How This Book Is Organized

Section I

Retirement ManagementSM: What It Is and Why It's Needed

The first three chapters make the case for Retirement Management. Chapter 1 gives a brief history of retirement and looks at its current state. Chapter 2 projects the future of retirement and shows why many people who are reaching retirement age either don't want to or can't afford to retire. Chapter 3 proposes my solution: Retirement Management. It also examines the general proposition of creating an organization that is friendly and supportive to older workers.

  • Chapter 1—The Past and Present of Retirement
  • Chapter 2—The Future of Retirement
  • Chapter 3—Retirement ManagementSM

Section II

The Payoff of Retirement ManagementSM

After Chapter 4, which examines what attracts people to work past the age of 60, the next three chapters deal with the options organizations have for increasing their percentage of older people: retain or rehire select individuals and consider older people from outside the organization. Although I focus on retaining, as it is the strategy that has the biggest payoff for organizations and clearly illustrates the impact that Retirement Management can have, I offer practical advice in all three areas.

  • Chapter 4—What Older Workers Want in a Job
  • Chapter 5—Retaining Select People Beyond Normal Retirement Age
  • Chapter 6—Rehiring People Who Have Retired
  • Chapter 7—Recruiting and Hiring Older Workers

Section III

Managing Older Workers

The three chapters on leadership address the very real challenges of managing older workers, particularly as government regulations and retirement plans change to allow people to tap into their pensions while still working. Chapter 10 examines the difficult issues involved in forcing poorly performing individuals out of an organization—an issue that increasingly more organizations will face as baby boomers continue to work beyond normal retirement age.

  • Chapter 8—Leadership Skills Needed to Manage Older Workers
  • Chapter 9—Special Challenges in Leading Older Workers
  • Chapter 10—Taking a Stand with Poor Performers

Section IV

Getting Retirement ManagementSM Started

In this section I move to implementing a retirement management system: systematically determining who to try to retain, rehire, or hire from outside the organization; helping current employees prepare for retirement; and setting up a retirement management system.

  • Chapter 11—Selecting the Best
  • Chapter 12—Helping with Retirement Planning
  • Chapter 13—How to Implement a Retirement Management System

Section V

What the Government and Organizations Need to Do

I conclude by speculating on the impact of Retirement Management on the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and on the viability of the U.S. Social Security and Medicare programs. I also discuss how U.S. government laws and regulations need to be changed to allow all organizations to fully implement Retirement Management.

  • Chapter 14—Retirement Management and the U.S. Government
  • Chapter 15—Final Thoughts