IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) An Empirical Study on Role of Changing Profile of Working Women investors in Indian markets Impacting Financial Planning in building retirement Corpus with special reference to Mumbai city Authors: 1. Dr. Shilpi Agarwal, Program Director & Associate Professor; School of Business, Head of Finance Studio & Prasad Padmanabhan Chair Professor for International Finance, Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India 2. Dr. Amit Aggrawal, Professor of Marketing, Retail & Entrepreneurship, Sandip University, Nashik, India Abstract Financial planning is the process of making arrangements from the earnings to meet financial goals over a period of time. This planning is done through prioritization of needs vis-à-vis the scope of incomes and savings. A correct financial planning helps to fulfill financial requirements on time and in a settled manner. In metro cities like Mumbai, men and women both are employed to meet their family requirements. Among the employed women, they are engaged in both organized and unorganized sectors and those who work in organized sectors among them also may not enjoy retirement benefits. So in this scenario, financial planning for the post-retirement period is very important. From pastime, women are investing, mostly in gold. But now the attitude of women towards investment has changed. They are more educated and aware about different investment avenues available. They are now investing in post office savings schemes, fixed deposits, shares, mutual funds, bonds, real estate, apart from gold. Women tend to be more conservative investors than men. For investment decisions they depend mainly upon their spouse, father or brother. There are various factors which are responsible for this conservative attitude of women towards investment. Keywords: Financial Planning, Investment, Savings, Retirement corpus, economic growth 1. INTRODUCTION Economic growth of a nation is driven by saving and its transformation into investment. This ultimately leads to affecting the life of people of a country. An investment is done from savings. This is applicable to countries, companies and individuals also. Investment is that part of saved money which is employed in different avenues with an aim to earn future return. The return may be in the form of interest, dividend, profit, or rent derived from investment made in security or property. There are different types of investments such as fixed and recurring deposits, post office saving schemes, Public Provident Fund, bonds, stocks, mutual funds, real estate etc. Investment is being done, inter alia, by both men and women. Most of the men prefer to invest in fixed deposits, equity shares, mutual funds, and real estate. They invest with the aim to get appreciation in capital, wealth creation, for retirement purposes, and education & marriage of their children. Women save from their earnings and savings by controlling household expenses. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 156 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) At present, except for some government and public sector employment, employees do not have any retirement benefits such as pension which brings regular income or any other social security measures. Even to get retirement benefits there are many criteria that need to be fulfilled in general like number of years of service, continuation of employment, designation etc. Apart from regular day-to-day expenses there is a major expenditure on health which occurs after retirement on superannuation i.e. medical expenses. To get adequate medical facilities enough money is required and for this retirement planning needs to be done while serving in employment. Retirement preparation, therefore, is an important segment of financial planning for the future. But in modern times, slowly and steadily their attitude towards investment has been changed. The income and education level of women has increased many fold. They have started taking investment decisions independently. They are becoming educated and aware about investment opportunities available in the financial sector. A number of studies have shown the existence of gender biases in investment patterns. Women tend to be more conservative investors than men and are not much interested in collecting and exploiting information for financial planning. On average , women live longer than men. This difference in life expectancy shows that in many cases women have to look after themselves & families on death of their spouse. After retirement from work, they need enough funds to meet day-to-day expenses. Availability of funds post retirement necessitates financial planning. Planning gives direction to any work, and a good and sufficient planning helps to achieve the set target. In order to fulfill financial requirements after retirement, financial planning is absolutely essential. Financial planning for retirement means planning for retirement corpus. Every working man or woman gets retirement after completion of their tenure. The life after retirement also needs money and to get this money there is a need for financial planning when one is already in employment. The accumulation of corpus funds for retirement needs systematic financial planning. This financial planning and building of retirement corpus is dominated by financial literacy among women investors. Financial literacy means having knowledge about the various investment avenues, their features, benefits, returns etc. it is not at all necessary that a highly educated investor is a financial literate. To be financially literate an investor must have an interest in the same. Generally women are not well aware about various financial products present in the market. To gather relevant information for post- retirement the most important thing is perception towards retirement. When a working woman has positive perception towards retirement and creation of provision for post retirement, then she proceeds in the same way. She will become financially literate, gather all relative information, analyze the information and then proceed for investment. There is a gap between women in need of financial literacy and the reach of financial literacy. To bridge this gap there are many investor associations which are working, who create awareness among investors about various investment avenues, their rights, SEBI guidelines etc. SEBI being a primary institution in the area of investment also arranges various lectures, seminars, fairs to make investors aware about their rights, laws, rules which are made for their protection. Most of the women see themselves as savers rather than investors and prefer to invest in products that offer guaranteed returns. Some investment avenues are more risky, some less risky and some are International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 157 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) risk free. The investors choose investment avenues according to their want, risk, attitude, capacity and accepted return. When the investors want high return they have to choose the risky investment avenue. In relation to women, men choose to invest in such investment opportunities that are risky but give high returns. Women’s income is always considered as a complementary and supplementary income within the family. But the growing importance of income earned by women raises some consideration. Women are more involved than ever in their household’s investment and financial decision making. But there are many factors like marital status, education, age etc. which affect investment