AARP?

[Gotadimple]

Most of what AARP identifies as a discount you can get on your own. As respects anything with their logo, they collect a licensing fee. The fine print says they have no financial interest in the goods/services and are not responsible for the firm using their logo.



As to Medigap plans, consider the detail and compare with other plans, carriers.

 

[Reach]

Love 'em. My $12/year gets my wife and I 30% off eyeglasses and exams. We switch glasses or prescription sunglasses about every two years, saving us hundreds.

This is exactly what we discovered this year! Signed up right in the optician's office when we found out about it and got the 30% discount. Yes, saving hundreds!

 

[COcheesehead]

Most of what AARP identifies as a discount you can get on your own. As respects anything with their logo, they collect a licensing fee. The fine print says they have no financial interest in the goods/services and are not responsible for the firm using their logo.



As to Medigap plans, consider the detail and compare with other plans, carriers.

I have to give merchants my AARP number in order to get a discount. I am not sure how I could get it on my own without it.

 

[Another Reader]

Most of what AARP identifies as a discount you can get on your own. As respects anything with their logo, they collect a licensing fee. The fine print says they have no financial interest in the goods/services and are not responsible for the firm using their logo.



As to Medigap plans, consider the detail and compare with other plans, carriers.

The problem is that they are the least expensive plan for Medigap F by a not insignificant amount. I have not had problems with UHC administering the current pre-Medicare retiree plan and my folks did not have problems with the UHC/AARP supplement plan.

I would NEVER do business with HealthNet, one of the alternatives. They are the company that "forgot" my primary care doctor of ten years and tried to assign me to a Spanish speaking doctor in his 60's located in a part of town where I would not park my car much less go to a doctor, attached to the worst hospital in the County. I sent them proof of the previous relationship and threatened to go to CDI and the insurance commissioner and they finally fixed it. Companies that play those games are the least trustworthy of a generally untrustworthy bunch. I would rather hold my nose and join AARP than to worry constantly about whether the insurance company is going to stab me in the back.

 

[redduck]

...After I retired, the only copy of their magazine I ever read promoted free sex...

Well, I guess if you want to keep paying for it, that's up to you.

 

[CaptTom]

They put a ton of money supporting anything democratic. I am conservative, would not give them a dime because it would go to support the far left!

I haven't seen that at all. Granted, they've opposed some things that Republicans have proposed. I know in today's polarized political landscape, disagreeing with "my" party (whichever that may be) - even when my party proposed legislation which hurts me personally - is tantamount to treason.

That's why things are as bad as they are.

I suggest that disagreeing with a Republican is NOT proof that the person or group supports the Democrats. Or vice-versa.

It seems to me that anyone who thinks this way is probably being manipulated by a polarized media outlet, and needs to seek out sources which present more nuanced and multi-sided analysis. Even if you can't find an unbiased outlet, seek out views from the other end of the spectrum, and put in the mental and emotional effort to find the middle ground. That's where reality normally lies. Not at the fringes, left or right.

 

[cranberryjoe]

I joined while still working when Megacorp paid for the first year. The magazines were mildly interesting, but nothing I couldn't find online reading this and other websites. I never used any of the discounts (AAA almost always has the best discount rates for travel, and none of the other AARP discounts coincided with things or services I cared to consume).

I especially hated the sharp increase in junk mailings. I would get something from AARP several days a week, sometimes multiple mailings in one day. When it came time to renew, I canceled. That was probably 4 years ago. I still get mailings once or twice a month inviting me to join again.

I appreciate the lobbying efforts they do for seniors, even if I don't always agree with their positions. But not enough to pay for membership and suffer a full mailbox again.

 

[Just_Steve]

Well, I guess if you want to keep paying for it, that's up to you.

^That^ made me giggle.

 

[HFWR]

I would rather hold my nose and join AARP than to worry constantly about WHEN the insurance company is going to stab me in the back.

FIFY...

Well, I guess if you want to keep paying for it, that's up to you.

Oh, you’ll pay for it, one way or another...

 

[misanman]

...After I retired, the only copy of their magazine I ever read promoted free sex...

