Chris Farrell
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Last week, I spent a few days in Phoenix thanks to Experience Matters. It's a remarkable nonprofit that brings together talented workers looking for their next act with community nonprofits that need their expertise. Organizations like Experience Matters play a critical matchmaking role between skilled, experienced boomers looking for an encore opportunity and nonprofits addressing social problems.

Many aging boomers plan to work well into the traditional retirement years. The job may be full time or part time, contract work or temporary, a new business, or a social venture. Rethinking retirement is a grass-roots movement. The embrace of unretirement, which also goes by terms like encore careers, next chapter and third age, has implications for retirement planning.

What's next?

A key question in planning for your third act is figuring out what you want to do next. What new venture excites you? How might you want to give back? How much income do you need?

Figuring out the next stage takes time, conversations with friends and information gathered from others. You can gain insights from organizations such as the Vital Aging Network and SHIFT in the Twin Cities.

In most cases, older workers find it pays to carry their existing skills and credentials into a new setting. A registered nurse might move from a large hospital to a community clinic; an information technology manager at a company might take her digital systems skills into a nonprofit focusing on job training for the formerly incarcerated, and a certified financial planner might shift to teaching financial literacy to immigrants.

There is security and reassurance in tapping into knowledge developed over years. Excitement and creativity comes from moving into a different part of the economy, confronting new challenges and working with new colleagues.

Planning for transition

Transitions are rarely easy, but planning helps. To figure out what's next, look at the volunteer activities that engage you now. This came home to me in comments several years ago by Jake Warner, founder of Nolo.com, a self-help legal organization.

"Let's say someone thinks of themselves as an environmentalist, subscribes to environmental magazines and dreams about working in environmental causes when they retire," he said. "But because of work, saving money, raising kids, all the pressures of daily life they don't get engaged. That's for tomorrow, right?"

Now they're 70 years old and they have time, he noted. They head toward an environmental organization they admire and say, "Here I am. How can I help you?" Warner said the answer will be "probably not much." But, he added, "take that same person who in their 40s or 50s, gets involved with several local environmental groups and at age 70 is a respected senior person. They're valued and they're needed."

Warner's insight carries beyond nonprofit organizations. The same kind of initiative will pay off in planning for the unretirement years if you think you want to start your own business or get a job in a completely different industry. By all means, embrace the change. But research the options first.

Chris Farrell is economics editor for "Marketplace Money." His e-mail is cfarrell@mpr.org.