Encore: Work that matters in the second half of life.

In a Q&A with The Wall Street Journal, Marc Freedman distills the essence of the encore idea.

Freedman cites as encore examples Ed Speedling, a health care executive turned advocate for the homeless, and Gary Maxworthy, the food industry executive who has brought fresh produce to food banks throughout California.

Some excerpts from Glenn Ruffenach’s interview:

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: What is an “encore career”?

MR. FREEDMAN: I see an encore career as having five key characteristics. First, it’s a significant body of work, one that could entail, say, 10 or 15 or even 20 years of your life. It takes place in the second half of life, after the end of a midlife career. Ideally, it involves some type of pay or benefits. And at its core, it’s about the search for new meaning and a deep desire to contribute to the greater good.

A prime example would be someone who — after spending 30 years as a money manager — decides in his or her 60s to become a math teacher or to launch a second career with an environmental organization.

WSJ: How is that different from “working in retirement”?

MR. FREEDMAN: A retirement job is a way to make ends meet between the end of one’s working life and the beginning of full retirement. So it’s a bridge, a transition, more than a destination.

An encore career is a goal in and of itself. For many people, it’s the opportunity to do what they’ve always wanted to do.

(snip)

WSJ: Does an encore career primarily involve volunteer work?

MR. FREEDMAN: Not necessarily. We know that longer working lives are going to be a necessity for millions of individuals. And the question of how to make a virtue of that necessity — how to find work that’s not just another 10 years at the grindstone, but work that people can genuinely look forward to and be proud of — isn’t just a financial necessity but a fundamental aspiration.

So I think people are looking for work that not only pays the bills but also connects them to other people, provides structure in their lives, and enables them to use their experience in a way that is valuable.

(snip)

WSJ: Are there some fields, in particular, that lend themselves to encore careers?

MR. FREEDMAN: The most natural places to look are fields where labor shortages are already impinging. And those areas are education, health care and the nonprofit sector.

But there’s another area, which isn’t as easily defined, and that’s social entrepreneurship. There’s a need for new solutions to serious problems in many spheres…[and] thousands of older adults are already using their experience to come up with answers for these problems.

(snip)

WSJ: How realistic is it to think that many Americans will find encore careers as they age?

MR. FREEDMAN: It’s already evident that a significant segment of baby boomers are thinking about and aspiring to work in areas like education, health care and the nonprofit sector. On the other side, we know that employers in areas like education, health care and the nonprofit sector have few alternatives other than looking to aging boomers to meet their talent shortfalls in the coming decades.

So I think it’s a realistic possibility that the desires of individuals and the labor needs of employers will lead millions of people to encore careers.

When we look back at the last century, it’s clear that one of our biggest accomplishments was improving the lives of older adults. We really gave people not only a foundation for better lives — in terms of independence — but we really gave people something to look forward to in later life.

Now, the challenge is giving older Americans a purpose and a chance to contribute. And that could be one of the great accomplishments of the 21st century.