to address the key decisions that lie ahead.
Consider a phased retirement
A gradual retirement can provide flexibility and tax advantages. For example, reducing your workload by 30% may allow you to withdraw 30% of your pension fund capital at the same time. Staggered withdrawals like this can be an effective way to optimise your tax burden.
Capital or annuity, or a mix of both?
Before retiring, it is essential to examine which withdrawal strategy best suits your needs. An important factor is the pension fund conversion rate, which determines the lifelong annual pension you would receive. For more insights on this topic, click here.
Start estate and wealth planning early
Thoughtful inheritance planning ensures clarity for you and your heirs. A financial plan that illustrates the long-term development of your assets helps you see how much capital is likely to remain, how it can be used during retirement and how it can be distributed afterwards. A will can formalise your wishes, although statutory shares for spouses and children will still apply.
In summary
Long‑term financial security is strongest when women actively shape their financial future and, where relevant, share responsibility and decisions within a partnership.
A well‑aligned investment approach that considers goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance, combined with early action, equity exposure, and the compounding of regular contributions, can significantly strengthen retirement outcomes.
Personalised advice helps translate these choices into clear strategies, providing the confidence to make informed decisions over time.
Interested in our wealth planning expertise?
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