WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’RE 50

Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Bob and I’m 54 years old. That sounds like I just introduced myself at an AA meeting. Hi Bob! The writings here will be aimed at those in my age group, to share our common experiences and interests. You younger folks will find this blog a sort of living history and can find out what us older people think of you and what you are up to. Really old people, and you know who you are, will get a kick out of what us youngsters think.

For my first topic I thought I’d start with exactly when you know you’ve turned fifty. It’s not the gray hair, it’s not the aches and pains or the kids moving out of the house. No, it’s when you get your first letter from AARP, which is approximately eighteen minutes after your 50th birthday. Do I need to tell anyone what AARP stands for? If you’re too young to know, do what you do best and Google it.

When I got my first letter from AARP I laughed, crumpled it up and threw it away. AARP? Why, I’m years away from retirement I still have all my teeth and have no body parts in imminent danger of failure. This is for reeeeally old people, not for a merely mature man like me. You toss it and forget it. Then, in my case, I went to a restaurant and found out I could get a dollar off because I was 50. Aha! Did I take my dollar off? Heck yes. However, since I didn’t know about this discount until I was there I was still not one of those people who keep track of where every oldster price break exists.

I kept getting those letters from AARP, it seemed like a couple a month, and I kept trashing them. Then, one day at work I stopped by my Human Resources office and asked the nice lady if she could go over my retirement options with me. I do want to be somewhat prepared. The HR lady told me to go to the company website. I did, and found that I could get my monthly retirement benefit estimates for any age that I wanted to retire. My retirement money at age 65 did not thrill me.

That night at home I got out my last Social Security statement and saw what I was entitled to when I retired. I also checked my wife’s statement. Then I added them to my retirement income. That was just a bit disappointing. Okay, it was more than disappointing. What to do?

The next letter I got from AARP, I opened it. I read it and paid attention. I asked around at work and found a few people who had joined. They all said that it was worth it. Upon further investigation, there are a lot of good benefits to joining AARP. You might actually be able to afford insurance and prescriptions when you retire. There are many discounts on many items. Their newsletter articles actually speak to you in a language you can understand. So, my wife and I are seriously considering joining AARP. Does that make me old?
I just looked on their website and it only costs $12.50 a year to join AARP. And look, spouses are Free! Oh, Honey!

Stay young and stay tuned.