Retired? Only From Our First Careers.

By Erica and Karen

Forty years in the workforce. Hundreds of millions in buying power. Vast and varied experience. And a strong desire to continue to contribute and be productive.

We are the first large group of career women who worked until we retired.  We disrupted the workplace. Now we will disrupt retirement. 

From the start, we have been a force for change. Starting out, we forged a path for future generations. We broke through stereotypes. We were not working to find husbands. We confronted discrimination. We proved we were up to the task—we did everything our male colleagues did, and we did it with flair.

Eventually, we earned seats at the grownup's table.

Once we arrived, we changed everything. We came out as women. We wore DVF wrap dresses in the 70’s and Donna Karan chic in the 80’s. We wore colors--on our spike heels and our tote bags. We shopped for groceries at dawn and midnight—and stores accommodated us.

We were a new breed--different from working men, and different from women whose work was mainly in the home. And we had a new image for a new cohort: working girls, a highly visible and valued component of the diversifying work force.

Then we retired. Suddenly, we became invisible, hidden behind an antiquated stereotype born in the 1950s. A stereotype that looked like a pale and passive shadow of ourselves—a shadow that did nothing but sit in a rocking chair and take it easy, smelling the roses. A shadow that was happy to exit the power structure. 

That shadow has nothing to do with us. We have experience and resources, and we want to stay in the mix. We want to use our careers as stepping stones to new ventures. So we are exploding the stereotype and creating a new vision. Why? Because we understand the power of images. We need a positive one to get us where we want to go

Once we become visible again we will change everyone's picture of the future. We will no longer be feared as helpless people who will suck all the resources out of the system. Our assets—experience and wisdom—can increase the size of the pie. For everyone. And that is especially important while our economy struggles with the effects of its induced coma.

How will we contribute?

First, we will become a vital part of the labor force, which was changing before COVID and now is changing even faster. Freelance employment models—now with an unprecedented focus on virtual work—will provide a more strategic match between business needs and worker skills. The distilled nature of what we have to contribute will become highly evident. We will team our experience and judgment with the knowledge and fresh perspectives of our Millennial colleagues. We will help them rise.  

Second, we will spend. The market will figure out that we want cool things as well as necessary things. Our cohort controls trillions in purchasing power. We are lively and educated. We knew all about the Internet. We travel, and we like fast cars. And we know the virtual world will not remain ascendant forever.

Third, we are a political force. We have lived long enough to see that politics affects everyone and everything. The pandemic has demonstrated that politics is a matter of life and death. We vote and we contribute. We are strategic in our use of power.

When we were starting out, Ms. magazine gave us a voice. We couldn’t find the same vehicle for the lives we have now, so we created Lustre. We still want what we wanted then—to be visible, and to be recognized as the women we are now—building on a strong foundation to create a modern retirement. We are on the way.

Lustre note: We wear masks. But we have no photos of us together and wearing masks. Soon, we hope!