post by George H. Schofield, July 10, 2013 on five abilities that baby boomers need to develop after age 50 in order to flourish 1. Identity ability-keep redefining yourself with new titles; instead of jobless, become a student, community leader, entrepreneur, etc. 2. Selecting ability--sort through your circumstances to navigate uncharted territory 3. Meaning-finding ability--take disruptions and reframing them to find meaning, value, and way to move on 4. Community ability--using interruptions as launching pads for volunteering and other meaningful work 5. Financial reality-check ability--earning money and structure, friends, fun

Post by Dianne Harman, Huff Post, June 6, 2013 on reinvention. Like this conclusion: Every time you reinvent yourself, you're forced to learn something new. And a mind that's engaged in learning is a young mind. So what's your reinvention story?

Meetup groups for baby boomers in Florida including St. Petersburg, Largo, Orlando, etc.

US Census Data on Florida

News release by BLS, US Dept. of Labor, February 22, 2013 on volunteer rates between September 2011 and 2012.

Great infograph by United We Serve on volunteering in America: 8.1 billion hours served in 2010.

three excellent short videos on long-term unemployment's effect on age 60+ workers, what unemployed older workers need to do to keep going and seeking opportunity, and a video interviewing Marci Alboher on Encore careers. On the AARP TV channel. "Take a test drive to explore options." Shadow someone, volunteer, do a pro bono consulting piece...

report in May 2013 by MetLife on oldest baby boomers retiring

news release on new Met Life study on oldest baby boomers retiring and drawing social security.

impact of bad economy on baby boomers taking early retirement, 2.11.10

article by Mark Miller, Reuters, NBC News, Feb. 5, 2013

"CQ Researcher * Oct. 19, 2007 * www.cqresearcher.com Volume 17, Number 37 *"

resources on baby boomers and civic engagement

blog by Nancy Collamer, March 22, 2013, on best websites for finding encore careers.

article by Richard Eisenberg, Forbes, 4.1.13 he government's annual Volunteering in the United States report just came out and I'm disappointed to report that both the number and percentage of Americans age 45 to 64 who volunteered in the 12 months ending September 2012 fell from the previous year. (I know, boomers are actually age 49 to 67, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't break down the numbers this way.) U.S. Retirement Poll: The Big Lie And The Big Fantasy Richard Eisenberg Richard Eisenberg Contributor Encore Careers for the Rest of Us Richard Eisenberg Richard Eisenberg Contributor Meet The Inspiring 2012 Purpose Prize Winners Selected By Encore.org Richard Eisenberg Richard Eisenberg Contributor The Latest Insider Views On Retirement Richard Eisenberg Richard Eisenberg Contributor The latest figures show that 23.4 million age 45 to 64 volunteered last year, down from 23.9 million in 2011. The percentage who volunteered dropped to 29.3 percent, from 30.6 percent, for those age 45 to 54 and to 27.6 percent, from 28.1 percent, for Americans 55 to 64. Both of those declines were steeper than the overall dip in the U.S. volunteer rate of 0.3 percent. Speculation on why boomers are not volunteering? "What's the problem? Even putting the year-to-year figures aside, why is it that fewer than a third of my fellow boomers - who often think of themselves as the original giving-back generation - volunteer? There's no simple explanation, of course. We're busy. We need to focus on hanging onto our jobs. We have obligations to our kids and parents. All true. But I think a key reason is that many boomers haven't found ways they can volunteer the way they want to, by putting their talents and skills to use, rather than by stuffing envelopes, answering phones and donating food. Here's some evidence backing up my contention that boomers like providing meaningful assistance when they volunteer: According to the Volunteering in the United Sta

"Here are the some of the most widely-used volunteer matching sites: Idealist.org NetworkforGood.org VolunteerSolutions (http://volunteer.united-e-way.org/) Volunteers of America (www.voa.org) VolunteerMatch.org PointsofLight.org"

international volunteer opportunities list being updated hourly

study by Urban institute in 2003 (using 2000 data) on 3,000 charities' adoption of nine recommended practices for volunteer management