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Smart Women Don't Retire--They Break Free
Terry Nagel
Managing Editor, Encore.org
Civic Ventures
Gail Rentsch describes how women are reinventing their careers in the second half of life.
“As trailblazing women who have been pioneers in all aspects of their lives, we consistently fought against a status quo that limited our options and squelched our confidence," Gail Rentsch writes in her new book, Smart Women Don’t Retire -- They Break Free. "So why stop questioning and challenging previous expectations for who we are and what we will be now?”
The first chapter of the book chronicles the fears that women have as they enter their 50s, knowing that they may have 20, 30 or more active years ahead and they aren’t ready for rocking chairs.
Today’s women “reject the idea of our late adulthood as a time of necessary decline and loss," she writes. "Nor does the concept of incessant leisure thrill us. We have every intention of remaining vibrant, dynamic individuals for a long time to come.”
Powerful interests have a lot invested in what Rentsch calls a “blatantly simplistic” view of retirement. “Drug companies, financial institutions and others produce self-interested spin reinforcing the message that pills and patches will keep us vigorous and professional money managers will ensure a secure fiscal future. Life in retirement, these commercial interests tell us, will be a blast, filled with gardening, traveling, hiking, and enjoying our partners and grandchildren.
“If we absorb this image without self-analysis, then we buy into a cinematic dream sure to leave us feeling confused and paralyzed about what to do next. It needn’t be that way. Sure, this is an excellent time for us to begin to reassess what we want our lives to be like moving forward. But first we need to ask ourselves, what does it mean to retire, and is retirement inevitably the best answer?”
Rentsch a founding member of The Transition Network , interviewed 200 women for the book. The Transition Network is a national community of more than 3,500 women age 50 and older who envision retirement as a series of transitions. Members network during monthly programs, online and through peer groups. The organization has chapters in San Francisco, Houston, Denver, Chicago, Washington, D.C., on Long Island, N.Y., and in Westchester and Rockland Counties in New York state.
Smart Women Don’t Retire will be published June 13. Advance copies may be ordered at a discount from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other vendors on the book’s Web site. For more information about The Transition Network, call (212) 714-8040 or email info@thetransitionnetwork.org.
by Terry Nagel
Managing Editor, Encore.org
Civic Ventures
Gail Rentsch describes how women are reinventing their careers in the second half of life.
“As trailblazing women who have been pioneers in all aspects of their lives, we consistently fought against a status quo that limited our options and squelched our confidence," Gail Rentsch writes in her new book, Smart Women Don’t Retire -- They Break Free. "So why stop questioning and challenging previous expectations for who we are and what we will be now?”
The first chapter of the book chronicles the fears that women have as they enter their 50s, knowing that they may have 20, 30 or more active years ahead and they aren’t ready for rocking chairs.
Today’s women “reject the idea of our late adulthood as a time of necessary decline and loss," she writes. "Nor does the concept of incessant leisure thrill us. We have every intention of remaining vibrant, dynamic individuals for a long time to come.”
Powerful interests have a lot invested in what Rentsch calls a “blatantly simplistic” view of retirement. “Drug companies, financial institutions and others produce self-interested spin reinforcing the message that pills and patches will keep us vigorous and professional money managers will ensure a secure fiscal future. Life in retirement, these commercial interests tell us, will be a blast, filled with gardening, traveling, hiking, and enjoying our partners and grandchildren.
“If we absorb this image without self-analysis, then we buy into a cinematic dream sure to leave us feeling confused and paralyzed about what to do next. It needn’t be that way. Sure, this is an excellent time for us to begin to reassess what we want our lives to be like moving forward. But first we need to ask ourselves, what does it mean to retire, and is retirement inevitably the best answer?”
Rentsch a founding member of The Transition Network , interviewed 200 women for the book. The Transition Network is a national community of more than 3,500 women age 50 and older who envision retirement as a series of transitions. Members network during monthly programs, online and through peer groups. The organization has chapters in San Francisco, Houston, Denver, Chicago, Washington, D.C., on Long Island, N.Y., and in Westchester and Rockland Counties in New York state.
Smart Women Don’t Retire will be published June 13. Advance copies may be ordered at a discount from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other vendors on the book’s Web site. For more information about The Transition Network, call (212) 714-8040 or email info@thetransitionnetwork.org.
by Terry Nagel
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