decisions of women. On the average, women outlive men by 2 to 3 years in India. As per the 2011 census estimate, life expectancy at birth for men in India is 66 years against 68 years for women and the female population in the age bracket ’65 and above’ at 3.40 crore is clearly higher compared to male population of 3.08 crore in the same age bracket. Many Indian women face the challenge of taking care of their husbands during their old age, but are found to be left with no one to care for them after their husband's death. On the average, women earn only 76% of the amount earned by their male counterparts in the same profession. While men earn money uninterruptedly throughout their working life, women often need to take breaks, especially when they have children. Motherhood often interrupts their career. Many women leave their employment during the early stage of their career for childbirth /child care. Some of them return to work, while others do not. Those who come back to work often face the compulsion of starting their career all over again. As a result, their superannuation benefits (PF, Gratuity, Pension etc.) remain lower. Orthodox family backgrounds, change in location after marriage, change in spouse's job location, household responsibilities etc also require women to put their career on the back burner. Cases of women going abroad on a dependent visa with their husbands are not uncommon. Women tend to be more conservative investors than men, which often means their portfolios do not grow as quickly when they are young – a time when they should be investing aggressively. Because of a low level of interest in money matters and fear of going wrong, women often allow men (father / brother/ husband) to take financial decisions on their behalf, but it has been observed that in nine out of ten cases they are required to take such decisions independently later in their life. At that point of time, because of lack of interest and experience, they find it extremely difficult. A recent survey has shown that 84% of Indian women either have no or very little financial knowledge. They have lesser knowledge about the latest financial products and investment opportunities. Women are more intimidated about financial issues than men. Many Indian women consider their working / career as a time-pass activity. They prefer to retire early and usually get only a meager amount as pension. Women, in general, are found to be less prepared for retirement. Women are usually less financially literate compared to men. Women comprise a horrifying 87% of the impoverished elderly. They therefore, need to plan for their retirement carefully and need long term health care insurance. Taking control of one’s own personal finances can increase financial security. Against this background however, In general women have certain characteristics that help them make good financial decisions: (i) women tend to be holistic thinkers (ii) women are more concerned with quality than quantity (iii) women are intuitive and (iv) women are conservative. In this context it is worthwhile to note the observations of a neuro-scientist Joe Herbert, who argued, “The recent (2008) banking crisis was caused by doing what no society ever allows, permitting young males to behave in an unregulated way. Anyone who studied neurobiology International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 158 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) would have predicted disaster – young, aggressive, and full of testosterone - a toxic combination?” (The Economist, 2nd Nov, 2010). In many Indian families, women work as CFOs of the household, prepare and implement the family budget. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW This section reviews the empirical studies on the relation between the need of financial planning for retirement of working women and investment through various instruments for achieving the financial goal of retirement. According to Veerta Tantia, Gautam, Thammaiah Nitish (2017) gold and gold ornaments have been used for centuries by people to invest for the future and it is a symbol of status quo in the society especially by the women. Investment is an economic activity of putting funds for productivity use instead idle in the house. The respondents of the scholarship are working women in the IT sector. The sampling method is convenient. The conclusion of the study is that women tend to invest in gold ornaments rather than in gold bonds, as many are unaware about gold bonds, and the other reason is the risk associated with the bonds, their liquidity and safety. And women invest in gold ornaments also because they like to wear them and are used in multiple places. In view of Venkateshraj (2015) - individuals after a particular stage of their life get involved in investing their savings. There are an increasing number of educated employed women. The job opportunities have also increased for the women and they are also turning qualified by qualification like graduate and post-graduate. Therefore, they have jobs offered in software companies, banking and financial services and the education sector. The numbers of employed women are increasing year by year that equals to the increasing number of independent income bearers. Women by nature are savers and invest their savings into a wide range of financial products and physical assets. Even the capital and money market participants have realized the importance of the rapid increase in the number of women investors and are gearing up to meet their demands related to investments and allied services. It was found that in spite of being highly qualified, women considered themselves to be having a low level of financial literacy. This could be due to the dominance of men in decisions related to finance. At a younger age it is fathers and brothers who make investment decisions on their behalf and this leads to lack of participation by women in financial matters. Post marriage the spouse dominates or influences the investment decisions. In view of Amsaveni, Nithyadevi (2014) - Investment is necessary for the individual to face uncertainty of future in order to meet the predicaments in their family. The scholar has made an attempt to understand working women's attitude towards investment. Most of the working women are satisfied with investment avenues. The women of today have realized the importance of money. The economic crisis has led the women to recognise the need to develop a financial plan that would meet the long-term monetary goals. Now women are more involved in their households’ investment and financial decision making like never before and they prepare a budget for the future expenses and compare it with the actual expenses. Increasing one's wealth is important for women and she has realized it. The study concludes that most of the women are becoming financially literate, which helps them to manage their portfolios on their own. