cover image The 60-Something Crisis: How to Live an Extraordinary Life in Retirement

The 60-Something Crisis: How to Live an Extraordinary Life in Retirement

Barbara L. Pagano. Rowman & Littlefield, $34 (240p) ISBN 978-1-5381-5575-2

Executive coach Pagano (The Transparency Edge) debuts with an invigorating take on how to best use one’s later years. The author urges readers to make the most of their retirement and encourages them to see themselves as “unfinished,” citing a study that found participants underestimated how much they would change in the future. Pagano recounts how she threw out her first childhood dance costume after finding it among her late mother’s belongings and emphasizes the importance of letting go of past identities so one can embrace new ones: “In our 60s, we can begin to reconfigure the full set of possibilities in our lives, but we will limit our creative powers if we cling to old, wonderful roles.” Recommending that readers consider the myriad opportunities afforded by retirement, including the ability to relocate, the author provides a questionnaire to help readers assess their priorities when looking for a place to live. Pagano’s achievement lies in the flexibility of her prescriptions, which inspire a sense of possibility by highlighting nontraditional options for growing old; for instance, she discusses married couples who happily live apart because they have divergent preferences for where they want to spend their later years. Retirees will find this revitalizing. (July)