WASHINGTON, D.C. (Fortune Magazine) -- Every seven and a half seconds, a member of the baby boomer generation turns 50. So in a 45-minute conversation with Bill Novelli, CEO of the AARP, 360 Americans became eligible to join the powerful lobbying organization that Novelli has headed for the past six years.

Whether they join the AARP's ranks or not, those graying boomers face many challenges ahead, from paying for healthcare to funding retirement. Novelli, though, in his optimistic new book, "50+: Igniting a Revolution to Reinvent America," sees those problems as opportunities to be seized.

Bill Novelli, CEO of the AARP

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"With increased longevity adding vital and productive years to our extended lives, we have come to an important crossroads," he writes. "In front of us is unprecedented opportunity to make changes that will not only improve our own lives but also make our country stronger. The question we have to ask is are we going to lead that change or let that change lead us?"

By dint of their education and engagement in social issues dating back to the 1960s, boomers, Novelli argues, are distinctly capable of spearheading that change. But he's been around Washington long enough to admit that partisan bickering continues to hamper meaningful progress. "This partisanship is corrosive," he says. "It is trench warfare. I would say it's just as bad as what we saw during the Clinton administration, but the problems today are worse."

Take Social Security. Novelli led the AARP's drive against the Bush administration's call for personal retirement accounts, which was eventually defeated. But the overall issue is far from settled. How do we fix it? "It's not that hard," the soft-spoken former PR man says. "From a purely policy standpoint, that is. You could get 10 smart people in a room and they could fix Social Security in ten days." The problem, in his opinion, is politics. "Can we get the stars aligned to get the two parties to deal with this issue in a bipartisan way?"

To that end, the AARP is also airing two TV ads to encourage voters to hold candidates' feet to the fire on Social Security during the midterm elections.

Novelli's book (co-authored by AARP policy wonk Boe Workman) does not offer any new panaceas for Social Security or Medicare; instead, it tells inspiring tales like that of Lucille Sewell, a 68-year-old retired nurse from Oklahoma who traveled twice to Indonesia to help those injured by the December 2004 tsunami and a March 2005 earthquake. When Katrina hit, she didn't hesitate to volunteer, jumping on a Greyhound bus immediately. Sewell embodies one of the book's less controversial opportunities: leaving a lasting legacy.

(Of course, one could quibble with the decision to have Steve Case, architect of the most disastrous merger in business history, write the foreword for a book about leaving a lasting legacy.)

Novelli also calls for a "revolution" in the workplace, one exemplified by employers like Borders (Charts) and Home Depot (Charts), who have established formal programs to hire and retain older workers. Home Depot, for example, allows "snowbird" employees to work the winters in Florida and the summers in Maine.

"By either choice or necessity, a majority of boomers will be working into their later years," he says, "and the nation's employers, many of which have traditionally looked for ways to show older workers the door, will accelerate the change in policies and practices aimed at retaining and recruiting older workers."

But much remains to be done in that arena. The average period of unemployment in 2005 was 24 weeks for job seekers 55 and older, compared with just 18 weeks for those under 55, a report from AARP found. And Home Depot and Borders notwithstanding, very few of the companies on AARP's list of the top 50 employers are members of the FORTUNE 500.

Novelli did take the opportunity to dispel what he sees as a myth concerning older workers - that they cost employers much more in terms of health care. He cited a Towers Perrin study, commissioned by the AARP, that found only a marginal difference in the overall cost of employing older workers versus younger ones in a variety of industries. Inspired by the data, the AARP is now repeating the study on an international level, Novelli said.

Some might be surprised to learn that the AARP generates more revenue from royalties than from member dues, which are $12.50 per year. (It currently has 37.2 million members.) AARP has a slew of deals with companies ranging from Travelocity (hotel discounts) to UnitedHealth (Charts) (health insurance.) The AARP keeps its advocacy role separate from its profit-making subsidiary, AARP Services, but that has not entirely silenced critics.

The AARP has even dived into the financial services arena recently by offering its members three mutual funds which are distributed among indexed portfolios and tailored, like most so-called "funds of funds," to your risk profile. For the nine months ending September 29, the total return for the Conservative, Moderate, and Aggressive AARP-branded funds, were 4.2%, 5.5%, and 7.0%, respectively. Not bad, but not as good as Fidelity's Four-in-One Index fund, which delivered a 8.1% return over the same period. But the AARP funds require a mere $25 to invest, much less than most blue-chip funds.

Whether you agree with the AARP's agenda or not, that's a revolution anyone can be part of.

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