6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, November 20, 2006
This review is from: 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America (Hardcover)
I must admit I was leery of reading this book, having long avoided AARP membership and distrusted AARP's agenda for the over-50 set. We learn that Novelli came to AARP by way of Madison Avenue and Richard Nixon's political campaign. The book's coauthor ("with Boe Workman") is identified as AARP's director of CEO Communications. So it's not surprising that the book seems to be a PR effort, summarizing dozens of upbeat press releases, written to a corporate, well-heeled audience.
Novelli's subtitle "Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America" holds promise, but little in the book is revolutionary, let alone likely to ignite anything but annoyance. Chapter titles refer to "opportunities" to change various aspects of society -- quite a step down from igniting revolutions.
Novelli does a good job of pointing out the flaws in the health care system: focus on acute rather than chronic disease, lack of insurance, and so on. To cure the system, Novelli proposes 7 steps (p. 28), including "reducing the toll of medical errors" and "preventing disease, not just curing it." These steps are extremely vague and are more about outcomes than processes.
Novelli presents what appear to be examples of positive solutions; for example, he notes (p. 44) that Kaiser charges employers a fixed amount for health care. Therefore, he says, "doctors and other employees [have] a strong financial incentive for keeping members healthy and preventing any conditions that would require costly treatment."
Kaiser is an HMO - nothing new here. Members soon learn that "doctors and other employees" have a strong incentive to keep costs down -- sometimes by long waiting lists, refusal to allow access to specialists, and impersonal care.
Additionally, I've seen estimates suggesting that 40-50% of the population lives alone. More and more, the 50+ crowd will consist of single people without children. These folks will be at risk for abuse by health care and nursing home workers. Friends don't have the same legal standing and hiring a representative can be difficult if not impossible.
A much better discussion of health care was presented many years ago in a book by William Bridges called JobShift. Bridges suggests that trade organizations -- broader than current unions -- could sponsor group policies.
Now, if there's one topic we'd expect an AARP leader to address well, it's retirement. Novelli does identify a range of options available to retirees, at least upscale, healthy, well-funded retirees. What we're not getting are suggestions for hard-working men and women who were laid off two weeks before they were eligible for a pension, or those who watched their pension funds disappear after investing twenty or thirty years with a single company.
Novelli's "reinventing the workplace" chapter would be laughable if it weren't so insulting. Are educated, experienced retirees supposed to get excited about working at Home Depot or Borders? And we're not talking about working in headquarters, creating strategy: no, we're supposed to feel privileged to be out on the floor, waiting on customers who are just like us except younger.
True, some companies are keeping workers longer. But that won't help a 50+ manager or professional who needs a new job or who still gets excited about making money and getting rewarded for work. Somehow "age discrimination" got downplayed in this book. I for one do not buy the stories of worker shortages. I'm convinced employers will outsource abroad rather than hire older workers.
A better solution would be offering tax and other incentives to anyone over 50 who wants to start a business. Let the over-50 worker function as an independent contractor, selling skills and competing in the marketplace, buying his or her own health insurance. The SBA already identifies women and minorities -- why not add the over-50s?
Instead, governments consistently target small businesses for tax audits and other legal hassles, because small businesses can't afford the legal clout to fight back. And you need a team of lawyers to sift through the arcane regulations of some locations.
Finally, Novelli's book includes many stories about him and his own life, some barely relevant. For example, Novelli encourages everyone to become physically fit. That's good, although I wonder if AARP has a program to get us discounts at gyms throughout the US and world. (Often you get a senior discount just by asking, I would add.) He illustrates with a pointless anecdote about getting locked in a closet (pp 39-40).
The section on dealing with obesity includes several paragraphs about educating young children including a tasteless slogan suggestion to "leave no child with a big behind" (p 40). I must say I don't see how these sections relate to the over-50s.
If this book had been written by an unknown new author, we might say, "So what." But it's scary to think that the AARP leadership has presented a book that ignores the uglier realities of aging in the 21st century. If Novelli's book presents AARP's philosophy, I'll hold off a little while longer before sending in my dues.
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
More of a Rehash of Myths than Groundbreaking, November 29, 2006
This review is from: 50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America (Hardcover)
Book Report on "50+," by Bill Novelli, the CEO of AARP
By George Fulmore
November 26, 2006
I bought and read the book by CEO AARP Bill Novelli, "50+," with the expectation that it would stress the positives about how Americans can "reinvent" themselves in retirement, while avoiding any acknowledgment that the bulk of today's American retirees are thoroughly enjoying a traditional retirement lifestyle.
I wasn't disappointed. I think that is what the book is all about.
