Pro bono financial planning benefits society and advisors

By James Lee

We all have seen the studies and data pointing to the ongoing financial struggles facing large numbers of Americans, especially those in lower-income communities. For many, those challenges are outside their control and carry a significant financial burden. No matter the source of someone’s financial struggles, they deserve to have the necessary access to sound financial planning advice that only qualified financial planners can provide.

As someone who has volunteered many hours over the years to make financial planning more accessible through pro bono advice, I know there has been great value in this work — not only for the people I have helped, but for me as well. Offering my time and guidance has made me a better financial planner, and I like to believe it also made the profession better. Here’s how.

It expands knowledge in other areas. When you serve individuals and families facing various challenges, it requires you to better understand issues that you might not address in your traditional client relationships. From basic financial issues such as credit and debt to helping people cope with the financial fallout from a serious medical diagnosis, volunteering as a pro bono financial planner can force you out of your comfort zone to consider the multitude of issues facing those in underserved communities.

It sharpens relational skills. Many professions such as financial planning require practitioners to acquire finely tuned relational abilities to guide people through their financial challenges effectively. Few issues are drive stress and emotion as much as financial well-being does, which means financial planners need to up their ability to build the trust that is central to this profession. By working with individuals and families facing financial challenges, you can hone your emotional intelligence, which translates to building relationships with all your clients.

It helps you focus on your personal passions. Because everyone can benefit from receiving sound financial advice from a qualified, competent financial planner, there are opportunities to focus your volunteer work on those populations that most resonate with you. Do you have a desire to help veterans and those actively serving in the military? How about working with families impacted by a cancer diagnosis? Or providing financial counseling to women coping with widowhood or domestic violence? There are several pro bono programs available where you can focus on the specific interests you have.

It elevates the financial planning profession. A cornerstone of any profession is the willingness of its members to use their knowledge and skill to improve other people’s lives. The medical and legal professions are excellent examples of the role pro bono work plays in elevating the respect those professions have received for centuries. As we work to establish financial planning as the next great profession, the volunteer work we do as a community will push the profession forward and elevate the stature of all financial planners.

It’s gratifying to help others. Doing right by others just feels good. When you can engage with someone struggling to address even the most basic financial challenge, it leaves them — and you — feeling better. The satisfaction you will feel from working with someone for even a couple of hours to improve their life will, in turn, make your life and work better.

It’s simply the right thing to do. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The time is always right to do the right thing.” When it comes to pro bono financial planning, it is simply the right thing to do. Many people facing financial hardship simply don’t have access to the advice qualified financial planners can provide. By increasing access for underserved communities, we expand our reach and exhibit the transformative power that financial planning provides all while empowering people to feel more confident about their own financial situations.

Are you ready to do the right thing? If so, I encourage you to explore the many avenues available to get started in offering pro bono financial planning. Explore the opportunities available to you through the Financial Planning Association or the Foundation for Financial Planning.

Getting started is easy, but you must take that first step.

James Lee, CFP, CRPC, AIF, is the 2023 president of the Financial Planning Association and president of Lee Investment Management in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. He may be contacted at james.lee@innfeedback.com.