Legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week aimed at making it easier for older Americans to stay in the workforce longer and encourage employers to recruit and retain older workers. The bill has bi-partisan sponsorship of Senators Gordon H. Smith (R-OR), Herb Kohl (D-WI), and Kent Conrad (D-ND).

I’ll have more on this in a future column over at RetirementRevised, but here are key provisions, according to a press release from the sponsors:

- Removing penalties in certain pension plans for workers who phase into retirement by receiving a lower salary while working reduced hours;

- Allowing seniors to earn delayed retirement credits for Social Security purposes for an additional two years until age 72, instead of age 70;

- Reducing the amount of Social Security benefits lost to seniors who claim benefits before reaching normal retirement age and while they continue working;

-Forming a National Resource Center on Aging and the Workforce within the Department of Labor to collect, organize and disseminate older worker information;

- Changing how Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuities are calculated by correcting a glitch that results in a disproportionate reduction in benefits for certain employees who phase into retirement by working part-time;

- Requiring states to include older worker representatives on the state and local workforce investment boards and set aside five percent of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds to assist older individuals;

- Expanding eligibility of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include older workers; and

- Clarifying that certain defined benefit pension plans can define normal retirement age under their plans as the earlier of (1) the attainment of a specified age or (2) attainment of 30 or more years of service.

Kohl chairs the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging; Smith is its ranking member. A recent committee hearing on the bill is available as a webcast [requires Real Player].

Our friend Jeff Williams of Bizstarters is taking his act on the road, with a series of “Ultimate Boomer Business Start-Up Workshops” York, Chicago and Boston this June.

“We’ve learned from working with hundreds of Boomer entrepreneurs that many just want to run their business part-time and so are looking for a quick, easy way to launch,” says Williams. “We’ve spent more than a year designing a one day workshop and follow up coaching group to get our Boomer clients open for business quickly”.

The seminar is designed for individuals who have a pre-existing business idea and who want to be well on their way to launching their business at the end of the one day workshop.

Details and registration information on the workshop can be found here

A Dutch organization called Route50Plus launched an ambitious new website this week, Route50plus, with a mission to “track, share and distribute” information and knowledge about the 50+ market globally. The idea here is a B2B resource for marketers focused on 50+ consumers, and we can always use more light in this area. The venture’s interesting group of partners include Plus Magazine, 50 Plus Beurs, SeniorWeb, Nederland Bureau door Tourisme & Congressen, Omroep MAX, De Telegraaf, MediaPlus, and Booming Experience.

The publisher’s description is promising:

On the home page is an agenda with upcoming international events and seminars. At the heart of the site is a digital knowledge centre with the latest news published in both Dutch and English. Content and links can be found from more than 4000 national and international sources. Topics include fifty-plus marketing, media, new products, services, and trends. “This is a website marketers around the world have been waiting for,” said Claudia Biegel, Project Manager of Route 50Plus. “Finally you can find and download the most up-to-date and relevant information about everything concerning the fifty-plus on one comprehensive website.”

Just one problem: all the navigation is in Dutch and the content is a somewhat confusing blend of Dutch and English. This will be a bit of an issue for those non-Dutch speakers out there, of which there are . . . a few.

Suggestion to the publishers: reorganize the site so that visitors can opt for an English or Dutch version.

If you think all Boomers are . . . well, doing anything en masse–think again. AARP and Focalyst go after the top ten myths about Boomers in a new report. Via Marketing Charts.

Retirement Living TV has jumped into the booming online health information market with the launch of Our Freedom Years, a site focused on health issues related to aging. This vertical market is surging as Boomers age and turn to the web for information.

Retirement Living is owned by Erickson Retirement Communities, which also publishes the Erickson Tribune monthly newspaper that circulates in the company’s communities. A press release says Our Freedom Years will draw from all those resources.

A 2007 Harris Poll showed that 52 percent of Americans “sometimes or frequently” go online for health information, up from 29 percent in 2001. Other media companies targeting the market include Hearst Magazines, which beefed up its online health presence last year by acquiring Real Age, and Healthline.com, which last year raised $25 million in new capital to fund expansion. AOL founder Steve Case has established a major presence in online health with Revolution Health, an online brand focused on healthy lifestyles. These newer sites are getting traction despite the presence of strong, entrenched online names like WebMd, the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health.

The 50+ market has a new free B2B information resource in Tom Mann’s Mature Market Experts. Tom is the former publisher of The Erickson Tribune and now runs TR Mann Consulting, which focuses on real estate, media, and the senior marketplace.

Tom says he envisions MME as an online network for professionals working in the 50+ market: “Mature Market Experts connects investors, bankers, real estate developers, consumer goods companies, health care professionals, journalists and marketing experts who are interested in serving the senior marketplace. In short, if you serve, market to, or write about people who are 50+, this is the group for you.”

The goal of the group is to help members:

• Reach other members of Mature Market Experts
• Accelerate careers/business through referrals from Mature Market Experts members
• Know more than a name - view rich professional profiles from fellow Mature Market Experts Group members

If you’re interested in joining, go to Tom Mann’s LinkedIn profile, and scroll down until you see the Mature Market Experts badge. Click on the bade and send an email explaining that you’d like to join and describe your connection to the 50+ marketplace.

The MME blog will feature a number of writers on the 50+ market, who will be commenting on trends and industry news. The site also will serve as a collection point for industry-related events. I’m planning to contribute to the site, and Tom already has lined up several other contributors, including:

• Eric Schubert, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs at Ecumen. Eric also has a wonderful blog called Changing Aging.
• Dan Rexford, Partner, Equity Partners Inc. Dan’s company helps distressed businesses either recover or sell. In addition, Dan is the former Executive Vice President of Marketing at Erickson Retirement Communities . . . with over 18 years in the retirement community industry.
• Jodi Rudick, author. Jodi is putting the finishing touches on a book to be published by Human Kinetics focused on programming/marketing recreation services to baby boomers.

Tom’s still looking for other contributors, especially experts in medicine, finance and social work. If you are interested, drop him a note at trmann@verizon.net.