Happy Retirement: The Psychology of Reinvention

As yesteryear's baby boomers mature into the present "silver tsunami" of retirees-to-be, this volume comes at an opportune time. Essentially a primer on navigating the transition from work life to leisure life, the six chapters herein cover such topics as health, finances, and opportunities for personal growth. These chapters are further divided into spreads that cover a specific topic: "In Place of Work: Making a Contribution," for example, discusses the possibilities of volunteering one's time and effort as a way to both stay engaged and to further a cause. This compact book is an easy read, equal emphasis having been placed on text and colorful graphics. Diagrams, charts, shaded text boxes and call-out quotations reduce significantly the actual verbiage, which appears in a rather breezy style. Although references are made to this study and that journal, don't expect any scholarly apparatus, such as end notes. This is an appetizer, not a main course, and in any event is meant for a wide audience. The author has yet to experience retirement himself, as he is employed as a professor of psychology at California State University, San Bernardino. However, holding a doctoral degree, Schulz is widely published in his field of specialization, which includes industrial/organizational psychology and issues concerning an aging workforce.