Richard Stengel, Time magazine’s managing editor, kicked off a recent issue with a note to readers announcing a service “summit” in New York City on September 12.

“It is a unique moment for the idea of national service,” Stengel wrote. “You have two presidential candidates who believe deeply in service and who have made it part of their core message to voters. You have millions of Americans who are yearning to be more involved in the world and in their communities. You have corporations and businesses that are making civic engagement a key part of their mission.”

With the original Sun City, Arizona pioneered the model for “the golden years” vision of retirement as leisure. Now the state is pioneering a new model for the second half of life, in which experienced adults use their time and talent for the benefit of the community and themselves.

The center of activity is Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and contains more than half of the state’s population. By 2030, Maricopa expects a population of more than 6 million people – of whom more than 1.3 million will be over 60.

Rather than seeing those older adults as needy recipients of services, Arizona is tapping them as contributing providers. The Arizona Mature Workforce Initiative, with the motto, “Experience is Our Business!” has connected over 500 mature workers to employers, and has laid the groundwork for much greater impact, with job fairs, a job bank, a workforce transition center at a local community college and a program that certifies “mature worker friendly” employers.

Barack Obama highlighted “seniors getting ready to retire” as a crucial source of new ideas “that could benefit millions of Americans if they’re given the chance to grow.”

The Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign also singled out Experience Corps as “a good model that should be expanded beyond reading and mentoring to other challenges on which national service will be focused.”

Obama’s call to action to meet the nation’s great challenges is notable for its inclusiveness – military as well as civilian, faith-based as well as secular and older as well as younger. He issued the call in Colorado Springs today and in Zanesville, Ohio earlier this week; his campaign provided additional details.

Individuals and employers would get tax credits and other incentives to save money for the training and education needed to launch their encore careers under the Lifelong Learning Accounts Act of 2008, introduced by Reps. Rahm Emanuel and Jim Ramstad.

The bill, based on the “learning accounts” established last year by IBM to help its employees transition to their encores, differs from other federal education-financing programs in that it is specifically targeted to adults up to age 70.

“Between the ages of 18 and 65, you are effectively on your own when it comes to saving for additional education and training,” said Emanuel, a Democrat from Illinois. “401(k)s have clearly revolutionized the way that workers save for their retirement. Lifelong Learning Accounts will hopefully revolutionize the way workers invest in their education and training.”

We’ve complained that politicians seem to prefer sticks to carrots when it comes to encouraging people to extend their working lives.

Now, Senators Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) are offering some carrots.

Among other provisions, The Incentives for Older Workers Act, introduced April 28, would extend the Social Security bonus for recipients who postpone claiming their benefits beyond the “normal” retirement age. The change could mean bigger monthly checks — for life — for those who choose to keep working.

How are you handling health care coverage in your encore career or encore transition?

Securing adequate health coverage is perhaps the biggest challenge for people considering or embarking on their encore careers. Fear of losing coverage keeps many people from leaving their current jobs, while the inability to find or afford coverage can limit encore career options. Retiree health benefits are becoming ever more rare. Some employers (Home Depot, Starbucks) offer health coverage for part-time work, but few nonprofits and social sector employers have followed suit. High costs and exclusions for “preexisting conditions” often rule out individual coverage.

Encore.org is interested in how people are managing this challenge. Are you:

• Getting employer-sponsored health benefits in your encore job?
• Staying in your current job to keep health coverage?
• Covered under a retiree health program, your spouse’s or partner’s plan, or Medicare?
• Taking advantage of COBRA benefits?
• Working at a part-time job in retail or elsewhere, primarily for the health coverage?
• Paying for individual coverage, perhaps a high-deductible (“catastrophic”) plan?
• Going without?

A growing coalition of organizations is seeking to overcome recent legislative setbacks to win federal support to increase national service opportunities and incentives for older adults, reports the Chronicle of Philanthropy..

“Encore accounts” to finance individuals’ transition to their encore careers are getting increased attention from presidential candidates on the campaign trail.

To be fair, none of them are actually mentioning “encore careers” in their proposals, at least not yet. But the attention could spur support for incentives directly aimed at helping people prepare for work that matters in the second half of their lives.

Our friends at Experience Wave, an effort to advance federal and state policies that make it easier for mid-life and older adults to stay engaged in work and community life, have released a survey that shows a majority (53%) of older adults see the coming wave of retiring baby boomers as an asset to society, “because it is creating a pool of skilled people with more free time to dedicate to their communities.”

Only 35% said the aging boomers will be a “major burden on society because they will put a severe strain on programs like Social Security and Medicare.”