Should We Retire With Our Friends? How Older Women Are Redefining Retirement

It's All Relative with Dr Eliza Filby · Sep 23, 2026 · 19m

Have I saved enough for retirement? Perhaps we should also be asking: who do I want to spend retirement with?We talk endlessly about retirement planning, pensions, financial security, ageing and longevity.

But there's another form of retirement planning we rarely discuss: friendship.

As Millennials and Gen X think about later life, female friendship, co-housing, communal living and the loneliness epidemic are becoming part of the conversation. And for women in particular, who live longer and are more likely to live alone in older age, perhaps we need to start investing in our friendships with…