Latest / Retirement Plot Twists / Rewriting the Retirement Script
Transcript
- Cathryn: Have you ever made a plan for your life only to have life look at that plan and say, Nah, that's not the way it's going to go? Maybe you retired thinking you finally had the freedom to do all the things that you've been putting off. Travel, sleep late, read the books you've been wanting to read, spend more time with family, take up a hobby, finally figure out what you actually want to do when nobody is telling you what you have to do. And then something happened. Maybe a family member needed you. Maybe you discovered that retirement wasn't quite what you had imagined. Maybe you missed working, or maybe you needed the income. Or maybe you simply realize that after decades of being busy, accomplished, and involved, you weren't quite ready to stop being all of those things. If any of that sounds familiar, welcome. I'm Catherine and this is Retirement Plot Twists. I'm so glad you're here. I created this podcast because I kept hearing stories about women who reached retirement age and thought they knew exactly what came next. And then the script changed. I think we sometimes talk about retirement as though it's a finish line. You work hard, you build your career, you raise your family, you take care of everyone else, you save, you plan, and eventually you retire. The end. And what if that chapter doesn't look anything like the one you planned? That's what I want to explore here, because I don't think I'm the only woman who has ever said, wait a minute, this isn't exactly how I pictured it. For me, the idea for this podcast came from my own experience and talking to friends about theirs. I had imagined that retirement would mean more time to hang out with friends, travel, bike, learn new things, and actually start a podcast like this one, only with content related to how wonderful retirement is, with all this do found free time. But then two months before my retirement, after twenty years of being a college professor, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I took a short one and a half weeks off from teaching for the surgery and then went back to finish out the semester. I started radiation a couple of weeks after officially retiring. At the same time, my younger daughter, I have two, was pregnant with her first child and had him in July, and my elderly parents needed my time and my help. My father passed away just a month ago, and I am so thankful for the time I had with him. And yes, that's thanks to retirement. So now, two days a week I care for my one year old grandson. I pick up my oldest granddaughter who is now six, one day a week from school, and I sometimes pick up her sister as well, who is three. Being their Grammy has honestly provided me with the joy I needed to get through the other stuff. They help balance out my ups and downs, keeping me centered. I've had a wonderful guy in my life for ten years now, post divorce, who has helped me heal and laugh and been the best bonus grandfather to my grandchildren and And friend to my parents. I started to think how many other women have also had a shift in their retirement plans? Women who retired and then went back to work part-time, women who retired and started a new business, women who retired and became caregivers, women whose spouses, parents, children, or grandchildren needed them, women who thought they wanted to stop working and then discovered they actually missed the structure, the people, the purpose, or simply having somewhere to be on Monday morning. And women who desperately wanted to retire, but discovered that circumstances had other plans. I want to hear those stories because I think there's something incredibly valuable in talking honestly about this stage of life. What do we want the next chapter of our lives to look like? And that's what you're going to hear on this podcast. I'll be talking with women who have taken unexpected turns after retirement. We'll talk about money, purpose, identity, and family. We'll talk about the freedom that retirement can bring and the uncertainty that can come with it. We'll talk about starting over and we'll talk about changing your mind. And yes, we'll probably talk about those moments when you look at your calendar and wonder how on earth you're this busy when you're supposedly retired. So if you've retired or you're thinking about retiring. Or you're retired and then found yourself working again, you're in the right place. And if retirement didn't turn out the way you expected, that's okay. Maybe it's simply being rewritten. I'm Catherine and this is the podcast, Retirement Plot Twists. Thanks for joining me for this first episode. In the episodes ahead, I'm going to introduce you to some fascinating women who have taken very different paths into this next chapter. Until the next time, take care. You've been listening to Retirement Plot Twists.