I loved the attitude and no-nonsense practical advice of Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women, so I got on the phone and tried to reach the book’s authors, Bernice Bratter and Helen Dennis. There we were – three longtime career women with more than 100 years of professional experience, and none of us could make the conference call feature work on our home telephones. Technology challenges abound after one leaves the comfort of an office with a full-time IT staff!

The topics of retirement and renewal – “renewment” – are both professional and personal for me these days. I retired from my final full-time position at the end of 2010, after a career spanning more than 40 years, the first half in the private sector and the second half in the nonprofit sector leading two different organizations.

I found Bratter and Dennis to be expert guides for the novice retiree. Bratter is a family therapist and advocate for women and aging. Dennis was a lecturer for more than 20 years at the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California and consults with organizations on the non-financial aspects of retirement.

The origins of the book go back to 1999 when Bratter called Dennis, a professional colleague, to ask if she knew of any academic literature on the retirements of longtime career women. Not surprisingly, they found virtually nothing on the topic. That intrigued them both.

They were in their late 50s/early 60s at the time and in that state of what I think of as personal percolation – sensing one is on the cusp of a major life change but not quite able to describe the condition and not yet ready to act. They found no role models or roadmaps. They recognized that undoubtedly there were more female fellow travelers on this path and decided to see what they could learn from sharing their itineraries with others.

Bratter and Dennis invited nine women – all of whom were contemplating retirement or just starting out in their postwork phase of life – to gather regularly to talk through their plans, concerns, anxieties and excitements as they faced this new life adventure. The Project Renewment group continued to meet for years; in fact it’s still meeting. And that first group has spawned more than two dozen similar groups in California.

Both authors say that all group members were looking for new opportunities for growth and development, not for the kind of traditional support people seek when facing a common problem. Over the years, the topics evolved from transitioning from full-time work to health and spiritual matters. It was at least five years before the group took up the topic of death and dying.

Bratter and Dennis have captured the flavor of all those discussions in this charming and practical book. Section One includes pithy chapters on dozens of topics, ranging from what to wear when you don’t go to an office to how to you feel about not earning another dollar. Some chapters are humorous – “A Sorority House Not a Nursing Home,” while others are poignant reminders of our age – “Feeling Vulnerable.”

In Section Two, the authors provide a detailed guide and roadmap for those who might like to start their own Project Renewment group. The advice is incredibly thorough, down to organizing the first meeting, the second meeting, meetings after year one, the role of a facilitator (in the early stages until the group gels), what can go wrong, why groups work or don’t, resolving difficult situations and more.

The book includes a summary of seven years of learning from the Project Renewment groups and pages of suggested discussion topics, complete with areas of inquiry for each. There are even member survey instruments for new members as well as a follow-up survey after the group has been operating for a while. Rarely has there been such a valuable resource for self-organizing groups.

Bratter and Dennis say there really is no graduation from Project Renewment. As people’s lives, values and activities change over time, topics change. And the groups become like small communities of friends and colleagues who share a common bond.

The most unexpected turn: Project Renewment groups inspired Project Renewment: Next Generation, which now involves women in their 30s and 40s who are asking many of the same questions and are relieved to know that there are role models out there. The younger women are inspired by Project Renewment group members and, in turn, the older women are energized by the curiosity of the next generation of career women.

So, no matter what age you are, if you are a career woman, this book is definitely for you.