AARP Lifetime Membership

[visitor200]

When I turned age 50 in 1996, I read that President Clinton also turned 50 the same month, and he bought a one-year membership in AARP.  I chuckled at the notion that he turned down the upgrade to a Lifetime AARP membership for only $59.00 and chose to pay the annual membership each year.

The AARP Lifetime Membership has served my wife and I well over the last 19+ years because of the additional cash-off discounts, free printed newsletter, free printed magazine, and other great topics.

For those who wish to upgrade their AARP annual membership to a Lifetime membership, the current amount is $200 and can only be requested by calling AARP at 800-566-0242 .  Or, perhaps you can encourage your children to sign up so they get more years out of it.

All my best, and be safe.

[GAKKIEZ]

  Love the LIFE MEMBERSHIP!  Don't forget these make great Birthday or Holiday gifts to family/friends!  (They're tax deductible as well!)  I bet a lot of people don't realize that younger people can join AARP at 18! 

I've been a Life Member for several years and have also given them as gifts for my kids as they hit 50. 

[Winter2025VA]

@GAKKIEZ , IF you donot mind my asking. What year did you buy yours and how much? Thanks!

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[*** GAKKIEZ wrote: Love the LIFE MEMBERSHIP!  Don't forget these make great Birthday or Holiday gifts to family/friends!  (They're tax deductible as well!)  I bet a lot of people don't realize that younger people can join AARP at 18! 

I've been a Life Member for several years and have also given them as gifts for my kids as they hit 50. ***]

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[b810315w]

lifetime is only good for 5 years,

[GAKKIEZ]

  A lifetime membership can only be done by contacting AARP directly.  Then check your address label on any mailed AARP periodicals and your new expiration date (mine shows EXP-DEC2800).  You can also check on the AARP Website - Member Details.

[GAKKIEZ]

  I've been a member for over 20 years but didn't get my Life Membership until 2018. I paid $200.  (I didn't realize they offered Life Membership before that.)

[EleanorRigby1]

I am 70 and if I buy this at $200, it only saves me $5 a year...IF I live to be 90 or more. I guess purchasing it when you are younger makes sense.

[GAKKIEZ]

  That $5 is at todays rate?  Membership prices increase in January 2025.

[WebWiseWoman]

Hi, Ellen!

You're right, I think, depending on your family lifespan; but what I chose was to gift my sibs, and now choose for my kids and nephews and nieces a lifetime membership as they qualify; I also gift USGS Lifetime Senior Pass (currently $80) just as my little get active and get outdoors push for them...

[BtW751689]

Why would anyone pay 200 for 5 years when the going rate is 15 x 5=75 so AARP is earning an extra325?  Does not make sense.  Lifetime should be your lifetime not theirs.

[GAKKIEZ]

 You've got the info wrong.  It's $200 for LIFETIME and NOT just for 5 years.  

[kielym]

I have joined a number of organizations with a lifetime membership, but they were all based on actuarial tables. That made it worthwhile. AARP's one-price-fits-all lifetime membership makes sense for a 50 something, but not for an 80 something. If the organizations wants advance cash, it may want to upgrade its lifetime membership program. It only makes sense for me at  some point after I reach 95. Indeed, I hope I will have reason to regret my decision not to purchase the membership.

[b810315w]

I disagree. At 50 you'll spend $200 every 5 years, so its not that great of a deal.

[mc2399]

Wrong.

[mh22088254]

I also paid for a lifetime membership, when I first joined.

Can anyone explain to me why I am now all of a sudden being sent new membership cards, with a request to pay a renewal fee???

This is the first time that this has occurred since I established my membership.

The rules can't suddenly change "midstream", can they?  I do not feel that I owe - nor should I be expected to pay - any kind of renewal fee - EVER!

[KayM549273]

We to bought life time memberships new cards stop coming and now they want money I think it was a con and a class action suit should follow . Life time means life time not five years that was never told to us . Do no life time means life time or they lied and need to be sued . 

