Customer Reviews

Purpose And Power In Retirement (PB)

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
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Purpose And Power In Retirement: New Opportunities For Meaning And Significance by Harold G. Koenig (Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center) is a straightforward, "reader friendly" guide that dispels common retirement myths, and offers invaluable, practical advice for making the most of one's "golden years", including reaping the benefits of volunteering, learning to live healthy for a better quality of life, reducing personal stress, and more. An excellent and very highly recommended instructional and reference guide to reaping the most out of our retirement years, Purpose And Power In Retirement should be a part of every community library Retirement Preparation and Personal Growth collection.

This is a relatively easy, somewhat thoughtful read. However for a 2002 book it felt strangely out of date. My sense was that it was aimed at people who wake up on their 65th birthday and suddenly find their 40 year career is over. There was none of the current angst about the word "retirement", nor much coverage of the many "portfolio" options available to people in the age 50+ space
Overall ok, but there are better books on this subject area.
The basic thesis of this book is that many people arrive at retirement unprepared. They need to develop a purpose and the best source of purpose is volunteer work. Volunteering is part of the important task of cultivating generosity. There is a chapter about developing spirituality which is said to be important...this chapter is largely Christian based. Many of the other chapters refer to the author's Christian background but it is not likely to be intrusive for non-Christians. I didn't read the chapter on "Reducing Stress"; and "Live Healthily" is much better covered in other books.

As a person getting ready to retire, this is a treasure trove of practical information that has been very helpful. Not only is it informative, it is also inspirational and a fast and easy read.

I found Koenig's view of retirement challenging and worth reading. I am writing a chapter on retirement for a book I am working on right now. His notion of our needing,in our final stage of life, a worthy purpose involving the serving of others is consistent with my own thoughts. Too many retired persons literally waste many years in self-centered boredom.

Koenig has certainly made great contributions to the field of spirituality and aging. That makes this book even more disappointing. He does warn the reader that he is of the judeao-Christian tradition and in this publication makes some token statements about cultural and religious diversity. Even these are disappointing because they seem disparate in subject and give the appearance of bing hastily added. I also believe that he falls into the trap of "prescribing" what "successful retirement' looks like. I also thought his identification of the philanthropist, who funds his publisher, as the most generous person he knows a bit too much

His "Spirituality in Patient Care" is alot better. For a good read on culture trap ty "Learning to be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging" by Margaret Cruikshank. It is harsh but reallly makes you think.