16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mega bang for the buck...., December 19, 2004
This review is from: Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement (Paperback)
Thinking about retiring in the near future? Ellen Freudenheim has written the book for you - LOOKING FORWARD An Optimist's Guide to Retirement. Now you might have attended a retirement seminar or two, and so have I, but in my opinion this book is the best resource I've found in a while. I have been researching the subject because at age 62 I am in the `Retirement Zone' as Freudenheim refers to it. She covers all the areas I have been exploring for retirement activity such as travel, theater, gardening and athletics, and volunteer work, as well as continuing to do what you are doing, i.e. work.
If you want to continue to work, you might consider changing careers as my husband did. After retiring from AT&T (he was downsized or "rightsized" as they called it in the corporate world in the 1980s), he he took his "buyout" money and attended graduate school where he obtained a degree in Employee Relations Counseling which he did professionally for 10 years before he was forced out of the market by the competition (he filed an EEO complaint because he suspected age, race and/or sex discrimination were issues and was proved correct). After the government disbanded the office he worked in (contracted out), he then took up work as a Patent Examiner so as to complete his government retirement - not as you might expect in his field of Electrical Engineering which he learned on the job with AT&T - but the field of personal computers which he taught himself by building several of them for me and the grand kids. Today, retired with two pensions, he plays tennis four days a week and complains about being bored. However, when he heard me speak of Freudenheim's book he said, "I want to read that when you' re through with it."
According to Freudenheim, my husband and I are merely examples of what the statistics have been showing. She combines many life histories along with statistics from reputable sources to explore the truth of the retirement zone from overall and individual perspectives. The truth is, large numbers of people are in the retirement zone (and not just because of the baby boom as we so often hear, but also owing to increased immigration beginning 40 years ago as well as increased life expectancy among the older population). Many potential retirees continue to work (women more so than men, as the immediate cohorts of women stayed home with the kids back in the "old" days, and they have not yet put in enough years for retirement benefits). And, depending on your profession, the pressure to quit working is enormous after you reach a certain age, because those younger workers breathing down your neck have spent their lives in much larger cohorts of the baby boom (just wait until those kids born in 1957-1961 hit retirement ages!!). However, other types of employment may be available to you. Sometimes you just need to look around. Freudenheim suggests there are choices to be made.
Should you leave work altogether - which my 75-year old husband finally did, Freudenheim has tons of suggestions (I hope he really does read her book!!). She provides the reader with all sorts of alternatives for occupying your time fruitfully - paid and unpaid, or if you really don't want to work she has other suggestions. Her book is a comprehensive resource with hundreds of sources - books, websites, and ideas gleaned from others who have tackled the Retirement Zone.
Will I retire soon? Who knows. Right now, I am just living one day at a time. It's comforting to know, however, that I do have alternatives, and that I am not alone.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An positive look at what retirement can bring, May 2, 2005
This review is from: Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement (Paperback)
Taking a positive view on retirement as an opportunity to pursue options in your life that were not available while working full time, author Ellen Freudenheim provides a fresh look at the wide open world of a positive retirement. She suggests that you start by getting to know yourself again in a retirement perspective. From there you can branch out to altruistic opportunities, traveling, spiritual growth, hobbies, and passions. She ends the book with a section on dealing with practical matters of retirement such as paying for it and decluttering your life. Viewing retirement not as an end of your working years but the birth of another stage of your life including new opportunities makes Looking Forward a recommended read.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The key words here are "Looking Forward"., April 27, 2005
This review is from: Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement (Paperback)
This book is terrific. It offers excellent advice to new retirees or those thinking of retiring. Ellen Freudenheim has written a book that goes far beyond the standard ABC's of retirement. The author assumes that you want a 'real' life after you leave your primary job. Each section of the book offers good advice to those who want more. I loved the "Anchor Activities" section Growing, Doing and Just Being. Readers are encouraged to continue growing spiritually, to do what they have wanted to do, and to continue being who they are, but much more so. Sound advice is given concerning the retirees awareness of his or her new financial situation; and how to move on mentally and physically.
As one who has recently retired, I read this book from beginning to end and found information that I have already begun to use. Freudenheim provides little windows into the lives of some people who have retired and are happy with their decision to do so. Some of those profiled continued doing more of what they enjoy, some made changes so drastic it boggles the mind. Might I suggest that this book is not just for those thinking of retirement? It will be useful to those who wonder with a fair amount of trepidation what they would do if they did retire.
This book has the right title, Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement. The key words here are "Looking Forward".
Vannie(~.~)
Work & Family @ BellaOnline.com
http://www.bellaonline.com/Site/workandfamily
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