I did the calculations twice and got the same $3300 figure! However, I just redid the calculations and got the much lower figure! I did use 1970 and 2009 as the years. Frankly, I have no idea as to why the different figures!
Glen, K9STH Website: http://k9sth.com --- On Sun, 1/17/10, Glen Zook <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Glen Zook <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Re: Life Members > To: [email protected], "Amsat BB" <[email protected]>, "Rocky Jones" > <[email protected]> > Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010, 11:03 AM > Having been a life member (# 463) > since the very early days when life membership was first > offered I would like to "point out" that, "back then", life > membership wasn't "that cheap". In "today's dollars", > not "absolute dollars", is a pretty staggering sum! > > Based on the consumer price index, the $50 that I spent for > my life membership back around 1970 is today the equivalent > of right at $3300! That is 66 times in "absolute > dollars". Compare that to the present life membership > fee of $880. That means that we who obtained our life > memberships back in the early 1970s paid 3.75 times what new > life members are paying. > > If you don't believe these figures then do the calculations > on the following website: > > http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/ > > However, the cash influx to AMSAT, at the time, was > definitely needed and the benefits from the life membership > fees of today's "olde tymers" allowed AMSAT to accomplish a > lot of things which would not have been possible without the > influx of cash. > > Therefore, I caution those who think that life members are > getting a "free ride" to stop and think about the true > situation. If it had not been for the "olde tyme" life > membership fees the organization would not be what it is > today IF the organization was still in existence! We > "olde tymers" happily paid a premium (when compared with the > present value of the dollar) to support the > organization. Today, many of us are on "fixed incomes" > and without our life memberships many of us would not be > able to afford continuing our memberships. "When the > going was tough, the tough got going" and contributed a > significant amount of money in terms of what the dollar is > worth today. > > The result is that we "paid our dues" (pun intended) and > AMSAT is still benefiting from our monentary contributions > today. We made an investment in the organization and > we certainly deserve to "reap" any benefits from that > investment. > > Glen, K9STH > AMSAT 239/LM 463 > > Website: http://k9sth.com > > > > _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
