Just about everything that J. Michael Willard has to say is useful, even insightful - but basic. As Willard himself notes,
it is simply
common sense that you’ll deal better with the transitions of aging and the unequal treatment that almost always accompanies them if you prepare for these
changes. What differentiates the best of Willard’s advice from mere common sense, though, is the specifics. He immediately cuts through most people’s great self-deception regarding aging: that it won’t happen to them. However, most of the book falls into three categories: reviewing facts that aging readers may already know; making suggestions they’ve probably heard before (present yourself professionally, stay fit, etc.); and telling stories about people who successfully made the professional changes that aging demands. Since Willard tells a good story, the book is always entertaining, but ultimately short on substance.