What Pro Bono & Mission Trips Look Like In My Retirement Picture
The idea of doing pro-bono work, and mission trips is not something that begins with many people in the morning waking up to say, “I want to go out and do all this work for free!” It is something that develops over time that people want to start to give back, and make it more about others, than themselves. I wouldn’t say people in their 20’s 30’s & 40’s are thinking about these topics anytime soon. But, for some reason, I have thought more and more about this topic recently.
Not many individuals can say they are a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
PLANNER® and a REGISTERED NURSE, and that is not meant to brag, but to point out the amount of good I can do in both of these areas. The two highest impact, lowest cost, but biggest time commitments in these fields are pro-bono financial planning, and mission work as a nurse. Now, with three young kids, a wife in school, and bills to pay on top of more bills to pay, this idea is not very realistic right now….
But, being a long-term planner/thinker, this has got me to think more about my retirement picture, and what I would view an “ideal retirement”. Do I want to travel, vacation, spend time with family, have cocktails on the beach and go to sporting events throughout the year? Hell. Yes. BUT I would love to be in a position where I can devote time to giving back to others and paying it forward simultaneously.
The two most valuable assets as you get close to retirement are your health, and your time. Obviously, money is top five, but if you have a million dollars at age 60, but get a cancer diagnosis, and not use it the way you had hoped, the money is not as valuable as is the time or fighting cancer. So, if I am of sound mind and body, 100% will I be trying to travel to South America, Asia, Africa, and other countries to do mission work as a nurse or volunteer. I will also try to help pro-bono planning cases for families that are in distress or come across tragic accidents or deaths in the family.
This idea of giving back is not for everybody, and we have clients that are charitably inclined from a monetary perspective, but do not discount the value of giving your time and expertise to people in need.
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Unknown
