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After The FIRE
Old 12-26-2005, 11:03 PM   #1
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After The FIRE

You've made it.
You've left the work world.
You've reached your goal.
You've savored the feeling that comes from achieving your dream.

You're comfortable.
You're financially independent.

There aren't many things you want to buy anymore.

You feel there is more you can do in your life.

You have money.
More than you need to take care of everyday needs.
More than you need to ensure a secure future.

Your time is your own.

What do you do with the time...the extra money...
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 09:23 AM   #2
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Re: After The FIRE

Sponsor poor child's (children's) school needs - books, clothes and advanced education - high school and college.
Then ask them to do the same when they are where you are now
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 09:26 AM   #3
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Re: After The FIRE

Sponsor missionaries, help local food banks, gift to children if they are of adult age.
Help single mothers that are living at poverty level. It's amazing how much a $250 check can brighten the lives of people who have no spare money.

I see lots of opportunities in my local paper.

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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 09:27 AM   #4
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by dex
Sponsor poor child's (children's) school needs - books, clothes and advanced education - high school and college.
Then ask them to do the same when they are where you are now.
Not a bad way to use extra cash. *It's a great deal better than just simply donating to your alma mater. *It's amazing how wasteful some universities are with alumni donations. *The focus should be on students and education, not oak or mahogany wall paneling for stadium boxes.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 09:31 AM   #5
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanTien
You've made it.
You've left the work world.
You've reached your goal.
You've savored the feeling that comes from achieving your dream.
You're comfortable.
You're financially independent.
You've got more money than you need.
There aren't many things you want to buy anymore.
You feel there is more you can do in your life.

You have extra money - more than you need to take care of your everyday needs and to insure a secure future for you and your children.

What do you do with the extra money...
Well put, Dan-- a good twist on a perpetual thread.

I'm beginning to hate that question. *It's an important question but it keeps forcing us to examine our "money issues". *

Spouse and I are very good at tracking expenses, cutting the waste, finding bargains, and extracting value out of every purchase. *We do this out of habit, to set a good example for our kid, and lately for entertainment. *We don't lead a material existence. *We have good pensions & healthcare. *We invest aggressively. *Achieving ER proves that we can manage the heck outta these aspects of our life.

But somewhere in the back of our psyches is a nagging fear that we'll need it all for "some emergency". *I don't know what that crisis is-- even if it's "just" long-term care-- but it keeps us from loosening up the purse strings. *Maybe it's just not wanting to burden our kid with our support, or anxiety about ending up in a Medicaid long-term care corral. *If our parents dropped a $25K windfall on us tomorrow then we'd be much more inclined to sock it away than to donate it or to spend it.

We've taken baby steps:
- Any kid with the guts to ring our doorbell for a charity or a fundraiser is worthy of at least $10. *Especially if they're selling coupons for Zippy's chili.
- At the end of the school year we give $100 cash to our kid's best teachers. *Sadly this award has only been deemed worthy of presentation twice in the last four years.
- One year our Navy movers lost several boxes of my books. *The pro-rated insurance settlement was only for $25 but if we "replaced" the books then we'd be reimbursed up to $500. *I didn't want any more books so we took our elementary school librarian on a $500 shopping spree at the local Scholastic warehouse.

I've loosened up on the sports budget. *Ironically the kid & I have concluded that the cheaper tae kwon do gear is actually of better quality & duration than the more expensive stuff. *Even more ironically, the capital expense of clinics & camps is actually saving money. *We're each paying $125 for this week's TKD camp-- four hours/day for five days of strategy & tactics-- but already I can see that the quality of the students & instructors will cut several tuition months off the time it takes us to pass our black-belt tests.

I've stopped budgeting for vacations. *Our time is limited by the kid's school calendar and our travel is limited by her teenage interest in hanging out with the gang. *We might as well spend it on making our vacations more pleasant, even if we end up paying (*gasp*) an extra $10 day for the full-size rental car. *And next time my spouse travels to Bangkok, I'm checking the price list for business class or even first class. *(This time I really mean it.) *Ironically, once again, our most enjoyable vacations have been interisland cruises whose fares happened to be lower than hotel rates.

We (and probably most ERs!) could easily donate $1000/year to charity, yet somehow we never get around to doing it. *Part of it is a reluctance to subsidize a corporate charity's "administrative" expenses. *Another part of it is giving up the "personal touch"-- the opportunity to see exactly where our money goes and what it does. *Another part of it is realizing that charity is much more effective when our donation is matched by other sources or contingent on the organization raising matching funds. *A final part of it is wanting to reward good stewardship. *We want to hand the money to someone who's already shown that they know how to extract maximum value from it-- that's why we enjoy giving those $100 envelopes to our kid's worthy teachers.

