Encore
Marc Freedman’s book Encore: Finding Work That Matters In The Second Half Of Life, is written for baby boomers who are in search of meaningful career choices at or after retirement age. The very thought of “retirement” can be chilling for anyone who isn’t ready to get out of the workforce. The fact is, many retirement age men and women prefer to keep on working for many different reasons.
From the inside cover:
Beverly Ryder left a corporate career to work on revitalizing the Los Angeles public schools. Robert Chambers left his job as a used car salesman to create a better way for poor people in New Hampshire to buy fuel-efficient cars. Ed Speedling left thirty years as a hospital executive and academic to help solve the problem of homelessness in Philadelphia.
In one of the most significent social trends of the new century, and the biggest transformation of the American workforce since the women’s movement, members of the baby boom generation are inventing a new phase of work. If the old golden years dream was the freedom from work, the dream of this new wave is the freedom to work–in new ways, on new terms, to new and even more important ends.
Encore tells the stories of Ryder, Speedling, Chambers, and other encore career pioneers who are not content, or affluent enough, to spend their next thirty years on a golf course. These men and women are moving beyond midlife careers yet refusing to phase out or fade away. They are searching for a calling in the second half of life, crafting a new phase of work that offers not only continued income but the promise of more meaning–and the chance to do work that means something beyond themselves.
As their numbers swell, these individuals stand to transform the nature of work in America. They also hold the potential to create a society that balances the joys and responsibilities of contribution across the generations–in other words, one that works better for all of us.
With our life expectancy continuing to climb, it’s important for anyone approaching traditional retirement age to know that their choices are not limited. That’s the strong message within Encore.