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President Champions Social Innovation and Encore Careers

Obama lauds people "who finish out careers in business or health care or education, and instead of transitioning into retirement, they're just too busy, they're too restless, so they come back for an encore, plowing a lifetime of experience into helping people in need."

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President Obama Champions Social Innovation and Encore Careers

Posted 06/30/2009 - 1:33pm

President Obama met with social innovators at the White House on June 30, including a half-dozen winners of The Purpose Prize, and lauded them for “succeeding where others have failed; getting real, measurable results; changing the way we think about some of our toughest problems.”

The president specifically called out “young-at-heart people like Robert Chambers, who finish out careers in business or health care or education, and instead of transitioning into retirement, they’re just too busy, they’re too restless, so they come back for an encore, plowing a lifetime of experience into helping people in need.”

>>C-Span video of the White House event.
>>White House press release.
>>Transcript of the president’s remarks.

by: David Bank | Read more >>

YouthBuild USA Seeks Encore Talent Now!

Posted 06/26/2009 - 12:24pm

YouthBuild USA, which aims to break the cycle of poverty by channeling the positive energy and intelligence of low-income youths, has openings in Boston, Southern California and around the country for dozens of experienced adults excited about the opportunity to expand its award-winning social innovations.

The one-year positions, as green project leaders, resource developers, mentoring coordinators and special project coordinators can serve as transitional opportunities for those interested in longer-term encore careers in youth development, green building, anti-poverty efforts and nonprofit management. YouthBuild is working with the Encore Careers campaign and Civic Ventures to make the program an intergenerational win-win.

Immediate openings! Apply by JULY 6.

by: David Bank | Read more >>

How to Maximize Your Social Security Check

Posted 06/29/2009 - 10:04am

How can you get the highest possible Social Security payouts during retirement? U.S. News & World Report recommends these strategies:

Delay claiming. You can begin claiming Social Security at age 62, but your checks will be reduced by 25 to 35 percent. Boomers born between 1943 and 1954 should wait until age 66 to receive the maximum payout. The full retirement age gradually rises for those born later, with benefit checks increasing 7 to 8 percent for each year you delay claiming up to age 70.

Work longer. Because Social Security payouts are based on your 35 highest-earning years in the workforce, it’s smart to keep working longer. If you continue to work after you sign up for Social Security, your checks will be reduced temporarily, but they will increase later.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Encore ‘Navigators’ Improve Health, Reduce Costs

Posted 06/17/2009 - 5:40pm

An ability to find your way through the health care maze could lead you to an encore career helping others as a paid “health navigator.”

The promise of cost savings is fueling the growth of a new category of jobs at hospitals and community health organizations helping patients understand medical advice, stick to their treatment plans and stay out of the hospital. The combination of healthier communities and lower costs creates a powerful encore career opportunity.

by: David Bank | Read more >>

Bringing Healthy Foods to Schools in His Encore Career

Posted 06/17/2009 - 5:49pm

Tony Geraci, 52, “is one of several go-ahead national leaders whose names always come up at conferences on childhood obesity and school nutrition when charismatic dreamers have been dismissed and everyone is in despair over how to get children, especially poor children, to eat better food,” the Atlantic magazine reports in “Fixing Lunch.”

by: David Bank | Read more >>

Retired as a Nurse, Hired as a Nonprofit Leader

Posted 06/15/2009 - 3:19pm

During her first carefree months of retirement at the age of 53, Elaine Welch, a registered nurse, loved the freedom to meet a friend for lunch. She had the cleanest closets in California. She even tried golf. “I had never been so busy doing so little,” she said.

Depressed and seeking purpose in her life, she decided to return to work. Almost 10 years later, she manages programs that serve seniors in her own and surrounding communities. “And I want to help improve senior services throughout the country,” Welch said.

by: jerrywaxler | Read more >>

The Greediest Generation?

Posted 06/12/2009 - 12:48pm

Commencement speeches by leading boomers were heavy on generational mea culpas, the Wall Street Journal reports in, “Boomers to This Year’s Grads: We Are Really, Really Sorry.”

Encore Question: Have boomers changed the world for the better, or the worse?

by: David Bank | Read more >>

Life Is Apprenticeship for 82-Year-Old's Encore Career

Posted 06/03/2009 - 9:24am

At 79, George Wolf needed a job. “My resume garnered many calls, some quite urgent. But once the in-person interviews made my age apparent, the excuses not to hire me were laughably imaginative,” the New Yorker recalls.

After he perused Encore.org and attended an inspiring presentation by Purpose Prize winners at the New York Public Library in February 2009, he discovered his own encore career doing work far different than any he had done before. The former garment industry entrepreneur, who narrowly escaped the Nazis during World War II, now feels valued and appreciated doing marketing and public relations for a Jewish charity.

by: Cal Halvorsen | Read more >>