{"id":663,"date":"2012-04-10T16:35:38","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T16:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=663"},"modified":"2012-04-29T21:18:12","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T21:18:12","slug":"wouldnt-it-be-nice-proposals-to-help-fund-adult-education-grown-up-gap-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=663","title":{"rendered":"WOULDN\u2019T IT BE NICE? PROPOSALS TO HELP FUND ADULT EDUCATION, GROWN-UP \u201cGAP\u201d YEARS"},"content":{"rendered":"
By KERRY HANNON<\/div>\n

File this in the \u201cwouldn\u2019t it be nice\u201d category for now.<\/p>\n

A few months ago, \u00a0I read Marc Freedman\u2019s terrific book \u00a0The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife<\/a>. Ever since, I\u2019ve been trying to find the right time to share these proposals of his with Second Verse readers.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Following on the heels of yesterday\u2019s post, Paying For Your \u201cWorking Retirement Education,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0there\u2019s no time like the present. (Read here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Freedman, founder and CEO of\u00a0Civic Ventures<\/a>, a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose, is\u00a0a consummate researcher and a forward thinker. And he\u2019s determined to see\u00a0deep-seated social and cultural change when it comes to aging issues. At fiftysomething, he is one with his audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not talking about a small segment of the population spending a few years off balance, muddling though. This group constitutes what may be the largest group in society, entering a period that could approximate half their adult lives,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

We need \u00a0to develop a new kind of education suited to this new stage of life, blending vocational preparation, personal transformation and intellectual stimulation, he says. Higher education \u00a0must become \u201cfar more adaptable to people at all stages of life,\u201d he urges.<\/p>\n

His call for action:<\/p>\n

Financial aid policies for the second half of life.<\/strong>\u00a0Pell Grants could be more useful to new-stage learners if there were available to those who want to go to school part-time or earn an occupational certificate. The Higher Education Act could be modified to create \u201cMicro Pell Grants\u201d to meet the needs of such working learners. Similarly, the Education for Public Service Act of 2007, which provides student-loan forgiveness for those who pursue public-service work, can be modified to better meet the needs of encore adults who have returned to school to help launch social-purpose careers.<\/p>\n

Individual Purpose Accounts.<\/strong>\u00a0Boomers have been tapping their kids\u2019 529 accounts to go back to school themselves, Freedman says. We need a savings vehicle to help fund post-midlife transitions. \u201cYou can\u2019t just borrow money at the last minute or pay for it by cutting back your lifestyle for a few months. It\u2019s better accumulated over a period of time,\u201d he says. He suggests an IPA \u2014 an Individual Purpose Account. Financial-services companies could offer them, and there could be employer matches. With tax credits and other mechanisms, Congress could support IPAs designed to make switching to encore careers easier, just as 401(k)s make saving for retirement easier.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Freedman also pitches the idea of a gap year for grown-ups, which, of course, costs money, too. \u201cRight now, there\u2019s an absence of any formal rites or routes of passage for those moving from midlife to the new phase with no name,\u201d he writes in a recent Harvard Business Review blog.<\/p>\n

\u201d To fill the void, why not create a gap year for grown-ups? Don\u2019t we deserve a break, too \u2014 after juggling extreme jobs and family responsibilities in shaky economic times?<\/em><\/p>\n

Most people are already taking time off, in one form or another. Some even call it retirement. A 2010 study from the RAND Corporation shows that a sizable portion of the U.S. population first retires and then \u201cunretires,\u201d an act researchers find is primarily by design and not the result of unexpected circumstances. In other words, many may be using the cover of retirement, followed by unretirement, as a kind of de facto gap period. In Britain, there are approximately 200,000 gray gappers each year. Why not bring that tradition to the United States?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>For more, check out his blog,\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Share<\/a>