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Goals
Do meaningful work that helps people (particularly the poor)
One of the biggest challenges Joy faced as a teenager and young adult was that she needed to find work and places to stay on breaks and throughout the summers when school was not in session. She was lucky to have people open up their homes to her and take her under their wings time and time again. Several families provided Joy with love and shelter when she needed it most. Without their support, she would not have been able to accept the jobs that provided the resources she needed to support herself and achieve her nearly impossible goals.
Joy is strongly compelled to give back. She donates her time and money regularly to the schools that granted her scholarships and has listed each school in her estate plan. She has actively tutored and advised young people on education and professional career matters, and has always sought meaningful ways to contribute to the communities in which she lives and works.
Joy's first job out of college at a K Street law firm in Washington, DC offered her the opportunity to work on some meaningful pro bono cases. After business school, Joy joined Intel and has had the privilege of working with several brilliant people passionate about their contributions to technological advancement. She is honored to be one of 100,000 Intel employees around the world today that make the business possible and allow Intel to spend millions of dollars promoting education and bridging the technological divide.
Key to accomplishing this goal in a nutshell:
- Find causes that are meaningful to you. You will be more motivated to contribute time and money to causes that have personal significance.
- You need not work in the Peace Corps, though it is one great option, to do meaningful work that helps people. Many companies are committed to helping people, and by virtue of working there, you can contribute however indirectly it may seem, to the same eventual outcome. In addition to corporate giving, some companies also plan group volunteer activities and offer to compensate the organizations at which employees volunteer.
- Consider what you want to accomplish by the end of your life and work backwards. You may know that you cannot contribute all you want now, but if you work hard and build a fortune over a lifetime, by the end of your life you should be able to make a sizeable contribution to causes of your choice. Make your specific wishes known and legalize them in a will and/or trust.
- If you are all in for the experience and money is of little concern, you should be able to find some organization that will provide shelter and food in return for labor. Decent medical insurance may be more difficult to find, but should not be impossible.
- If you want to more directly contribute to helping others while you are alive, but have financial concerns, consider a hybrid approach.
- Start working early and save as much as you can (recommend at least 10% of gross income) to set you up for a decent retirement. Have this savings set up to happen automatically.
- Once you have built what you have decided is likely to grow into a sufficient nest egg by the time you want to retire, enjoy the freedom of doing whatever you would like for those years in between until you are able to begin to tap into your nest egg without penalty. You will still need to support yourself until you get to retirement, but having a nest egg will likely relieve some financial pressure in the interim.
- If time is not on your side or you prefer a more balanced approach, you may opt to donate money or volunteer on your own during non-work hours, including vacations at your leisure.