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Ha, you think that’s bad – I remember my college roommate getting AARP stuff in the mail when he graduated. He must have been all of 22 at the time.

If you do decide to send them the $12.50, even at this tender age of 49, I think I can guarantee that it will pay for itself sooner rather than later.

I got mine in 1999 & all my peers threw theirs away; you’d be amazed at how many times & circumstance since then that it has garnered me anywhere from 15-25% discount. Food, clothing, shelter, service, ... even simple things like fending off panhandlers! Most of the time, you simply have to ask & flash your card & presto!

I agree with your larger point about no definition of the acronym AARP, but I think that’s more to reduce the ‘stigma’ of being made aware that a certain age/era is at hand.

I can offer an explanation. They used to be American Association of Retired Persons but now they only go by the acronym AARP because most of their members aren’t retired. Not surprising really. As the economy changed and those in their 50s and 60s either kept working for economic reasons or just didn’t want to sit at home…fewer and fewer members were actually retired. I guess they could have changed it to the American Association of Folks that are More Mature but By Far not Old or Past-Their Prime….but I’m guessing that would have been awkward and would alienate those members that actually were retired, so they went with a simple AARP.

I am 49 and I, too, was solicited. I got over the stigma and realized that, yes, you can save money using that card. Of course, I refuse to start using it until I actually turn 50.

Discounts? Cool. Which Cracker Barrel are y’all meeting at?

I’ll bring the white pants!

The Limey Brit: “I remember my college roommate getting AARP stuff in the mail when he graduated. He must have been all of 22 at the time.”

And I got my first gray hair when I was 15. But I wasn’t ready to join the AARP then, either.

DanS: “If you do decide to send them the $12.50, even at this tender age of 49, I think I can guarantee that it will pay for itself sooner rather than later.”

I’m sure you’re right, and my Mom has emailed me to point out her and Dad would get 10% discounts on hotels on their travels, etc. And, hoestly, on first glance I thought they wanted $12.50 per month, and when I realized it was per year, I thought that was surprisingly cheap. So I’m sure it’s a good value. I’m just not sure who they are anymore.

cristin: “They used to be American Association of Retired Persons but now they only go by the acronym AARP because most of their members aren’t retired.”

Well, um, that’s a definite branding issue. I bet it’s a lobbying issue as well. Hard to push for senior citizens rights when most of your members aren’t there yet.

Perhaps they should become the AARPWLD: the American Association Of Real People Who Like Discounts.

And though it may be true that I’m a bit touchy about this half century mark I’m approaching, I also think I’m a sign of the confusion their current marketing efforts generate. I saw a commercial last night on TV, and I can’t be certain of this, because it was halfway over before I realized it was for AARP, but in the second half, they did not show a single person who was over 40.

You can spell it out visually, and you can refuse to spell it out in print, but at some point, you’ve got to come out and actually say it: we’re no longer what we were, this is what we are now.

From the web site:

Membership in AARP is open to any person age 50 or above. With 25 percent of the U.S. population in the 50+ category, nearly half of all people in this age bracket are AARP members. However, U.S. citizenship is not a requirement for membership; over 40,000 members live outside the United States. People also do not have to be retired to join. In fact, 44 percent of AARP members work part time or full time. _ For these reasons, AARP shortened its name in 1999 from the American Association of Retired Persons to just four letters: AARP._ The median age of AARP members is 65, and slightly more than half of them are women.

I turned 52 two weeks ago. Yes, I am a member. Their PAC is a powerful force in healthcare which is a subject near and dear to me and my bank account. I should think you have had enough trauma visited upon you and yours via our so-called health care system that you long for at least the feeling that your voice is heard on the subject.

Okay, enough doom and gloom. Here is something about getting older that will give you a chuckle.

youtube.com/watch?v=...

Afraid to click on strange links? It is a collection of clips from the Red Green Show. The first clip germane, but they are all funny.

Reid,
I got mine the other day as well, and I think I’m going to join. I’m hitting the 50 this year as well, and you know, it beats the alternative.

I got the mailing a couple of weeks ago, too.

Not realizing that it was intended for me, I forwarded it on to my Dad.

Heck, I got my AARP card and application form in the mail YESTERDAY! And I was born in 1977. (We should all still be young enough to do the math on that one and come up with 31 years.)

Snort! heheheh Giggle. Welcome to the big 50 dude. I’m a couple of years ahead of you. As many above mentioned, there are advantages connected with the dirt cheap membership fee. Especially if you ever travel. I went through the same song and dance some time ago Reid. I also had a friend who was just extolling the virtues of being a member. Every time I heard him on amateur radio radio repeaters he’d ask me if I’d signed up. So finally one day he asked me and I told him that I’d signed up. I was an official member of the NAACP. When the radio turned back to him he didn’t have a word he could utter, but in the back ground his wife was dying laughing. Did I mention my friends were black?
He came back and said; “Man, I think you got those letters confused.” Then a bit later: “Did they really let you join?” So as you indicated Reid, the definitions of the letters is critically important. Well, got to go, just got a call from Jessie about a last minute strategy meeting before the North Carolina primaries….

Walt: “I went through the same song and dance some time ago Reid”

I’m thinking they need to adjust their marketing (I got another mailing from them last week). Perhaps the envelope could show a photo of a proctoscope, with the headline “Turning 50 isn’t all ‘downside,’ read on to find out about the benefits!”