aarp discounts | Boomer 55+ Places to Live and Retire

AARP Discounts: Consumer Cellular

In retirement it is wise to control your expenses and a good way to do that is to review your current expenses to see if there is a way to save some money by decreasing your pay outs for existing services. This is a good exercise actually for everyone regardless if you are retired or not.

I called the cable company and was able to reduce my monthly expenses, at least for a few months. Good start.

So I took a look at our cellular phone bill and was surprised to see how high the cost has gotten. We had the same large carrier for over 20 years now and I think I have fallen asleep with regards to scrutinizing their bills. I figured I should be able to do better than this. So I contacted them but they were not willing to reduce the costs, just offered to give me a little more services which I didn’t want.

So I did some checking around and found Consumer Cellular through AARP was offering very reasonable fees for all the coverage we needed. We could save some serious money by switching to Consumer Cellular. With AARP membersip benefits activation is free and you get a 5% discount every month on service and usage charges with no contract. So the cost and terms were much better than my existing plan.

Consumer Cellular is Less Money But Are They As Good?

I checked the community website where we will be moving to shortly and three people in the discussion group said they have Consumer Cellular and have fine service. Others also say the service is fine, in fact they used the same towers that AT&T and T-Mobile use.

So do I have to use one of those big phones? Nope, you probably can use your existing phone if it has a SIM card. So mostly likely you can use your existing phone or purchase one of many types of phones from them at a discounted price.

I called them and the representative was very helpful. Plus they have 100% USA based support.

Another plus in my book was that they have no contracts so I am not locked into one of those two year contracts again. Their 100% risk free guarantee means you can try Consumer Cellular for up to 45 days with 450 minutes and cancel with no charge whatsoever as I understand it. Also the representative told me that there are no hidden fees, no shipping nor credit card fees.

So if you are looking for an easy way to save on monthly costs without giving anything up, a look into AARP Consumer Cellular might be worth your time. Phone: 1-888-429-7449

AARP Consumer Cellular

Thanks to the ladies at the Consumer Cellular booth at Life@50 in South Beach for posing for the photo I took that appears at the top of this post. And thanks for the helpful info.

#AARPdiscounts

Originally posted 2015-05-14 22:06:31.

AARP Travel, Vacations and Tours are Popular

AARP Travel, Vacations, Tours are Popular

The nonprofit membership organization AARP (for individuals 50+ years of age) has long offered senior group travel and tour options for its members – and now it has improved its offerings even further with the launch of AARP Travel. This great new travel website has detailed destination information, special offers, and even an interactive Trip Finder to help prospective adventurers age 50 and older choose an exciting (or relaxing) tour or travel destination.

Baby boomers, the largest age demographic in the country, are moving into the age of retirement – and are seeking new experiences and social interactions to enjoy.

Boomers want experiences, not more stuff at this stage of their lives.

AARP-organized vacations, travel packages, and tours are ready-made senior-friendly travel options that can meet those needs while specifically catering to the desires of 50+ travelers.

Through relationships with Liberty Travel and Expedia, among other travel industry leaders, AARP can offer its members incredible group deals on some of the most sought-after travel destinations around the world.

Some of the favorite domestic AARP member vacations include Las Vegas packages, Hawaiian getaways, Washington, D.C. stays and tours, and New Orleans Jazz Festival experiences, and other offerings in major cities such as New York, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, San Antonio, and Portland.

For those looking to travel farther afield, there are a wide range of international travel options. You may enjoy tours of Paris museums, explorations of Barcelona and Rome, rail tours in the UK, cruises among the Galapagos Islands, and guided trips of Hong Kong, among many other destinations.

Available choices include fully escorted tours and small ship cruises, or independent travel with a planned itinerary and access to customer service support.

If you are looking for the right tour or travel package, even without a destination in mind, the interactive Trip Finder application on the AARP Travel website can help guide you toward some of the organization’s many offerings with “visual questions,” using photography to represent the geography, styles of travel, and activities offered by various packages.

The AARP also has a new travel relationship with Liberty Travel, offering personalized travel agent expertise, as well as discounts and exclusive benefits for AARP members. Many more travel companies and services are listed on the AARP Travel site.

Remembering #Lifeat50+ in Boston

It was only last September that we attended our first AARP Life@50+ Event in Atlanta; now we are planning on attending the next one in historic Boston

The Boston LifeAt50+ event was back in May and was our second. We had a great time and it appealed to us as much this time as the first time we visited this event. Now looking forward to San Diego in September 4-6, 2014. This time it will be actually called IdeasAt50 San Diego. Looking forward to seeing what new ideas and interesting things we can learn. The post below was pre Boston but I am sure allies to San Diego also. Get more info here on IdeasAt50 in San Diego.

