The AARP is WARPed

Yes, that’s Right.  The AARP, The American Association of Retired People got WARPed.  AARP is a misnomer.  It should be WORKING AMERICAN RETIRED PEOPLE; which is WARP.

If you have joined the ranks of the retired, you better get out there and work.  You can’t afford to be retired.  You need the money to live.  Way back when, you needed to be 65 to qualify for your retirement pension, Medicare and Social Security.  The AARP used to have 55 as the age to qualify for membership.  Now it’s 50.  The Baby Boomers now have to be older than 65 to qualify for Social Security.  And after they introduced Medicare, came Medicaid.  Then they started in with articles saying that you needed more young people contributing in to Social Security so that the swelling ranks of the older people could collect Social Security.  Then there were articles that fraud is wasting millions (probably now billions) in Medicare and Medicaid.  Then Bill Clinton said wealthy people who have other sources of income should have 85% of their Social Security taxed away.  And now Obama says we have to enact new legislation; hurry up and enact new legislation; before the summer recess.  The summer recess is here.

Retired people years ago saved up for retirement.  They planned; they saved; they allotted funds for special saving programs.  They invested in retirement accounts; Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA).  They put money into 401(k)s; is your 4-‘0′-1-(‘k’) “okay” today?  Some comedians are calling them 201(k)s; they lost so much money.

And what has the American Association for Retired People done lately for retired people?  They’re supposed to advocate for this special interest group.

In both his presidential campaigns, former President George W. Bush had strongly advocated for changes with the Social Security program, proposing private accounts.  When Bush won in 2004, he said, “We’ll start on Social Security now.”  The inflamed Democrats fought him; keep in mind it was 2004 – they didn’t gain control of congress till 2006.  The AARP fought him, strongly opposed him, adamantly opposed him.  Government workers unions strongly opposed him.  The Wall Street Journal headlined an article when Bush finally dropped the battle, “How a Victorious Bush Fumbled Plan to Revamp Social Security” (Thursday, October 20, 2005).  Wherever Bush went, the Democrats followed with a retort to everything he tried to advance.  Wherever Bush went, protesters were organized and they showed up, en masse.  The Wall Street Journal says it was “War With AARP”.  The Wall Street Journal says the AARP “unveiled plans to denounce the accounts in AARP’s costliest-ever campaign of media ads and grass-roots activities.”  Interestingly enough, the October 20, 2005 article says the AARP had 36 million members.  And yet, the AARP website in their press release dated July 27, 2009 says 35.5 million.  From 2005 to 2009, we’ve been told that the aging population is one of the fastest-growing demographics in America.  We’re told the Baby Boomers are causing the numbers to swell.  Everywhere you turn Active Adult, Age Restricted, 55+, Retirement Communities are going up.  We’re also told people are living longer.  Medicine, technology, hospital equipment, MRIs, CAT Scans, education and new medical break-throughs are helping people to live longer.

The latest AARP magazine I saw in the library (I’m not an AARP member; I have to go to the library to see the magazine) said SWIM MORE – LIVE LONGER.  The magazine also had an item on Yogi Berra, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”  Truer words were never said Yogi.  So how come, with Baby Boomers swelling the ranks and people living longer and medical technology helping people live longer and publicity for new nutritious diets and new exercise equipment; so how come the AARP has fewer members?

I’ll tell you why.  Because they do NOT represent the American Aging Population.  They do NOT advocate for the American Aging Population.  They do NOT strengthen the retirement programs currently in place for the Retired People.  Today’s Retirement Population Cannot Retire.  They have to work.

The retirement programs did not materialize into a safety net for retirement.  The active adult activities proved too costly.  The taxes are high.  The income is not there to keep up with escalating costs.  The fixed income only goes so far.  Money.  Money is not flowing into the retirement household as anticipated.

The AARP did not come through for their membership.  Members have dropped out; some have died; and others have not joined.  I asked a lady in my office; a working lady who age qualifies for retirement, if she was a member of the AARP.  Yes, she’s a member.  Why?  Because they offer discounts:  discounts on many items that are useful to her.  Politics is not her thing.

But if politics is your thing,  THINK.  Think about your membership in the AARP.  What have they advocated on your behalf?  How have they strengthened your retirement income?  What have they done to protect your Social Security benefit?  And now, what is happening with Medicare?

I’m not a member of the AARP.  I have no intentions of joining.  Let them keep their discounts.  And most of all, what have they done politically to help retired people?  If older people are concerned about their income, how they will pay their bills, and especially, what happens if they become sick; if older people are concerned about all that, then I say Where Is the Advocacy Group to Represent Them?

WARP – Working American Retired People.

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