55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal

Starred review from December 1, 2018
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, two-thirds of Americans have no retirement savings; that, paired with a graying population, is leading to a retirement crisis. After her own failed business venture, the Harvard-educated White soon realized that her dire financial situation was not unique, and so she set out to write a guide to help others restructure their financial lives. She tackles topics like shame, borrowing money from friends and family, and deprivation, along with more concrete issues such as income and housing. Throughout, White offers practical solutions, such as making a casserole of interesting work with two or three income streams. She encourages readers to reach out to others and create a Resilience Circle, and Resilience Circle Reflections appear at the end of each chapter. The book is dotted with numerous interviews that convey raw and emotional perspectives from this vulnerable generation, including snippets like trying to appear normal is exhausting, and every year past fifty, it gets extremely difficult to find a good-paying job. This relevant and well-researched book will appeal not only to those 55 plus, but also to the generation coming right behind them who may face similar issues.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)