Encore Tampa Bay Connecting Boomers to their Encore Careers

Encore Network Encore Tampa Bay Facebook Page

THE “NEW RETIREMENT”- ARE YOU READY?

Unknown-1

There have been plenty of articles in the last year around boomers and their financial outlook as they head into the “retirement years”.  Several research studies show that over 70% of adults over 50 are planning on working well beyond the retirement age, primarily because they cannot afford to retire.  A recent Transamerica Survey found that only one in 10 boomers are building a large enough nest egg or have even started planning for retirement!

So as adults over 50  consider an Encore Career, it is important to consider their financial outlook.  This may look different than traditional retirement planning because many Encore Career paths can provide some kind of added income.   A good example of this is an entrepreneur start-up that generates additional income.

Marci Alboher, in her Encore Career Handbook, talks about key questions to ask yourself:

  • Do you feel like you are financially ready to make an encore transition?
  • Do you have a lot of planning still to do?
  • Are you where you want to be in terms of retirement savings?
  • Do you have a sense of how much income you need in order to be happy and comfortable?

Marci talks about finding out- what is your “encore number”.  That number is going to look different for each one of you as you begin to identify what is important for you in the second half of life.

So the question is…. Are you ready?  Have you started thinking about what is next for you in the second half of life?   Have you been considering what kind of financial portfolio you are going to need as you consider a new direction?

At the Encore Academy, we offer exciting sessions that will not only help you identify what has real meaning and purpose for your life, but also help you figure out if you are financially ready for a new encore career.

Check out the Encore Academy programs! Programs are starting October 22!  Its time for you to open the door to what is possible in the second (and best part) of life!!

“ You save not to have freedom from work, but to have freedom to do the work you want to do,”     Marc Freedman

Bevan Rogel

Encore  Tampa Bay

Boomers Making Up New Rules for Retirement

BOOMERS MAKE UP NEW RULES FOR “RETIREMENT”

 A recent article in  Pay Scale  Career News, highlights the many different ways that baby boomers are spending their time and money as they approach the retirement years.  A recent study found that entrepreneurs aged 44- 54 make up 25% of the new entrepreneurs and that 50% of that group are women!   The article  also provides an incredible info-graphic that is chock full of important statistics about boomers.  See below.

What I notice with all of these statistics – is a steady rise of adults over 50 who are saying loud and clear that staying active and engaged is their number one priority.  Activities include continuing to work (corporate/entrepreneur), going back to school,  to volunteer, to travel and to stay connected via social media.   This is a huge wake up call for non-profits, businesses, education institutions, travel industry to capitalize on these growing trends and to take the time to truly understand this boomer generation.

Encore Tampa Bay is looking to capitalize on these new realities about boomers in the Tampa Bay area by tailoring programs and educating community and business leaders about how boomers are redefining “Retirement”.

Bevan Rogel

Encore Tampa Bay 

baby boomers making the best

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT- ENCORE CAREERS

Encore Tampa Bay is providing a monthly blog post that features people in our community who are living their Encore Career. This week we look at a great example of a social entrepreneur!

MONICA STYNCHULA- DOVETAIL CARE

Monica Stynchula - Dovetail CaresMonica Stynchula is the CEO and founder of Dovetail Care, Inc.  Dovetail is a start-up with a mission to foster conversation, communication and engagement offering Reunion CareTM, a personal information management web and mobile applications to enterprise healthcare providers that they, in turn, provide to their customers and their families determined to keep their members safe and independent. She started our interview by acknowledging that Boomers are absolutely a “cause-based generation” and she has definitely found her cause!

Monica’s path prior to Dovetail

Monica started off her career as a medical social worker and soon she realized that the needs of her patients will always outweigh the resources.  She earned a Master in Social Work and Master in Public Health.  She worked in different roles in the healthcare world – hospitals, home health, health education, community based services and insurance company.

Monica homeschooled her two boys; an extremely rewarding experience that required a lot of “retooling”! Getting back into the workforce, she recognized the opportunity to understand the future  of healthcare by training in Health Information Technology Workforce Retraining Program under the Affordable Care Act.  She focused on learning everything possible about electronic medical records earning two certificates within a year, Health Information Technology Professional (HIT PRO) and Certified Professional in Health Information Management Systems (CPHIMS).

Life Changing Event

In 2010, Monica’s father was diagnosed with a terminal illness.  This was a life-changing event for her in many ways.  Her father got the best of care – and the electronic health record system worked flawlessly…inside the system,  but the minute he left the hospital things were disastrous.  There was very little coordination or tracking of his health care needs.  At this point, Monica knew that there had to be a better way to help patients manage their own healthcare. She wanted to create a technology solution to  empower patients to self-manage their health and not depend on the fragmented system of doctors, hospitals or medical professionals.  This idea became her passion!