Another topic of discussion has been subsidizing college expenses for worthy kids in our neighborhood or on the island, but that discussion always bogs down in the execution mechanics. *There's always our local Institute for Human Services or Habitat for Humanity, but again we never seem to get around to doing anything about it. *Any other ideas?

We'll probably default to the Warren Buffett approach-- giving it all away after we're gone, and perhaps by putting our kid in charge of the Nords Family Foundation. *Let her deal with it...
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 09:43 AM   #6
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Re: After The FIRE

Heheh! Who are you kidding, Nords? We all know that every extra penny goes to solar gear for your roof.

I guess I am different, but I can think of at least three very worthy charities that I would happily donate a pile of extra filthy lucre to. All three have minimal overhead and an excellent track record of doing good. I've also been involved as a (very occasional) volunteer with two of them. Actually, if I were FIRE'd, one of the things I would do with both extra time and money is lavish both on the beagle rescue groups I have been involved with.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 10:42 AM   #7
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Re: After The FIRE

I give annually to a number of organizations but in smaller amounts such from $10 to $200 per org. It doesn't amount to a lot. Since I am now R'd, I plan to double it next year. For me to either double or triple that amount, I will have to build up my investment confidence, over the next several years, in able to have my portfolio grow at 2% to 3% higher than the conservative approx. 5% that I am getting now.

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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 11:13 AM   #8
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Re: After The FIRE

If you are considering supporting charitable causes and also like to travel, there are many, many global charities with "partner trip" programs. They arrange travel you visit programs that they are sponsoring, part of your travel fees go to support the program. The logic is that when you see the projects firsthand you will become more interested in supporting them in an ongoing way.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-27-2005, 08:59 PM   #9
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Re: After The FIRE

A guy I know just got back from volunteering in Indonesia. He is a master diver and was counting reef fish. I am considering joining an educational consulting project in SE asia through the Japanese govt. They have a lot of programs in Afganistan and Pakistan but I think I might pass on those.

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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-28-2005, 10:28 AM   #10
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Re: After The FIRE

So far the family seems to be our most worthy charity. We have made some personal loans to bail out a couple of family members due to some issues beyond their control. We are looking at the budget to see what might be left to start a grandkid college fund for the 4 of them. Not much, but something to help out.

We give to a number of charities where we know the money goes directly to the charity. Here the United Way admin. costs are 100% funded by companies in the state. That means every $ you give goes to helping someone. We also give to the local food bank, Homeless Mission, Children's Hospital, and 4-5 other causes by direct contributions of food, clothing, gifts or $$. DW has delivered many items to families in need as part of her companies charity efforts. She has been the "go to" person at her site for these things and just loves doing it.

We will always find a way to give something to others even if it is only our time and energy. It is just the way we are and how it makes us feel. We have been very lucky in life and we enjoy sharing our good fortune with others that have gotten the short end of the stick. We have both been there a time or two ourselves and we know a little bit about how it feels. We just feel the need to give back in some way.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-28-2005, 11:59 AM   #11
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Re: After The FIRE

I like the question because it is something ahead of me in time and I have not thought of it. My wife will retire in JUne 06 and I expect to follow in a year or two. I have now started to cut back in charitable contributions in the face of a declining income (I expect that 2005 will be the high point of our employeed years). We have contributed to a range of charities one is the Heifer Project. I expect we will spend more time and less money with them when we retire. So I see a balance of time and money changing. (Maybe like E==MC sqd , matter ==energy, in retirement (and in life?) money ==time?) So I expect to spend more time and less money on charities. But I think I will get more out of being personally involved then when I sent checks.
But this question had me look at what do I do if it dawns on me that I am ahead of my financial plan. Do I up save more, up spending or increase donations. Hope I get to worry about this problem.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-28-2005, 02:10 PM   #12
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Re: After The FIRE

Buy some big bags of dog food, some cleaning supplies, etc, and drop them off at the local animal shelter.
Pay the food tab for a couple "poor college kids" (anonymously) when hubby and I are out for lunch.
Donate a supplied-filled book bag or two to the local city foundation's back-to-school campaign every Aug.
And our favorite charity, a family foundation fund in memory of our sister, gets a check or two or more each yr.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-29-2005, 05:30 AM   #13
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by brewer12345
Heheh! Who are you kidding, Nords? We all know that every extra penny goes to solar gear for your roof.

I guess I am different, but I can think of at least three very worthy charities that I would happily donate a pile of extra filthy lucre to. All three have minimal overhead and an excellent track record of doing good. I've also been involved as a (very occasional) volunteer with two of them. Actually, if I were FIRE'd, one of the things I would do with both extra time and money is lavish both on the beagle rescue groups I have been involved with.
I had not thought about beagle rescue, perhaps becuse my brain is too preocupied with Zippy's chili. The only way to get it on the east coast is make your own.

http://www.recipezaar.com/80639

Sorry for the hijack Dan. Were talkin' Zippy's chili now.


