Flint Public Library (Middleton)

55, underemployed, and faking normal, your guide to a better life, Elizabeth White

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-254) and index

index present

non fiction

55, underemployed, and faking normal

bibliography

1105942735

Elizabeth White

your guide to a better life

"For the millions of people in their fifties and sixties who find themselves out of work or underemployed and financially incapable of retiring, here's a practical plan for getting past blame and shame, overcoming denial, and finding a path to a new normal. Elizabeth White has an impressive resume, which includes advanced degrees from Harvard and Johns Hopkins and a distinguished employment history. She started a business that failed and then tried to re-enter the work force in her mid-fifties, only to learn that there is little demand for workers her age, even with her outstanding resume. Her retirement savings account was largely depleted by her business. For a while Elizabeth lived in denial, but then had to begin to adjust to her new reality, shedding the gym membership, getting a roommate, forgoing restaurant meals, and so on. She soon learned she wasn't alone: there are millions of Americans in her predicament and worse, exhausted trying to survive and overcome every day. In 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal, Elizabeth invites you to join her in looking beyond your immediate surroundings and circumstances to what is possible in the new normal of financial insecurity. Maybe you're in your fifties and sixties, like Elizabeth, and you have not saved nearly enough to retire. It's too late for blame or shame-- and it wouldn't help anyway. What you want to know is what you can do now to create a decent third act."--ContainerWhite had an impressive resume, started a business that failed, and then tried to re-enter the work force in her mid-fifties, only to learn that there is little demand for workers her age. Her retirement savings account depleted by her business, she at first lived in denial, then had to adjust to her new reality. White soon learned she wasn't alone. Here she invites you to look beyond your immediate circumstances to what is possible in the new normal of financial insecurity. It's too late for blame or shame-- do what you can now to create a decent third act. -- adapted from jacket

Author's note: About me -- Preface: You know her -- Lost, ashamed, and shell-shocked -- Old-school wisdom from an elderly Black woman -- Shock and awe: you call this retirement? -- After a lifetime of work, how did we land here? -- Grabbing denial by the lapels -- Smalling up: rethinking limits, lack, and deprivation -- Circling the drain -- Borrowing money from family and friends -- The changing world of work -- Thinking outside the box [overstruck] country -- Retirement security requires housing security -- Strategic responses to housing -- Conclusion

Fifty-five, underemployed, and faking normal