Some research has found that women's retirement from the labor force produces significant changes in their lives and requires further investigation. The effects of career pattern and retirement on activity involvement and life satisfaction for women who had been in the work force was investigated. Subjects were members of the Terman Study of the Gifted who were either employed (N=39) or who had retired (N=66). Subjects were also classified as either career workers or job holders. Aspects of life satisfaction were assessed along with satisfaction with income-producing work for subjects who were not yet fully retired. Subjects were asked about their aspiration level in comparison to friends of the same age and sex, and rated their frequency of participation in 27 activities. Findings indicated that job holders felt less advantaged then career women in the aging years. Although income workers and career women did not differ on life satisfaction in family areas, they differed in the area of work satisfaction. Retirement data indicated that individuals with different work orientations adjusted to retirement differently. The results indicate significant variations in activity involvement and life satisfaction in relation to lifetime achievement patterns and retirement. (RC)