Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / June 2004

how much is a lifetime membership?

carlb

Dang People! A lot of you spend $20-30 a year to subscribe to a
magazine...or worse yet, buy it monthly off the stand. The AMA mag is full
of good info. Why do I belong to AMA?

1. A large single voice for the hobby.
2. Insurance.
3. Promoting the hobby with youth educational program materials.
4. Preservation of R/C frequencies!
5. A good magazine.

If that ain't worth 58 bucks a year, I don't know what is! That is 15.8
CENTS a day! You can't even get a pack of gum for that anymore!

If you can afford a Life Membership, that strongly suggests you intend
supporting AMA's activities and probably that you intend remaining in
this nutty hobby for the foreseeable future.

It doesn't strongly suggest anything about your tax liability and it
certainly doesn't suggest one way or another whether your budget can
take the hit.

People don't spend money because it might get them a deduction, they
spend money because they want to spend it and most spend money they
don't have.

Life Membership is $1500, and you can spread the payments over three
years if you want.

Since there are by definition no tangible benefits to membership the
LM fee becomes a tax-deductible contribution to a 501(C)3
organization, AMA.

If you can itemize you can deduct the contribution, but since
deductions historically yield no more than about $0.25 on the dollar,
it's not likely you'll find any tax advantage to be had, and any
increase in your tax refund might be enough to go shopping on the
dollar menu at McArches.   You won't be kicking The Donald out of
Trump Tower just because you made an LM contribution to AMA.

While it's not likely that the membership dues will remain fixed over
a quarter-century, an LM contribution today would be amortized in that
time.  As dues increase over time the break-even point is earlier.

I don't know many people who have LM status and who can reasonably
expect to be an active modeler 25 years hence.  I made the LM
contribution a year or so ago, and at my age and medical history it's
a good bet I won't get anywhere near breaking even.

OTOH since I'm done with paying AMA dues, I don't care what happens to
the rate.

There's a little chuckle to be had every year when the membership
renewal and ballot form show up.  Odder yet are the years between
elections in my District (V).  The form shows up anyway, and it's a
non-entity - no ballot, only a reminder that my annual membership card
will be mailed shortly.

There's also a little black humor associated with annual club
renewals.  Seems none of the clubs in which I hold membership
understand what a Life Membership means, so every year I get to send
in the club renewal fee and a copy of my LM card.

Duh . . .

The importance of the Life Membership is two-fold.

First, AMA gets 25 years' worth of membership fees in a lump sum, a
small bit of extra capital to accomplish it's goals.

Secondly, you get the satisfaction of having made a goodly
contribution to a worth-while organization, one which has as it's only
purpose the fostering of model aviation.  (That some of our "leaders"
don't seem to be focused any too well on that fostering bit may be
grist for another mill.)

There is one other 'advantage' to Life Membership - you can watch with
some degree of amusement while folks howl and whine about dues
increases, because you will be unaffected.

You'll come to realize that the howling and whining is being done by a
bunch of folks who are picking the proverbial nits about dues
increases which have historically been less than the price of a jug of
glow fuel,  and know that those same folks probably have several
thousand samoleons tied up in toy airplanes any one of which can be
destroyed by a single "Hey guys, watch _this_ !".

With all the dues increases AMA has ever had, the cost of a year's
membership is _still_ less than the cost of taking SWMBO out for a
decent dinner at a restaurant where the waiter speaks English.

Our Dish Network monthly bill is more than a year's worth of AMA dues,
and I get a _lot_ more enjoyment out my modeling activities than from
that stupid box.