In 2012, she began drafting her model in a three-ring binder to outline her concept that allows patients to coordinate, communicate and plan their health care journey.  Her next step was to hire technology companies to set up the wireframe  and specifications.  There were many 20-hour days of working on the actual business model.  When asked if there were times she wanted to quit, her answer came quickly: “when you feel passionate about something, you put your head down and keep working.”  Today Monica has three published websites and more under development; DovetailCare, ReunionCare and Dovetail Autism. 

Monica emphasized that finding the right people at each stage of the entrepreneurial process was critical to her success. Monica’s “experts” taught her success factors such as how to make an effective pitch, how to create the right infrastructure and systems to launch and run this new online resource system.

Words of Advice for Boomer Entrepreneurs

I asked Monica what other key advice she would offer other boomer entrepreneurs.

  • Don’t be afraid to make mistakes-  mistakes are opportunities for learning.
  • Start mapping it out.
  • Start talking to people. Make sure you are working on the real problem.  Listen to them and keep digging.
  • Make sure you have a good support system. (This is long hard work- Monica was grateful for the support she received from family.)
  • If you have the drive and focus to truly believe in your cause or product, anything is possible!
  • Make sure you have the resources necessary to get started. 

Monica’s story is truly inspirational. This is a great example of how a Baby Boomer capitalizes on her lifelong knowledge and experience, combined with her passion for making a difference/ solving a problem and the zeal for learning new skills. Her focus is not only on making a profit, but making a difference!  We can all learn from Monica’s experiences as we may consider this path for ourselves.

Do you have an Encore story to share?  Contact me.   Don’t forget to like Encore Tampa Bay on Facebook.

ENCORE CAREERS- THEY ARE GOOD FOR EVERYONE

images-5 

I’m sure you’ve heard these numbers before, but they are worth mentioning again to set the stage for the huge potential that is at our doorstep.  There are over 80 million Americans born between 1945 and 1964 with over 40 million reaching retirement age.  That means over 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day!  There seems to be a lot of hand wringing and concern about the impact that this onslaught of retirees are going to have on our economy and society as a whole.  I would like to offer an alternative perspective.

 

PBS Newshour recently did a great TV segment called,  “Reinventing Old Age: The Good We Do When We Work Forever” which highlighted people working well into their 70s and 80s.  PBS news anchor Paul Solomon, interviewed Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Encore.org prior to the TV segment.  Marc talked about the opportunity that our society has to recognize the full potential of this population and to use it in a way that benefits everyone.  Marc sees this group of 50-70 year olds as an enormous economic engine of productivity and innovation that will turn the dependency ratio into an abundance ratio.

 

The Economic Benefit

PBS pointed out two examples of economic benefits which occur as a result of people choosing to work longer (whether it is within a company or sole entrepreneur) One, they are less likely to draw down on social security benefits.  Another example is a longer more continuous influx of income tax revenue as result of more people generating income for longer periods of time.

 

A Legion of Problem Solvers

In a recent interview Marci Alboher (author of  Encore Career Handbook)  talks about Encore Careers as a second or third act that provides meaning and purpose along with social impact.  She talks about this same age group as a tremendous resource, rather than a problem, a legion of problem solvers.

 

Jane Pauley shared an example of problem solving. Ken Wood, a retired well-driller helped his church solve a problem it was working on in a village in Ghana.  Ken jumped into this project and flew to Ghana to help educate and assist the village people in drilling more than 1,000 wells to find safe drinking water. Pauley cited another example of Jenny Brown, the mother of a 2-year-old orphan from China who was not able to talk or walk when the child was adopted.  Jenny decided to use her skills and experience to set up an agency that recruits and trains nannies in China to nurture orphans and prepare them for adoption. Encore Careers utilize people’s skills and experiences while at the same time tapping into something that is important or meaningful for them.  The real bonus is when that career or project has a positive impact on society!

 

The Cleveland Foundation recognizes this potential and has launched a new program that will encourage the 50+ community to get involved and help solve pressing issues in Cleveland, such as poverty and education.  The program will model some of the elements of the Encore Fellows paid intern program and encourage Baby Boomers to utilize their skills and experience.

 

What about Tampa Bay?

I believe it is time for Baby Boomers to get out of the house, step out of your comfort zone, pay attention to that small voice in your head.  What are some ideas you have for your second act?  What skills, talents, and experiences are you willing to tap into to make this community a better to place to live?  Maybe it is time to start thinking about your Encore Career: it will be good for you and for everyone!!   It was 227 years ago this week that our founding fathers made a similar decision-   a choice between liberty and bondage.   Today, you have the freedom to choose what kind of life you want to live in the second half!