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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-29-2005, 07:33 AM   #14
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by BUM

http://www.recipezaar.com/80639

Sorry for the hijack Dan. Were talkin' Zippy's chili now.
You had me until it came to kidney beans :P Those are two ingredients that just do NOT belong in chili.

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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-29-2005, 08:35 AM   #15
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by BUM
I had not thought about beagle rescue, perhaps becuse my brain is too preocupied with Zippy's chili. The only way to get it on the east coast is make your own.

http://www.recipezaar.com/80639

Sorry for the hijack Dan. Were talkin' Zippy's chili now.
BUM - just how zesty/spicy is Zippy's?
Is FIRE in the Afterburner a problem?
Should I rename this topic to Afterburner's On FIRE! ?
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-29-2005, 09:34 AM   #16
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by BUM
The only way to get it on the east coast is make your own.
Au contraire, mon frere-- how do you think all Hawaii's expats get their Zippy's fix?

Zippy's online ordering.

I'm guessing you kidney-bean Luddites aren't gonna be real happy with the way the chili is packaged, either.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanTien
BUM - just how zesty/spicy is Zippy's?
Middle of the road. Spicier than the Lawry's "mild" seasoning, but not as spicy as their "hot" setting. But you could probably ask for "no spice" all the way up to "hot Thai".
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-29-2005, 11:19 AM   #17
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Re: After The FIRE

Great Thread!

I wonder if the issue, if I can re-phrase it, is what do you do once you have taken care of your families material needs?* Perhaps charity, giving of your time and money, is the beginning of investing in our spiritual portfolio that ultimately matters the most during our all too short time on earth.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-29-2005, 05:47 PM   #18
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanTien
BUM - just how zesty/spicy is Zippy's?
Is FIRE in the Afterburner a problem?
Should I rename this topic to Afterburner's On FIRE! ?
I think the amount of spice (heat) is just enough to keep the average palate entertained but add a bit of hot stuff to taste....that can keep everyone happy.

I'll give the mail order link a try. Thanks Nords.
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-30-2005, 11:50 AM   #19
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Re: After The FIRE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords
We (and probably most ERs!) could easily donate $1000/year to charity, yet somehow we never get around to doing it. Part of it is a reluctance to subsidize a corporate charity's "administrative" expenses. Another part of it is giving up the "personal touch"-- the opportunity to see exactly where our money goes and what it does.
Ugh, this drives me nuts. My old company basically twisted our arms to donate to a major charity because a couple of the senior managers were on their board. I think the actual pass through of your donations was in the single digits on that one. Nice how they did it...they had an administrator appointed in each group and they'd come around once a year and ask you what percentage you wanted to contribute...not whether you wanted to but just how much. You had to fill out a little form explaining why you didnt want to if you chose to take a pass. I always wondered if anything was ever kept about people who filled out those forms vs people who just went ahead and donated. At least they quit doing that a few years before I quit.

The worst one i've heard lately was the CEO of Goodwill in Portland was hand slapped for taking over $800k a year in salary and performance bonuses. After feeling decidedly bad he did the right thing and cut his pay to something a little over $600k by my recollection.

I thought these were supposed to be charities! How the #%$#$ can you suck 93% out of every dollar for administrative overhead or take almost a million a year to run the charity.

Grrrr...

If you're looking for a good one, Mrs () kicked a couple some money a few years ago. Both were featured on Oprah (dont get me started) if that helps ya find them. One was called something-"ark" and they provided farm animals to 3rd world families. For a reasonable sum you could give a breeding pair of goats to a poor family along with training on how to milk them, make cheese from the milk and all that. The other involved collecting old cell phones and fixing them up and redistributing them to battered women so they'd have the ability to call 911 if their batterer showed up unexpectedly.

When I looked at them, both appeared to have negligible stealing overhead and good track records. That may have changed since we donated.

Lately we just try a little harder to help close friends and family, if not financially at least emotionally. I figure its best to help your own first.

Edit:

Heres the animal donation place: http://www.heifer.org/
Heres the cell phone one: http://www.donateaphone.com/CallToProtect/index.cfm

and http://www.charitablerecycling.com/CR/home2.asp

Apparently the latter also provides phones for people waiting on organ donor lists
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Re: After The FIRE
Old 12-31-2005, 10:18 AM   #20
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Re: After The FIRE

Nice to see a good reference to hiefer.org

We have too much "stuff" so I gave my wife a goat for Christmas. We donate to heifer and volunteer a little, great organization. When we retire we plan to give them more of our time if less of our $.
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