Editors' Letter

You Be the Reporter

During this election campaign, we'll be working to forcefully and clearly address the crucial issues facing our nation, and specifically the 50-plus population. But there's another very important role to be played—by you.

AARP Bulletin Editors

In the News

Soaring Prices Hit Meal Programs

"What we're finding is a crisis situation," says Enid Borden, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels. "It's a life-and-death issue."

Angela Bryant Starke

Suiting Up to Drive Into Aging

Automaker Nissan is outfitting design engineers with suits that approximate the effects of aging, right down to having to maneuver a middle-aged spread behind a steering wheel.

Blair S. Walker

The Poll: Rising Food Costs

This month's poll looks at how rising food costs have changed shoppers' consumption and entertainment habits.

Now Hear This: People, Trends and Ideas

Super-autobiographical memory, freestanding emergency departments and mechanical massagers.

Funeral Planning, the Online Way

You may not be able to choose when you go to your final resting place, but you can customize your sendoff for free on two new funeral-planning websites.

Keosha Johnson

Relief for Older Disaster Survivors

HelpAge International, a 25-year-old London-based network of not-for-profits, is focuses on empowering older people worldwide during emergencies.

Cathie Gandel

Outrage: Trouble Brews Over Bottle Caps

In February, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau ordered microbrewery owner Vaune Dillman to cease using his six-year-old company bottle cap slogan.

Blair S. Walker

Your Money

Retirement on Hold

Property and other assets are down. Health care and living costs are up. How long will you have to keep on working?

Carole Fleck

Save a Buck: Gas 'n' Go

To lure guests, some inns and big-chain hotels are offering free gas cards to those arriving by auto.

Sid Kirchheimer

Save a Buck: Cheaper Fuel at Home

Gas comparison websites help you find the best prices by Zip Code.

Sid Kirchheimer

Save a Buck: Savvy Search

At many popular search engines, results may be skewed by firms that pay for "sponsored links."

Caroline E. Mayer

Scam Alert: Fast Lane to Your Wallet

Crooks target cars parked at sports facilities.

Sid Kirchheimer

Ask Sid

Do I need to buy a new TV for the switch to digital?

Sid Kirchheimer

Your World

Tradition Under Stress

China's aging population is exploding, but its families are scattering. Who will care for the elders?

Dan Levin

Under One Roof: Chinese Americans and Filial Piety

In China, the traditional relationship between parent and child has long been based on reciprocal love and respect, or "filial piety." But does filial piety still thrive amongst Chinese Americans in the United States?

William Poy Lee

Your Health

Cash Before Care

Many hospitals now want upfront pay for treatment, forcing some patients to go broke—or without care. What can you do if you need emergency care but don't have the money?

Sid Kirchheimer

Your AARP

Join the 50th Annniversary Party

AARP was chartered on July 1, 1958, and has big plans to celebrate its 50th.

Keosha Johnson

Discounts

Roadside help and discounts at bookstores.

Keep Medicare Fair

AARP's campaign urging Congress to "Keep Medicare Fair" generated more than 600,000 e-mails, phone calls and petitions as of mid-June.

Hooray for Hollywood

Hollywood writers, producers and actors are helping AARP focus attention on health care and financial security issues at the core of the Divided We Fail effort.

Keosha Johnson

Where We Stand: To Your Good Health

We need to understand that the things we can do something about—like diet and exercise and tobacco use—are every bit as important as things beyond our control, such as family history.

Bill Novelli, AARP CEO

Databank USA: Never the Bride or Groom

Percentage of the population age 50-plus who have never married, by state.

Ask the Experts

Q. I enjoy giving money when my heart responds to a certain cause, but it seems I’ve ended up on a charity “hit” list. How can I get them to stop calling for donations if they’re exempt from the federal Do Not Call list?

The Law: Will employers start trimming retiree health benefits?

On March 25, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear AARP's appeal in a case concerning employers' ability to reduce benefits to workers or retirees who become eligible for Medicare or a state health plan.

Emily Sachar

In the Know

Opinion: Let's Put a Leader in the White House

You'd think that with 80 percent of the American public saying we're on the wrong track, there would be a lot of serious discussion about leadership in this election. Not so.

Lee Iacocca

Book Excerpt: Everlasting Debt

Despite centuries of distaste for debt, the United States will be nearly $10 trillion in debt by Election Day 2008.

Andrew L. Yarrow, author of Forgive Us Our Debts: The Intergenerational Dangers of Fiscal Irresponsibility

Letters to the Editor

Bulletin readers respond to articles from the June 2008 print edition.

What I Really Know About Summer Nights

"Terri!" My mother's holler meant another summer night of red rover, steal the bacon and hide-and-seek was at an end ...

Terri Arbin Basso

Power of 50

This month's Power of 50 looks at 50 fascinating facts about past presidents.

Richard Lederer