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There are many opportunities to volunteer helping low-income people with budgeting and finances. I would encourage you to sign up as a volunteer for one of thos

There are many opportunities to volunteer helping low-income people with budgeting and finances. I would encourage you to sign up as a volunteer for one of those programs. I’ve done work with the IRS VITA program to counsel low-income families on tax planning and budgeting how to “best” spend their EITC. You might need a legal and/or tax background to volunteer solo with VITA but there are lots of opportunities to sit in on client intake and budget planning/coaching. You’ll see first hand that poor people aren’t stupid when it comes to how they spend their money and they aren’t making irrational financial choices. It’s comforting for those of us who are financially secure to think that we’d be able to use our superior knowledge and business acumen to get out of poverty but I can assure you that comforting thought isn’t based in reality. And in the exceedingly unlikely event that you are as skilled financially as you believe yourself to be then you should be sharing your knowledge far and wide with those in need.

WalterBright 6y ago
> You’ll see first hand that poor people aren’t stupid when it comes to how they spend their money and they aren’t making irrational financial choices. My father would work with the insolvent privates making a budget for them to get them on a sound basis. They rejected his help 100%. My accounting teacher would explain how compound interest worked to the car buyers, and they accused him of trying to cheat them. The Frontline episode shows they were making poor investment decisions. And lastly, buying lottery tickets doesn't auger financial judgement. > in the exceedingly unlikely event that you are as skilled financially as you believe yourself to be At least I've never bought a lottery ticket, only lost pocket change in Vegas, and only buy cars I can pay cash for, so there's that :-) > you should be sharing your knowledge far and wide with those in need There are plenty of excellent books on the topic, nothing I can add to that. "The Millionaire Next Door" is a good one if you're interested.

WalterBright 6y ago

> You’ll see first hand that poor people aren’t stupid when it comes to how they spend their money and they aren’t making irrational financial choices. My father would work with the insolvent privates making a budget for them to get them on a sound basis. They rejected his help 100%. My accounting teacher would explain how compound interest worked to the car buyers, and they accused him of trying to cheat them. The Frontline episode shows they were making poor investment decisions. And lastly, buying lottery tickets doesn't auger financial judgement. > in the exceedingly unlikely event that you are as skilled financially as you believe yourself to be At least I've never bought a lottery ticket, only lost pocket change in Vegas, and only buy cars I can pay cash for, so there's that :-) > you should be sharing your knowledge far and wide with those in need There are plenty of excellent books on the topic, nothing I can add to that. "The Millionaire Next Door" is a good one if you're interested.