5 Best Streaming Services for Retirees Who Are Cord Cutting

The biggest hurdle in retirement is the cost of living. For those who invested wisely, this is less of a problem, but whatever your situation, cutting the cord and finding streaming services for retirees can be a monthly budget game-changer.

Our aim is to find a bundle of streaming services perfect for a retiree that works via a Roku device while costing an ultra-low monthly price. To make sure it’s perfect for a retiree, we’ve factored in the following:

• Free, or a low monthly cost that doesn’t have a contract.
• The streaming service must be available on Roku, which is used by more than 50 million users across the country as of 2022.
• The bundle of services must have a robust collection of pre-1970 movies, access to some sports, or popular pay TV shows.

Let’s take a look at the best streaming services for retirees.

5. Paramount Plus ($4.99 with ads, $9.99 ad-free)

Paramount Plus might just be essential, as it offers live sports, new movies, and classics. For example, Perry Mason, I Love Lucy, and Hawaii Five-O. It also has a healthy selection of crime shows including NCIS, Blue Bloods, and CSI.

CHECK OUT: Best free streaming services worth checking out

4. YouTube (Free)

Whatever your hobby or interest, there are videos on YouTube about it. Having this streaming service available in your living room is a genuine game-changer when it comes to finding something to watch. Simply put, whether you have five minutes or an hour, YouTube can fill it.

The only negatives with YouTube are that accessibility is slow without voice control and quality isn’t always professional. The requirement to search for content could also be off-putting. For example, searching for a show about classic toys could be awkward for someone who isn’t confident with a TV remote.

Fortunately, the more you search and follow channels, the better YouTube curates the content it offers you. This makes finding something to watch easier and makes YouTube an essential service for any retiree cutting the cord.

#3. Amazon Prime Video ($12.99)

Don’t be scared by the price, you can pay $119 for a year if preferred. This could save over $37 per year compared to the monthly subscription fee. It sounds expensive but you also get free Amazon.com deliveries and streaming music.

For sports fans, Amazon Prime Video has been streaming NFL, tennis, and other sports in the last few years. What’s interesting is that there is a massive push by Amazon for live sports, and it’s highly likely more sports content will appear on the service in the future.

On top of deliveries, music, and sports, Amazon Prime Video has a huge collection of classic movies. These include A Fistfull of Dollars, The Great Escape, Sunset Boulevard, and many more. It offers far more classic movies than Netflix, Hulu, or Disney Plus. When combined with the other features of the Prime service, its price is a bargain.

CHECK OUT: 5 Best Movies On Hoopla Right Now

2. Hoopla (Free)

Hoopla is the perfect streaming service for retirees. It’s the library but in your home. What makes Hoopla unique is that you can stream audiobooks, download books, and listen to music. It’s this variety that makes Hoopla essential.

There is a limitation to how much content you can stream per month, which makes Hoopla unlikely to become someone’s go-to streaming service. It’s far more suited to being one that you dip into every couple of weeks to pick up a new audiobook, for example. Additionally, the quantity of content available is determined by the library you’re signed up to.

Signing up for the Hoopla service is free with a library card. Make sure you get one from a well-stocked library, as that decides the variety and quantity of content available to stream. If you have a library card, check out our guide to signing up for Hoopla now.

1. Tubi (Free)

Tubi has the Dick Van Dyke Show, Dial M For Murder, and Stagecoach. Its pre-1970 content is literally limitless, including TV shows, B-movie classics, and big Hollywood names. It also has plenty of moderately modern content, including Mr. Bean, Hell’s Kitchen, and Grand Designs.

What it doesn’t have is a cost — it’s free like YouTube and Hoopla. However, it is a little more advertisement trigger-happy, with ads before and during content. If you can sit through an ad, you’ll get a robust range of content, and there is no better streaming service without paying.

Honorable Mention: One free streaming service we’ve missed from this list is Pluto TV. It offers fantastic movies, and some classics, but it is very much like Tubi, and as it costs nothing, you can pick up both!

CHECK OUT: 10 Best Movies On Pluto TV You Can Watch For Free

The Bundle

If you don’t need sports, you can avoid Paramount Plus and Amazon Prime Video and have all the content you can consume without spending a dime. However, the cost even with Paramount Plus and Amazon Prime is below $20 monthly or $240 yearly. That price is far below the usual pay TV packages, which give you hundreds of channels that you’ll never watch.