An Exploratory Study on the Factors Affecting Retirement Planning among Working Women in the City of Bengaluru

Abstract

Purpose of the research: Retirement Planning is a crucial aspect of Financial Well-being of an individual after active working life of that individual. Women; face numerous challenges in their quest for financial independence, one such challenge is to be prepared for their financial well-being after their retirement. Women are not very prudent in planning for finances and especially with respect to planning for retirement. An attempt has been made with respect to identifying the role of various factors involved in retirement planning of women. Methodology: The present study is analytical in nature, aims to identify the influence of demographic factors, Financial Literacy, Financial Risk Tolerance and Attitudes of women towards retirement planning affecting the Retirement Planning Behaviors. A sample of 402 working women from different parts of the Bengaluru City were administered with a structured questionnaire prepared for the research and the data obtained was analyzed using ANOVA and Regression Analysis. Findings: While the analysis using ANOVA found that age, marital status, annual income, number of financial dependents and occupation where the demographic factors affecting Retirement Planning and further, Regression Analysis indicated an adjusted R square of 0.47, indicate the predictive power of the model and the importance of the Financial Literacy, Financial Risk Tolerance and Attitudes towards retirement planning impacting the Retirement Planning Behaviour of working women in Bengaluru. Implications: This research not only concentrates on demographic factors affecting Retirement Planning, but also identifies the impact of Financial Literacy, Financial Risk tolerance and Retirement Attitudes affecting the crucial behaviour of Retirement Planning behaviors. Novelty: This is a very unique research in the Indian context with respect to women, aimed at studying not only demographic factors, but also the crucial impact of Financial Literacy and Risk tolerance, aimed at developing intervention strategies at ground level to target women to empower them in planning and investing for their retirement requirements.