RECOVERY, RENEWAL, REINVENTION: ENCORE CAREERS

A blog post on Encore.org  proposes a win-win-win for the country and new administration using the "experience dividend" represented by 78 million Baby Boomers. The opinion piece proposes an "Encore Careers for Recovery and Renewal" plan that it says would save money, help the economy recover and tackle some of the most pressing U.S. problems.

The author, Civic Ventures Vice President David Bank, recommends putting Boomers to work for the greater good as a way to address their entitlement liabilities such as Social Security. His ideas include:

*  Simple regulatory reforms to remove outmoded obstacles and create low-cost, high impact incentives for "encore careers."

*   Modest investments in practical, effective projects that would deliver measurable results, e.g., reduction in high school drop-out rate, increases in global vaccination rates for childhood diseases.

*   Presidential leadership to "make the new stage of work so meaningful and rewarding that it becomes the new definition of success in the second half of life."