Hannon, Kerry; What's Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job, 2010.

In a regular U.S. News & World Report feature called “Second Acts,” Kerry Hannon writes about Americans between the ages of 44 and 70 who have launched “encore careers.” For more than three years, she has been interviewing some of the estimated 8.4 million Americans who have moved from a corporate or other traditional job track to an entirely new career that combines income with personal meaning and social impact.

In “What Next?” Hannon offers portraits of 16 people who have chosen new paths. She also offers much information that could help you to “reinvent your own career or to pursue a long-held dream.” She says that now may be your chance “to get excited about work once again, to feel revived and passionate about making a difference in the world.”

Hannon asked me for tips for her readers who may be planning a second career, and you’ll find them in “What’s Next.”