<p>Only H in our family qualifies for the Golden Pass, but we can all get into national parks & monuments for free when we are all in the same vehicle or go with him. 
It has and will be cost savings, even though we do lose the GP sometimes & repurchase. :)</p>
<p>Himom-
Thanks for the tip on the goldenpass. It looks like you “only” have to be 62 to get it, not 65. I am not there yet, but its a great tip. Thanks! Any other tips for discounts/deals for the over 55 crowd?</p>
<p>Hotels have different ages that qualify for “senior” discount, so it can be a good thing to check. Thanks for the correction on the age for GoldenPass.</p>
<p>I was ambivalent about renewing my membership as I really don’t use it and am not enamoured by their politics and stupid resistence to having older adults driving skills re-evaluated, but I found that by buying $15 worth of “stuff” at Walgreens, I got a free one year renewal on AARP. Problem solved!</p>
<p>Jym, you just reminded me about the AARP driver safety course online. It saves us about $90/year on our car insurance at USAA.</p>
<p>Hmmm, gotta look into that. Can use all the help we can get in cutting down insu bills. That said, I seem to recall we had some driver discount on our bill (DH and DS’s too an on the road driver safety class and got to do all sorts of wild stuff on a raceway) and it lasted several years. Might have expired by now.</p>
<p>Yeah, the discounts expire after 2 or 3 years. Here’s the link for the AARP online course:
[AARP</a> Driver Safety Online - Online Course Home](<a href=“http://www.aarpdriversafety.org/]AARP”>http://www.aarpdriversafety.org/)</p>
<p>I have left them. They are traitors. They betrayed my interests. This is not an advice, this is just my response to OP.</p>
<p>AARP just went up a notch in my book…</p>
<p>patsmom-
Is the $90 discount per person? The course costs about $16 to take. Will EACH person taking it get a $90 discount? Guess I gotta ck with USAA</p>
<p>The AARP’s agenda is to take as much money and benefits from younger generations as possible. I won’t feed an evil empire like that.</p>
<p>Razor - that’s my issue w AARP. Granted, those of us who are just eligible for membership have seen the writing on the wall for decades re Social Security and have never been eligible for pensions. We were not fed the same lines as our parents that pensions & SSI would carry them through retirement. 401Ks were introduced in 1986, which is when we were entering the workforce, so we’ve been conditioned to know that we are responsible for our own retirement planning.</p>
<p>I wish people could stop themselves from posting incendiary comments. This is a thread about AARP benefits not your political beliefs. And certainly not your rather nasty take. </p>
<p>Seriously. This is why the politics section was closed and it’s why many people don’t post often. And why I sometimes think, “This forum is not worth my time.” </p>
<p>This isn’t a thread about AARP’s political stance.</p>
<p>Lergnom - it’s a thread about joining/not joining AARP. Most people think AARP is all about benefits and the magazine, when in fact it’s a huge lobby organization. </p>
<p>I urge people to read the annual report and see if this organization speaks for them. It does not for me. </p>
<p>From the 2011 annual report under highlight of the year:</p>
<p>“Restorting middle-class security and confidence among individuals 50+ was the major focus of AARP in 2011”. </p>
<p>[Annual</a> Report - 2011 AARP](<a href=“http://pubs.aarp.org/aarpannualreport/2011annualreport?folio=1#pg6]Annual”>http://pubs.aarp.org/aarpannualreport/2011annualreport?folio=1#pg6)</p>
<p>Here’s the financial statements if you would like to see how they make/spend money:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/about_aarp/annual_reports/2012-05/Consolidated-Financial-Statements-2011-2010-AARP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/about_aarp/annual_reports/2012-05/Consolidated-Financial-Statements-2011-2010-AARP.pdf</a></p>
<p>Did you know United Healthcare accounted for 34% of 2011 revenues (65% of royalty income)?</p>
<p>jym626- thanks to you for the Walgreens reminder.
I shop at Walgreens all the time anyway. Today I had them swipe my card for $38 worth of vitamins, feminine stuff for DD, etc and got the coupon for free AARP renewal AND a coupon for $5 off my next visit. </p>
<p>I have been saving for our retirement since age 25 ish. I still hope that the SS and medicare I’ve been anticipating having over the last 30 yrs actually will be there for us in another 10 yrs or so.</p>
<p>“Restorting middle-class security and confidence among individuals 50+ was the major focus of AARP in 2011”. </p>
<p>is this supposed to be a bad thing? There are Lobbyists for everything these days that are a whole lot worse than AARP.</p>
<p>jym, the USAA discount worked out to about $90 for the year for two cars. The discount was a little higher on one car than on the other because of the age/model of the vehicle, I guess. I think my car gets about $20 off on a 6 month renewal and my husband’s newer car gets about $25 off. So it’s close to $90 for a full year’s premium. I’m pretty sure it’s good for 3 years, so that makes the $16 cost negliglble for the return of $135 ($45 x 3).</p>
<p>What does “restorting” mean?</p>
<p>“I have been saving for our retirement since age 25 ish.”</p>
<p>Me too … I did it for personal reasons, rather than some dogma that “Social Security won’t be there by the time you retire.” If SS isn’t there for future generations, it’s only because large pools of “Reserved” money are way too tempting targets for “other uses.”</p>
<p>"The AARP’s agenda is to take as much money and benefits from younger generations as possible. I won’t feed an evil empire like that. "</p>
<p>-not just that. They also do not care a slightest bit about elderly either. They use them to get $$$ out of their pockets. I was a member, I left after certain event that made it very clear to me what they are after. They betrayed me and others. But this is my stand, all these others are welcome to have their own, I have no desire to change others’ opinions, it is simply not possible</p>