Boomers: AARP Offers a Treasure-Trove Website You Can Easily Mine
By Marie Langworthy, NABBW’s Transforming Retirement Associate
Sure, most of us are familiar with the more popular, standard offerings of the AARP Web site (https://www.aarp.org), such as auto and health insurance and political advocacy, but have you recently spent time exploring its wealth of information and opportunity, other than the traditional “retirement services.”
AARP Travel extends to car rentals, hotel/motel accommodations, cruises, international flight and vacation packages, restaurants, and entertainment venues. For example, did you know that members can receive a 15% discount off a Grand Canyon Railway trip, where you would stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, newly furbished to retain the ambient luxury of a bygone era? Or what about a 20% discount on select Las Vegas shows such as Cirque du Soleil?
For you homebodies who prefer to venture no further than your favorite chair as you cozy up to your trusty laptop, AARP provides 30% off a subscription to World Explorer Ancestry, where users can get access to records and online tools to search and share their family history.
So, you prefer to “eat in!” The Recipe Database dishes up healthy, delicious meals from breakfast to lunch to dinner, including dessert! And after that homecooked meal, under two links called Movies for Grownups and TV for Grownups, you can read reviews, news and interviews on the latest entertainers and shows. Or family and friends can jump into the hot tub to practice the step-by-step technique described in an AARP article for creating your own meditation space.
Is part-time work or employment part of your retirement plan? Why not begin your search on the AARP Job Board? This job search tool focuses on experienced workers and helps you look for job openings that match your interests. It allows you to narrow your results with filters for part-time work, full-time work, location and more. The site also features valuable articles and webinars such as “Sharpen Your Networking Skills” and “8 Ways to Update Your Resume.”
We’re hearing more and more about the role that entrepreneurship is playing in the lives of Boomers. The Entrepreneurship Resources link features tools and resources that can help you start your own business – from writing a business plan to figuring out how to get start-up funding.
So… you’re through with work! “Work” is a four-letter word that you removed from your lexicon when you swapped your suit collection for jeans and tees, never more to look back! But you’re definitely into volunteering your time for a worthy cause. What about helping older drivers by becoming an AARP Driver Safety instructor, or leading a Finances 50+ workshop, or donating your time and energy to the Drive to End Hunger?
Oh, and did I mention that all or most of these retirement opportunities are free, whether or not you are a registered AARP member? I promise you, once you log on to the sites, “… oh, the places you will find yourself exploring!”
Marie Langworthy’s retirement well-lived is her best sales pitch for her co-authored book, Shifting Gears to Your Life and Work After Retirement: Second Edition.
In her current retirement career, she is fulfilling her long-held compulsion to write. Her new work takes the form of writing books, blogs and copy for client web sites. Marie is living proof that you can realize your dream job after retiring. But you need to do more than wish for it; you must will it to happen.
In her two most recent co-authored books, Shifting Gears to Your Life and Work After Retirement: Second Edition and Shifting Gears to Your Career Working Online (both available through www.amazon.com), Marie and her co-author, Carolee Duckworth, provide a specific, exciting pathway and strategy for carrying out your ultimate retirement adventure.
Both authors take pride and thank their readers that the first edition of Life & Work After Retirement sold 4000+ copies and won a SilverNautilus Book Award as well as a Foreword’s IndieFab Silver Award.
Come visit the book website at https://shiftinggearstoyourlifeandworkafterretirement.com/and the blogsite at https://lifeandworkafterretirement.com/for ongoing updates of resources and possibilities for life and work after work.