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 159 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) In view of Gargi Pant (2013) - it has been analyzed that married women are more aware about the retirement planning and have done more for retirement as compared to unmarried women. It is also analyzed that the females’ are moderate risk bearers and would like to invest in less risky avenues. According to Goyal Malini (2013) - the future plan of the women decides the course of financial investments, which is the same in common parlance. Marriage of their children, children’s higher education, their own retirement plans, their health plan and many more. The investment is in Public Provident Fund (PPF), fixed deposit and Mutual Funds. They all have the opinion of investing on a monthly basis and in various investment avenues to balance their financial portfolio. This does not apply to widows and divorces. These women have to make their own financial decisions, since they do not have a male counterpart. Otherwise a good percentage of the women population both working and non-working, are dependent on the decisions and approval of the male members in their lives. In view of Stareek Simon, Trunk Ales (2013) - Financial education and consequently a higher level of financial literacy has an effect on the individual’s improving of understanding financial products, notions and risks. On the basis of present details, directives and goals strengthen the investors and prepare them for risk. Financially literate individuals are better acquainted with where to find help and they can take more effective measures to improve their wealth. On an average the level of financial literacy is lower among the investors than required. There are economic and social factors which affect the investment decision of an individual. Financial education strengthens the required skill for investment decisions especially for women in retirement plans. The financial literacy programmes must be tailor made and according to the target population. The financial literacy programme must be qualitative rather than quantitative. The financial literacy or education programmes must be upgraded regularly as per changing environment. According to Society of Actuaries (2013) - the retirement risk is more among women compared to men as the life expectancy is more for women compared to men in general. The middle income group does not have enough savings for investment purposes, especially for retirement. And in the case of women workers they have lower savings and a very negligible amount for investing in retirement plans. Women do have savings but the priorities are not doing investment for their retirement but for fulfilling family responsibilities. In many instances women are living a longer life than men but they never plan their own retirement and the period of widowhood becomes very difficult as at old age the medical expenses increase with time. For many women, the death of a spouse results in a decline in standard of living. Women are much more likely to be alone in old age, and old women are more likely to be poor. Women are less likely to have employment-based retiree medical benefits which affect their medical expenses. Inflation has a larger impact on people who live longer and for women also inflation has an impact and its effect increases over a period of time with respect to the social security benefits, pension benefits and free medical benefits depending upon the tenure of employment. In view of Robson (2012) - Financial education cannot totally replace other factors that affect the protection of consumers, measures for organization of the markets, mastery of new appeared forms of risks, needs for lasting social programmes, investments in human resources etc. Financial education should be a part of the entire strategy dealing with protection and strengthening the competences of consumers and measures to raise the level of financial inclusion. Financial education International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 160 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) strengthens the awareness of the meaning for competences and skills in the field of finances and can contribute to lower the risk on the level of the individual and society. There has to be strengthened the effective and constant technological and other modifications adapted to the regulation system to take care of the development of suitable financial sources and public policy for stimulating social and economic inclusion and to raise wealth. When preparing a concept of financial education there should be all crucial factors like country, educational and research institutions, financial and insurance sector, consulters in the field of financial service, control institutions and others. When creating a concept of financial education stress should be put on the quality of educational programmes, the process of constant improvements, orientation in recognizing and introduction of good practice and educators. When preparing qualitative programmes, didactic tools, web and mobile applications adapted to the needs of users, it makes sense to introduce free, independent and professional consulting centers (spots) for all age groups. According to the Money life digital team (2013) - many times women are just aware of or informed about the family’s financial decisions which are already taken by the family head. In very rare cases women are sole or joint financial decision makers. Women tend to be more bent towards such options of investments which are safe and already known to them. They are not keen to explore new financial products for investment. Women are more safe and stable return oriented than men investors. According to Baano Sabina (2017), the impact of a patriarchal society has an impact on the decision making rights of women in all spheres of the society. The gender discrimination has led to the suppression of women in making decision in various issues in daily activities and their role and responsibilities are restricted to a specific sphere. The role and responsibilities division is what shapes the role of men and women in the society. It is important to understand that work shapes the status and identity of the women and men in the society. The society is still in the traditional mode where fundamentally all ideologies are men oriented. Religion and rituals are parts and parcel of the society, and they have always given men an upper hand. It's important that gender inequalities should be surfaced and exposed and education is a very good mode for doing so. The awareness about gender discrimination should be primarily done in remote areas of the regions as it only through this that empowerment of women would be possible. According to Singh Chetna, Kumar Raj (2017), she expresses that in developing countries like India poverty and unemployment is the main issue of concern. This kind of situation does not support the idea of financial literacy. Financial literacy is required for investment and in absence of employment and absence of enough salary, investment is not possible. Especially in the case of working women, the amount of savings is negligible for the purpose of investment and women who do save they invest in traditional avenues like gold, fixed deposits where the risk is low and which are preferred by their elders for investment. Compared to this in the case of developed countries, with sufficient income and savings people do investment and financial planning and literacy is given importance. In view of Patel Avni (2017), strengthening of any economy depends upon the financial well-being of the residents of the country. Past researches show that financial well-being of an individual depends upon their financial behavior, which in turn depends upon attitude towards personal International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 161 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) financial planning and the Financial Literacy of an individual. Balanced Personal Financial Plan also plays a vital role for Financial Well Being of an individual. Many studies have been done in the area of financial literacy in the Indian context but very few studies have been conducted on Overall Personal Financial Planning, especially in the state of Gujarat. The