What is "AARP" and should Catholics join?

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MarieVeronica

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Man, I’m tellin’ you… “they” know everything about us… out there! Scary… :eek:

Anyway… I’m about to turn 50 (next week)… so yesterday, I get this “Join AARP” membership in the mail. The age requirement is apparently 50+.

My question: Do any of you have AARP membership… and what is it… exactly? I’m still too young for Medicare… and yet, it seems to be connected to Medicare benefits.

Is there any moral or ethical reason that I should NOT join? Or is this a GOOD thing to be a member of? What would be the benefits of joining… if any? (I did read the pamplet… but it seemed sketchy, at best).

And I’m concerned about AARP’s “affiliates”. Are they affiliated, in any way… for example… with Planned Parenthood? 🤷

Your replies and knowledge of AARP are greatly appreciated. God bless.

MV :curtsey:
 
All I know about AARP is that it’s a social/political organization which focuses on providing services and benefits to “seniors”.

I personally would not join because they lean liberal; they support and lobby for liberal causes. On the other hand, I do know that AARP members get all kinds of discounts and benefits.
MarieVeronica said:
Man, I’m tellin’ you… “they” know everything about us… out there! Scary… :eek:
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I know a little bit more about information gathering. You would not believe the personal information that is “harvested” and stored about us. Some people see sinister government motives behind these efforts. But, in my experience, the reason is much more benign – it’s the efforts of companies to use technology to more precisely target potential consumers.

For example, everyone gets tons of junk mail and, if you get a Sunday paper, lots of advertising circulars and supplments. The overwhelming majority of these go right into the trash. Not an efficient use of a company’s tight marketing/advertising budget.

But, by using technology and access to data warehouses, companies can instead put together a list of potential customers meeting very specific demographic criteria. In your case, AARP put together a list of folks about to turn 50 and, viola!, instead of sending out milllions of bulk mailings, AARP puts a tailored solicitation in the mailboxes of a couple of thousand folks who are about to reach the half-century mark. 🙂
 
The efficiency with which AARP has tracked down my family members as they turned fifty lead some of them to joke that if the government really wanted to find Osama Bin Laden, they should just tell AARP that he turned fifty and they’d find a way to track him down 😉

Seriously, I don’t know too much about their advocacy work. I think they ran ads during the presidential campaign encouraging both candidates to support universal health care, which might be a “liberal” idea but is not in conflict with Catholic teaching. Their members also get some good discounts at lots of hotels, restaurants, museums, etc.
 
Now you guys have me wondering why my dh keeps getting invitations to join AARP when he is nowhere near 50. They are very persistent too. I joked that I would sign him up to see how long it would take them to realize he was too young.
 
Thank you everyone, for the replies.

It just sort of “weirded me out” that they KNEW… exactly one week… prior… that I would be turning 50. It IS like a “Big Brother” thing. :mad: An idea which, to most Americans is very uncomfortable.

Yeck.

Well… anyone who knows more about the benefits or drawbacks of AARP… I would definitely appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut.

God bless.
 
I use the discounts for hotels, eye glasses, car rentals and some stores. I like their magazine.
 
I have been getting invitations for AARP stuff since I was about 26 or 27. 🤷
 
Catholic90 said:
I have been getting invitations for AARP stuff since I was about 26 or 27. 🤷
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Wow, that’s strange “C90”. Because the info I received states an age requirement of 50+. Hmm.

Maybe they have different “levels”, aimed at different age groups? Who knows. I don’t remember seeing it, before this week in my mail.
 
I won’t because among their other activities they lobby for political issues of interest to seniors, but my position is contrary to theirs in most cases, and in general I don’t join organizations that use my dues to form a PAC. if their insurance and other discounts help you, and you can’t get them anywhere else, join.

tip: if you clink on a link or site of interest primarily to seniors, or order certain products on-line or by mail that are primarily marketed to seniors, you will also get on their mailing list, as they are in the business of buying and selling mailing lists.
 
Hello. I used to work of the AARP health insurance. It is a membership program for middle age individuals 50+. It is 12.50/year. There are discounts for longer memberships. Their are discounts for many places and services(especially the insurance). AARP is an advocacy organization for senior citizens and their concerns. They even help 50+ individuals find jobs. They are not affiliated with Planned parenthood because most of the female members are beyond fertility:o . When I used to speak to the members they were conservative. Most likely because of their age.
 
From the AARP material I get, they seem much more into planned grandparenthood . . . . .
 
We belong to AARP for the discounts and when we are old enough will probably look into Medicare supplements through them. Other than that, we don’t really pay much attention to it.

However, I just found out that a certain paint company will give a 25% discount to AARP members, and since we have a lot of painting to do, and always use their paint anyway, we will be taking advantage of that one.😃

My mother-in law died of cancer about 15 years ago, and my father-in-law was able to pick up some supplemental insurance from them while she was getting treatment, even though she had a pre-existing condition and was not old enough for Medicare. I am not sure that would happen today, though.

I don’t know why they would have anything to do with Planned Parenthood, since people over 50 aren’t likely to use their services.😉
 
Joannm said:
I use the discounts for hotels, eye glasses, car rentals and some stores. I like their magazine.
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They saved me 20% on my auto insurance. I would not use their health insurance, because they are a for-profit company and their premiums are way overpriced. But I don’t feel like they’re Big Brother or anything.
 
I just started getting invites for the AARP a couple months ago, and I am only 44? :eek:
 
My mom started getting the letters when she was 44 or 45. I remember because she was incensed that they thought she was 50. Now that I am turning 44 this year I wonder when I will start getting letters from Darth Elderly.
 
Isabella1 said:
I just started getting invites for the AARP a couple months ago, and I am only 44? :eek:
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Me too!!! I turned 44 in December and got my invite letter a few weeks before my birthday - it was a weird moment!!

~Liza
 
lizaanne said:
Me too!!! I turned 44 in December and got my invite letter a few weeks before my birthday - it was a weird moment!!

~Liza
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:eek: Ok you guys… this really startin’ to FLIP me out. :rotfl:

I’m thinking… I don’t knoooooow if I wanna fill this thing out and send it in. 😊
 
lizaanne said:
Me too!!! I turned 44 in December and got my invite letter a few weeks before my birthday - it was a weird moment!!

~Liza
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We must be on the 44 “starting to get old list” 😃 But I still feel like I am at least in my 30’s 🤷
 
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