A few of AARP's 'great ways to save' sound stupid, but others may actually harm you

The July/August 2019 issue of AARP Bulletin includes a 10th anniversary list of 99 ways to save money.

Buying cheapest meat and poultry

could affect health of older Americans

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- At first glance, many of AARP's great, favorite or timeless ways to save money seem to make sense.

For example, getting dental work for less from dentist-supervised students at a dental school is a practical way to save money, as I discovered using Hackensack University Medical Center's dental clinic in Hackensack.

But I take exception to AARP claiming you can do so "for a fraction of the cost."

Travel savings

See national parks free is another tip, this one listed under "Travel" in the July/August 2019 issue of AARP Bulletin.

But then you'd have to coordinate your vacation with "free entrance days" listed at nps.org, where you'd find only 5 free days listed, and no free entrance days available in February, March, May, June, July, October or December.

Another travel tip is looking for Restaurant Week promotions "during a slack season for tourism," but again, you'd have to coordinate your vacation to take advantage of the savings.

I've long enjoyed the steep lunch discounts during Restaurant Weeks in Manhattan in winter and summer.

And on a recent 4-day vacation in Miami, I was delighted to discover the Miami Spice restaurant promotion there runs for 2 whole months (Aug. 1 through Sept. 30).

Another travel tip is to use ATMs overseas for the lowest exchange fees on foreign currency, but AARP doesn't mention you can get the best exchange rate by charging your purchases to a credit card with no foreign-currency exchange fee.

Auto savings

"Buy gas on Mondays," AARP says, claiming "it's the cheapest day in 29 states," according to GasBuddy.

What do you do in the 21 other states? Walk?

AARP doesn't tell you Costco Wholesale gas stations in every state sell top-tier gasoline for about 20 cents less per gallon every day, and if you use a no-fee Costco Visa credit card to pay for fuel, you get another 4% back on each dollar.

In New Jersey, you don't have to be a Costco member to use the gas station at warehouses in Teterboro, Clifton and Wayne.

A wildly exaggerated illustration from the AARP article on saving money. No. The money you might save won't come anywhere near filling a real shopping cart.

Food savings

Eating healthy doesn't figure into AARP's tips on saving money in restaurants and at supermarkets.

AARP members are urged to get discounts of 10% at Bonefish Grill on food and non-alcoholic beverages, and 15% on their check at Denny's, but the latter sells mostly crappy, low-quality food, so that's no bargain.

Under "Slow Cooker Savings" on Page 17 of the AARP Bulletin, you are urged "to make tough cuts of meat tender and flavorful," noting "stew meat" averages $5.60 a pound vs. $8.30 for sirloin steak.

But what you save at the market you might have to spend at the doctor's office after many years of eating "mystery meat" raised on harmful antibiotics and growth hormones.

You're also urged to "max out couponing," but the vast majority of grocery coupons are for food of questionable quality or with lots of salt and sugar, and few are for organics or antibiotic-free meat and poultry.

AARP also suggests you only buy organic produce after looking at the annual Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists from the Environmental Working Group.

This advice ignores year-round discounts on organics, wild-caught fish and many other items at Whole Foods Markets, if you are an Amazon Prime member.

And when you use your Amazon Prime credit card at Whole Foods, you get 5% cash back.

Money savings 

The July/August issue of AARP Bulletin repeats advice from Allan Roth, a so-called financial planner, about "a friend with over $200,000 in a bank account that paid no interest."

Roth urges his friend to move the money to a "high-paying ... savings account ... paying 2.25%" and make about $4,500 a year."

Really? How many AARP Bulletin readers have $200,000 just laying around to park in a savings account for an entire year?

Roth's advice is useless to the vast majority of AARP members, and to call him a "financial planner" is a disservice to older Americans who belong to AARP.

And the same exact Roth advice appeared in the December 2018/January 2019 issue of AARP The Magazine. 

It wasn't worth repeating.

And AARP doesn't mention such cash-back credit cards as the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express, which returns 6% cash back at supermarkets; or Citi's Double Cash Card, good for 2% back on all your purchases.

Travel advice

Pauline Frommer is quoted as saying "travelers who buy airline tickets on Sundays save some 20% over those who buy midweek, according to a study by the Airlines Reporting Corp.

Gee. How many times have you seen advice to save money by buying airline tickets on Tuesday?

Members' advice

An AARP member in Atlanta, Ga., urges others to "butcher the meat bill" by buying family size packages of mystery beef, pork and chicken.

Again, if you're eating meat and poultry raised with harmful antibiotics and growth hormones, you're health might suffer because you could become resistant to antibiotics prescribed to cure an infection. 

An AARP member in Idaho urges you to do without cable TV by buying a $20 antenna and getting "27 channels for free."

An AARP member in New Mexico claims "our 14 solar panels can produce more electricity than we use," but in the Northeast and many other parts of the country without sunshine nearly every day, 14 solar panels would be far too few.

Another member, this one in Minnesota, says she called the manufacturer after her bathroom faucet corroded within 10 years of use, and she was sent a brand-new faucet free of charge, saving $152.