respondents are quite informed and aware about financial terms, concepts and its working. Awareness related to traditional Investment Avenues like FD, Saving Bank Account, Post Office Schemes and PPF (Public Provident Fund) is quite high. Still awareness of new age Investment Avenues like Derivatives, NonConventional Avenues - Precious Coins, Paintings is still very low among respondents, so they are not able to reap advantages associated with these products. Interesting finding of the research is: though awareness of all the components of Personal Financial Planning (PFP) is not that high, the attitude towards PFP is positive among the respondents. They understand the importance of a balanced Financial Plan and they feel that they require an expert to help them in sketching a Financial Plan. Overall, the study has created a base for the future detailed research to be done in the field of Personal Finance. According to Ritu Gupta, Sudeepta Pradhan (2017) the advertisements indicated self-reliant retirees, which is a desired state in retirement. The advertisements show financial management but it is not clear how this is achieved. The goal of these advertisements was to motivate individuals watching to plan for retirement to become financially independent. The advertisements show the idea of retirement planning and purchasing the financial product advertised by the company. In the financial planning advertisements, there were clear patterns that emerged during the study. 75% of the ads were emotional in nature, while the remaining 25% lacked an emotional quotient. These advertisements showcase a characterization of Indian consumers which is indicative of the culture. The need for retirement planning has increased because there has been a change in traditional joint family structure leading to independent old age. In view of Venter Elmarie, Kruger Janine(2017) women who are comfortable and confident with making investments, having knowledge of investment trends, the different types of investment vehicles, knowing the investment risks involved and length of each investment, as well as knowing how and where to obtain help and relevant investment information in making investment decisions, are likely to be satisfied with the income and growth they receive from their investments, as well as being able to achieve their financial goals through investing. It is important for women to practise, monitor and alter investment planning throughout different stages of their life cycle to achieve and maximize their success in investment planning. According to Collinson Catherine (2018) women have made remarkable progress in the areas of education attainment, career attainment. There is a presence of women in every sector i.e. education and employment. There is a change in perception about the employability of women with change in education level. In spite of this progress, there is risk of financial loss, loss of continuation of employment and this risk is more compared to men. Women tend to be more fearful about retirement than men. Their fears mainly include the risk related to health and financial independence. Women live longer than men and they are in more need of retirement provision. According to Roy Blessy & Jain Ruchi (2018) women are not aware and are not prepared for getting information about the financial market. This ignorance behavior may be due to various reasons like International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 162 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) no information, no motivation, no awareness among peers. And all these factors are stopping women from getting involved in financial planning for the future. They are concerned about the immediate future and current requirements, they do not want to invest hard earned money and take risks. They are not ready to invest money for capital gain and wait a long time. In general women not having knowledge of banking and other financial activities like online payment, online transfer are not using debit, credit cards and all of these due to fear of risk of loss. In view of Lynch Merrill (2018) - Women are now more financially secure compared to previous time. But still there are many cases where women are not taking financial decisions. Financial independence and financial empowerment is still in progress. There are many factors which have challenged their financial independence. To improve the position of women in financial decision making there is a need to understand the challenges, perception, and awareness among women. With the improvement in knowledge, financial independence and awareness the financial decision making status of women will improve. According to Amsaveni, Nithyadevi (2018) - It’s very important that the women's investment is necessary for the individuals to face uncertainty of the future in order to meet the predicaments in their family. The scholar has made an attempt to understand working women's attitude towards investment. The respondents were selected randomly from the Tiruppur District and the data was collected in both the ways primary and secondary. The data collected was analyzed using simple percentage, ranking method and chi-square test. It is found that most of the working women are satisfied with investment avenues. The women of today have realized the importance of money. The economic crisis has led the women to recognise the need to develop a financial plan that would meet the long-term monetary goals. Now women are more involved in their households’ investment and financial decision making like never before and they prepare a budget for the future expenses and compare it with the actual expenses. Increasing one's wealth is important for women and she has realized it. The study concludes that most of the women are becoming highly financially literate, which helps them to manage their portfolios on their own. In view of Hemalatha, Pavithra (2018) - women have started thinking and understanding that money should be saved and investment to face the critical situations of life. They need to develop the skill of planning for their financial needs. Women are generally found to keep cash idle rather than investing it, they keep the cash idle as they would like to meet their personal expenses like jewelry, beauty parlor, shopping and many such petty expenses by this idle cash. The respondents were especially salaried women. These women are earning fixed salaries over a period of time. The investment objectives of these salaried working women is safety, tax saving, retirement plans, security, regular inflow of income. Dr. Loknath Mishra in his research paper on Financial planning for Educated Young Women in India mentions that Women face tremendous challenges as they move through life’s transition. Women are concerned about the financial well-being of their families as well as themselves. In view of Sykes Wendy, Hedges Alan, Finch Helen, Ward Kit and Kelly John (2005).There is change in the thinking and planning regarding retirement plan i.e. pension. At present, the young generation women are more likely to be aware about the importance of pension and the importance International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 163 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) of planning for the same. There is more sense of financial independence among younger women as compared to the elder ones. After marriage many women expect to share their pension with husband. They expect to benefit from the financial planning of their spouse and some time they may participate in financial planning for pension i.e. after