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 re?sume?. 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.