Age has its prerogatives.

One of the most tangible is saving money. Since turning 55, I have saved more than $25,000 by taking advantage of senior citizen discounts and special pricing for seniors. That’s an average of about $1,000 a year.

How did I do this? Ah, that’s the best part: I ask, and I pay attention.

Curiously, I was introduced to the senior discount quite accidentally 26 years ago. My wife and I stopped at a restaurant in Cortland, New York.

When we checked our bill, we found it was lower than the posted menu prices. We finally figured out that we were given the 10 percent senior discount, even though I didn’t ask. After all, I was only 54 at the time, and senior discounts were the furthest thing from my mind.

At first I was insulted, because our server obviously thought I was older, but then I thought to myself, “Hey, wait a minute: I just saved $1.40. Who cares if she thought I was 55?”

I quickly found out, however, that the volunteerism displayed by our server in Cortland was the exception, not the rule. To get the discount, you usually must ask, although I have to say the older I get the more often I get the discount automatically. Of course, the hat I wear helps, too. It says, “Don’t Forget My Senior Discount!”

When I turned 55, I was on high alert for any specials. Some discounts kick in at 55, others at 60, still others at 62, and there are even some which don’t apply until age 65.

One of the best deals going was a lifetime pass to national parks and other national areas from the federal government for a one-time cost of $10. Unfortunately, that changed a few years ago.

McDonald’s has what’s called a “senior coffee,” which costs less than the regular price of a small cup of coffee. My local McDonald’s price is 69 cents, a 50 cents saving over the regular price, but I have been to some whose price is as low as 39 cents. Refills are free for all McDonald’s drinks, except the specialty ones referred to as McCafe. Other fast-food places have senior discounts, too. Most Dunkin’ and Burger Kings will give a 10 percent discount.

Most banks offer seniors special savings on checking accounts which avoid monthly service fees. Some airlines have deals for seniors, although they are not as lucrative as they were immediately after 9/11. I’ve also gotten $500 senior discounts three times when buying new cars.

Some supermarkets offer us seniors 10 percent discounts on a certain day of the week — mine is on Tuesday, but it involves only certain store brand products.

I have asked some friends why they don’t ask for the discount. Some have said they “feel funny about asking”; some have said they don’t want people to know they are senior citizens.

Ah, vanity has its price!

There are numerous websites which will pinpoint businesses with senior discount offers. One of the best I found is seniordiscounts.com. You can type in the name of your community or ZIP code, and you will get an extensive list of participating businesses.

So, go ahead, don’t be bashful: Act your age and start saving.

Don’t think, however, that the younger world is going to give you a standing ovation. There is a growing chorus of naysayers who insist that our society is too acquiescent to seniors.

One person, age 45 and at least 10 years away from cashing in on any meaningful senior perks, told me as I was doing research for this column that he thinks it’s great that we seniors are cut a break.

After all, he points out, in many foreign countries, the elderly are admired, respected, yes, even revered. In the U.S., he went on to say, some of our seniors are forgotten, alone and cast off as if they are “someone else’s garbage.”

He also revealed that many of his 40-something friends disagree with senior discounts; some even feel that seniors should pay a little more because “most of them can afford it, because they’ve been socking away a nest egg for many years.”

This idea is not new. Don Campbell, a journalist writing in USA Today, called for an end to across-the-board senior discounts. Campbell, who qualifies for senior citizen status, claims he doesn’t need the discount, nor do the majority of seniors.

Research says that older Americans are about 42 percent wealthier today than their counterparts of a generation ago.

Campbell wonders why those in their 30s and 40s aren’t up in arms, calling seniors the “most pampered, patronized and pandered-to group in America.”

There is a simple solution to this “dilemma,” Mr. Campbell: Just tell the dispenser of the senior discount that you don’t want it and desire, instead, to pay full price.

As for me, I plan to accept any senior discount coming to me for which I will proclaim a heartfelt “thank you.” Yes, and if you must know, it does make me feel pampered and a little special, too.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com