retirement. There is change in culture of financial planning and making financial decisions for family. Now women also participate in important financial decisions. But these shift in financial decision making do not serve the purpose of planning for pension. According to Hershey, Jacobs-Lawson, McArdle, Hamagami,(2008). Psychological factor plays very important role financial decision making especially for retirement purpose. There are many elements which affect the psychological status of an individual towards investment such as demographic, social, income, financial responsibilities and peer pressure. All these elements affect the savings and investment of an individual. The matrix of planning and psychological factors needs to understand for motivating people to invest and particularly investment towards post retirement planning. Financial literacy is a part of motivation for investment. According to Hershey and McArdle (2008), investment is done from saving. An individual can do savings from his/her income after paying for all necessary expenses. It is a general understanding that when an individual has higher income he/she can save more and with more saving the investment is possible as the long term goals of their life are defined. Taking the same effect the individual has more opportunities and chances to get information about the investment market, investment products, plans and polices and they are at an advantageous position to take investment decision. There is direct linking between income and financial literacy. The individual having sufficient earning is having more scope to think about investment and in such situation he/she will take necessary financial knowledge for investment purpose. On the other hand when an individual has limited income and the expenses are just equal to that, there is a very less scope of savings. In absence of reasonable amount of savings the investment decisions is done to have some extra income through choosing the safest investment options. For retirement planning, the investment has to start at early stage and it is possible when the employee has sufficient income and saving. When the employer gives pension or any other retirement benefit the employees are in better position to take risk in investment for future. In view of Douglas, John (2008), it is conceivable that individuals with higher incomes would have thought more about retirement and thus, have developed clearer goals for this period of their lives. Similarly, it is plausible that those in the higher income brackets would have had more reasons and greater opportunities to learn about financial issues than their lower-income counterparts, justifying a link between income and self-rated financial knowledge. Finally, it is also conceivable that those who knew more about financial planning would be more likely to make retirement savings contributions, so as to be able to achieve a level of financial independence. Based on these considerations, these three new paths (Demographic, Psychological and behavioural) were added to the Conceptual model of the factors that underlie investor behaviour from Hershey (2004) model, & the three non-significant paths were omitted, and a revised model was computed. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 164 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) According to Jack Noone, Fiona Alpass and Christine Stephens (2010), generally women and men’s perception are same. Both are involved in informal financial planning for retirement. But they are not much prepared for retirement financial planning and do not collect information for the same. The reason may be non awareness towards importance of retirement, no future planning and low standard of living. In view of Society of Actuaries (2010), there is lack of financial literacy regarding the retirement planning among many citizens of America. They are not aware about the possible risk they may face after retirement if they do not plan of it. There is gap in knowledge about the importance of retirement planning and the way for doing the same. This financial illiteracy is present in both men and women but the level of financial illiteracy is more among women than men. Many people do not plan for long term needs; they are mainly concern with day to day requirement of money. This absence of financial planning of long term is not due to economic crisis but it has been inclined to show the reason for not planning for long term by many people. The economic crises have created challenge for retirement planning only for them who have lost their job during this period. There is need to understand that the impact of economic crises is different on men and women and so the retirement planning is different for men and women. According to Clark, Strauss (2010), women were more risk averse in comparison to men. Based on age as a factor, the young are willing to take a higher risk in comparison to the old. Wealthier individuals were willing to invest in equity market in comparison to poor who preferred risk averse securities. In view of the MetLife Mature Market Institute (2011), there is a need to take charge of retirement planning by women themselves. Keeping retirement financial planning at stake increases risk of unsecured post retirement life. When they are not taking charge of retirement planning it increase the risk of inadequate money after retirement. The retirement planning should be gender specific as the social and economic issues and position of women are different from men after retirement. While making the investment advice for retirement the common advice is not suitable for women. The financial planning for women after retirement is different from men. Women are at risk in case of retirement planning as they are not actively involved in taking financial decisions for themselves. The present time is needed to take charge for their retirement financial planning not only for them but also for their family. In presence of secured retirement plan the women are not required to depend upon the family for their monetary requirement and in some cases they also support the family financial requirements. It is time for men and family also take charge of retirement financial planning for women. 3. OBJECTIVES a. To identify the factors influencing in choice of Investment preference by working women in Mumbai Region.: b. To analyze the Investment pattern and Investment avenues preferred by working women in Mumbai Region: c. To identify the impact of financial planning by working women in Mumbai Region on retirement corpus: International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 165 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) 4. HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY Ho- There is no association between investment for retirement planning and investment made for retirement corpus. H1: There is an association between investment for retirement planning and investment made for retirement corpus. 