Ralph, W2CVF, I had known for many years...and he was always promoting Life Membership in ARRL....you are right, Dave....he was always pleased to tell everyone that he was getting his money's worth in Life Membership! It was a great deal back then....and still is. Joyce KA2ANF -----Original Message----- From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 11:14 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16880] Re:RE: Life Memberships I was sad to see Ralph, W2CVF in Silent Keys recently, but I don't think he regretted for a moment having signed up for Life Membership just last year -- at age 101. ARRL doesn't lose money, on average, on new Life Members in the Life Membership program. The original Life Members got a very good deal, mainly because the rate at the time was 20 times the annual dues rate (it is now 25 times) and because the inflation of the late 1970s and early 1980s raised our costs and forced increases in the term dues. However, since then we have been able to cover the equivalent dues of new LMs from the return on investment of their LM payments. The principal risk to the ARRL in offering Life Membership is that inflation will return without being offset by improved return on investment sufficient to keep pace with rising costs. If you run into an early LM who feels guilty, Mary Hobart has the cure. Dave K1ZZ in Friedrichshafen ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- From: w3kd@aol.com [mailto:w3kd@aol.com] Sent: Thu 6/26/2008 1:22 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:16876] Re: Life Memberships This is WAY outside anything I ought to be commenting on, but my mentor, Bob Booth, W3PS, always told me that ARRL life membership was not an investment, it was a way of showing support for the organization, and that explained why, quite frequently, very old people become life members for the first time. So perhaps it is best to look at this as Greg does. 73, Chris W3KD Christopher D. Imlay BOOTH, FRERET, IMLAY & TEPPER, P.C. 14356 Cape May Road Silver Spring, Maryland 20904-6011 (301) 384-5525 telephone (301) 384-6384 facsimile W3KD@ARRL.ORG -----Original Message----- From: G.P. Widin <gpwidin@comcast.net> To: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Cc: arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> Sent: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 8:28 pm Subject: [arrl-odv:16869] Re: Life Memberships dick@pobox.com wrote:

I cannot, with a clear conscience, sell our current (25 x annual) life > membership to a person who is over 50-55 years old. It's great > revenue for the ARRL, but it's not a good investment for these people. I got my life membership when I was in my late 40s--who knows if I've got 25 years left? But my rationale is, there's no other organization I'd rather "over-pay" to than ARRL. So, if the League benefits by my not achieving the full 25 I "paid for", at least I know it's in a cause I believe in.

I don't know if you'd have trouble selling that, but that's the way I sold myself. ;-) -- 73, Greg, KØGW ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Get the Moviefone Toolbar. Showtimes, theaters, movie news, & more!