Originally Posted by
HoundDog
Originally Posted by HoundDog 
Life members don't pay yearly dues, do they? .... I can see this as a problem down the road if a great percentage did not have to pay dues. maybe the numbers will never get that grate though.
$1500 / $75 = 20 years Brake Even. Good deal for some one that's 55 or less has an extra $1500 and doesn't have kids to put thru collage or some other reason for giving up the hobby till retirement Like Death heaven for bid. Don't forget U paid $1500 when it was supposedly worth $1500 in 2015 dollars. Bt they will Raise the dues maybe twice by then too. Just Saying.
One of the Clubs I belong to just did away with their Life Time membership. Years back they need a lot of cash FAST so a number of them came up with their Life time membership. Now they realize it hurting their cash flow because these people no longer pay dues and most will be flying for another 10 to 20 years.
Before the dues went up the beak even point was almost 26 years ($1500/$58 = 25.9). With the recent AMA dues increase they did not raise the lifetime membership cost making it more attractive. Additionally, the lifetime membership fee may be tax deductable (depending on your financial/tax status) which may make the break even point < 20 years. Lastly, IMHO, it's unlikely it will be another 12+ years before we seen anohter dues increase which could further reduce the break even point.
Depending on the size of your membership it could potenitally have a significant negative impact on your finances.
I wish I did it when I started in the hobby 20 years ago. I would have broken even by now, espeically with the declining value of the US dollar over the past two decades.