5. DATA AND METHODOLOGY The primary data has been collected with the use of interview schedules in the form of questionnaires from working women in Mumbai Region. The respondents are working educated women in the organized sector. Primary data has also been collected from 1500 working women in Mumbai (area of western, central and harbor Mumbai) through well-structured questionnaires to check the awareness regarding retirement planning and retirement corpus. Secondary data has been collected from various references which already exist and would be published in future like books, articles in newspapers like Economic times, Business Standards, and Times of India, publications of consumer association, etc., from time to time. The articles in Business magazines as well as Web and Internet support will also be considered for the purpose of secondary data collection. Collected data has been edited to avoid unwanted information and arrange the data in the proper order and sequence. Properly edited data has been coded and classified to further make it simple by preparing tables, graphs, charts and diagrams, etc., wherever necessary. Statistical operations such as average, correlation, regression and hypothesis test etc. have been used to make the data more amenable for analysis. In-depth study of processed data has been conducted to arrive at valid & significant interpretations and other research findings. 6. RESEARCH FINDINGS 6.1 FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF INVESTMENT OF RESPONDENTS: Financial planning is the estimation of required money in future compared to future requirement. The requirement of financial planning is important at an advanced age i.s. retirement age. Especially those, who will not get any pension after retirement, At early age and middle age person the financial planning is required for fulfilling the regular expenditure smoothly and savings for contingency and future. Table No. 1- Need of Financial Planning in fast city life of Mumbai Financial planning is of utmost important in fast city life like Mumbai Total Yes 1470 No 30 Total 1500 Source: Compiled from Primary data. Table no.1 shows the view of working women of Mumbai regarding the need of financial planning. Financial planning is important for cities like Mumbai according to 1.470 respondents i.e. 98 percentages of total respondents. And 30 respondents do not give importance to financial planning. Financial planning gives estimates regarding the future need of savings of money. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 166 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) 6.2 INVESTMENT MADE BY THE RESPONDENTS OUT OF SAVINGS: Investment is the way to employ the savings in the scope of earning extra income. These investments are done for regular income and asset appreciation. For doing an investment, saving is required from the regular income and expenses. Investment depends upon many factors such as income, source of income, nature of employment, number dependents, awareness about investment etc. Table No. 2 - Investment made by working women respondents out of savings Marital Status Investment of Savings Total Single Married 330 1050 Yes 1380 60 60 No 120 Total 390 1110 1500 Source: Compiled from Primary data. Table 2 explain the number of respondents doing investment out of their savings. There are 1,380 respondents who do investment from their savings i.e. 92 percentage of total respondents. Among these respondents 1,050 respondents are married i.e. 76 percentages and 330 respondents are single i.e. 24 percentage of total respondents. There are 120 respondents who do not engage in any investment activity out of their savings ie8 percent of total respondents. Among these respondents 60 respondents are married i.e. 50 percentage of respondents and 60 respondents are single i.e. 50 percentages of respondents. The number of respondents who do investment is more compared to the respondents who do not invest. There are many reasons for not doing investment like fewer amounts of savings, more number of dependents, social surrounding etc. Sometimes there are religious belief and low confidence in area of taking financial decisions. 6.3 FREQUENCY OF MAKING INVESTMENT BY THE WORKING WOMEN RESPONDENTS: Investment is done either for regular income, for asset appreciation or for both. There are many motives at the time of investment such as regular extra source of income, tax benefits, to fulfill future need of money. The frequency of investment is the number of times money is invested like monthly, quarterly, yearly, occasionally etc. The frequency of investment depends upon the availability of savings, opportunities of investment. Table No. 3 - Frequency of making Investment by working women respondents Marital Status Frequency of Investment Total Single Married 210 660 Monthly 870 0 180 Quarterly 180 120 210 Yearly 330 60 60 Not Applicable 120 Total 390 1110 1500 Source: Compiled from Primary data. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 167 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) Table 3 explains the frequency of investment by respondents. There are 1,380 respondents who do investment out of their savings i.e. 92 percent of total respondents. There are 870 respondents who do investment on a monthly basis i.e. 63 percent of respondents. Among these respondents 660 respondents are married i.e. 75 percentage respondents are married and 210 respondents are single i.e. 24 percentages of respondents. Following this, 330 respondents are doing investment on yearly basis i.e. 24 percentages of respondents. Among these 210 respondents are married i.e. 64 percentages of respondents and 120 respondents are single i.e. 36 percentages of respondents. There are 180 respondents who do investment on a quarterly basis i.e. 13 percent of respondents. Among these respondents all 180 i.e. 100 percentages of respondents are married. The investment like life insurance premium, Medi-claim insurance, bank fixed deposits etc paid on quarterly basis and investment on monthly basis done in recurring deposit, post office etc. investment like PPF, Mutual funds done on monthly basis. 6.4 CONSULTING FOR INVESTMENT BY THE WORKING WOMEN RESPONDENTS: The investor does investment by choosing the suitable product of investment from the market. This selection of investment products are either done by self - analysis or taking advice from others like spouses, professionals. Self - analysis by investors is possible when the investor has the awareness, knowledge, relevant and correct information about the market and investment products. Investment consultants are the professionals having knowledge and information regarding various opportunities for investment. Table No. 4 - Consulting for Investment by working women respondents Marital Status Consult before Investment Single Married 0 450 Spouse 60 360 Self-Analysis 60 30 Friends and Relatives 180 180 Experts/Professionals/Agents 30 30 Others 60 60 Not Applicable Total 390 1110 Source: Compiled from Primary data. Total 450 420 90 360 60 120 1500 Table 4 explains the process of doing investment by respondents. The respondents sometimes consult before doing investment and sometimes do investment by their own information and financial literacy. There are 450 respondents who are married and depend upon their spouse for the purpose of doing investment i.e. 33 percentages. Following, these 420 respondents are doing investment depending upon their own analysis i.e. 30 percentages. Among these respondents, 360 respondents are married and 60 are single i.e. 86 percentages and 14 percentages respectively. There are 360 respondents who are taking help of professionals and agents for doing investment i.e. 26 percentages of total respondents. Among these respondents 180 are married and 180 are single i.e. 50 percentages of respondents. There are 90 respondents who invest after taking advice from their friends and relatives i.e. 7 percentages of respondents. Among these respondents 30 respondents are married and 60 are single i.e. 33 percentages and 67 percentages respectively. Few respondents are International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 168 IRJMST ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] doing investment after taking a base of tips about various investment avenues performance i.e. 60 respondents. These respondents are 4 percentages of respondents. Among these respondents 30 respondents are married and 30 respondents are single i.e. 50 percentages of these respondents. 