What is my best piece of advice for people over 50?
Join the American Association of Retired People, better known as AARP. You do not have to be retired — in fact, you don’t have to be over 50 anymore — and dues are as low as $12 per year.
Why?
Aside from their many discounts at restaurants, drug stores, and hotels (which in a month save me the annual cost of the dues), AARP puts out two monthly publications: a glossy magazine, plus the newspaper-style AARP Bulletin. Every Bulletin I’ve read has contained valuable health, travel, or financial advice.
Once a year, the AARP Bulletin features “99 Great ways to Save,” a treasure trove of money-saving tips. Some of them I already know (visit AnnualCreditReport.com to check your credit for free, purchase your car and home insurance from the same company, etc.), but every year there are many more tips, apps, and helpful websites I was unaware of or at the very least needed a reminder about.
This year Tip #34, “Unclaimed Property,” caught my eye: “Check states where you lived. They might be holding money from a saving account that you forgot or an uncashed refund check. Go to unclaimed.org, find your state, and enter your name.”
I’m aware that states may be holding small amounts of money in my name, but in the past, the work to research and obtain these funds didn’t justify the hassle to retrieve it. With only mild interest, I checked the site (which directed me to the individual state sites) and quickly discovered that both New York and especially Nevada were holding funds worth several hundred dollars. Both states had quick claim processes (the Nevada claim forms require a notarized signature, which you can get at any bank or UPS store for $15.)
I also ran the names of several friends and a few of them showed up on the list. I sent them the link and have already received a few thank yous.
Based on other tips in “99 Great Ways to Save” I will be checking out the following (and will get back to you with my results):
- The UNLV Dental School for less-costly dentistry.
- Restaurant Week (usually held in June, so it will be a year).
- Websites: gasbuddy.com (gas savings); cardcash.com and cardpool.com (gift cards); asktrim.com (scan your credit cards for recurring charges); dealnews.com (shopping deals), and theseniorlist.com (senior discounts).
- Investigate getting an online bank account that refunds fees.
- Use wifi finder for free wifi (not for financial transactions though).
As I said, many of the tips (kanopy.com for free streaming, gutenberg.org for free e-books) I already do, but I always look forward to finding ways to save money in Las Vegas and beyond — then telling everyone about it.
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Gas Buddy shows you the prices at various gas stations so you can know where to get the cheapest gas along your route. They also have a card you can get that you use to pay. The total comes out of your checking account and you save 5 more cents per gallon on top of any other discount for which you may qualified. The only brands that I have found where it doesn’t work are Exxon and Mobil, which are rarely the cheapest in the first place.
If you want to be inundated with burial insurance, disability equipment and the like go ahead and join. I had to do a hard stop on emails and mail.