Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #457980 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-28
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .77" h x 6.11" w x 9.23" l, .95 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Amazon.com
Marc Freedman predicts that "a new kind of aging" will soon bring new life to America. In Prime Time, he writes that the baby boomers will turn their golden years into an intense time of social activism, volunteerism, and lifelong learning. In retirement, the Woodstock generation will still be trying to change the world. "The boomers will not accept the old notions of later life and retirement--they will refuse to remove themselves, go away or put up with being taken 'out of use or circulation'," writes Freedman, founder of the private, nonprofit Civic Ventures. However, to harness that energy for society's benefit, Freedman argues, government and business need to create programs that capitalize on baby boomers' love of learning and community service. The country also needs to wipe out ageism and other barriers.

Prime Time highlights a handy list of initiatives that already tap retirees for such roles as foster grandparents and volunteers at free medical clinics. The book also profiles people who are now reaping the benefits of remaining socially productive. Freedman debunks the notion that old boomers will only be a burden on the nation's health care and Social Security systems. Instead, they will be the largest, best-educated, and healthiest group of retirees ever, he writes. Insightful and well written, Prime Time is for anyone concerned about the economic and social changes under way with the aging of the baby boomers. --Dan Ring

From Publishers Weekly
Freedman (The Kindness of Strangers), founder of Civil Ventures and an adviser to government and private groups on aging, contends that drastic social changes must be made to adjust to the coming demographic shifts in America. Within the next 50 years, based on current life expectancy, the number of people age 65 and older will surpass the number of people under age 18. With people healthier and living longer than ever before, the vision of retirement as leisure time is obsolete. The aging boomer population will be unwilling to accept traditional retirement, according to Freedman. But rather than see the glut of oldsters as a drain on the economy and health care system, as many forecasters do, Freedman sees it as an opportunity. To accommodate these older Americans, Freedman says, there will have to be more educational opportunities as well as flexible job positions. To help achieve these goals, he advocates the development of new institutions such as a Center for Unretirement, to help prepare people for new careers; an Institute for Learning in Retirement; and Experience Corps, to let older workers teach and help others in a variety of fields. While the individual case histories presented by Freedman are interesting and some of his proposals are sound, the book is less concrete nuts-and-bolts proposal and more advocacy for turning what he sees as a new stage in life into a constructive time for both elderly people and society as a whole. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Quality of life during retirement is the focus of these two short volumes. Freedman, a former adviser on aging to the federal government and founder of Civic Ventures, argues that seniors are an untapped social resource. In each chapter, he tells a story about the civic involvement of particular seniors and then moves on to explore how the program they work with benefits the community. Most of these stories are about government programs, but some focus on privately developed initiatives, like the free clinic for uninsured workers that retired physician Jack McConnell established near his Hilton Head, SC, retirement home. Throughout the volume, Freedman decries age-segregated communities, like Sun City, AZ, and calls on government programs to encourage healthy seniors to work with the less fortunate, particularly the young. In Retire Early, on the other hand, Wasik, an editor at Consumer's Digest, gives a short, clearly written synopsis on how to approach retirement in ten steps--everything from finance to lifestyle. His financial advice is sound and uncomplicated, and, like Freedman, he emphasizes how to sustain a vibrant life that balances personal freedom and attachment to society at large. Both titles have lists of resources. There are more detailed works available, like the Columbia Retirement Handbook (LJ 9/1/94), edited by Abraham Monk, or Kiplinger's Retire Worry Free (Random, 1998). But even the smallest public library should have a current retirement guide, and Wasik's is a good, inexpensive, sensible start. Freedman's volume is really a public policy study and is more suitable for libraries serving public administration, sociology, and gerontology users; an optional purchase for public libraries.
-Patrick J. Brunet, Western Wisconsin Technical Coll. Lib., La Crosse
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.