Volunteer Opportunities

As we’ve talked about in past shows, you know finding purpose in your retirement. You know what good is money if you don’t have your health and you don’t have that purpose in life, right? So one of the things that we find interesting in all of our clients and all of the volunteer work that they do across the area and beyond. So we wanted to share a little bit of that and kind of talk about some of that and also maybe some of the benefits that could offer. Not only personally, but maybe even financially to you. So one of the things that you know we always encourage when people kind of approach us and they start thinking about this and they’re asking questions to us about it is you know find an organization that’s meaningful to you. That’s going to give you that purpose, right? You know if you were passionate about animals let’s say, well go volunteer at an animal shelter or some rescue or something like that. If you’re passionate about the homeless or Veterans or something like that, there’s so many organizations out there to help in those situations. You know there’s so many different levels too, that are needed out there. You know, no matter what your skill level is of that particular group or area, no matter what your time availability may be, whether it’s a great or just a few hours a week, they likely can find a spot for you. Just like even in a labor market today right, there’s needs out there for these volunteer things. You know I think of some of our clients and all of the amazing things that they do. You know one of our clients, he volunteers and coached a youth softball team here locally in Traverse City in the summers. And I think that it’s so great you know that he grew up around his daughters having that and now he’s giving back his experience to the local youth in coaching and allowing other parents to enjoy watching their children. Another thing, we have a couple that’s deeply involved, numerous couples actually that are deeply involved in food pantries. Whether it be here in Traverse City or Leelanau County or Benzie County, there’s so many different needs for that. And they’re involved in not only raising funds and getting donations, but also the organization. And there’s so much more that goes on with these things than just collecting food and giving it back out, right? So keep that in mind. It’s so neat to see people have these traits that you’ve learned over the years or maybe hobbies and stuff like that. Another client, he helps with some of these building missions out there where they go repair let’s say a broken door knob or leaky faucet or broken step or something like that. And they go out for those in need that maybe don’t have the resources or know how to repair these items at no cost or donations and stuff like that. So again, such a great thing to be able to do that. So financially, is there any benefit to you for this? Well they don’t allow you, the IRS doesn’t allow you to deduct your time. So that’s a volunteer thing and there’s not really a valuation they can put on the time. But you can deduct chartable mileage or out of pocket expenses that you incur for that chartable act. So maybe you’re traveling somewhere and there was an overnight stay or maybe there’s some expense that you donated, you know keep that. Now keep in mind though, talk to your tax professional because depending upon your circumstance as an example, if you don’t even itemize, it might not even matter if you’re just taking a standard deduction. So again, it might not pertain to you, but look into some of these things. But obviously the main reason most folks are doing this is not for the tax advantage. They’re doing that to help their community and make an impact that goes far beyond the financial aspect and just that great power of knowing that you’re giving back and having that gratitude for all of the blessings that you’ve had. So if you have any questions about volunteering or how that may affect or benefit you, give us a call. We’d love to walk through it with you and help you plan to retire well.