Original post here:

It was only last September that we attended our first AARP Life@50+ Event in Atlanta; now we are planning on attending the next one in historic Boston Massachusetts May 8-10, 2014. Life@50+ is a very poplar national event held twice a year, in the Spring and in the Fall. I would expect over 13,000 baby boomers will be joining me in Boston for this event.

Life@50+ National Event & Expo in Boston – Spring 2014

There are several good reasons to head to this Lifeat50 event in Boston.

1. It is in Boston! Boston is a great city to visit. We love walking around Boston especially the Faneuil Hall district and downtown. The Lifeat50 event will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, near both. Also there are wonderful restaurants and you will love the seafood! What a great opportunity for a little boomer travel to a great city.
See our Pinterest for Lifeat50 Boston.

2. You will see more than 400+ exhibitors on the huge convention floor, with products and services especially appealing to us baby boomers. Plus you get enough freebies to fill a shopping cart. You get to learn about the AARP discounts and deals only available to AARP members. I had no idea about many of them. You can ask questions and try out products with no sales pressure at all. These vendors are there to educate you about their products and services. Many AARP vendors have informative presentations and these gather a crowd quite quickly. 50+ AARP perks are everywhere!

3. AARP Travel Center– The next generation web site to help you anticipate and plan your travel. I previewed this and it should be ready soon, in the meantime the current site is a handy place to begin.

Samantha Brown AARP’s travel ambassador usually attends the Lifeat50+ events and speaks a few times about her favorite subject: travel.

4. Well over a hundred live presentations to see. Three or four stages set up for various presentations going on all during the day. You will want to keep your AARP Pocket Guide handy for the time and places of those which interests you. Every hour there are technology workshops in the Exhibit Hall at the AARP TEK Pavilion about how to use technology to connect with friends, family and new discoveries. Subjects like new smartphones, tablets and apps, new social media sites and the like are popular. Technological advances in healthcare presentation by companies who are developing new products to help us age well. More than 50 lifestyle presentations and workshops are planned and will be well attended.

5. Entertainment is another reason you will like Life@50+ event in Boston. The Moody Blues is booked for Saturday, May 10, 2014 at the convention. Hear Justin Hayward sing “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Your Wildest Dreams”. Baby boomers always have a wonderful party at these shows.

6. Life@50+ Dance Party – The Spinners and Mary Wilson of The Supremes will have the groove going and a large dance floor will be provided for a very energetic baby boomer dance party!!

Then you have the several general sessions with more than a few national celebrities and dynamic speakers. I heard Whoopi Goldberg interview Tyler Perry at the last event.

This just in: At Boston Whoopi will be talking with Jay Leno on stage. Also on stage will be Linda Ronstadt, Captain Richard Phillips and HGTV stars of Kitchen Cousins Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri.

Laura Bush and her daughter Barbara Pierce Bush will be speaking in Boston among others.

Check out and track this event at Lifeat50+ Boston on Pinterest.
On Twitter track using hashtag #lifeat50 and @AARPEvents

For more information and to keep up with current news, click here for Life@50+ in Boston. Member registration is unbelievably only $25 for this three day event. Time to check out the registration and hotels. See you there!

Pinterest Lifeat50+ Boston
Our category for Life@50+

Auto Repairs Made Easier

Don’t’ you just hate it when you have a problem with your auto and you need some sort of expensive auto repair or service. We are baby boomers so we have been through a lot including aggravating auto repairs before, but it doesn’t get any easier does it.

Auto repairs can be costly but that is not the only thing making us feel a little queasy and irritated. How do we know the repair actually needs to be done? How do we know if we are being quoted a fair price or are we being ripped off by an unethical auto repair service? That’s what I am worried about more than just the price. Apparently a lot of people agree with me since a reported 66 percent of car owners believe they have been ripped off by a repair shop.

RepairPal is a company that evaluates and certifies auto repair shops based on a number of criteria. I looked into their service which offers to put you in touch with reputable and dependable auto repairs shops in your neighborhood which meets their criteria. An auto repair shop must undergo a comprehensive technical assessment by RepairPal’s team of veteran ASE certified master technicians, must meet high customer service standards which they verify by interviewing customers of the auto shop. Additionally the shops must offer a 12 month / 12,000 mile warranty and guarantee to charge fair prices within the range of RepairPal’s price estimator.

So I gave RepairPal’s web site a try. Seeing that RepairPal has a program with AARP Discounts and I am a member, I went to AARP’s RepairPal page. I entered my name, email, zip code and make of auto and clicked “Find a Shop” button. Under the button it said “This is a free service. No credit card required.” On the results screen it found 37 auto repair shops in my city and it listed the three that were RepairPal certified. It gave their name, address and phone number and indicated there would be 10% off their services for AARP members. Too easy!

I found the process to be easy and not intrusive, just putting me in easy contact with the RepairPal Certified shops in my area. The 10% AARP member discount would be a plus too. Next time I need a repair I am going to give them a try.

http://repairpal.com/aarp