LEARN

We need a new map of life.

We've been making do with one that was fashioned for an expected longevity of threescore and 10. We shouldn't knock that legacy. At one time, that constituted progress.

But we can't stuff a 21st century life span into a life course designed for the 20th century – or stretch the old model so that it accommodates a task well beyond its intended capacity. The story starts with the numbers, but it is really about the nature of lives.

Boomers are a talented, smart and sometimes driven group. Many care deeply about their communities. New research from Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation says that 12 million boomers intend upon retirement to use their experience to develop new nonprofit organizations. Boomers' good sense and their motivation can make a better world.

The decades-long career is in decline. And for many, that’s a good thing.

“Tacking swiftly from job to job and field to field, learning new skills all the while, resembles the pattern that increasingly defines our careers,” writes Anya Kamenetz in Fast Company magazine.

How swiftly?

According to federal statistics, as of 2010, the median number of years U.S. workers had been in their jobs was 4.4 years.

Purpose Prize fellow Andy Harris is finding fulfillment in his encore career. He developed a college course designed to give U.S. medical professionals a chance to provide care in poor countries overseas. It also enables them to provide care locally – in free medical clinics for the uninsured where course participants volunteer one evening per week.