But in addition to the lack of balance in the book, it includes, purposely, I must assume, some very misleading numbers. Let's look at a couple:
The first comes in a discussion about working in retirement, when Novelli says, "A full 80 percent of boomers say they expect to keep working, either full- or part-time after they hit so-called retirement age." He should be ashamed of himself. This is total misinformation, based on a ridiculous interpretation of a survey AARP did several years ago in calling about 1,200 people, aged 38-57. The survey asked, "Thinking about your employment status in later years, which of these (following answers) best describes what you think you will be doing when you retire?" Of the six possible answers offered, 20% of those called picked "Not work at all." If any of the other answers were picked, this has been interpreted as saying that the person expects to keep working in retirement.
If you look under my name via a Google search, you'll find a column I wrote several years ago on this subject. The bottom line is that the 80% interpretation was a farce from the start. It is awful to see Novelli continue to promote it under the auspices of The AARP. It is nonsense, and I think he knows it.
The second out-right fib comes in that same section, when Novelli says that a Boomer who works full-time between ages 62 and 66, then takes Social Security, will earn more than 40% more than if he/she were to begin Social Security at age 62. To get to 40% or more, he must be comparing the current value at 62 with a projected value at 66, including COLA increases. Even then, I don't see how he gets "more than 40%." The truth is that the benefit value at 62 is essentially the present value of the value at 66, four years later. But during those four years, you are not receiving any Social Security income, if you delay to age 66.
Most in the business will tell you that it is not until age 82 that you would begin to creep ahead in total benefits received, if you were to delay benefits to age 66, rather than take them at 62. In other words, it takes about 18 years AFTER age 66 to end up with the same total amount of Social Security benefits one would receive by starting at age 62. Why doesn't he give us this side of the story instead of his misleading percentage?
Moving on, Novelli and The ARRP are placing a heavy bet that they can speak for Boomers when they say, "Traditional retirement simply is not a good fit for boomers...." Who can really speak for this massive group of about 76 million who have an age range of 18 years? That is essentially the width of a generation, itself.
ARRP is betting that Boomers are different from those before them. They will live longer. They will have more years in retirement. But are these really compelling reasons to continue to work rather than retire? I think when Novelli says, "More and more people will be considering retirement at 72 than 62....," he's blowing smoke.
In 2008, when the first of the Boomers can sign up for Social Security, I predict that at least 60% of those eligible will do so, shattering one of the greatest myths promoted by The AARP. I can't wait.
And how about this for another great myth: "Seventy-five or even fifty years ago, people aged more rapidly than they do today." Sounds good, but there is no reference to any scientific proof of this. And how about, "Even people in their seventies or eighties don't see themselves as old...." Obviously, that is an optional choice - to see oneself as not "old" -- but does it really mean anything?
And Novelli tells us that AARP has 36 million members. But what he doesn't mention that it uses a multiplier of 1.6 to get to that number and that the organization is essentially stuck on that inflated number. The truth is that AARP is NOT appealing to Boomers in large numbers and that AARP is very, very worried that Boomers will NOT join AARP in any significant numbers.
But Novelli and The ARRP score points in my mind with the stances on preserving Social Security and with the discussions in the book on the solvency of Medicare. When he brags about AARP's role in the Prescription Drug legislation, however, he must know that the jury is still out on this Medicare Part D program. Who the real winners will be has yet to be determined. And there is a real possibility that there will be NONE. We might all be losers because of this full-of-holes program, especially if its outrageous costs are used by those who have wanted to privatize and dismantle Medicare from the start.
The promo text in the book's inside cover says, " 50+ is a call to arms. It's a groundbreaking look at the revolution that's going on right now among 78 million American baby boomers." I don't find the book to deliver much of anything that is "groundbreaking." There is one brief section that appeals to me. It reads, in part, "The period we have traditionally called retirement can be a wonderful time of life...filled with opportunities to live and love, to learn and to explore, to give back, to enjoy the life we have worked so hard to own, to seek significance, and to discover that personal fulfillment is the final piece of the new American Dream."
So, what is all this "igniting a Revolution" stuff all about? Is there really anything new under the sun? If not, the book is primarily a rehash of thoughts and ideas found elsewhere that Novelli and AARP use as if it they belong to them.
The bottom line with Novelli and AARP, I think, is that they cannot get past encouraging folks to work as long as possible: "These are the years of both tremendous change and self-discovery. Continued work, learning, spending time with grandchildren, traveling and community service all can nourish our sense of well-being." Now, of that list, what would seem to be out of place for the typical retiree? If you picked "work," you're right. But Novelli puts it as the first one on the list!
And in a section on legacies, the author tells us of an Olga Murry, who when hiking in Nepal found the work she was "dreaming of." She works with an orphanage there and starts a foundation. She finds happiness this way, and gives us a quote that says, "When it's over, I don't want...to end up simply visiting the world." What's the message here? That folks who choose to and can afford to travel for pleasure are missing the boat of reinventing themselves in retirement?
In my mind, the main problem with AARP is that it speaks for itself, rather than for its members and its natural constituency -- the many, many of who live under the umbrella of a traditional retirement lifestyle and are happy about it. Novelli and AARP should be more honest with their readers and admit to an anti-retirement bias in the first place. Again, I think that is what the book is really all about!
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