6.5 FACTORS INFLUENCING IN CHOICE OF INVESTMENT OPTIONS BY THE RESPONDENTS: Factors are the features which lead any activity. In case of investment there are many factors which govern the decision of investment. These factors are social, economic, cultural and sometimes behavioral. Studying, exploring and understanding the factors, helps to determine the investment behavior of one. Investment is the way to have financial growth. Factors of investment are different in different gender i.e. men and women. In the case of women investors the factors are mainly dominated by social and cultural ones. Women investors in large do not take risk while doing investment. Table No. 5 - Factors influencing in choice of Investment Options of working women respondents Single Least Import ant 0 Less Importan t 0 90 More Importan t 120 Most Importan t 180 Weightag e Product Weighte d Average 1650 4.23 Married 0 120 180 240 570 4590 4.14 Single 60 0 210 120 0 1170 3.00 Married 180 270 360 300 0 3000 2.70 Family Pressure/Depende nt Family Members Single 60 30 120 120 60 1260 3.23 Married 90 150 420 360 90 3540 3.19 Future need/Old Age/Retirement Single 30 30 120 90 120 1410 3.62 Married 90 30 240 420 330 4200 3.78 Single 0 0 120 120 150 1590 4.08 Married 0 150 180 300 480 4440 4.00 Single 0 0 180 60 150 1530 3.92 Married 30 60 240 330 450 4440 4.00 Single 0 0 90 150 150 1620 4.15 Married 0 30 90 570 420 4710 4.24 Favorable Market Condition for investment Single 0 0 120 150 120 1560 4.00 Married 0 90 240 450 330 4350 3.92 Less risky option of investment Single 0 30 90 210 60 1470 3.77 Married 0 90 270 330 420 4410 3.97 Job Security Single 0 0 60 210 120 1620 4.15 International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 169 Marital Status Factors Reputation of the Company Peer Pressure Information about high and assured returns in long run Strong Financial analysis as per need Tax Savings Neutra l IRJMST ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] Married 0 90 300 450 270 4230 3.81 Habit of savings and investment Single 0 0 90 240 60 1530 3.92 Married 0 60 210 510 330 4440 4.00 Fear uncertainty Single 0 60 60 180 90 1470 3.77 Married 0 30 450 480 150 4080 3.68 Total of Single 3.82 Married 3.79 Source: Compiled from Primary data. Take no. 5 shows the retirement planning done by the respondents through investment done for retirement. There are 870 respondents who are planning for retirement i.e.58 percentages of total respondents. For retirement they invest in pension funds, provident funds etc. among the respondents 630 respondents do investment for retirement corpus i.e. 72 percentages of respondents and 240 respondents do retirement planning but do not have any investment for retirement corpus i.e. 28 percentages of respondents. These respondents take investment decisions by themselves. There are 630 respondents who do not have any retirement planning i.e. 42 percentages of total respondents. Among these respondents 60 respondents have investment for creating retirement corpus i.e. 10 percent, 450 respondents are not having any investment for retirement corpus i.e.71 percentages and 120 respondents are not taking any investment and financial decision for the purpose of retirement. For these respondents the investment decision and retirement planning is done by someone else such as family members, professionals. There are 690 respondents who opt for avenues of investment which is building up any retirement corpus i.e. 46 percentages of total respondents. Among these respondents 630 respondents are having retirement planning and 30 respondents do not have any retirement planning by themselves i.e. 91 percentages and 9 percentages respectively. There are 690 respondents who do not have any avenues of investment which is building up any retirement corpus i.e. 46 percentages of total respondents. Among these respondents 240 respondents do not have investment avenues for retirement corpus but have retirement planning, 450 respondents are not having any retirement corpus and do not have any retirement planning also i.e. 35 percent and 65 percentages respectively. There are 120 respondents who are not having any investment corpus and any retirement planning by them i.e. 8 percentage. For the purpose of retirement corpus and retirement planning they are dependent on others or retirement planning is not in immediate action for them. 7 TESTING OF HYPOTHESES: 7.1 Hypothesis 1 H0: THERE IS NO ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INVESTMENT OF SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT MADE FOR RETIREMENT CORPUS. H1: THERE IS AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INVESTMENT OF SAVINGS AND INVESTMENT MADE FOR RETIREMENT CORPUS. As the data collected were categorical and measured as nominal scale, Non parametric test (Chi Square test) was applied to test the hypothesis for the study. Table no. 6 describes the test results of Chi Square Test for the testing of Hypothesis and results of the same. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 170 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) Table no. 6 - Test Statistics (Hypothesis 1) Test Statistics Any avenues of investment which is Investment of Savings building up any retirement corpus Chi-Square 433.200a 1058.400b Df 2 1 Asymp. Sig. .000 .000 a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5. The minimum expected cell frequency is 500.0. b. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5. The minimum expected cell frequency is 750.0. As per Table No. 7, As sig. value is less than 0.05 (at 95percent level of significance) i.e. 0.000, thus, there is an association between any avenues of investment which is building up any retirement corpus and Investment for savings. It has been concluded through Inferential Analysis that avenues of investment which is building up any retirement corpus is dependent on Investment for savings. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected and an alternative hypothesis is accepted. 7.2 Hypothesis 2 H0: THERE IS NO ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INVESTMENT FOR RETIREMENT PLANNING AND INVESTMENT MADE FOR RETIREMENT CORPUS. H1: THERE IS AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INVESTMENT FOR RETIREMENT PLANNING AND INVESTMENT MADE FOR RETIREMENT CORPUS. As the data collected were categorical and measured as nominal scale, Non parametric test (Chi Square test) was applied to test the hypothesis for the study. Table no. 8 describes the test results of Chi Square Test for the testing of Hypothesis and results of the same. Table No. 7 - Test Statistics (Hypothesis 2) Test Statistics Any avenues of investment which Retirement Planning is building up any retirement corpus Chi-Square 433.200a 38.400b Df 2 1 Asymp. Sig. .000 .000 a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5. The minimum expected cell frequency is 500.0. b. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected frequencies less than 5. The minimum expected cell frequency is 750.0. As per Table No. 7, As sig. value is less than 0.05 (at 95percent level of significance) i.e. 0.000, thus, there is an association between any avenues of investment which is building up any retirement corpus and retirement planning. It has been concluded through Inferential Analysis that avenues of International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 171 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) investment which is building up any retirement corpus is dependent on retirement planning. This has rejected the null hypothesis and accepted the alternative hypothesis. 