Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women [Hardcover]

Bernice Bratter (Author), Helen Dennis (Author), Lahni Baruck (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2008

For the first time in history, career women -- women who have worked outside the home for most of their lives -- are retiring. Without role models, they look to one another to face the changes this life transition brings.

Career women from the Baby Boom and pre-Baby Boom, or Silent, generations are approaching retirement. They want to know what it means to suddenly find themselves back inside their homes after having devoted their lives to careers outside of them.

These women are highly skilled, educated and successful.They have achieved visibility, status and influence. And because they are the first large group of American women to define themselves by their work, they have few, if any, models for retirement. Project Renewment will show women that giving up their careers does not mean giving up who they are.

Renewment is a term the authors created as an alternative to the word retirement, which they associated with negative stereotypes and clichés. A combination of retirement and renewal, Renewment suggests optimism and opportunity, growth and self-discovery. Project Renewment is a grassroots movement among women who are close to retirement or recently retired and looking to connect with one another.

The women of Project Renewment believe that retiring is a process of change and increasing self-awareness. As they redirect the commitment and passion previously dedicated to their careers, they transform and reshape their lives. Project Renewment provides these women with an enriched and safe environment in which to explore and confront the challenges that lie ahead as they leave behind a lifetime at the office, hospital, studio or courtroom.

Diverse topics are discussed, such as Who am I without my business card? What if he retires first? What is productivity anyway? Why do I feel guilty reading a book on a Tuesday afternoon? How do I feel about not earning another dollar? Divided into two sections, Project Renewment offers insight and support in a friendly, humorous and meaningful way. The first part of the book addresses the challenges that career women tackle when looking to retire. The second teaches readers how to start and maintain their own Project Renewment group, so they can find support, inspiring relationships and even a few laughs as they look to get the most out of the rest of their lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This guide for retired career women or those about to make this life change starts out coolly but warms up to a friendly support-group style discussion of the psychological pitfalls associated with leaving a life of work. The authors, a psychologist and a workplace-issues expert who founded a networking organization by the title's name, illustrate their approach to retirement as renewal. The book's businesslike title is a bit misleading; chapters are short and punchy and lacking detailed how-tos on the practical points of retirement, such as exit strategies or financial planning. The book's strengths lie in its you're not alone tone, with anonymous anecdotes and quotes from the mostly married, 60-somethings in Project Renewment groups throughout Southern California. Also useful is the book's Guide to Creating a Project Renewment Group, which gives a step-by-step how-to for finding like-minded women at or about to embark on the same life stage. Skeptics may identify this self-help book as a disguise to expand the Renewment brand, but it works on its own terms. Illus. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Project Renewment is one of those books that becomes a faithful, trusted friend, the imaginary kind who's always there with wise advice and never needs to talk about herself. It's a soulful, pragmatic, delightfully entertaining guide for any woman who plans to keep growing older and intends to enjoy it come hell or high water. I'm rereading it several times in an attempt to impress it upon my subconscious mind before I misplace my copy. Not that my memory is getting patchy or anything. Of course, I'm not nearly old enough to need Project Renewment. I just happen to love it."

-- Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live

"Project Renewment is a terrific book. Its cutting-edge approach to retirement for a new generation of career women is based on sound knowledge, a depth of experience and the rich dialogues of highly effective women creating their future. It's also a great read -- fun, informative and hopeful. I was particularly drawn to the essays through the creative illustrations, timely topics and clear writing."

-- Ken Dychtwald,CEO, Age Wave,author of Age Power and The Power Years

"Here is a window on the changes facing career women when they consider retirement. Women are working longer without many models from the past about how to handle the next phase of life. A grassroots effort began in Southern California at meetings held by the authors, where talented, accomplished women discussed alternatives to their work lives and ways of pursuing objectives other than the pursuit of income. These meetings provided the evidence on which the ideas of this book are based. Reading Project Renewment is like getting a 'new set of tires' and driving off in new directions. It results from the wisdom that evolves from considering alternatives to work in the mature years. "

-- James E. Birren, professor emeritus, University of Southern California, and former dean of the Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (March 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743299485
• ISBN-13: 978-0743299480
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Cheers for Project Renewment, April 27, 2008

By 

Robin B. Jacobson (Bethesda MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women (Hardcover)

Three cheers for Bratter and Dennis! They have created an easy-to-digest, practical guide to retirement for career women. If you are a woman thinking about retirement or a human resources professional seeking to assist retirees, Project Renewment will be your best book purchase this year. It would also make an intriguing selection for a women's book club.

In short, conversational chapters, the authors talk about the important questions facing career women: Should I retire? Can I afford to retire? What can I do to ensure that I will still feel productive and worthwhile without a job and a full calendar? How can I involve myself with people so that I will not miss being with my work colleagues every day? The authors have a commonsensical approach to these and many other retirement issues, and the humorous illustrations and quotations that introduce each topic are themselves worth the book's cover price. For now, I have two copies, one to keep and one to give to a friend. But I just might throw a "renewment shower" for a colleague about to retire (whoever said that showers were only for brides and mothers-to-be?) and present her with this wonderful book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AHB a man's perspective, April 15, 2008

By 

Arthur Berger - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women (Hardcover)

I had the opportunity to read Project Renewment, The First Retirement Model for Career Women. I work in the medical field specializing in mental health. With the population getting older it is important to have a book as good as Project Renewment. The book addresses an important part of life. An area left to retirement centers and many times loneliness. There are 38 essays that are pertinent and to the point. The issues are not only pertinent for women but also to men. From the beginning of the book it strikes you with essays on Retirement: Yes or No, I Won't Earn Another Dollar, and Whom Am I Without a Business Card?" I found the book was well documented and written. One of the greatest parts of the book is that it not only talks about the groups but how to create your own. The pitfalls you might encounter and how to make it successful. I recommend this book to any thinking about retirement, professional people working with people approaching retirement. This is a must read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, May 4, 2008

By 

M. F. Gilbert - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women (Hardcover)

This is a very helpful book - and one that is also fun to read. It addresses the many concerns and anxieties I felt as I approached retirement after a long professional career. I highly recommend it for other women facing this significant change in their lives.