If you knew you would never take a traditional retirement, would that change how you’re thinking about your future?
As some of you know, I’m not a fan of most women retiring in the traditional way. Often when I say that, I get a lot of pushback. And I get that. If I still worked in a large organization, I might have been ready to retire some time ago. So, why do I encourage many women not to retire, at least in the traditional sense?
Women Over 50: Retire? Why?
At the point when people start thinking about retiring, they typically have 50+ years of valuable life experience. Your time in the workforce may have given you a wide range of skills that now can be applied in new ways. Most women over 50 have a deep understanding of how things work, how to get things done, how to get along with others, and what’s really important—hard-earned wisdom that risks being lost in retirement. Older women, the world desperately needs your expertise right now!
Furthermore, retirement at age 60 or 65 is an anachronism in 2025. It may have made sense when our life expectancy was 60 or, at most, 70, but not when it’s 80 or 90 or even 100. Today, if a woman retires at age 65 and remains fairly healthy, she can fully expect to live another 20 to 30 years. That’s practically an entire additional adult lifetime.
What’s Next?
This doesn’t mean you should keep working if you don’t want to and have the financial means not to. But rather than assume that at a certain point you will quietly retire and figuratively fade away, what would you like to do next? What have you dreamed of doing but never had the nerve to try? What is calling to you now that you would like to have some influence on? There is no end to the issues that could use your talent, skills, and wisdom. You have every opportunity to make a significant difference, whether that’s in your neighborhood, city, state, country, or the entire world.
Or perhaps your “call” is simply to learn something new that you’re very curious about. Or maybe it’s a creative project you’ve been yearning to begin, something to do with art or music or writing.
Many women in their forties, fifties, and sixties are ready to expand their horizons. They’re ready for more—to grow, to become more, to make a bigger contribution. This I believe is the natural development for women, and something we all need to pay attention to. “Retirement age” is not a time to settle for the familiar, but to step out and explore whatever is calling. This may require courage. Fine! Most women will find they have an abundance of courage once they are willing to leave the safe and known.
Expand Your Horizons
I think of a woman—let’s call her Betty—who had been a psychotherapist and coach for many years. She was good at her job and had been quite successful, but she was no longer satisfied with her work. She wanted something more. Also, she realized that she was very interested in the immigrant population in her community, and found she could volunteer for several hours a week with an organization working with that community. And she loved the work.
In fact, she did so well, the organization offered her a full-time job, which meant she could significantly reduce her current client load and devote more and more time to the immigrant work. Just at the time in her life when she expected her work to be winding down, she stumbled into a fulfilling new career that made her happier than she ever could have predicted. Will taking a chance like this always turn out so well? No, of course not, but you’ll never know unless you give it a try.
Planning Is Key
So, if you’re in an organization or have your own business and know you’ll never take a traditional retirement, what will you begin to do right now that will allow you to learn, explore, and plan? For many women one major thing to plan for is your financial future. Working with a financial advisor might be a good first step to take. There is a caution, however: Don’t ignore practicalities, but also don’t let them stop you from dreaming, imagining, and playing with “what if?” scenarios. You never know where a good, impractical dream might take you!
I think of a song by Francine Jerry from the teachings of Abraham-Hicks, “Joy! Joy! Joy!” The song begins: “Dream big, I can do it, I can do it.”
Please tell us all about your big dreams below. We’d love to hear and support you.
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