+34Arbitrary retirement dates are obsolete. Laura Reidy, director of wealth management at Cantor Fitzgerald, explains how forward-thinking women are stru
Arbitrary retirement dates are obsolete. Laura Reidy, director of wealth management at Cantor Fitzgerald, explains how forward-thinking women are structuring their wealth to support portfolio careers, evolving ambitions, and lifelong agency In recent generations, retirement has followed a predictable playbook: work hard, pay the mortgage, save as much as possible and step away at 65 for a well-earned rest.
Today, that traditional script no longer fits the way we live or work. Retirement is no longer an arbitrary date on a calendar or an abrupt exit from professional life for many people. It’s less about walking away from a career and far more about launching a new chapter on our own terms.
It is a new chapter that can easily be 25 or 30 years, so in stark contrast to it being about one’s twilight years, it is a much more optimistic and vibrant phase of life that deserves every bit as much strategic thought as the career that led to it. Because of this, it is a new chapter that needs to be grounded in financial independence, flexibility and real freedom.
As women, we are creating wealth through increasingly diverse paths and making far more sophisticated financial choices throughout our lives. Retirement planning has naturally evolved alongside this – we need to ensure that we are designing a future that reflects our changing ambitions and priorities. We are no longer asking, “When can I afford to retire? ” Instead, we are asking: “What do I want the next stage of my life to look like?
And how do we make that possible? ” For many women, stepping back from their career at the time of retirement doesn’t mean their professional working life is over. Instead, it often looks like a rich blend of consulting, board roles, mentoring emerging leaders, investing in new businesses, alongside volunteering or travelling, all while staying intellectually engaged and spending quality time with family.
Rather than a single finish line, retirement has become a dynamic series of transitions that require flexible financial planning. Our individual financial journeys rarely follow a straight line. Career breaks, business ownership, portfolio careers and family commitments all shape how we accumulate wealth. Add longevity to the equation and our retirement income needs to work harder and last longer.
This makes retirement planning deeply personal: it’s never just about hitting an arbitrary pension target; it’s about understanding how every asset works to support the lifestyle we want. One of the biggest misconceptions is that retirement planning begins in the final years before leaving work. In reality, it is a lifelong conversation.
Whether you are building your career, growing a business, balancing family commitments or preparing for greater flexibility in later life, every stage presents opportunities to make decisions that strengthen your future. The earlier those conversations begin, the more choices become available. While pensions remain one of the most effective ways to build long-term retirement wealth, they are only one part of a much broader financial picture.
Many women have accumulated wealth across multiple areas, including occupational pensions; personal retirement savings; investment portfolios; property; business interests; family wealth; cash and other investments. The real opportunity lies in bringing these assets together into a strategy and managing this intelligently. The questions that women need to be asking to inform this strategy and their planning are: How can my assets provide sustainable income throughout retirement? What is the most tax-efficient way to draw from different sources of wealth?
How do my investments, retirement savings and property work together? How can I maintain financial independence regardless of what life brings? And how do I preserve and eventually transfer wealth in a way that reflects my values? The answers to these questions often shape our financial freedom far more than investment performance alone.
The real magic happens when we bring these distinct elements into one cohesive strategy because modern retirement planning connects investment strategy, tax efficiency, estate planning, healthcare and legacy. Given that life is inherently unpredictable – markets shift, careers pivot and personal goals evolve – the strongest strategies avoid rigid formulas and are built to adapt as our lives do.
Real resilience comes from having options; the agency to decide when to lean in, when to step back, when to launch something new or when to simply enjoy what matters most. Given the personal and professional challenge retirement holds for so many as they grapple with a new identity that is no longer defined by “what you do”, a goal of thoughtful financial planning isn’t to tell us what our future should look like, but to give us the confidence and freedom to shape it into our desired next chapter.
This information is based on our understanding of current pensions and tax law which is subject to change without notice. Cantor Fitzgerald are not tax advisors nor does this marketing communication constitute tax advice. : Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The value of your investment may go down as well as up.
Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and a member firm of the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
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