A growing number of New Zealanders in what used to be called middle age, or even old age, are in full flight in demanding encore careers. Author Marc Freedman explores this concept, as it is happening in the United States, in his book, The Big Shift. Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures, says that people hitting 60 today are not simply rewriting the rules of retirement and aging; they are defining something entirely new.
Soon there may be a paradigm shift in Danish retirement culture. Retirees – in addition to their newfound freedom – seek to engage in a meaningful way that goes beyond a personal interest, in a paid job or as a volunteer. This change is supported by an interesting new theory of the Third Age in Marc Freedman's book, The Big Shift.
Companies are accustomed to helping older workers plan for retirement but not for transitions, says Marc Freedman, author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife and chief executive of Civic Ventures. “Reinvention sounds very romantic, but it’s also hard,” he says. “So it helps to prepare as much as you can.”
With their years of experience, boomers who transition to teaching as a second career have much to offer their students. Their reasons for wanting to teach are as diverse as their professional backgrounds. They are retired engineers, Army lieutenants, business executives public servants and more. Judy Goggin, vice president at Civic Ventures, says that as the number of retiring boomers increases, so does the number of wannabe educators looking for encore careers.
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| Helen Karr |
| Contact Helen Karr |
Purpose Prize Fellow 2011
For 25 years, Helen Karr managed beauty salons, where she heard countless stories from older women about how they were being financially abused by their children or caregivers – the same people who had been entrusted to look after their finances. Their painful stories struck a chord in her heart and compelled her to find a way to help.
“I knew I needed to become an attorney to be able to help financially exploited elder women in a legal manner,” she says.
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| Judith Clinco , Arizona Direct Care Worker Association |
| Visit Arizona Direct Care Worker Association's website |
| Contact Judith Clinco |
Arizona Direct Care Worker Association
Purpose Prize Fellow 2011
Nationwide, 3 million direct care workers look after the elderly, and people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult care homes, group homes and private homes. As the population ages, another 1 million will be needed in the next five years. And yet the care givers themselves are hardly respected and poorly paid.
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| Im Ja P. Choi , Penn Asian Senior Services |
| Visit Penn Asian Senior Services' website |
| Contact Im Ja P. Choi |
Penn Asian Senior Services
Purpose Prize Fellow 2011
Nine years ago, Im Ja P. Choi faced the most difficult decision of her life: whether to put her mother – who only spoke Korean and weighed just 62 pounds after stomach cancer surgeries – in a nursing home. Choi was thrilled to discover that her mother was eligible for home health care covered by Medicaid.
But soon another hurdle emerged: Not a single agency in the Philadelphia area employed Korean-speaking aides. It took Choi seven months to find someone.
President and CEO
Lakeview Ranch Inc.
Purpose Prize Fellow 2011
For seven years, Judy Berry watched her mother endure 12 hospitalizations for dementia-related behavior. However, Berry thought her mother didn’t fare well during treatment – she was often overmedicated (with what Berry later learned were inappropriate psychotropic drugs), strapped into a chair and left to wither away.
Suit Up and Play Again
10/07/2011 - 10:06:57am
Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for president 20 years ago this month. At an anniversary reunion in Little Rock last weekend, Clinton challenged the crowd, full of people who had worked in his campaign and administration, with a call to action.
While he said we had certainly earned gold watches for what we'd already done, Clinton urged us to look forward.
"America has never been a retirement party," he said. It's time to "suit up and play again," to give future generations the world they deserve.
- by: Phyllis Segal | More >
Despite difficult economic times, volunteering has increased dramatically in the past few years. A recent study found that the number of Americans volunteering in their communities increased by 1.6 million in 2009 – the largest increase in six years. Stephen Anfield's volunteering gig at AARP eventually led to a part-time job there. His experience at AARP helped him land full-time work promoting encore careers at Civic Ventures.
