runnerr said:
Anyone else run into the problem of once you retire everyone and their brother thinks your time is up for grabs. They figure you can help with this and that or what ever just because you are not working. Alternatively, maybe it is just me and I am selfish.
Oooh, yeah. "Hey, you're the retired guy! Can you help us..." I don't mind meeting people & having new experiences. But if you're not going to stick up for yourself then who else will?
I've never been cold-called to volunteer my time, and I get the impression that most non-profits & charities prefer to be subtle about their recruiting. If you don't offer then they won't ask.
As for relatives & friends, I tell people that I have my afternoons and some mornings free, but weekends are family time. Usually they're looking for a limited amount of help, not much more than an hour or two. Usually I enjoy the experience. If I don't, the response is "Well, I can help you for a couple hours on Tuesday" or "Nope, I can't make that time". If I know the friend well and really want to help, then I'll say "The surf forecast won't calm down until next Tuesday. Can it wait until then?"
I enjoy helping neighbors with home repairs, and one (single mother raising three kids) is very happy to know that she can call anytime. She insists on paying with yummy baked goods or $25/hour and I don't object. One of her kids just got a part-time job at our local Thai restaurant so this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
I guess the trick to handling these requests is setting limits-- whether that limit is the # of times you'll help, the # of hours each time, or the $$ you want to be paid. OTOH last week I got a call from a small non-profit on whose board I used to be Treasurer. I left that job last November at the end of a three-year term and was mildly concerned that the IRS might find a problem with a tax return, but the call was to tell me that the new Treasurer wasn't working out (family crisis) and could I please help. We agreed that I'd donate 10 man-hours at $50/hour (the board president used the word "begging" to my spouse) and then hand the mess off to another former Treasurer who'd finish the cleanup. So now I'm staring at a couple cubic feet of paper scraps & unopened envelopes, knowing that very little's been done with my old files and my highly-organized turnover binder, and wondering how much they're going to be paying in penalties for not filing a semi-annual state excise tax form last May... W-9s, 1099-MISCs, and Form 990s are beckoning...