Charitable Activities after FIRE

[ktupper]

I plan on joining the ranks of the FIRE this year.  Being just under 40, I'm still relatively young.  I'll have more than enough assets so as not to worry too much about SWR, Social Security, or Medicare.  I'll be more concerned with estate planning and things like that. 

I've been thinking over several charitable and volunteer activities as well as possibly starting a foundation.

For those of you that have retired early, has there been any change in those type of activities for you?

For those of you that desire to retire ealry, how do you plan on using your time and money?

You can vote twice in the poll so that if you want to vote for giving more time and giving less money you can.

 

[audreyh1]

One of the wonderful things about retiring is now you can give you time as well as your money. Time (and energy) is a very valuable commodity.

We also found that once past the accumulation phase we felt more generous about donating money since we weren't in major "saving mode" anymore.

Audrey

 

[Nords]

I plan on joining the ranks of the FIRE this year.  Being just under 40, I'm still relatively young.  I'll have more than enough assets so as not to worry too much about SWR, Social Security, or Medicare.  I'll be more concerned with estate planning and things like that. 
I've been thinking over several charitable and volunteer activities as well as possibly starting a foundation.

When you get those worked out please let us know what you did and what you learned. I'd love to be more organized & rational about this area; right now it's pretty much impulses & timing.

 

[tangomonster]

I think it's wonderful that people are willing to do volunteer work. Just not sure it's for me. After 30 years of doing human service work (paid, but low salary), I'm not sure I want to continue.

And as someone (hopefully!) who is soon (3 months) to RE, I'm too aware of the corruption that goes on, even (especially!?) in nonprofits, such as the salaries and perks those in charge get, and money that is used for what they say are business expenses but were just routine home maintenance (President justifies it as that she needs to keep up her home to entertain potential donors). I've seen such mismanagement of funds----President has a plant service that comes in once a week to water her three plants (staff waters their own!). Company charge card with unlimited use.....Some of the Board of Directors is aware of some of this but justifies it by their own experience in the corporate world, that it's just what's done and should be expecetd even in a nonprofit.

There are some web sites and organizations that rate nonprofits, such as how much money of donations actually goes to direct services and how much is overhead.

And I'm not sure that there's a lot of meaningful volunteer work out there. After all these years of being the low man on the totem poll and having no control over my work, not sure I want to continue this for free. Although I did hospital volunteer work as a teen, I would never do it now. The majority of hospitals are for profit and part of major corporations----you wouldn't volunteer at IBM or Home Depot, so why help the bottom line for the share holders of a hospital chain?

The volunteer work that appeals to me unfortunately won't be feasible----Chattahoochee River Keepers, maintaining the river and patrolling it----I'm not good in a canoe!!!

Sorry if I sound cynical. Guess it's very much time for me to retire.

 

[jj]

I voted for same money/more time.

I agree with tangomonster that you have to be very careful about where you donate your dollars and your time.  I naively used to trust that donations to non-profits were going to what they said it was for.  Now that we get caught for amt every year and I realize that we get no tax benefit whatsoever I am much more careful to review these, along with all our expenses, now that we are RE. 

My donated time is mostly either to school or church activities where I benefit (directly or indirectly) my own kids and community. 

 

[LRS]

I agree with Tango about filtering charities for scams/poor administration.

However, there are a lot of direct-involvement activities that you can find in your community. I have been voluteering at my kids' schools for 11 years now, and I can tell you they always need volunteers, even if you don't have a kid in their schools. You can do just about anything from office work to tutoring. Costs nothing and it is a huge benefit to kids.

About river and road maintenence: you don't even need to belong to an organization. Drive to your favorite boat ramp/park/stretch of highway, start picking up trash. Not high profile and no one will officially thank you for it, but it does a lot of good. Added benefit: free exercise, and all the returnable bottles you ever dreamed of finding. True story: My sister and her husband decided to start walking when they quit cigarettes. They started picking up the bottles they found on the highway. After a year they still smoked (the bad part) but they each lost weight and saved enough money from the returnables to buy a vacation in Mexico.

Volunteering is fun! I look forward to doing more when I am fully retired.

 

[donheff]

I've been thinking over several charitable and volunteer activities as well as possibly starting a foundation.

For those of you that have retired early, has there been any change in those type of activities for you?

I'm giving more time -- wish I could do a foundation. I was the boss when I worked, but now I am just a guy who helps out and I enjoy the difference.

I sympathize with the poster who spent a career in low paying helping occupations and doesn't see doing it for free after RE. I taught in the inner city for a couple of years after college. I don't think I could have lasted a full career and I doubt I would teach (which is what I volunteer at now) for free after 30 years in the system.

Don

 

[audreyh1]

The volunteer work that appeals to me unfortunately won't be feasible----Chattahoochee River Keepers, maintaining the river and patrolling it----I'm not good in a canoe!!!

Sorry if I sound cynical.  Guess it's very much time for me to retire. 

There is a really wide universe of volunteer opportunities out there. I know a lot of folks who volunteer at national wildlife refuges and state and national parks. They get a free campsite for several months in a beautiful location in exchange for assisting park staff. Some opportunities involve working with the public, some don't.

There are people who go off and work on archeological digs as volunteers, who lead bird hikes as a volunteer. The list goes on and on.....

If there is something you are passionate about - there will be volunteer opportunities available.

Audrey