Looking Forward: An Optimist's Guide to Retirement (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It is no surprise that the "graying of America" has generated a multitude of retirement guides. But as her subtitle suggests, Freudenheim's is more optimistic than most, with a cheery, encouraging text and a sprinkling of cartoon art that lightens the subject without minimizing its importance. Coverage of financial issues isn't one of the strong points here (even the author suggests using other resources and counselors), but Freudenheim includes several topics ignored in other books: a look at spirituality, for example, a term that encompasses much more than a commitment to organized religion. She also offers an excellent chapter on voluntarism. Readers may be tempted to fill in the occasional write-in exercises, but that is far outweighed by the author's practical counsel and her excellent selection of further resources, which many will want to consult before they embark on their possibility-filled journey into the "Retirement Zone." Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

"Ellen Freudenheim has written the perfect guide for people who want to make the most out of their post-retirement life. Whether you've always dreamed ot traveling, starting a new career, or becoming a late-in-life athlet, Looking Forward will help you figure it all out."

Richard Carlson, author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all small stuff

Just as the best-selling job-hunt guide What Color Is Your Parachute? helped us figure out what we wanted to do for work, Looking Forward helps us figure out what we want to do with our post-career years, whether that means working part-time, traveling to China, writing a novel, or hiking the Rockies.

Thanks to increased life expectancy, Americans are living longer. Millions of baby boomers on the brink of their 60s can happily anticipate many healthy years to come, yet they're often at a loss about what to do in this new phase of life. And many of them may have an unfulfilled dream or two they've never quite been able to shake. Author Ellen Freudenheim, a boomer herself, shares her generation's uncertainty and excitement. In an engaging, encouraging tone, she tells readers how to successfully pursue everything from second careers to additional academic degrees to volunteer work. Filled with practical tips, informative charts, and revealing quizzes, as well as anecdotes from and profiles of vibrant retirees, Looking Forward is the book that will guide boomers as they reinvent this vital stage of life.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (November 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584793422
• ISBN-13: 978-1584793427
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,525 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mega bang for the buck...., December 19, 2004

By	Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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.

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

By	Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

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

By	Vannie Ryanes "Vannie Ryanes/VSR Book Review" (South Orange, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

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(~.~)
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