But she didn't mention most manufacturers only warrant the faucet to the original homeowner.

READ: AARP thinks we're clueless

At AARP The Magazine, older Americans are treated as clueless about saving money

CLUCK, CLUCK: The December 2018/January 2019 issue of AARP The Magazine offered older Americans a lot of advice about their finances and how to save money. But one of the suggestions -- renting chickens and a coop for "really fresh eggs" -- was laughable, wouldn't save you money and would likely be barred by health ordinances.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Judging from the endless stream of articles about money -- how to save it, how to invest it and how to keep it -- the editors of AARP publications must think their older readers are brain dead.

An article about money appears in just about every bimonthly issue of AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin, a tabloid issued 11 times a year.

Both are sent free to members of AARP, a U.S.-based interest group whose stated mission is "to empower people to choose how they live as they age."

Rent chickens?

In  the December 2018/January 2019 issue of the magazine, three pages are devoted to saving money, including an article called "Rent, Don't Buy!"

Readers are urged to "live it up and keep costs down by leasing" instead of buying a 19-foot RV, camping gear, a telephoto camera lens (when going on a safari), chickens and a coop, and jewelry "for your special event."

I crave the creature comforts of a hotel room -- not to mention the free buffet breakfast that comes with many of them -- and would never rent an RV for $1,300 a week or buy one and get eaten alive by insects at campgrounds.

Karen Cheney, whose byline is on the article, says you'd spend $16 on 4 dozen organic, cage-free eggs from a store, and $240 on 2 egg-laying hens, feed and gear for 4 weeks, but get about a dozen "really fresh eggs" each week.

Well, you can buy 2 dozen organic eggs at Costco Wholesale for $5.99 or 4 dozen for $11.98 so neither of her options passes the smell test.

Save thousands?

In a second article, Allan Roth outlines 8 ways you can "save thousands without being a Scrooge!"

Roth, identified as a financial planner for more than 20 years, discusses purchasing a car, picking good credit cards and uncovering a "hotel bargain," among other suggestions, but I believe I can save more money.

What really galls me is his selfish car-buying advice, which ignores many reasonably priced gas-electric hybrids and all-electric cars that can save older Americans money on fuel, help ease climate change and cut premature deaths from auto emissions.

"I take the time to shop for a good, small, modest sedan -- say, for $30,000 -- and drive it for a decade, more or less," Roth says. 

"It depreciates less than a $75,000 luxury sedan, I pay less sales tax, and my insurance is cheaper."

But in New Jersey and other states, you'll pay no sales tax when you purchase an EV or get other incentives, and you'll receive federal tax credits on many models, too.

The Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt EV and other moderately priced all-electric cars are ideal for the limited driving many older Americans do.

Cash-back credit cards

Roth urges readers to use "credit cards such as mine, which charge no annual fee and pay 2 percent cash back," so "you'll get $180 more a year" (after spending $1,500 a month) than with a 1 percent cash back card. 

I also have a 2% cash-back card, but use other cards that pay more cash back, including the Costco Anywhere Visa Card, which gives you 4% back on gasoline, 3% back on restaurant meals, and 2% back on purchases at Costco Wholesale warehouses and Costco.com.

There is no annual fee, but a Costco membership costs $60 a year -- which you'll get back many times over.

I have a friend who uses the card "for everything" and who received $1,100 cash back after one year. I received $450 cash back this year.

The Costco Anywhere Visa Card also has no foreign- currency exchange fee (usually 3%) when you are traveling outside the United States, and charging hotels, meals and other expenses in Canadian dollars, euros or other currencies.

6% back on groceries

And the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express gives you 6% back on groceries from ShopRite, Aldi and other supermarkets (but not on food bought at warehouse stores like Costco).

At my level of spending at supermarkets, the annual fee of $95 reduces my cash back to 5% -- still higher than any other cash-back card.

Hotel bargains?

Roth claims he uncovers "hotel bargains" by using BetterBidding and other sites, but ignores joining a hotel loyalty program that allows you to turn spending into points for your next vacation, getting free hotel nights or reduced rates.

For example, as a member of the Hyatt loyalty program, I'm guaranteed the lowest rates in Hyatt Regency, Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotels, and receive a free night each year.

Both Hyatt House and Hyatt Place offer free buffet breakfasts of fresh fruit, juice, cereal, pancakes, eggs and made-to-order omelets.

As relatively new members of the loyalty program, my wife and I received two free nights at the Park Hyatt in Manhattan, where the average daily rate is $675 a night, after we spent $1,000 on the Hyatt Credit Card.

Read: A luxury hotel, dinner at Per Se

 and other superlatives

BIG REWARDS? I'm skeptical about much of the advice on saving money offered by Allan Roth, a financial planner.

BUGS ARE FREE: Renting a 19-foot RV  -- a "home on wheels" --had me thinking about being eaten alive by mosquitos at campsites, and missing the free buffet breakfast that comes with many hotel rooms.