I was spending some time the other day poking around on the internet just seeing what new interesting things I could find.  Sometimes I can get lost for hours in doing this. It starts quite innocuously without any intent to let half a day go by virtually (no pun intended) unnoticed.  It’s much the same as what I do outside when the weather’s nice; I’ll head out the door, pick a neighbourhood, and just wander around for a few hours seeing what’s there.  So here’s my netmap.

As I frequently do, I began by Googling “women and retirement”.  As usual up popped things like Women and Retirement Savings, a site run by the United States Department of Labour.  Now please understand that I worked in government for years, and so I’m definitely not going to look to a government site for insight … much less clarity or perhaps even honesty.  And so I continued.

Next came the homepage for WISER Women, which initially looked hopeful as I read the first line of the banner which said “Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement.”  Ah – but I’m learning the code and I know that as soon as a site starts talking about secure retirement they mean money.  I’m not surprised, then, when the second line of the banner – in smaller type – reads “Improving the long-term financial security of all women through education and advocacy.”  Statements like this really make me see red, in the sense that waving a red flag in front of a bull makes the bull crazy.  ”All” women?  Who are they kidding?  Not all women are going to be able to retire, not all women need only “get their ducks in a row“, as one of their articles states, to start on the path to secure retirement.  Already having my back up a bit, I then noticed an article with the title “Women and Retirement – ‘The Big Mistake’ “.  Here’s the teaser that was quoted for that article:  ”Poverty can visit any woman in midlife or old age simply because she ended up single. But if women only knew how to get their due from retirement or divorce, they may not have to face that hardship.”  Okay, having been pretty much financially devastated twice by divorce, I will attest to the fact that it might have been better for me economically to have known more about how to – as they put it – “get my due”.  That said, this is misogynistically suggesting, I think, that for a woman to have a secure retirement she’s got to have gathered money through a man.  Honestly I thought that kind of thinking was a thing of the past.   I couldn’t stop there,  however, so I followed the trail to the source for that article … to New America MEDIA.

That’s an interesting site, claiming to be the first and largest collaboration of ethnic news organizations.  The article was written by Cindy Hounsell, a 62 year old woman who has made it her life’s mission to educate women on the importance of financial independence and security. She arrived in Washington as a Fellow at Georgetown University Law School and today runs WISER. The nonprofit focuses on reversing the inequities that disadvantage women in later life.  Her article notes that research from Syracuse University shows that almost four in 10 divorced or separated women aged 65-plus and nearly one in three older widows are impoverished.  Okay – I apologize for my earlier response … they apparently are ‘getting it’.  I actually discovered, as I kept reading, that her message was very like one I was promoting a number of years ago when I worked on the film Math Counts, Science Matters for the Toronto School Board; a film – and teaching guide – which focused on the importance of young women not dropping out of Math, Science and Technology courses so that they kept more doors open for their own futures.  It was, and still is – and I guess will always be – about being independent which means maintaining some financial independence.

I went back to the list that was generated by my first Google search, and was almost through the second page of links before I came to a site that was about women and retirement and not about money. Women Redefining Retirement describes itself this way:

About

WHO AM I IF I AM NOT WORKING OR PARENTING?

Retirement is a common goal in our culture, and, usually, an eagerly awaited event. We are advised to plan carefully for, and, then embrace and enjoy our freedom and leisure.

There is a vast amount of information about our physical and financial health during the retirement years, but little about our emotional well-being during this major transition. We do our best to successfully reach this hard-earned time of life … THE GOLDEN YEARS.

Then, unexpectedly, some of us may find that, although there are many aspects of retirement that are rewarding and satisfying, there are also some surprising, disconcerting questions and feelings:

“How can I structure my day in a useful way?”
“How can I keep my creative juices flowing?”
“Why do I feel lonely and isolated?”
“Will too much togetherness stress my relationship?”
“Why do I feel sad when I should be happy?”
“What’s missing in my life?”
“Am I still of value?”
“How can I fill my time in a way that is satisfying?”

WHERE DO I START?

Women, specifically, need to:

• Evaluate relationships and support networks
• Identify personal goals
• Consider, often for the first time, what their own needs are without first considering the needs of significant others
• Identify interests that can provide a sense of fulfillment
• Consider skills and talents which can be useful either in part-time or volunteer work

Seems that they’re asking a lot of the same questions that I’m pursuing.  What they’ve done is formed a group, with lots of activities and social action and speakers.  They have meetings to learn new things and plan events, and it looks like they’re having a lot of fun too.  They started with 4 women and now have over 50 women attending every meeting.  I wonder if this is something I should think about starting here in Toronto?

So here I am at a bit of a crossroads.  I am busy working on the book so perhaps this is an idea – good as it is – that I need to keep on the back-burner for now.  That said, harnessing the energy of retired women to do good things sounds like such a great idea to me.

For now, I’m going to share the idea with you in case you want to consider starting such a group in  your neck-of-the-woods.  I’ll keep it in my “Ideas” file as well because along the way it just might be something I want to do.  Perhaps we could even include some Sacred Circle Dancing!