 

Call to Action: I want to hear some local, inspiring, personal Encore Career stories. Once a month I will be featuring people in our community who are living their Encore Career.  Please email me at encoretampabay@gmail.com to share a story about you or someone you know.

 

If you liked this blog- send it on to other friends and folks who might be ready for their Encore! 

 

 

Happy Fourth of July!

 

Bevan Rogel

Encore Tampa BayE

BOOMERS AS VOLUNTEERS- A NEW TWIST

Boomers as volunteers

Boomers as volunteers

One would think that this is indeed a match made in heaven.  First the large influx of baby boomers are ready to make the most of their second half of life by doing good in their community. Second, more non-profits are facing reduced budgets and increased demand for their services.

So why did a recent study done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a decrease in the number of volunteers age 45-64 in the last 12 months?

Reasons for the Decline in Boomer Volunteers

ome obvious reasons for the decline include: time pressures — especially with boomers’ growing role as the “sandwich generation” — and the need to hang onto paying jobs a little longer (economics).  A survey of boomer volunteers, done by the Corporation for National and Community Service,  revealed that volunteers feel their true talents or skill are not being fully put to use and they do not feel they are making a significant impact.  In other words, stuffing goody bags and working the registration desk does not fall into the category of skill-based, longer term, meaningful volunteer projects and assignments.

The survey provides the following recommendations for non-profits addressing the changing needs and motivations of baby boomers:

  • Rethink how to attract and utilize Baby Boomers as volunteers
  • Strengthen non-profits’ view of volunteers as assets, similar to donors.
  • Adopt key practices such as matching volunteers to challenging assignment to build organizational capacity and increase volunteer participation.
  • Remember that volunteering and giving are directly related.

A recent Forbes article showcases several non-profits who have been extremely successful tweaking their volunteer recruitment and retention strategies to include more skill-based volunteer assignments.  The depth of wisdom and experience of volunteers benefits these non-profit organizations at a whole different level.

volunteersThe implications for non-profits extend to how they recruit volunteers as well as what skill level they seek. This includes how job posts are written. This also requires a shift in how non-profits train and manage skill-based, longer term volunteer assignments. The payoff and opportunities for making this shift can be tremendous.  Contributions from properly recruited, trained and managed volunteers have direct financial impact on the organization.

A meaningful volunteer program can address some of the long term service demands and organizational issues of non-profits.  There are a variety of new training programs and organizations that can assist non-profits with this shift including Encore Tampa Bay.  I will be diving deeper into possible solutions, tips and resources for non-profits and boomers in the next couple of months!  Stay tuned.

I welcome your comments or ideas on this topic!  Join the discussion either on my website, Linked In (Encore Tampa Bay) or Facebook (Encore Tampa Bay).

Encore Careers- A Win-Win for All!

xxx-yuval_nyc-4_3_r536_c534
This week USA Today posted another article about Encore Careers. What I like about this article are the great examples of people who have found their Encore Careers.  Some of these examples point to the reality that Boomers must find another “job” and pursue their Encore Career out of financial necessity. The economic downturn is one of the major factors, though not the only one, for Boomers to keep working beyond “the traditional retirement age”. Another reason is that Boomers want to live vibrantly and make a meaningful difference in their later years.

Encore Fellows Program

Another interesting initiative is how communities are encouraging Boomers to pursue non-profit management opportunities through Encore Fellowships.  A win-win! See attached for a full description of the Encore Fellows Program. 

Encore Entrepreneurs

The third great example in the USA Today describes how Baby Boomers are capitalizing on entrepreneurial opportunities.   Research shows that over 50% of all entrepreneurial start-ups are initiated by people over 50 years of age.  I will talk more about entrepreneurial opportunities in future Encore Careers blogs.

Purpose Prize

Another great initiative established by the National Encore Organization is the Purpose Prize where you can nominate people over 60 who are changing the world. If you have a story about someone who is making a significant impact in their Encore Career- you can submit your nomination by April 4. Winners of the Purpose Prize receive $100,000!  Click here to find all the details for the contest.

I am so excited to read the stories about people engaged in their Encore Careers as well as to learn about new programs that are helping Boomers ignite their Encore Careers. These are appearing more and more in community and national publications!

I would still love to hear about more examples of people who have found their Encore Careers.  Tell me about a person you know who has begun focusing on their true passion and purpose!   Stay tuned to my next blog which will help those of you who are not sure yet what that Encore Career could be!  (Tools, Books and insightful questions)

PS- Don’t forget to like me on Facebook (Encore Tampa Bay) and to pass the word about my blog around to people who might be interested. 

Today, I leave you with a great quote:

Twenty years from now, you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the ones you did.
– Mark Twain

Bevan Rogel

Encore Tampa Bay