“If it weren’t for Medicare, we’d be bankrupt, or I’d be dead.” I heard this powerful testimonial from a woman at a Tulsa senior center on a recent AARP visit. Another woman told how she, as a young mother, was able to feed and clothe her family only with the help of Social Security survivors’ benefits after her husband died suddenly. For these individuals, and for me, AARP’s work to protect Medicare and Social Security is deeply personal. As for each of you, my life journey has been filled with challenges, good fortune, and unexpected twists of fate. My dad
died before I was born, and my mom
raised my sister and me on seamstress
wages and monthly checks from Social
Security survivors’ benefits.
The first in my family to go to college, I
financed my education through scholarships, three jobs, and National Student
Defense Loans. My business career took
our family–Audrey, my wife of 37 years,
and our children, Rachel and David—
from Boston to Kansas City, Missouri;
then to Dallas, Philadelphia, and Burke,
Virginia. As much as those experiences
shaped me, a life-threatening boating
accident seven years ago had an even
greater impact. This sobering event
challenged me always to ask, “Am I
doing all I can with the second chance
I’ve been given?” This has guided me
since, especially in my service with
AARP’s all-volunteer board of directors.
As I visit with AARP members from
Maine to San Diego, I’m so grateful to
learn about your lives and the spirit of
generosity and determination that you
share with your families and communities. You’ve told me about your struggle
to find decent jobs, how you wrestle
with caregiving challenges, the joys of
AARP IN
ACTION
ESIDENT
ONLINE HELP OFF-LINE
The tutorials in AARP’s Tech to Connect books (from the makers of For
Dummies) teach newbies and know-it-alls how to search, social-network,
and use a tablet with more confidence. Check out new titles about
online genealogy, Facebook, tablets,
and iPads ( aarp.org/bookstore).
ASK ROB
Name: Robert Romasco
Experience:
SENIOR VP QVC Inc.
EXECUTIVE VP CIGNA Inc.
PRESIDENT AND CEO
JC Penney Life Insurance
SENIOR VP American Century Investments
DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC
DEVELOPMENT Corporate Decisions Inc.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Epsilon
Education:
M.B.A. Harvard Business School
B.A. Brandeis University
MEET
AARP’S NEW
PRESIDENT
IT’S YOUR POLICY
From employment to caregiving,
utility costs to financing health care,
the issues that matter most to you
are equally important to the AARP
Board. Every two years the board
updates its advocacy agenda based
on members’ feedback and the
recommendations of our National
Policy Council. Find the current Policy
Book online and add your comments
( aarp.org/input).
MONEY TUNE-UP
FOR YOUR KIDS
If you help out your
adult children financially,
check out the Life Tuner
website, designed to take
the mystery out of money for young
adults. Your AARP membership
gives you (and your kids) exclusive
access to interactive tools and
expert information ( lifetuner.org).
FROM TOP: MICHAEL LE WIS; ILLUS TRATION B Y R YAN SNOOK
PRESIDEN T Robert Romasco
PRESIDEN T-ELECT Jeannine English
BOARD CHAIR Gail E. Aldrich
AARP Board
CLASS OF 2014 Gail E. Aldrich, Allen
Douma, A. James Forbes Jr., Raymond
Jones, Jacob Lozada, J. David
Nelson, Charles E. Reed
CLASS OF 2016 Jeannine English,
Catherine Georges, Barbara O’Connor,
John Penn, Diane Pratt, Carol Raphael,
Fernando Torres-Gil
CLASS OF 2018 Gretchen Dahlen, Ronald
Daly, Jewell Hoover, Timothy Kelly,
Joan Ruff, Eric Schneidewind,
Edward Watson
grandparenting, the fulfillment of volunteering, and about the hard work you do
day in and day out to provide health care
and financial security for your families.
Listening to you guides the board in
helping you navigate life’s realities, by
providing valuable information and useful products and services; fighting discrimination in the workplace; preventing
unfair utility hikes; and, perhaps most
important, preserving and strengthening
Social Security and Medicare. Through
You’ve Earned A Say—a national conversation about health and retirement
security—AARP is taking the debate
about the future of Medicare and Social
Security out from behind closed doors
in Washington ( earnedasay.org; 1-888-
687-2277). What you tell us helps ensure
that when people think about Medicare
and Social Security, they’re thinking not
about a math problem but about the
women at the Tulsa senior center.
I look forward to hearing more from
you. As I begin my term as AARP president—with deep gratitude to my predecessor, Lee Hammond, and to all of
the 23 men and women who have gone
before me—I will work each and every
day to make sure your voice is heard.
—Rob Romasco
HAVE A QUESTION
ABOUT AARP?
Write to Ask Rob, AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington,
DC 20049, or e-mail
aarppresident@aarp.org.
