I think it is interesting to reflect how for both men and women retirement has changed throughout decades. Women in the U.S. were not able to have their own checking account until 1974. It’s hard to believe that was not that long ago. Technically, women were able to open a bank account in the 60’s but it required their husband’s signature. Seeing how in the past 50 years women’s lives have progressed is quite remarkable. Women can choose to have a career they desire. Many women who worked during that period can now experience a full retirement life but there have been many changes in retirement. There are many considerations for retirement.
Equally important, the retirement outlook for men has had some significant changes over the past 50 years as well. Men traditionally always were the breadwinners of the family. The burden of providing financial support to the family was usually the men’s sole responsibility. It was common to start a job and retire at that very same job. It was a rare occurrence, a luxury of sorts, for someone to seek another line of employment or return to school. Due to being the sole provider and not being able to take such a risk of trying something that would be a better fit was not always possible because of the potential impact on the financial health of the family. We now have more flexibility of finding a career of our choosing.
My Retirement
I retired in 2013 from working within a school setting as a School Psychologist after 27 years only to find that I was not ready to retire. I found that I still felt that I wanted to work and I still had a desire to work in my field. It was not on a full time basis, but on a part time basis, which was perfect. Moving ahead to 2024, for the past 10 years I worked on a part time basis for 2 different agencies at different times. It worked out perfectly. I think I needed a soft landing to retire. I officially retired April 1, 2024 and I am completely content and ready to stop work.
Factors that were personally important to me were financial security, having a target savings (somewhat)and lifestyle planning. My desired living situation for example was being able to travel and live abroad, and being able to visit both of my adult children on a regular basis who live on opposite coasts of the USA.
Interestingly, there are gender specific considerations for retirement as well, women generally live longer, so they may need to plan for a longer retirement period. Additionally, women are more likely to take career breaks which can impact savings and retirement benefits.
There are so many factors involved in making the decision to retire. Are you personally ready? Is it feasible (financially for example)? Have you met your savings target? Have determined your income streams (such as pensions, Social Security)?
Considerations for Retirement
- Conducting a financial assessment, creating a budget with or without a planner.
- Consider a trial run, reducing hours, or transitioning to part-time to see how it affects your lifestyle and satisfaction. I personally felt that I was not ready to stop altogether from fulltime to nothing. I needed to have the transition of working part-time for a while.
- Reflection Personal goals and desires. Write down what you hope to achieve or experience in retirement. How does retirement align with your long term goals ,both personally and professionally.
- Talk to your support system, your spouse, family or friends of your plans.
- Identify hobbies, activities, volunteer work, part-time jobs that can provide structure and fulfillment.
- Develop a plan to maintain and build social connections post retirement.
Most importantly retirement doesn’t have to be a fixed all or nothing decision and I am a personal testament to that philosophy. I worked 2 consecutive part-time jobs after my full time career. I retired three times until I was ready to be fully retired.
Thanks for being here,
-Soraya
Want to see how my journey started? Check out my post, Hello World!