8 ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER SCOPE General Suggestions: Focusing the importance of retirement planning, creating awareness among the masses, prerequisites to retirement planning should be effectively communicated. Social life plays a very important role in creating awareness regarding retirement planning. There is a need for participation of peers, family members in creating awareness regarding the importance of retirement planning. Financial literacy programmes or financial awareness activities are done for the investors. But many times the investors do not have enough working life to save and invest. Financial literacy should be started from school level. The importance of savings and investment must be started at school level and slowly go up till higher education. The inclusion of financial education in curriculum helps to make understanding the importance of investment planning to the prospective investor. The independence of working women in the area of investment and retirement planning should be increased. The participation of peers, society, and family members is equally important to create an environment of importance for retirement planning and retirement corpus among working women. 7.2 Specific Suggestions Related To Retirement Corpus By Women:✔ In general women are having longer lives than men. In such conditions, working women must understand that the retirement planning and retirement investment make them independent rather than depending upon others. And this message can be spread by the employer, government agencies, investor education societies and peers. ✔ There is no pension benefit to the employees of private companies and in the case of Government Company it is also limited. In such conditions there is a high need for self-enrolment in pension plans. There are many insurance companies who are providing pension plans. The working women need to enroll themselves in such pension plans. ✔ The importance of pension plans needs to be conveyed to the working women by financial advisors, spouses, family members, peers and friends. The pension plans should not only be termed as a tax saving tool but also as support for future post-retirement life needs of money. ✔ Advertisements are the most effective manner to create impact in the minds of investors regarding the importance of investment. There is a need to show women as decision makers or participants in making decisions of retirement planning and investing in retirement funds. ✔ Advertisements must portray the post retirement life of the individual as smooth as is having during his/her working life. The importance of a healthy, good and comfortable post retirement life must be emphasized in advertisements so that women take much interest in taking investment funds for remittance and participate in creating retirement corpus. ✔ Participation of Media will play an important role in spreading awareness about the retirement corpus and retirement planning. Media including print and television commercials. Commercials showing the women as financial decision maker can improve the participation of women in making financial decision and taking investment decision International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 172 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) ✔ The retirement planning and creation of retirement funds should be started as soon as possible by the working women. The decision of taking investment funds related to retirement should not be postponed till the age of retirement. When the working woman starts early investment for retirement, she will have sufficient funds for post- retirement life. ✔ Women do investment but more in conservative way.They invest in secured investment options such as post office, bank fixed deposits etc. While investing there is no long term saving for retirement purposes. Awareness is required for creating retirement corpus with new investment products. ✔ Financial literacy is an important tool for making good retirement income. Many women know about the importance of savings and investment. The information regarding diversion of investment towards retirement is an essential step. 9 CONCLUSION Factors are the governing elements which affect any act of decision. There are many factors which are generally deciding the investment by women. There are many factors which are common between married and single women while making investment decisions. Such as return on investment, fear of uncertainty, peer -pressure whereas factors such as future retirement need of money, dependent responsibilities, and tax savings are having different intensity on investment decision. Women tend to be more conservative investors; they tend to rely on others for taking investment decisions like on spouse, father, brother and professionals. Even working women depend on others to make financial decisions for themselves. The financial literacy is low among the women as compared to men in general. Women do savings whether working or non- working, married or unmarried. The savings and investment decision, choice change with financial literacy i.e. financial information about investment. The financial literacy which plays the major role in financial planning and investment is lower among women compared to the required. The next most important factor is peer pressure in the process of financial decision making by working women. With the change in medium of communication and digitalisation the peer pressure has increased. With increasing use of social media the influence of peers is increasing on financial decision making of working women. Understanding the factors can help the investment companies to understand women to do investment. There are some common factors which are commonly believed in the case of women investors. Investment pattern indicated the selection of investment avenues i.e. various investment products. The selection of investment avenues is influenced by many factors. The investment pattern of an individual shows its choice of investment avenues, expectations from investment, risk bearing capacity etc. Investment patterns may change after some time as the investor becomes more financially literate over a period of time. Investment is the way to employ the savings in the scope of earning extra income. These investments are done for regular income and asset appreciation. For doing an investment, saving is required from the regular income and expenses. Investment depends upon many factors such as income, source of income, nature of employment, number dependents, awareness about investment etc. International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 173 IRJMST Vol 14 Issue 6 [Year 2023] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) The income and investment go together. Investments are done monthly, yearly or quarterly depending upon the amount of savings. The proportion of savings given for investment depends upon the dependability of return. There are many factors which decide the investment amount, time and avenue. Among all factors income is the most important factor. Because income gives scope of savings after doing all expenses and a regular source of employment and income gives rise to investment. The participation of working women has increased in financial planning and decision making. 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