There was better news on equitable pay.
Workers gained fresh protections from on-the-job discrimination based on age, gender or
race, thanks to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,
a legislative response to a U.S. Supreme Court
decision involving a long-time employee who had
been paid much less than her male colleagues.
An AARP report called employers’ attention to an
often-overlooked group of dependable, productive
employees: Hispanics age 50 – 69.
For the second year, Cornell University led the list
of AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50™.
This awards program showcases best practices
in recruiting and retaining mature workers. A
record 202 companies applied.
In addition, the second annual International
Innovative Employer Awards recognized
non-U.S.-based employers whose innovative
workforce and/or human resource practices
create roadmaps for the workplaces of tomorrow.
To help our members engineer
a fulfilling job switch, AARP
Books/Sterling published The
Crash Course in Finding the Work
You Love: The Essential Guide to
Reinventing Your Life.
AARP also set positive examples
through our employment practices, such as by
encouraging even greater use of tele-working.
For example, our administrator for national and
state Web conferencing lives and works in North
Carolina.
Saving Cash, Building Wealth
Due in part to job loss and medical costs, credit-card debt among cardholders age 65+ nearly
doubled from 1989 to 2004. To protect credit card
holders and consumers, AARP helped persuade
Congress to pass the Credit Card Bill of Rights.
The new law prohibits banks from some of the
abusive billing and credit practices that have
cost Americans billions of dollars in fees and
payments.
About half of all U.S. workers are not covered
by any type of pension, typically because
their employer does not offer a plan. A 2009
AARP study found that about three-fourths of
Americans support the idea of an automatic
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) as a simple,
low-cost way to save for future needs. As part of
the effort to promote this approach to improving
retirement income security, AARP’s Public
Policy Institute and International Affairs group
held a “Solutions Forum” in October. Experts
explored how auto IRAs could be implemented,
and representatives from the United Kingdom
and New Zealand discussed how their nation’s
pension reforms increased the number of people
with workplace savings accounts.
The AARP Financial Freedom Tour helped
African Americans in four major cities achieve
their personal finance goals and build wealth.
Mellody Hobson of ABC’s Good Morning America
keynoted each event.
The AARP Retirement Survival Guide (AARP
Books/Sterling) provided tools for creating a
worry-free financial future.
A new interactive website, Life Tuner.org, helped
young people achieve financial security goals
by learning how to get a handle on current
spending. AARP members shared personal
advice designed to help others avoid the
mistakes they had made, while professionals
from the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants and the Certified Financial Planner
Board of Standards posted expert guidance.
State Victories
At the state level, AARP staff and volunteers
went to bat for consumers against requests
for increased rates by natural gas utilities,
telecommunications companies and power
plants. Consumer protections for mortgages,
refund-anticipation loans and payday lending
were also put in place, thanks to AARP’s
diligence. See highlights of some of those wins
(next page).
With economic pressures on state public pension
plans on the rise, NRTA: AARP’s Educator
Community launched a series of webinars to
share research and resources to help AARP’s
retired educators and other public employee
members preserve promised benefits.