In my experience, sex is never "free". Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

 

[HawkOwl]

Regarding the ethics of supporting advocacy groups....a few years ago Scott Burns described the AARP position on a bill that would pass on the costs of supporting today’s seniors to children to young to vote as “child abuse”. I agree. That is why I will not join AARP.

 

[COcheesehead]

Regarding the ethics of supporting advocacy groups....a few years ago Scott Burns described the AARP position on a bill that would pass on the costs of supporting today’s seniors to children to young to vote as “child abuse”. I agree. That is why I will not join AARP.

If you think about it, just about everything gets passed onto the next generation, both good and bad.

 

[HFWR]

Your SS check, Medicare, military, the roads you drive on, are all being paid for in part by borrowing from future generations. Guess who’s to blame? Hint, it’s us...

 

[HawkOwl]

Well... in my state, roads are paid by a tax on gasoline. The military is supposed to be paid out of current tax collections, but with deficit spending I suppose that any (but not all) expenditures could be attributed to kicking the can down the road. Point taken regarding ssc/medicare.

Still, at least in my mind, that does not justify a generation campaigning for a bigger slice of the pie at the expense of children who can’t even vote. Who speaks for them?

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

... Still, at least in my mind, that does not justify a generation campaigning for a bigger slice of the pie at the expense of children who can’t even vote. Who speaks for them?

Is somebody 'campaigning' to increase SS benefits?

 

[COcheesehead]

Well... in my state, roads are paid by a tax on gasoline. The military is supposed to be paid out of current tax collections, but with deficit spending I suppose that any (but not all) expenditures could be attributed to kicking the can down the road. Point taken regarding ssc/medicare.

Still, at least in my mind, that does not justify a generation campaigning for a bigger slice of the pie at the expense of children who can’t even vote. Who speaks for them?

Except for those roads paid for by bonds....

 

[mickeyd]

AARP is not much more than elaborate marketing organization that they charge folks to join and then force feed them with items until they decide to quit.

 

[COcheesehead]

AARP is not much more than elaborate marketing organization that they charge folks to join and then force feed them with items until they decide to quit.

Not really.

 

[HFWR]

I haven’t found the case to join compelling enough, though it’s certainly not expensive, so maybe I’ll change my mind. Or not...

But considering the vast amounts of dark/funny money financing PR campaigns, candidates, lobbyists, media outlets, etc., all designed to [-]buy[/-] influence politicians, and shape public opinion, methinks AARP isn’t particularly heinous.

 

[Crabby Mike]

Except for those roads paid for by bonds....

Roads (or anything else) are never "paid for" by bonds, any more than your house is "paid for" by your mortgage.

 

[COcheesehead]

Roads (or anything else) are never "paid for" by bonds, any more than your house is "paid for" by your mortgage.

Ok, whatever you say. Colorado just issued some though.

 

[bobandsherry]

AARP is not much more than elaborate marketing organization that they charge folks to join and then force feed them with items until they decide to quit.

Force feed? Um, I've never been forced anything. It's $15/yr, maybe less if you get a discount. I've received more than that in benefits. Like anything else, use it to YOUR benefit.

 

[samclem]

Hate AARP and now they're hounding me. The only way I deal with it is to dump it in the recycle bin b4 entering house

They mail me stuff all the time, I won't join. I do return their pre-paid "business reply" envelope every time, stuffed with as much of their material as will fit inside. I'm doing them a favor, they can remove the papers, iron them, and mail them out to other prospective clients. The return postage they pay also helps support the USPS. It's a win-win.

 

[PatrickA5]

Just got my latest AARP magazine. It says "voters guide" on the cover, but I haven't read it yet. I'll let you know if they let me know who I'm supposed to vote for.

 

[bclover]

I am a member. I like them. not expensive, 12 bucks a year and they have interesting articles.

Hey I live in a major city so the discount on movies usually pays the membership. I don't have AAA so can't compare it.


I also find the medical stories interesting.

lol, no they never "force" you to do anything at all. they've never contacted me, held a gun to my head or offered to take my kids. although there were a few times I would have signed alife time contract if they would have done the last.