The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life

Nine million baby boomers have already skipped retirement to enjoy meaningful work instead, and another 31 million are hoping to join them soon—that’s 40 million people embarking on encore careers, and 40 million readers who will be looking for help in figuring out how to make this transition. Covering everything those readers will need to know, The Encore Career Handbook is a road map to finding passion, purpose, and a paycheck in the second half of life.

Marci Alboher, a career expert and vice president of Encore.org, the leading think tank on boomers, work, and social purpose, has written the career-change bible for adults age 45 and older. A comprehensive, nuts-and-bolts guide, filled with inspiring stories of other encore careerists and answering—in extensive FAQ sections—the concerns of its readers, it’s the one book that anyone making a late-career shift will need. It includes assessments and quizzes to help identify passions and interests. How far in advance to plan a transition—but also how to handle a sudden, unexpected layoff. How to determine your “encore number,” the amount of money you need to live. How to update a résumé. Use social media like LinkedIn. Combat age discrimination. Navigate health insurance. Determine the value of going back to school. And finally, specific pathways to 25 viable encore careers.

An encore career is about legacy, for an audience that has reached that point in their lives when it’s time to move from making money to making a difference. It’s about finding the work you’d do out of love, with the added bonus of getting paid.

Until recently, most Americans equated the end of a successful career with the beginning of retirement. No more. Now they want to stay in the game (or better, change the game). They want to leave a mark. Make a difference--and continue to make money. From Encore.org, the leading organization in the field, comes a road map to every step of the encore career journey. Here's how to plan the transition. How much you need to make. The pros and cons of going back to school. When to volunteer, and when to intern. How to network effectively and harness the power of social media. Who's hiring and for what jobs? (Check out the Encore Hot List of 35 viable careers). A comprehensive, nuts-and-bolts guide, filled with inspiring stories and answering--in extensive FAQ sections--the concerns of its readers, this book is everything you need to help you strike a balance between doing good and doing well--in a way that will sustain you through this new stage of life.

Marci Alboher is a vice president of Civic Ventures and Encore.org, the leading think tank on boomers, work, and social purpose. Author of One Person/ Multiple Careers, she created the Shifting Careers blog and column for The New York Times, where she has contributed hundreds of freelance articles. She also created the Yahoo! blog Working the New Economy. Her work and commentary have been featured in USA Today, and on Today and National Public Radio, as well as in countless print and Web publications.