[mc2399]

If you bought legitimate lifetime membership by calling AARP and receiving the plastic cards with that information on it, don’t pay attention to anything they send about renewal.  Consider it marketing, and toss it.  We can’t right every wrong with all the dumb things we get in our mailboxes, whether it’s in “snail mail” or email.  In fact, it’s safer to never respond to or click on any email marketing.  Now that is a common way people are scammed.

[WebWiseWoman]

Not sure what you mean about "new cards coming...".

Please check with the fraud advice here and with .gov because I received my card once, then again when they sent plastic. NEVER a "bill". A class action would be appropriate but not against AARP; the site where you supposedly signed up for AARP Lifetime Membership.

[GAKKIEZ]

 I have Life Membership and have never had a problem.  You don't need a new membership card every year!  Check your AARP publications for your Membership expiration (Mine says EXP DEC2800).  My Membership card actually says Lifetime.

Check to see if you have multiple AARP membership ID numbers. I totally ignore all membership mailings that are sent out just to confuse you.

[b810315w]

"lifetime" is 5 years. you'll need to pay another 200.

[WebWiseWoman]

Wrong

[KayM549273]

That was never explained when we bought our life time in the early 80s . So no life time means life time as long as you’re alive . They pulled a con 

[b810315w]

Same here. I joined by lifetime membership in 2017, and started getting renewal notices this year. Did you ever get this resolved?

[jcm124]

When did you pay for the lifetime membership and how much was it? Thanks, JCM

[b810315w]

its $200 for 5 years.

[visitor200]

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@mh22088254 wrote:

I also paid for a lifetime membership, when I first joined.

Can anyone explain to me why I am now all of a sudden being sent new membership cards, with a request to pay a renewal fee???   This is the first time that this has occurred since I established my membership.   The rules can't suddenly change "midstream", can they?  I do not feel that I owe - nor should I be expected to pay - any kind of renewal fee - EVER!

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Don't worry about your Lifetime Membership.  It is good as gold and they will not change the rules on you.  If ever in doubt, you can always call their toll free customer service line.  You can also request a duplicate Lifetime Membership Card (the newer ones are now plastic).

As for the duplicate AARP "cards" they mail out every year, those cards are not activated and you owe nothing.  I suspect they have your name and address is a national database of elgible seniors (over age 50) and you will always get the mailings.  I get the same thing here.  And my wife gets annual invites too, even though she is under my lifetime.  It's easier just to toss them in the trash rather than to get them to stop the "blind renewals".  If you you ask to be removed from their mailing, it may stop your regular free AARP Magazine and newsletter.

By the way, the only change I have seen in the Lifetime is they keep raising the cost!  I am glad I got mine when it was "cheap".

[KayM549273]

No my life time stopped had to buy new one it was a con . Not sure why I paid we bought ours in the 80s new cards stop coming and a request to pay started coming . So it’s not good as gold . 

[mc2399]

If you paid AARP for a lifetime membership, that is what you get.  No, they can’t and don’t change it later.  (Some folks fall for scams where they pay someone else or a fake organization and don’t realize it).  If you receive advertising about renewing membership, and already have a current membership, ignore it.  They aren’t sending you an actual bill.  It’s only an example of a card someone would get, not a real one.  It is not a bill, but an advertisement telling you how much membership would cost…if you were not a member already.  It is a marketing tool, not a bill.  They don’t use perfect lists when they send out mass mailings, so many members frequently get these.  Don’t worry about it if you are a member.  Toss it.

[b810315w]

bull

[mc2399]

I don’t know why they’d let you keep leaving false information.  It’s a disservice to the community here.  It’s a simple thing to know if the entity sending you a “bill” is a scam artist.  They try to impersonate someone you might think you owe money. Don’t blame AARP.  They send mailers with marketing information.  It’s not a bill.  If you can’t believe that, put up a picture of what they sent, and we can explain where and why you are wrong.