What is the Purpose of the AARP?
In an earlier era, the idea of retiring from the workforce was likely to fill a person with panic and dread. Not only would he cease to be considered a contributing member to society, but he also faced the reality of diminishing resources and escalating health costs. Today, individuals are living longer, enjoying more leisure, and having a hard-working ally and advocate in the AARP to ensure a secure financial future and access to a bounty of discounts, benefits and social services.
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History
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In 1947, an educator named Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus came up with the idea of a national organization that would spearhead an aggressive campaign to help retired teachers get adequate health insurance as well as confront the stereotype that individuals who left the workforce no longer had anything useful to offer. She called it the National Retired Teachers Association, and 11 years later founded the American Association of Retired Persons to assist individuals from all occupations in learning how to pre-plan and meet their financial and medical needs after they turned 50. In 1999, the name was officially shortened to AARP. The National Retired Teachers Association is one of many divisions under the AARP umbrella.
Function
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AARP's focus is to improve the quality of life for older individuals and their families by providing financial and legal advice, offering discounts on pharmaceuticals, selling insurance products (including provisions for long-term care), setting up educational and job counseling for retirees wanting to rejoin the workforce, and negotiating substantial member discounts on vacation packages, transportation and lodging. AARP also strives to keep its members apprised of significant legislative proposals that may impact them, and serves as a consumer advocate at both the state and national levels.
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Benefits
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AARP members have access to a broad network of financial planners, accountants, legal staff, health and insurance professionals, and hospitality experts. In addition to all of the behind-the-scenes work of AARP lobbyists to influence politicians in endorsing bills that will protect and enhance the rights of older citizens, AARP publishes and distributes to its members a free bimonthly magazine containing well researched articles that offer inspiring interviews with celebrities over 50, health, exercise and nutrition tips, real estate advice for homeowners, scams to watch out for, and first-person accounts about globetrekking experiences, nostalgia, starting a home business, unusual hobbies or even how to dissuade one's grown children from moving back home.
Geography
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Since the early 1960s, AARP has had an international presence and extensive research collaboration with social, economic and research associations throughout the world. One of its offshoots, the International Federation of Aging, was launched in the early 1970s and is still going strong. United States citizenship is no longer a prerequisite for membership in AARP. In fact, over 40,000 of its current members do not not reside within American borders.
Size
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Today's AARP is almost 40 million strong, almost 45 percent of which are still working in part-time or full-time positions. A little more than half of its members are women. Since it is not a requirement that AARP members actually be retired in order to join, this has attracted large numbers of men and women who want to take advantage of membership benefits and discounts, and the access to expertise that will help them start planning for their golden years well in advance of retirement.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Photo by Christina Hamlett
