Ira is the founder and CEO of Fintech for Longevity, a research and consultancy company with the mission to redefine the relationship between financial institutions and the trend of aging. Her PhD focuses on the economic aspects of aging among households in the age of 50 and above from a gender and cross-country perspectives..
We asked Ira a few questions about her family roots, and the older people who influenced her most.
1. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?
I never knew what I would do when I grow old, and because it was not so popular to work on many things at a time, I could never decide. A few options that came to my mind were ballet dancer, economist, psychologist and piano player.
2. Where in the world are your family roots?
My Mother and her family are Swiss, and my father was born in Israel, but his parents are originally from Poland and the Former USSR.
3. Are there any older people in your life who shaped your path and character? If so, who?
My Grandmother was a feminist who shaped many of my important decisions. She became an entrepeneur (as owner of an art gallery) when she was 50 and I really admired her for that.
She passed away when she was 93 - 10 years ago - and I still think of her every day.
4. What is your best / earliest / strongest memory of this person?
I remember that my grandmother used to go very often to Switzerland and bring us very good chocolate.
5. What is a quote / something they always say / said?
I don't remember anything specific, but I do remember her sense of humor and her singing to me in Swiss German.
6. What is the most valuable thing you learned from them?
I learned from her that optimism is the only way to navigate this life on the planet.
7. Kids these days will never know the simple pleasure of …
Coming back home to the answering machine to find our who had left you a message.
8. If you could go back in time and whisper in the ear of any public figure in history, who would it be and what would you say?
I would tell Virginia Wolf how right she was for telling women that they should have a room for their own, both physically and metaphorically.
9. What do you hope your grandkids will say about you one day?
That I was fun to be with and - at the same time - someone they can really trust.
10. If you could pick from the Tree of Knowledge and solve one problem, what would it be?
I would change the misconception that aging is a disease.