Retirement for Women: Identity, Purpose, and Life After Work – Part 1 (Ep. 125)

Retirement can look settled financially and still leave you wondering who you’ll be when your career and title change. How do you prepare for the parts of retirement that don’t show up on a financial statement?

In this episode, I sit down with Kelly Ottman, PhD, Professor at Milwaukee School of Engineering and Executive Leadership Coach at Leadership Portals, LLC, to explore her research on how executives experience retirement. We look at why women may enter retirement with broader identities and social networks, yet still struggle with losing credibility, purpose, and voice.

Kelly also shares what she learned about spending anxiety after years of saving, the role of financial and non-financial planning, and why retirement may be better viewed as a period of renewal, repurposing, and possibility.

Kelly discusses:

Why retirement can challenge identity even when someone feels financially prepared to leave a long career

How women’s broader social roles can support retirement while the loss of professional credibility still hurts

Why some retirees know they have enough on paper but still need confidence and permission to spend more freely

How financial planning and non-financial planning can address different parts of the retirement transition

Why retirement plans need room for changing health, family circumstances, relationships, and personal priorities

And more!

Resources:

Get Your FREE Simply Retirement Roadmap