From the good people at AARP: "If you need a reminder about the importance of saving, consider what time does to money not put someplace where it can grow: Inflation erodes buying power."

This is from page 47 of AARP's January bulletin, which S4 co-founder Patrick Wetherille receives despite being a grad student at Georgetown.  Patrick recently joined AARP to help educate seniors and young people about the group's Social Security hypocrisy.  Here is AARP's take on the power of money:

You can see that gas costs about $2 a gallon more today than it did 50 years ago, and that a dozen eggs is almost three times as expensive today.  More importantly, you can see how AARP proposes that people can offset increases in the cost of living.  That's right, AARP's suggestion for asset growth is to invest in the stock market.  If you can't make it out, AARP wants Patrick to know that $50 put in a savings account in 1957 would be worth $284 today, while $50 placed in a fund tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average would be worth $1952. 

"Invest in stocks!  Buy our mutual funds!" AARP yells.  But then when people suggest investing a portion of our payroll taxes, something seems to change.  "Oh, ah, it's conf...well, the stock market is risky," they say. 

Let us be clear.  "Smart money management" involves investing in the stock market--this is point #3 above.

Now if only AARP would come out with a clear 3-step guide to explain their hypocrisy.