Is Retirement Coming At You Fast? Relax.

By Karen and Erica

Are you retiring at the end of June? Congratulations! Are you excited? Do you have all kinds of plans? Or a grand plan to do absolutely nothing for a pretty long time? 

If you are one of those amazing people who has a real plan, a plan that has been in the works for a while, if you and your partner have talked about exactly what you want to do, where, and when, and have got the money all sorted out–you are amazing. Our hats are off to you!

But that was not us.

We fell into retirement, headfirst, because we refused to admit that it would happen to us. We wanted nothing to do with it, so, in a most un-grown-up way, we turned our backs and averted our eyes. We had both been self-supporting from when we were quite young, so we had sorted out financial resources, but that was it. And when it happened anyway, we were astonished. 

At first, it was fun, especially as we could talk to each other. We realized, to our surprise, that we were really, really tired. We rested, we went to matinees, we had wine with lunch and naps after lunch, we went to an afternoon makeup presentation (we learned so much), we went to art openings and on boat rides, and we looked forward to doing more of the same. 

After several months, though, it began to dawn on us that we needed something more. But what?

We applied the techniques we learned as lawyers to the problem. We studied it—academically and by speaking to everyone we could. We learned, for the first time, that we likely had a thirty-year runway—way too long for a life of pleasant indolence. And we had always planned to stay connected to the wider world after we retired. Indolence would not achieve that goal.

We decided we needed more structure, and we needed purpose. We felt that there surely must be someone who might want to use the experience and skills we had accumulated over the decades we worked. So we made a plan. We would offer our services to someone who obviously could use them. And we did, to a non-profit we admired that was doing important work. It seemed clear, even to their head, that they could use the strategic insight we might provide. 

But no. They could not figure out where we might fit in the organization chart. They could not treat us as interns. They worried that we would probably think we were entitled to tell everyone else what to do. We wouldn’t really work. So, there was no place for us–except on the Board.

We were crushed. But we tried again. And again. No-one wanted us.

What was going on?

We kept studying, and talking, and a picture began to emerge, of a cohort of women that had not yet really been seen. Women of our age were at the forefront of the millions of women who had started careers in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and had kept on working, through marriage and children. until retirement. We were different. because of this experience, and no-one yet knew what to make of us. They thought we were old and done. Some of us even thought we were old and done.

That was a barrier we had not anticipated. But it was not the first time we had encountered barriers. Entering the workforce, many of us were not taken seriously.  Now it was happening again, as we entered retirement and decided to change the existing status to better meet our plans. So we did what we had done before. We–all of us–had created an image of working women that ultimately changed the workplace. Now, we–all of us–would change the image of retired career women. We started Lustre to put us all on the map, so people could see who we really are and what we have to offer.

And that’s how retirement morphed for us, from something inchoate and feared to something fun and purposeful. We are having a ball!

So if you are like us, and have no idea what will happen after you retire, and don’t even really want to think about it, relax and enjoy yourself as your career crests. You have plenty of time.

You’ll figure it out. It will take work, but if we could do it, anyone can!