At Ellevest, we spend a lot of time talking with women about money: where they stand with money, how they plan, and what money enables them to do.
As a natural result, we spend a lot of time talking about retirement with women: both how they picture their retirement and what they actually do when they’re retired.
And let’s just say that retirement—those supposedly somnolent last few chapters of life, in Florida, enlivened by golf, early-bird-special dinners, and cherubic grandkids—needs a rebrand. Because the essence of retirement is moving from that to something more dynamic, and more energetic. Especially for women.
To look at the future of retirement, let’s look at it instead through women’s eyes, as they become the majority of retirees. After all, women live six to eight years longer than men overall, and half of retired women expect to live in retirement for a full 21 years.
It’s an important shift in perspective because retirement for women is just different. Taking lifespan alone into account means women likely need to save more money for retirement than men. Yet, last time we checked, an Ellevest Financial Wellness survey revealed that men said saving for retirement was their #1 financial goal; for women, retirement was number four. Number one was taking care of their family.
On top of this, women earn less and own less. And **looks around** not many financial experts account for these critical differences (besides our team—all women living it, and doing something about it).
Also, from what we see, women are simply doing retirement differently. It’s less about going hard at our careers for decades and then stopping, reminiscing, softening. It’s more … more. More work in some capacity, either part-time or consulting. More board work, more volunteering, more going back to school. More starting businesses and prioritizing passions. More travel. (Lots more travel.)
More being really intentional about how they want to spend this chapter of their lives. For women, retirement means re-evaluating and refreshing. Even recommitting.
In other words, women are retiring a passive retirement. Why is this?
There are probably as many different reasons why women are reshaping retirement as there are women themselves. Though a lot of it is about money: Women have less money for retirement than men, and women are more likely to fear poverty in retirement than men. And they’re not wrong, since women are more likely to be poor during retirement. Maybe it’s also because there are more “gray divorces” (divorces after age 50, which are reported to be most often initiated by women), thus changing their personal financial circumstances. So, there are very real drivers of this difference.
But that’s by no means the only motivation behind this rethinking. Women might be reshaping retirement because their careers have a different rhythm than men’s, which can be related to caregiving responsibilities. I have friends who, by the time they became empty-nesters, were ready to fully recommit to their careers — after having felt like they were “fighting with two arms tied behind their backs” while managing child care. Instead of wanting to shut down their computers, many women report having a second career wind. The feeling’s more “Let’s go.”
What does this all mean? Well, the implications can be far-reaching.
Women rebranding their retirement era can improve the economy — the more people participating in the economy, the stronger it tends to be.
Women rebranding their retirement era can boost individual businesses. At least, the ones that take older women seriously and recognize the shift of women eager to earn — and spend, and invest — their money into their later years. (Not the businesses that are ageist, patronizing, and clearly don’t value women period.)
Women rebranding their retirement era can better their mental and financial health. Not only could a more active, purposeful retirement help stave off feelings of depression often reported in aging and retired adults, but it could make money feel less like it’s a source of stress. Of course, the more cash you bring in, the more secure you feel, and the more you can confidently fine-tune your retirement goals in real-time. Or to account for what’s next after your gray divorce. Or the recent passing of your partner.
This article originally appeared on LinkedIn and is reprinted with permission.
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