Tags

No tags :(

Share it

I pulled out my notebook full of notes from a seminar titled “New Challenges for Women Over 60″ I took five or so years ago at Denver’s Academy for Life-Long Learning Institute, taught by Elinor M. Greenburg, EdD., who celebrated her 80th birthday during one of our classes. I found this seminar so helpful because there is little information available for women about this time period in our lives.  Once, again, we have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves or become stagnant.

Because this seminar was so helpful, I think this class should be taught in every community.  I am working hard to bring it to my city in Western Colorado and will invite you to attend once it is set up.

After all, as ladies-of-a-certain-age, we really do not have role models from the women who brought us into this world.  Our generation, the Baby Boomers, are living longer than our mothers, generally have secured more education than they did, and have worked for a good part of our lives.Thanks to the Women’s Movement and birth-control pill our lives have been very different than our dear ol’ moms.

Dr. Greenberg, Ellie, and fellow college professor and researcher, Fay Wadsworth Whitney, PhD in their book, “A Time of Our Own In Celebration of Women over Sixty,” state – “Compared to the women of the previous generation, today’s women over sixty had experienced many more options in their lives: more education, more financial resources, more career opportunities, and more varied lifestyles and marital choices. They also note that women are living longer than ever before.  Development psychologists in the past, such as Erik Erikson and Gail Sheehy, have mainly dealt with women younger than us. But, now, because there are so many female Baby Boomers, some new research has come out as Ellie noted in her class.

So now, what do we do? Our children are grown and middle-aged, many of our grandchildren are teenagers, we have retired or soon will be, and our honeys have passed,  are sickly, gone away, or struggling with what to do in their retirement. Fortunately, we have time and resources, and our girl friends to support us.

In one of the classes Ellie taught, she talked about dividing our lives into thirds: The first third, 0 to 30; the second third, 30 to 60, and the final third, 60 and older. This was very helpful for me to put all of this in perspective. It also gave me a tool for planning parts of my third third of life, as Ellie puts it.

Here is a replication of my notes from class.My personal information is in italics.

Area of my Life 60s 70s 80s 90s and beyond
Family Children in Established a Careers. Grandchildren in school. Children in height of their careers.

Grandchildren become adults.

 Children nearing retirement. Grandchildren in college and starting own families. Children retired. Grandchildren in their careers and raising families.
Health Exercise daily and get routine cancer screenings. Same as 60s plus get cataract surgery and hearing aids. Exercise daily.

Watch sweets – have history of late-set diabetes in family.

 Same as 80s
Wealth Downsize. Invest $ from sale of big house to retirement accounts. Buy new house and car with cash. Live as if retired. Monitor $$ carefully because it is easy to overspend in early retirement. Finish traveling. Pay more for professional services, such as house cleaning and gardening. If you do it right, should be OK.
Work Retire from paid employment and shut down consulting company. Retired – possible small income from writing. Retired. Retired.
Relationships Honor your friends. Cultivate friendships. Same as 60s. Same as 70s. Same as 80s.
Housing Explore where you would like to live when you downsize. Educate self on buying and selling real estate. Sell big house. Buy smaller home. Maintain your smaller home.  Be mindful of housing expenses. Upgrade house if you can afford to and if the future market will cover the cost. Stay in your home as long as possible. Explore assisted living options. Same as 80s. Possibly sell house and move to assisted living.
Goals Move to Grand Junction. Begin writing about Boomer Babes. Stay updated on technology. Live in Grand Junction. Have a syndicated Ladies-of-a-Certain Age column. Travel to Europe several times. Continue to enjoy gardening. Stay updated on technology. Live in Grand Junction.  Write if you feel like it.  Enjoy your great-grandchildren! Stay updated on technology. Same as 80s.

 

Email this page