Both federal employees nearing retirement and those already retired are often

looking for second career opportunities -- whether they be part- or full-time

employment, a consulting practice, or starting a small business.

An encore career is a way for federal retirees to further

contribute their valuable skills to a personal passion, a non-profit cause,

or an industry's technology.  It's also a way to further enhance their

financial nest egg in order to live more comfortably during retirement years.

The following 50+ Career Guide of insightful articles and

resources (see below) is provided to My Federal

Retirement readers from Mark Miller, a syndicated columnist, book author,

and a nationally-recognized expert on trends in retirement and aging.

Miller's website, target=_blank>RetirementRevised.com, is a fast-growing online destination

for Baby Boomers seeking news and resources on retirement. The site's focus is

the reinvention of traditional retirement - how the baby boom generation is

revising its approach to careers, money and lifestyle after age 50.

RetirementRevised.com was recently honored in Money Magazine's May, 2010

feature, "The 100 Smartest Things to do with Your Money" as one of the nation's

top retirement planning websites.

50+ Career

Guide

target=_blank>The 50+ Job Market. Even in a tough economy, older workers are

valued in some industries. Technology-oriented companies that depend on

experienced scientists and engineers are very worried about brain drain as the

huge baby boomer generation retires. Many are scrambling to implement retention

programs aimed at keeping these high-value knowledge workers on the job as long

as possible. Some offer flexible work arrangements to accommodate the changing

lifestyle needs of older employees.

href="http://retirementrevised.com/career/six-mistakes-older-job-hunters-make"

target=_blank>Six Mistakes Older Job Hunters Make. Baby boomers intend to

work well past retirement age. Most were saying so even before the economy

crashed, deflating retirement savings and real estate values. Now, working

longer has become an imperative for many. The question is, where? The jobless

rate for adults age 55 to 64 has more than doubled since November 2007, months

before the recession started. Many of those laid-off workers need to figure out

how to get back into the labor force-a big challenge if you're up against

younger candidates and the unfortunate reality of employer age discrimination.

However, while age discrimination is a hurdle, there are ways to make yourself a

better candidate in the eyes of employers. Here's a look at six mistakes to

avoid.

href="http://retirementrevised.com/career/15-fast-growth-careers-for-50-americans"

target=_blank>Economist's study points to 15 fastest-growing 50+ career

opportunities. If you train for it, the jobs will come. That's the upshot of

a new economic study that attempts to answer one of the toughest questions

facing mid-life Americans: Will training for a new career pay off in the form of

new career opportunities in a recession-wracked economy?

href="http://retirementrevised.com/career/the-workforce-is-aging-but-where-are-the-age-friendly-employers"

target=_blank>Where are the Age-Friendly Employers? The Great Recession is

pushing older workers to postpone retirement, but will employers accommodate

them?

target=_blank>Encore Careers. A national community has sprung up around the

idea of creating opportunities for older adults to start new careers-paid or

volunteer-that allow them to make a positive social contribution in later life.

The trend is gaining momentum and encompasses everything from transitions to

non-profit sector work, volunteering and social entrepreneurship.

href="http://retirementrevised.com/retirement-jobs/resources-for-entrepreneurs"

target=_blank>50+ Entrepreneurship. Meet the new boss: you. Many baby

boomers intend to keep working past traditional retirement age. Surveys show

that about 58 million boomers plan to stay in the workforce well into their

sixties. Employers won't accommodate all of them, considering the state of the

economy and attitudes toward older workers. And many will want to leave the

corporate world anyway because of burnout or an impulse to run their own show.

All those factors will drive a major trend toward boomer entrepreneurship in the

years ahead.