Helping others, the Mustache way

[seattleite]

It could definitely be argued that Pete’s blog posts have done more to improve the lives of people that a multitude of charity organizations. And the members of this forum have been a major force in this change for good.

I’m curious about more active forms of improving other’s lives through frugal and optimized living. I’ve definitely tried to help a few friends and family optimize their expenses.

Now that I’m FIRE’d and living in a city with a lot of poverty I’d like to do something more active and outside of my immediate family.

From my experience helping the poorer members of my family they need more help than just a link to the MMM blog. I’ve had to go through their bills to help them.

It’s not just lowering their cell phone bill and canceling services they can’t afford, it’s also about teaching them to cook for themselves. I want to do good face-punch-style, not help-you-with-your-resume-style.

Any ideas what we might do or where we might start?

[ReadySetMillionaire]

I personally do not offer personal finance advice unless others solicit it.  Unsolicited advice is usually met with some type of resentment, but solicited advice generally is well received. 

Most recently, my mom wanted to pull from her retirement funds to pay off her mortgage, and I helped structure that in the most tax-advantageous way possible.  Just reaching out to me saved her probably $12-15k in income taxes.

All that said, I opened this thread thinking that it would involve physically helping others.  I always help others when they need help moving.  I'm painting my mom's house over three different weekends this spring.  We help babysit my niece when my brother and his wife need a day off.  This type of stuff brings a lot of satisfaction.

[seattleite]

It's interesting that the common theme is the kick-ass and keep it to ourselves, and only talk about it with fellow mustachians. I've felt the same way. I'm scared to bring this up with people. It's like a secret society. We need a secret handshake or something. :-)

I want to stop being so secretive though.

[jlcnuke]

Volunteer for a non-profit that does financial counseling maybe?

[charis]

I don't think the alternative to being secretive is offering unsolicited advice.  There is nothing wrong with helping people, but instead of trying to approach people about their finances, which I don't think is appropriate unless they've asked, you could hold yourself out, in a public or general manner, as someone who can provide this type of service at no cost.  Either on your own or as part of another service organization.  Apart from that, I think it's very Mustachian to volunteer your time and, for instance, as a mentor to young adults, you'd have a good opportunity to impart financial wisdom.