Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life
by Marc Freedman
List Price:
Our Price: $8.78
You Save: $16.17 (65%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.70 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Marc FreedmanEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2007-06-11
ISBN: 1586484834
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Book Reviews of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life
Book Review: An encore performance for us all
Summary: 5 Stars
Tabloid-style headlines have infected even mainstream magazines and newspapers in recent years. Articles about the coming "Social Security Disaster" vie for attention next to those on industry's inability to overcome the "Loss Of Baby Boomer Talent" or even fears that "Baby Boomers Will Retire Into Poverty." And these are not all the ravings of radio talk show hosts trying to build audience share. Experts like the Federal Reserve's Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan have aired similar views on occasion.
Now comes author and social entrepreneur Marc Freedman to suggest that such doom and gloom are not necessary. In his new book Encore, Freedman insists that demography is not destiny. Sub-titled Finding Work That Matters In The Second Half Of Life, this excellent volume describes a number of alternative futures that could benefit us all. Freedman argues that actions we take today could simultaneously improve the national economy, strengthen our society, and improve the lot of aging Boomers throughout the land:
. For the sake of the economy, he asks that Boomers choose to - and be allowed to - remain productive;
. For the sake of society in general, he encourages Boomers to continue sharing their talents and experience; and
. For the sake of individual Boomers, he recommends changes that will allow them to remain gainfully employed, self-sustaining, and engaged in meaningful roles.
Today individual choices are often limited either to: a) 30 years of mind-numbing TV, golf and shuffleboard in the "Golden Years;" or b) greeting bargain-seekers as glorified doormen in the "Wal-Mart Years." While such retail sector bridge jobs might provide needed sustenance, they do little to maintain self-esteem or to benefit society in general. Freedman shows many ways in which tomorrow could be better than today, through a series of individual portraits of new American pioneers. As he describes them, "Instead of the freedom from work, they are searching for the freedom to work; instead of saving for a 'secure retirement,' they are underwriting an encore career."
So what could Boomers do in Freedman's bold new world? As he shows in his examples, they could:
. Stay on in their current roles instead of retiring, perhaps with more varied schedules or lesser work demands;
. Turn to helping professions such as teaching or nursing, which desperately need staff in many parts of the country;
. Learn and grow into entirely new careers, either in new interest areas or simply in response to changes in the economy; or
. Take on social entrepreneuring activities, much as Freedman has himself, in order to improve the world around us.
He also suggests ways in which today's rules about retirement could be modified, in order to help everyone involved. For example, retirees may now earn additional Social Security benefits by working from age 65 to age 68, but gain nothing more by continuing past that point. Further, they are discouraged from doing so by being forced to pay into Social Security even when they could be receiving payments from it. Similarly, employers are forced to provide equal benefits for all, even if some could be covered by Medicare. Changes to each of these policies, among others, could encourage both employers and employees to rethink today's typical forced-retirement scenarios.
Those facing medical or other issues should certainly be protected by the same options and benefits available today. Others, however, might value the opportunity to continue as productive citizens. Many, in fact, will have no choice but what Freedman calls "the practical necessity of extending working lives" - there's certainly more than a few grains of truth in all of those stories about Boomers not being financially ready to retire. Even those who do have adequate funds might not want to be set out to pasture, however. Leading-edge Boomers today, as a group, are healthier than any such age cohort which has come before them. They are likely to remain physically and mentally able to be productive for ten, twenty or even more years into the future.
Marc Freedman, by the way, does put his own energy where his mouth is. As founder and CEO of San Francisco's Civic Ventures, he has helped establish new activities including the Experience Corps, the Next Chapter, the Lead With Experience Campaign, and the Purpose Prize. You can learn more about these and other new ideas at his website, www.civicventures.org.
His book is a clearly-written and exciting vision of an alternative future that we can begin building today. Buy it now and start own encore career!
Summary of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life
The movement of millions of sixty-somethings into a new phase in their working lives constitutes one of the most significant social trends in this country in nearly half a century. Encore describes the competing visions for work that are already lining up to capture the hearts and minds, and the time, of waves of baby boomers who are not content, or affluent enough, to spend their next twenty or thirty years on the golf course. Baby boomers are searching for a calling in the second half of life; they are moving beyond midlife yet refusing to phase out or fade away.
If the old dream of the Golden Years was the Freedom from Work, the dream of this new wave is the Freedom to Work—in new ways, on new terms, to new ends. As their numbers begin to swell, these individuals hold the potential not only to transform work in America, but to create a society that balances the joys and responsibilities of contribution across the generations—in other words, one that works better for everyone.
Health, Mind & Body Books
- Business & Investing > Labor Policy
- Workplace
- Job Hunting & Careers > Guides
- Job Hunting
- Economics > Labor & Industrial Relations
- Industries & Professions > Human Resources & Personnel Management
- Personal Finance > Retirement Planning
- Nonfiction > Politics > Labor & Industrial Relations
- Social Sciences
- Business & Investing: Job Hunting & Careers: General
- Nonfiction: Social Sciences: General
- Health, Mind & Body: General
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Best books for nonprofits in 2008
Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Lifeby Marc Freedman
PublicAffairs; Published: 2007-06-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Ageby Allison Fine
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2006-09-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.18
Price in other shops:
Fundraising in Times of Crisis (Kim Klein's Chardon Press)by Kim Klein
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2003-12-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.03
Price in other shops:
The Best of the Board Caf?: Hands-on Solutions for Nonprofit Boardsby Jan Masaoka
Fieldstone Alliance; Published: 2003-10-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $28.80
Price in other shops:
Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofitsby Leslie Crutchfield, Heather McLeod Grant
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2007-10-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generationby Tamara Erickson
Harvard Business School Press; Published: 2008-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.68
Price in other shops:
The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Lifeby Ken Dychtwald, Daniel J. Kadlec
Wiley; Published: 2006-12-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
After 50 It's Up To Us: Developing The Skills And Agility We'll Needby George Schofield
Clarity Group, Inc.; Published: 2007-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Rightsizing Your Life: Simplifying Your Surroundings While Keeping What Matters Mostby Ciji Ware
Springboard Press; Published: 2007-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Getting Started in A Financially Secure Retirement (Getting Started In.....)by Henry K. Hebeler
Wiley; Published: 2007-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.15
Price in other shops:
Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform Americaby Marc Freedman
Published: 2002-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.82
Don't Retire, REWIRE!by Jeri Sedlar, Rick Miners
Alpha; Published: 2002-08-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops:
What Color Is Your Parachute? for Retirement: Planning Now for the Life You Want (What Color Is Your Parachute? for Retirement: Planning Now for the)by Richard Nelson Bolles, John E. Nelson
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2007-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.87
Price in other shops:
Don't Retire,REWIRE!, 2Eby Jeri Sedlar, Rick Miners
Alpha; Published: 2007-11-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.68
Price in other shops:
Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50by David D. Corbett
Jossey-Bass; Published: 2006-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: