As the end of the calendar year approaches, a season of corporate targets, final deals, and perhaps a year-end bonus, many senior women leaders find their time consumed by professional obligations. Yet this window also offers a unique opportunity: a strategic moment to strengthen personal financial resilience for the long haul.
For senior women, this is especially important. Despite progress in the workplace, women still tend to retire with substantially less pension wealth and lower retirement income than men. A recent study by the OECD shows that across many OECD countries, women’s pensions remain meaningfully lower than men’s, a phenomenon that has come to be known as the “Gender Pension Gap”. [Mercer, 2025]
This gap isn’t just unfair, it also represents a strategic risk to long-term financial stability.
With that in mind, here are 3 high-impact financial moves worth considering before January 2026.
- Close the Pension Gap By Maximising Year-End Pension Contributions
One of the most effective levers available to you is pension contributions. In Ireland, contributions to approved pension schemes, whether occupational pensions, personal retirement plans, or PRSAs, qualify for significant income tax relief.
However, the relief is subject to two limits:
- An age-related percentage of earnings (ranging from 15% under 30, up to 40% at age 60+).
- A total earnings cap (currently €115,000), which defines the maximum earnings level that can be considered for tax relief.
What to do before January 2026:
- Review whether you are utilising your full allowable pension contribution limit under the age-related ceiling.
- If you have received a bonus or extra income, consider making an additional lump-sum contribution (subject to relief limits).
- Recheck whether you can contribute via multiple pension vehicles (occupational scheme, PRSA / AVC) without breaching the relief thresholds.
Even a single additional contribution can materially increase your pension pot, reducing tax now and reinforcing compounding over time. For senior women whose careers may include future caregiving or part-time phases, this is a practical safeguard against the pension shortfall many women face.
- Conduct a Strategic Portfolio Review
For many executives, personal wealth is not solely in retirement accounts. Equity holdings, stock options, or other investment vehicles may form a large portion of net worth.
Your end-of-year audit might include:
- Reviewing all non-pension investments and identifying underperforming assets.
- Considering whether realising losses makes sense, especially if you hold assets in non-retirement accounts and have realised gains elsewhere (allowing you to offset those gains).
- Reassessing concentration risks frequently. Executives hold a substantial portion of their net worth tied to a single employer’s stock or within a narrow sector.
This is not about strategic rebalancing. Much as a corporate board conducts a ‘portfolio review’ at year-end, applying the same discipline to personal investments can improve resilience and tax efficiency in the years ahead.
- Clarify Your Financial “Why”
We often bring rigour to business decisions, scrutinising budgets, risk and strategy. Yet personal finances are sometimes treated casually. For senior women leaders, this divergence can be costly.
Before 2026 begins:
- Reflect on your long-term financial objectives. What lifestyle do you envision in retirement? What legacy do you wish to leave?
- Consider upcoming career or life transitions, parental support, caring responsibilities, philanthropic ambitions, and how they might influence your financial needs.
- Engage a trusted, independent financial advisor who can serve as a fiduciary sounding-board, helping you separate emotional impulses (fear, FOMO, risk aversion) from disciplined, value-aligned decisions.
As leaders, we accept that long-term success requires clarity of purpose. The same intentional self-governance should apply to our personal wealth.
Why This Matters?
- The global gender pension gap is widely documented: women in many retirement systems retire with 30 – 40% less pension wealth than men. [World Economic Forum]
- In Ireland, pension contribution tax relief remains one of the most under-utilised but powerful tools for retirement savings. (Subject to limits regarding earnings cap of €115,000 and age-based relief.)
- Behavioural and structural factors, such as career breaks, part-time work, and lower pension scheme participation, all contribute to lower retirement savings among women. [Lloyds Banking Group]
In short: intentional, timely action today can materially shift the trajectory of your retirement wealth, especially compared to passive accumulation.
By treating your personal wealth strategy with the same rigour you apply to your company’s P&L, you ensure your personal financial infrastructure is robust, resilient, and ready to sustain the bold empire you are building in 2026.