Thank you for that story @SwordGuy and that real work and risk investing directly in people. I’ve got lots of interesting things to think through.
You're welcome! Honestly, there really wasn't much risk.
We are really early in our $ saving journey and earning more money than ever (though small potatoes compared to many on this forum!) and it really has us thinking about how we can be generous. For so many years we were so tight, it feels amazing to be able to start giving things away.
Generosity doesn't have to be "big" like a house. Sometimes what people need most is a generous spirit to shower them with friendship and affection.
Perhaps that’s a mpp, struggling to balance focusing on our own future security with the desire to be generous to those in need around us.
It is.
I ran across two comments some years ago that stuck with me. "Money doesn't change people, it just lets them be more of what they already are." That and "Begin as you mean to continue."
Targeted help doesn't have to cost a lot of money. It doesn't even have to cost money at all. Here's an example. My dad had passed away and my mom got sick. I had to go fly to see her at the last minute. She lived about 7 hours away. That money was a sunk cost.
I had a friend who didn't have much money and who had wanted to visit her friends in the city where my mom lived. Instead of buying a return plane ticket, I paid her to drive my car to my mom's city. She spent the weekend with her friends and then we both drove home in my car. I think I even saved $10! She got needed cash in her pocket, she got a paid vacation, we had a nice chat on the drive home, AND it wasn't charity because she was doing me a favor by saving me money. (I never mentioned it was only a few dollars.) The opportunities are out there if you look for them.