Pat Taub
GUEST POST by LESLIE INMAN and ROXANNE JONES
Were you prepared for what retirement was really like?
Did you revel in your newfound freedom, or freak out over too much unstructured time? Did you struggle to feel relevant without a job title, or find new purpose by rekindling long-dormant passions? Do you love being retired—or loathe it? Why?
Has your retirement been a bed of roses or left you adrift?
To address these and other issues women face when they leave their careers, we’re writing a book entitled Voices from the Other Side…of Retirement. It will be a guide for yet-to-retire women, with in-their-own-words insights on what retirement looks and feels like from women who’ve already left the working world.
Unlike most retirement resources for women that focus on financial planning, Voices will speak to the human side of this transition: the emotional, health, identity, spiritual, relationship, and everyday pitfalls—and promise—this stage of life poses.
A woman contemplating the many aspects of retirement
To gather content, we’re inviting retired women to add their voices to this book by telling us about their retirement experience, and sharing what they’ve learned.
To add your voice, simply go to www.retirementvoices.com and complete our online questionnaire by April 30, 2019. If your submission is accepted—in whole or in part—you’ll receive a free copy of Voices when it’s published.
Why focus on women? Because retirement is new territory for many of us.
Baby boomer women were the first generation to pursue careers in such record numbers. Now that some 5,000 of us are turning 65 every day, we’re joining the ranks of the retired in record numbers, too. Who better to guide us through this transition than women who’ve already navigated it?
A women’s support group discussing their retirement plans
To date, we’ve heard from nearly 200 women from 27 states, Canada, the UK, France, Portugal, Australia, Mexico, and from a sailboat off Central America. They’re from all walks of life. Some are newly retired; others retired over two decades ago. Some transitioned into retirement eagerly and effortlessly; others had it forced on them and are still trying to adjust to this new normal.
And what we’re hearing from them is that while each woman’s retirement experience is unique, some commonalities are emerging—underscoring that we’re not alone in this journey. Some of these more universal themes include:
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Time management (finding the just-right balance between an empty calendar and overcommitting)
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How they’ve sought to stay engaged when work no longer connects them to the outside world.
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Their surprise and disappointment when work friendships fell by the wayside post-retirement.
Keeping work friendships alive can be a challenge of retirement
We’ve been truly moved by the candor and insightfulness of what women are telling us. Many are thanking us for the opportunity to reflect on and share their retirement experience—something no one has done before.
In fact, one recent comment about our questionnaire really struck us: “It’s like an invitation to be heard, after all my life of feeling invisible.”
“Someone is interested and has passed along the receiver. I looked over the questions, and I’m getting excited! It’s more acknowledgement that we share our experiences and realization that we are not alone…very empowering!”
A woman filling out her retirement questionnaire
Many respondents have expressed how they wish this type of resource existed when they left work, affirming that this book-to-be fills a real need—and that the idea of women helping women never gets old.
As a member of the WOW community, please share your hard-earned wisdom about retirement by adding your voice to this book. The more women we hear from, the more powerful and valuable it will be. And even if you’re not yet retired, be sure tell your friends who are.
Remember, the submission deadline is April 30!
About the authors:
Leslie Inman, 67, retired for the third (and final) time in 2017 after a career in senior management in the corporate, higher education and nonprofit sectors. She spends her time as a hospice volunteer, playing pickleball, volunteering with a local aging-at-home organization, and working on the Retirement Voices project. She lives with her husband in Harpswell, Maine.
Roxanne Jones is an award-winning freelance copywriter specializing in health and medicine. She turned 65 in 2018 and is on a glide path (versus a hard stop) toward retirement as she explores what it’ll look like for her. She lives with her husband and cat in Cumberland Foreside, Maine.
